Lessons Learned

Working at KVK

The office where I work is very beautiful (see above). It is a ten minute walk from my house, which means I can go home for lunch everyday, which is wonderful. I usually leave the house at 10am, arrive by 10:15, leave for lunch at 1, return at 2, and leave the office at 5 in the afternoon. It's a very laid-back atmosphere and things don't seem to get rolling until 10:30am.

The office is surrounded by beautiful farmland, which includes rows of various crops, orchards of various fruit trees, a dairy and goat unit, a tree nursery, and a plant garden. The office building itself is U-shaped around a small courtyard. All offices open into the courtyard, so it feels like I am working outside. Doors are never closed - curtains are pulled to block the sun, at most.

During my first week I have been doing an assortment of different activities. I have toured most of the farmland that belongs to KVK, I have read a lot of books and reports about the organization, and I have sat in on several training sessions. Yesterday my supervisor told me there was a film screening on corneal disease that she thought I should watch - Holy Random.

On Tuesday I went on my first KVK field visit (in a jeep the KVK annual report described as "condemned status"). We went to several villages to monitor the construction of bio-gas plants, which will save time and energy and trees when the women no longer have to cook over fires. Here is a picture of one bio-gas plant under construction:

Here is another picture of me chatting it up with a woman in one of the houses that was going to use the bio-gas plant. Our makeshift conversation in Hindi went something like this:

Me: What is your name?
Her: Karla (I think...)
Me: How old are you?
Her: Twenty-four
Me: Me, twenty-four.
Pause.
Me: Where do you sleep?
Her: There.
Me: Pretty sari.
Giggles.

Learning from Udaipur

After living in Udaipur for two weeks now, these are some things I have learned:

- Udaipur is a tranquil, sometimes sleepy city. Businesses open at 10am and there is nothing much to do after 10pm. Dinner and a beer are a nice way to relax, but they can only last so long into the night.

- There are animals everywhere! Rajasthan is a very rural state and agriculture is very important, but still it seems odd to me to see so many women herding their goats and donkeys all through the city. Cows, camels, pigs, and elephants frequently meander through even the busiest streets.

- People are so friendly and extremely helpful. If there is any city to get lost in, I've been told that Udaipur is one of the safest and friendliest.

- There is lots of English spoken here, but the little Hindi I know comes in handy, and I can't wait to become more conversational.

- Indian people don't use toilet paper. Riddle me that. Luckily I was accustomed to carrying TP with me from my travels in Latin America, but it took me about a week to figure out that I need to buy my own supplies to keep at home as well.

- Kinus are yummy fruits - a hybrid orange and lime!

- My feet will never be clean. There is just too much dust and it is too hot for sneakers.

Here are some pictures of the streets in Udaipur - the first one I took on my walk to work yesterday. Notice the camel just chillin. The second one is just outside this internet cafe as I was walking in. Notice the elephant in the background.