Things that made me smile today

My mother's email
Email Subject: Incredible
"So tonight I was watching CSI NY and the cops were walking through an Indian (like India) neighborhood in NY in one of the scenes and everyone was throwing colors - they were celebrating Holi and I knew what it was because of you!!!"
Awwww Jan and her new connection to India!

Oren Lavie video: Just watch it until the end. If it doesn't make YOU smile, well, then you cuh-learly have no soul.



Mango, Kiwi, Yogurt, and Granola lunches for the past week resulting in me being known as the most health-conscious person in the office. I blame Phil for bringing all his newfound hippie California living practices to India during his visit (we even had a joint ab workout in Udaipur-bah!). But honestly, it's the start of mango season and you just can't go wrong!

Drinking Bordeaux with a girl from Alabama last night! New friends in Delhi are always welcome, and more so when they hail from the great state of Alabama!

Delhi as a hardship post.... doesn't this justify an increased or prorated stipend from AIF?

Ordering a new flash for my fisheye camera. For all my friends blinded by the fisheye over the past few weeks, get excited because Danielle is bringing me a brand new flash from the States to experiment with!!

My upcoming Bollywood dance lesson! Learning my third dance tonight!

"Tizita" downloads
This weekend I finished reading Abraham Verghese's novel, Cutting for Stone, a story of the twin sons of a Malayali nurse and a British doctor in Ethiopia who are then raised by two Indian doctors. It is a beautiful novel and highly recommended; I especially enjoyed the references to both India and a shout out to the Ethiopian restaurants in Adams Morgan! The novel makes frequent references to the song "Tizita", which I searched for on iTunes and downloaded two versions of - it's lyrical and addictive, and I found a great description of it in one book review.

"'Tizita' is a word in Amharic (the official working language of Ethiopia) that has three 'meanings, according to Dag Woubshet (Assistant Professor of English at Cornell from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia): 'It can mean, in the first place, memory and the act of memory. Some dictionaries parenthetically add nostalgia, or the memory of loss and longing—and nostalgia certainly evokes the word’s attendant mood, its melancholy, which is discernible in the way Amharic speakers use it even in the most quotidian exchanges. Secondly, tizita refers to one of the scales or modes in secular Ethiopian music, one that conjures up in sonic terms the word’s dictionary meaning of nostalgia. Finally, and incorporating the two, tizita refers to a signature ballad in the Amharic songbook, which always takes the form of an expression of loss. At bottom, tizita is a ballad about the memory of love loss.' All three of these meanings are invoked in the book."

I've decided I must focus on these good things with only a little time left in India. And plus, there's so much to look forward to (including two trips to Agra in the next two weeks!)

Thriving with LED Lights

This weekend I had the chance to visit one of the projects that I supervised (bah! although the picture is from another project: innovative heating system in Kyrgystan) during my two and a half years at the Development Marketplace. Thrive is an NGO based out of Hyderabad, a city in the south of India. Thrive strives to provide affordable, renewable LED lights to the rural and urban poor around the world. I was able to visit their headquarters, their production rooms, and their campus outside of the main city where they are working to develop innovative solar-powered technologies such as water purifiers, solar cookers, LED light street lamps and well pumps.

I also got to visit one of the urban slums near the Thrive offices and see the light in action by comparing the owners' previous kerosene lamp and the new LED light. The difference is pretty astounding and I'm a total convert. The statistics show that approximately two billion people worldwide have little or no access to grid electricity. We, well, I at least, take light and access to electricity for granted and it's hard to imagine a life in complete darkness once the sun sets, huddling around one or two kerosene lamps to light our work, help us cook, allow us to move around freely.

Thrive's light allows farmers to go out into the fields safely (watching for animals), allows women to cook in safety (without risk of fire or indoor air pollution), allows children to study later into the light, allows small rural businesses to stay open later because they have light, and allows families to engage in other revenue-generating activities later into the night. Ranga gifted me a light during his last visit to Delhi in November, I use it every night and still have not had to charge it!! See below some photos from this weekend as well as a youtube video created by Thrive about their work in the H'bad slums.

Visiting Ranga and Thrive was a refreshing look at my work in India as well and my motivations for coming to this country (although somewhat unrealistic and since tempered). I am refreshed and promise to write more about the actual work that I have been doing here. Promise. Later...


