Sericulture (silkworm production) in a village about 2 hours south of Bangalore
Hello, I don't have too much to say today, but I wanted to say hi and give a brief update. The past few weeks have been going quite well, so well in fact that I've flirted with the idea of staying here a bit longer to finish out my four months of internship. But alas, I miss bagels and lox and have been told it's really expensive to change a plane ticket halfway through the trip so the plan to come home hasn't changed.
Despite how great the last few weeks have been, I'm disappointed in the status of women both in India and throughout parts of Asia. Last weekend I read The Bookseller of Kabul (an amazing book, by the way!) and felt so blue when I realized that even now in a country just next door women are treated as garbage. They're made to be servants in their own home, married off without any regard to their opinions, and actually punished for expressing any emotion beyond consent.
In India, they've just elected their first female president (perhaps setting a precedent for us at home??) and she covers the back of her head with her sari 'out of respect,' though I wonder out of respect to whom. I don't know too many women who mind seeing another woman's hair. And on the news a few days ago I heard two different reports from two different states in India about 10 and 20 fetuses being found in mass 'graves.' Under closer examination they realized that all the fetuses were female and they reported that of the 12 health facilities with ultrasound/sex determination capabilities in one of the states, only one was legally registered. As much as we work to give girls opportunities, there's little we can do to change people's minds about the values of sons versus daughters. I can in some strangely rational world, it's cheaper for some people to pay for a sonogram and an abortion than the burden of a daughter. Sad.
But on to happier topics... I'm coming home in three weeks and can't wait. I'll be in DC primarily until mid-September, though after that I'm unsure where I'll be working. Wish me luck finding a fall internship!
In India, they've just elected their first female president (perhaps setting a precedent for us at home??) and she covers the back of her head with her sari 'out of respect,' though I wonder out of respect to whom. I don't know too many women who mind seeing another woman's hair. And on the news a few days ago I heard two different reports from two different states in India about 10 and 20 fetuses being found in mass 'graves.' Under closer examination they realized that all the fetuses were female and they reported that of the 12 health facilities with ultrasound/sex determination capabilities in one of the states, only one was legally registered. As much as we work to give girls opportunities, there's little we can do to change people's minds about the values of sons versus daughters. I can in some strangely rational world, it's cheaper for some people to pay for a sonogram and an abortion than the burden of a daughter. Sad.
But on to happier topics... I'm coming home in three weeks and can't wait. I'll be in DC primarily until mid-September, though after that I'm unsure where I'll be working. Wish me luck finding a fall internship!
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