Field Trip!

Picture: Buying mangoes in Gadchiroli.

Picture: Restaurant! From left to right: Jessica, Amy, Miriam, Me, Marie, Sufina, and Bhagyashree. Lalu in the middle. (Sona was taking the picture).

Anand told me that on my very first full day (last Thursday 6/24) I would be taking a visit to one of the rural villages to observe the Home-Based Maternal, Newborn, and Child Care program in action. This is the program that has collected the tobacco consumption data that I will be analyzing. It is a very multi-faceted program. The other girls told me I was lucky because some of them had to wait a couple weeks before going on their first field trip. Not all the American girls were going on the field trip because some had already been to the rural village.

In addition to the six American interns that I have mentioned, there are also a few research interns from India that are in our age group. There is Sona, Bhagyashree, Sufina, Aditi, and Ashwini. I've already introduced Sona. She is our coordinator. She guides us on our field trips, helps interpret for us, and is generally our friend. Bhagyashree, her roommate, is also very friendly. She comes along on most of our outings. She is from Goa (the part of India with the beaches). Sufina is actually Indian-American. She grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and went to SUNY Albany and got her nursing degree. She has been at SEARCH for several months. Aditi is also very sweet. It was her birthday last week. Ashwini just finished her term at SEARCH, so I only knew her for a few days, but she was very nice in the time that I knew her.

There are also a three male research interns, all Indian. There may be a few others, but it's hard to define everyone's role and people are always coming and going. Their names are Pawan, Sagar, and Rajnish. I've talked to Pawan about graduate schools in the United States and all the young kids that live on the SEARCH campus love him. I barely know Sagar. Rajnish came on our field trip to the temple last Sunday (future post) and I sit next to him in the library when working. For the most part though, we don't hang out with the guys. The girls are too cool!

Anyway, on my very first day Sufina and Sona were leading a trip to one of the rural villages. All the Americans except for Brenna and Kate would be going, and Bhagyashree would be joining us. Unfortunately, the village health care worker that we were meant to visit was not home. Instead we took a trip into Gadchiroli town, which usually only happens on Sundays! The other girls said I was being spoiled on my very first full day :-)

Since Sona is from Gadchiroli, we first walked to her house. (Gadchiroli is very small). There, her housekeeper fed us mango that we had bought on the street, and Sona showed us all sorts of artwork and wood carvings in her family living room. After we went shopping! Since I did not have many clothes with me, we went to several pre-made clothing stores. Not finding anything I liked pre-made that fit me, we went to a fabric store and bought some fabric and then went by a tailors. It is very very common to have your clothes custom made here. Unfortunately, in the end, the tailor messed up and the custom made clothes still did not fit me! However, I had a fashion swap with Kate and Brenna and was able to get an outfit out of it in the end. This also worked out well because I had wanted cotton, and the fabric I bought felt more synthetic than cotton. Thanks to Kate for my new orange and white cotton salwar kameez!

After shopping we went to eat at a restaurant that would have eggs. At SEARCH we do not have eggs because it is considered non-vegetarian. The restaurant that we went to had Indian food that is a lot closer to what we are used to in the United States than the food on the SEARCH campus. One of Sona's school friends, Lalu, came along with us. He has been living in Australia for the last five years so he speaks English with an Australian accent. We feasted at the restaurant! My favorite part was the simple boiled eggs. We also ordered some fried rice (tasted like Chinese food) and several curry dishes with white rice and chapati (like flattened naan). Lalu was really really nice and picked up the tab for the whole table!

After lunch we went to the "ice cream store" which is a convenience store in town that sells ice cream. They also sell a lot of candies, so instead of ice cream I ended up buying some Cadbury chocolate. Although it was only my first day, I knew to be thankful for the eggs and the chocolate that I was consuming. There is no dessert after dinner on the SEARCH campus, ever.

I had a lot of fun on our field trip. The anxieties I felt the previous night were almost entirely gone as I spent the day out and about with the girls. During my first few days at SEARCH I found this to be a pattern. The days were fun and happy; it was only during the evenings after dark that I would become nervous and sad about being here.