A model of the kind of kiosks that Thrive establishes in villages where people go to charge the light. The World Bank-funded project that I worked with established these types of kiosks in rural villages in the state of Orissa, India. Villagers would use the light (anywhere from 24 to 140 hours of light depending on which of the three modes you are using), then the kiosk entrepreneur charges the lights for a minimal fee using electricity or solar power.

Previous iterations of the light.

The newest version of the light in the energy kiosk.

Solar panels that power parts of the Thrive campus

Kerosene light in the urban slum we visited - you can barely see anything in the darkness

Light by Thrive's LED light - sorry for the blurry quality, but you can see the difference between both of the lights!!

Mt. Abu, Ahmedabad and Modhera Sun Temple

After leaving Udaipur following the Holi festivities, some of us continued our travels in Rajasthan and then to Gujurat.

First stop: Mt. Abu, hill station and honeymoon capital of Rajasthan and according to Prathap, a popular set for Bollywood films. This was also my first sleeper bus in India on this trip, and it wasn't as bad as I pictured it would be. We hiked up to the Wildlife Sanctuary, where Phil aptly pointed out that there was more wildlife outside (re: monkeys, cows, stray dogs) the sanctuary than inside (although we did see a crocodile). We also visited a spectacular Jain Temple (Dilwara Temple), unlike anything that I've ever seen in my life. Marble reliefs and intricate, simple yet incredibly detailed carvings make up all the temples in this complex. Unfortunately no photos were allowed, but visit these links to see some of the craftmanship.



Second stop: Ahmedabad in the state of Gujurat, where three fellows have been placed. A reunion of 10 fellows, Ekta organized a fabulous farmhouse partay on Saturday night which was spectacular and has me convinced that I want a swing in my future house (I was introduced to this swing-in-house concept after visiting Vidya's home in Bangalore and love love loved it). We ate some Gujurati food, visited Gandhi's ashram and the famed stepwells and then took a day trip to Modhera to see the Sun Temple. I was sad to leave A'bad (and without the Rick tour!) and friends, but am off to Hyderabad to visit a former project team leader (and one of my faves) I worked with at "the Bank"!!

More updates to come...


Gandhi's Ashram

Stepwells

Modhera Sun Temple

Group Photo at the farmhouse

Playing Holi

Last week I welcomed my first visitor in India! Phil, a close friend from Tufts, coordinated his visit to coincide with Holi, the festival of colors.

Holi, was, in two words: COLORFUL CHAOS.

Phil and I took the overnight train to Udaipur for the festivities. During the day crowds worked to build these elaborate shaved tree, hay and firecracker stuffed mounds precariously close to buildings and in town squares. That night we prepared for the festivities around one such shaved tree, narrowly missing a stampede as a bull meandered through the crowd. Fireworks left and right, horizontal, burning trees, fists of color; this was one of Phil's first introductions to India and I think he loved it.

The next day we put on all our white clothes, stuffed our pockets with some of the 60 bags of color that Michael, another fellow, had purchased and ran outside. Kids, grandpas, people on scooters and in rickshaws, no one is safe from "playing Holi" whether you wanted to or not.

By the end of the day my face had been shades of neon yellow, pink, green, orange, purple, blue and black. Our clothes no longer white, we considered the day a success and returned back to our hotel.

The past week was one of my favorites in India so far for many reasons: seeing so many other fellows, having a friend from home finally get to see what my life in India really is all about, playing tourist for almost an entire week, and finally participating in an Indian festival (I chose to miss Diwali and opted for the quiet peaceful Himalayas).

Passive Aggressive Notes (re: ass water)

If I did not think it would be extremely inappropriate, I would post the following note in my office bathroom:

Dear Colleague,

The ass water that you leave on the toilet is unacceptable.

I understand that as a foreigner this may be a "lost in translation" moment.

I understand that it is probably more hygienic for you to wash your butt hole with water rather than with scratchy toilet paper.

I understand that this is a "cultural adjustment" and I should accept the difference between our different ways of dealing with poop.

I understand that you may assume everyone hovers on public toilet seats. I don't; I enjoy taking my time and not straining my thigh muscles unless absolutely necessary. Absolutely necessary means when there is ass water or unidentified hair on the seat.

However.

