India!

Hello and greetings from Bangalore, India. Let's just get right to the point and go over the first words that come to mind when describing India - utter and complete wild madness. Really, there's not much else I need to say for you to get the idea of what it's like for me here. But, in the spirit of vicarious travels, here we go!



I landed Sunday night after some rain delays to long, swirling, and messy customs lines. To get a better idea of what that was like, first - picture the Heathrow customs area, second - cut the space so that it's about a quarter and then count only six people with entry stams, third - take away all ropes and line guides and officials directing people, fourth - add a wall in the rear that forces the line to extend out the doors to the runway, fifth - add some heat, and last - just try to wait patiently and gently use your elbow to keep your place in line. Then, after I got the stamp I moved to the baggage area. Picture a luggage conveyer whose size is about 1/20 of the size needed and also an airport employee throwing the bags off the coveyer into a tight corner before they make the circle around so people waiting on the other side never get a chance to pick up their bags. When I finally got my bag after yelling at the man who threw it off before it reached me, I then head for the crowds ten deep on each side to find the person who's supposed to take you to the project director's house. Miraculously, I found Srinivas who's the director Saras's driver. After honking his way through cars, trucks, cows, dogs, and people, we made it out of the airport and eventual to Saras's house. Success!

Saras has been incredibly nice to me, though after seeing her yell at other people, I'm a little bit scared. Definitely want to stay on her good side! So Monday I started work and I'll be working on two main projects - first a research study evaluation the quality of obstetric care in the rural villages and also trying to determine why women who have access to giving birth in health centers choose to do so at home. Second project is working with two women's income generation projects and trying to evaluate the kind of effect they're having on the women. I'm also interested in finding a way to market the products in the U.S because I think the women will end up earning more if the products can sell outside of India. One group uses traditional India block stamps to print on fabric and make table clothes, scarves, etc and another makes paper out of scrap paper and cotton fibers and turns that into gift bags, note cards, etc. Yesterday I visited the two worksites in the rural villages and it was really exciting to see it all in action. It's something that I believe in theoretically and have read about extensively, so it was really moving to see it all up close and meet the women.

And now for the bug situation, because it's always on my mind... after seeing a flying cockroach at the office ''loo'' the first day, no sitings of the unmentionables since then. I did pee with some lizards and spiders at the field office yesterday in my first traditional India loo (squat over the hole, pour a bucket of water after you're done!!), but I don't mind those critters too much anymore.

I've also learned to take traditional Indian 'mug and bucket' showers. They're pretty much what they sound like... Fill the bucket with the tap, use the mug to dump water all over you. It was awkward at first, but I'm getting better at it and they waste so much less than traditional showers so maybe by the end I'll be a full-fledged convert.

My feet never seem to get very clean because you ALWAYS take off your shoes inside which means I'm barefoot for the whole day at work. I really liked it until I looked at the bottom of my feet.

Food is good and I haven't had too many problems adjusting to eating with my right hand because it's pretty much always with your hands and I'm much more adept at eating with my right hand than I would be at holding a fork with my right hand. I've been a little slow at adjusting to watching other people eat with their hands, but I'm getting better at being able to look up during meals now. We eat rice and spinach and lentils and meats all with our right hand, but use the left one to serve and hold the containers and drinks.

Tomorrow I move out of Saras's guest bedroom and into the Simha family's house. I'm just praying to any and every relevant god that the bathroom I use will have sitting toilet and not just the kind you have to stand over. Will update you as soon as I find out!

No generalizations yet, except that I realize India is huge and generalizations will invariably be wrong. Will let you know more as it happens.
Love, julie

Goodbye Thailand

Greetings from my last day in Bangkok. The internet connection was really slowwww where Matt and I stayed in Railay (the beach) so catching up here in Bangkok to tell the rest of the story. Sorry for what will definitely be rambling - the days are starting to blend together and in the spirit of full relaxation, I'm forgetting the order of things and probably lots of good details too.



We stayed at Railay Bay Resort on the mid/south western coast of Thailand and it was absolutely fabulous! We really lucked out on weather - three quick rainstorms the entire two weeks, which is pretty excellent for 'green season.' The water was gorgeous, the food was delicious, and there really weren't too many huge bugs. I am suprised to report that the cockroaches in Railay were no bigger than the ones in DC! Of course in Thailand they fly, which adds a whole new element of terror, but they really weren't too bad. The mosquitos, on the other hand were treacherous. Silent warriors! It was almost impossible to feel them on you because they were so small, but wow, they left huge welts everytime they bit, which seemed to be often. It was as though my arms and legs were, as Matt said, a buffet of caviar and filet mignon for the mosqiutos.



In other exciting animal news, on our second to last day of rock climbing, we spotted a few smaller monkeys in the trees right nearby. Thinking how exciting this was, Matt went a little closer to get a better photo. Little did we know, there weren't just three monkeys, there were closer to thirty of them and they all decided they wanted to come watch us climb. So nearly thirty monkeys come sit, eat, and play right at the base of our climb. There they were, running all around us, trying to take our bags and water! It was madness! A friend climbing with us, who was belaying his girlfriend at the time, used the end of the rope to keep them a few feet away from us and bravely fought a monkey to get my bag away from one of them. They were funny little creatures, very forward in coming right up to us and trying to take things.