I do not understand how you can continue to leave seeming buckets of water on the toilet seat. Especially considering the fact that there were TWO signs in the bathroom, one in English and one in Hindi that both indicated that all users of the communal toilet should clean the toilet seat before he/she vacates the water closet. Since my arrival at this workplace, the Hindi sign has been taken down. No matter, everyone in this office speaks English. Including you.

I do not understand how you can ignore this sign that you have to stare at when you are sitting on the commode doing your biznass.

I do not understand why in a professional work setting I found a puddle of urine on the back of the toilet seat the other day. Did you not see that? There must have been some splash-back effect that you must have noticed.

I kindly request that you find a way to clean up the ass water (re: water than drips down from your butt hole when you are washing it) that you leave in the bathroom. Also note that it is not just on the toilet seat, I find the water on the floor, on the sink, everywhere.

Clean up after yourself and please aim more carefully in the future.

Regards,
Your heretofore hovering colleague

International Women's Day

For International Women’s Day, the NGO that I am working for has launched a “blog action week” called "It Takes Two: Women and men unite to end violence against women.” I must admit, my first reaction to the concept of celebrating men for international women’s day irked me and seemed, um, let’s see…. counterintuitive? But it seems we now are tasked with finding (1) men who love women and their rights and want to elucidate their thoughts on our blog and (2) women who know men who love women and their rights and want to write about that man. Oh, so circuitous I have a headache just writing that sentence.

Below is part of my (appropriately) unfocused blog post. If you want to celebrate that special, woman-loving man in YOUR life, please post your thoughts on our blog. (You may have received a facebook invite from me following this email from a colleague:
"Hi,

There have been no invites by any of you. Please send invites to your friends on facebook asking them to join the blog action week. Thanks.

Regards,")

Or, you can celebrate the women in your life who inspire you, who raised you, who have loved you, who make you smile, who make you think, and who challenge you.

And on that note, I send my love, gratitude and respect to my Mother, Grandmother and Nona for being the kind of women I want to be when I grow up. Happy International Women’s Day.

_________________________________________

In reviewing some of the past themes of International Women’s Day, I was wondering what the improvement in women’s situations has been after this call for change and empowerment was recognized over thirty years ago. By the year 2015, the UN has set out the third Millennium Development Goal of “promoting gender equality and empower women”. The indicators pertain to education, agricultural labor and political representation. It seems we have a long way to go:

• Worldwide, 774 million adults lack basic literacy skills, as measured by conventional methods. Some 64% of them are women, a share virtually unchanged since the early 1990s.
• In developing countries, 1 in 61 women die during pregnancy and childbirth; in least developed countries, 1 in 17 die.
• An estimated 529,000 women die a year - at least one woman every minute - from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth, leaving behind children who are more likely to die because they are motherless.
• Approximately 80 percent of transnational trafficking victims are women and girls and up to 50 percent are minors. The majority of transnational victims are females trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation.
• Trafficking in women and girls for forced labor and sexual exploitation grew rapidly between 1995 and 2005, largely as a result of war, displacement, and economic and social inequities between and within countries.
• International research consistently finds that women are more likely to be beaten, raped, or killed by a current or former partner than by any other person, with most studies estimating that 20 to 50 percent of women experience partner violence at some point in their lives.
• Seventy-two percent of the world's 33 million refugees are women and children.

Ko-rea Nostalgia

As some of you know, John and I decided to meet "in the middle" in London for the weekend. Focusing on some quality time, we mostly walked around the city all day and night catching up and whatnot.

London is far more cosmo than I realized and I think we heard about half English-speakers and half every other language under the sun. So, we were walking through Hyde Park and saw these two Korean kids who were chatting - John turns to me and asks what the one kid said, and sadly, the extent of my Korean now is understanding "aigo", which I translated. We continue walking..... all of a sudden I hear, "CA-RO-RYN?" from behind, I turn around and BOOM! they were two of my students from Youngsaeng High School where I taught Engrish for two years in Korea!!!!! :D

A-friggin-ma-jing. So incredibly random - they were traveling through Europe before starting their military service, (the one on the right is going up to the DMZ) making me feel old as they are now in their 20s, and we had a nice chat with them. The world is so veeeeeeeeeeery small. Put a smile on my face for the rest of the day. And then we spotted Owen Wilson in Notting Hill! Another smile on my face!