The day before the monkey adventure we rented kayaks and paddles out around the beautiful islands. In one cove a big lizard came right up by us, scared me senseless, but seemed no harm and just sat on his little rock over the water. The water and islands were absolutely beautiful, though we didn't find too much use for snorkel masks - there were fish feeding in shallow waters that you could see just fine from the surface, but otherwise not too much going on under there.



We met a nice couple who were moving between Scotland and New Zealand who turned out to be lots of fun to climb with. They argued a lot, which was mostly entertaining, but the level they climbed turned out to be perfect so I got to do some easier stuff and Matt got to do some insane stuff and everyone was happy. They also introduced us to 'Garden Restaurant' which was essentially a woman who cooked for you on a porch. This woman loved chilis and set my mouth on fire more than once.



Inspired, I also took a Thai cooking class and learned how to make a coconut lemongrass soup (Tom Ka) and a red curry that was really good! Unfortunately, that was also the day I was struck with 'traveller's sickness,' which is really more painful than people seem to let on! I was quite surprised actually that it hurt like it did. But in my continuing adoration of modern medicine, three cipro pills saved the day and I was back to burning my mouth on chilis in just a few days. Matt got a little sick our last day in Railay, but seemed to recover much quicker than I did.



Oh, almost forgot, the second to last day in Railay we rode elephants!!! It was crazy fun. And a little crazy actually. Matt nearly fell off the elephant while it was walking down a gorge (nearly tipped out of the bench that was perched on top for us!) so we held on really tightly after that. It was great though, and they seemed to treat the elephants quite well. There are strict regulations on how much shade they must have as well as access to lots of water and food. We fed them bananas and it was amazing how coordinated they were using their trunks. They scooped the bananas right out of our hands and brought them to their mouths perfectly!


In my quest not to miss allthe good food Thailand has to offer, I convinced Matt to eat with me a street vendor on our last full day in Bangkok. We didn't eat any meat, we're not that brave, but had the most wonderful fried noodles with brocoli and cabbage made by this woman at her grill on the side of the road. It was actually one of the better meals we had and made me realize I need to find a way to get paid to eat and travel - really my favorite things to do.


One last ode to the mangosteen - we bought a kilogram our last day and devoured them in between the Tim Tams we found at a minimart. All my favorite sweets from this part of the world!


We survived with barely a sunburn (and also barely a tan) and have been concocting schemes to come back. It's that wonderful :)


Tonight I'm off to Bangalore where I'll be staying with the director of BelakuTrust, Saras, for a few days before moving to my new temporary home with the Simhas on June 1. For those of you who recognize that name, the Simhas decided to get rid of their adorable basset hound becaue he was too much work and are cleaning their house and have re-invited me to stay with them. I can't wait! News from India to come...

sweat, sand, and Singha

It is impossible to completely dry out here. Once realized, this can be properly compensated for. Chalk, that aid to climbing within normal climates, turns to a sort of milk at mid-day here. But in the last 45 minutes before dusk it operates as one might reasonably expect of surf wax.

Coming to grips with the constant shvitz means beer and water are more or less interchangeable. Just keep the liquids flowing in as they are floating out a few minutes later. Its really best not to rush at anything here. We've learned proper execution of simple errands become studies in shadow, breeze and sun angle, best to read these things before committing fully lest a sunstroke sit you down for pushing too hard.

And here's Julie, behind is our climbing wall, only accessible at low tide. Look carefully for the climber suffering in the late day heat.

Sell the condo, cancel the master's, we're staying in Thailand

Apologies in advance if this doesn't make sense, but all the web options are in Thai so we don't quite know what we're pressing. Bangkok is better by night, hides the grime and isn't so hot. Hotel there was beautiful and luxurious, but we've moved on to grubbier and a happier place. By grubby, we mean a quiet paradise with rock climbing a few steps off the beach where we don't have to dress up for dinner. In fact, we could probably get away with not wearing shoes at all for the next two weeks. Low season means few crowds and surprisingly gorgeous weather. It's cooler now, only reaching about 90 degrees each day instead of 100. We're catching a nice breeze and Matt and I found a friend this morning to play frisbee. Our east coast values haven't quite adjusted to the non-pace, but we're (meaning I... Matt is much more calm) are working on adapting. Beer is helping the cause.

Now, especially for dad, everything we've eaten since we got here -

Fish and chips, croissants, coffee, beer, coffee, beer, Indian curry, wine, coffee, thai curries, taro root puffs in coconut milk, thai curries, beer, beer, thai curries, papaya, coffee, pineapple, beer. squid salads.

Strangely, the best food we had was in the shopping mall in Bangkok where we found the spiciest food I've ever tolerated. We got the man at the hotel to write on a sheet of paper something along the lines of "I will die if you feed me peanuts" and it's become very very very helpful here.

p.s. for aunt ellen, we love mangosteen and lychee. unfortunately, there was a huge sign prohibiting durian from our hotel in bangkok. after smelling the rotten sweaty feet in the market and realizing it was durian, we understand why.