Reflections

It's been approximately a week since I landed at Newark airport. How does it feel to be back? Weird, strange, surreal. Am I happy to be back? Yes. But do I wish I could go back? A thousand times over- yes.

It's impossible to describe the last 4 months. This blog, nor my pictures, do any of it justice. The one thing that scares me is that over these next few weeks, I will slowly start to forget- the memories, the faces of the many people I met, the hundreds of stories I listened to, the many places I discovered through hours of exploration.. and so much more. I still haven't had enough time to process it all. Yet all I can do is move forward. I've learned a lot- more than I ever have to be honest. Not just about my mother country, but about myself. I needed these lessons, and am so grateful for every person that had a role in showing me what I needed to see, hear, and understand.

I met a lot of people in my program who knew they wanted to come to India for their study abroad destination for a very long time. I on the other hand, chose to go there spontaneously- and am so glad I did. A few of you know that I am headed to Argentina in about 2 months, and I know my time in India will serve to bolster every single experience that lies ahead next semester.

Argentina, see you soon.
India, it may be months, or it may even be years. But I'll be seeing you too- I know this for certain. 

Thoughts from a Coffee Shop

I'm currently sitting at Costa Coffee (my favorite in Pune), sipping on a latte and thinking about how I only have 11 days left in India. Really, I should be working on my final paper that is due in just 3 days as well as my presentation that is in just 5 days. But what's good work without some major procrastination, right?

A few hours ago, a Canadian woman asked if she could sit near me and read her book. Of course, me being the obnoxious person I am, I introduced myself to her and asked where she was from. She, like me, is studying a variety of courses relating to Indian culture and politics at a university nearby- but unlike me, she's here until April (so a full year study). She was amazed to know how little time I had left in India and that led us to have a discussion on just how incredible this country is. The sheer magnitude of the beauty that exists here is incredibly hard to show or describe to others. Even in the poorest parts of the city of the slums I have been working in, the spirit of the people is enormous- there's so much dynamism everywhere. In every essence, India truly is chaotic and absolutely 100% crazy- but if it wasn't, it wouldn't be the India I have come to know and love. It's hard to imagine that I will be leaving soon and though I wish I wasn't, I know I will be back. In the past 4 months, I've been exposed to just a glimpse of how enormous our world truly is- it has driven me even more, to see as much of it as I possibly can.

In the coming days, I will be finishing work, last minute shopping, mailing out postcards I should've mailed out 1-2 months back (sorry), eating at least 3 ice cream softy cones a day (not kidding), indulging in street food at least twice a day (again, not kidding), and drinking as much sugarcane and mango juice as I can. But for now, in the coming hours, I'll be working on my paper that badly needs some attention.

Good luck to everyone in their end-of-the-year work. I'll be seeing some of you soon hopefully!

Love,

Sai 

Internship madness

As great as my trip to Hyderabad was, I was almost immediately thrown back into the chaos of school, work, and Pune. Oh, Pune…. I wish I could say I missed it a lot but I’ll be honest when I say Hyderabad was a lot better. There might be a little bit of bias thrown into that statement, but hey, it’s my blog.

ANYWAY, no sooner than the new week began, I learned I could officially start work for my internship- rather than simple visits I had been doing for the month of October. To briefly explain what my internship is, I work for a microfinance organization called Parvati Swayamrojgar that has 7 branches all over Pune. Each branch is located in the middle of a slum. My main task is to assess Parvati’s financial literacy training sessions- if they’re effective- if they can improve, etc.

2 and a half weeks later… I can officially say I love my work. I love what I do. I love the people I work with. Before officially beginning my internship, I had to develop a questionnaire to interview women on what they think of these training sessions. I went in with the goal of interviewing at least 70 women (10 from each branch)— I’ve thus far been able to interview 80 women! It has been nothing short of an incredible experience. Everyday, I travel to a slum, attend the training session, and then go forth with the task of interviewing at least 5-10 women. Since I was told to spend as much time ‘in the field’ as possible, I have been interviewing these women inside of their own homes. These homes are almost always miniscule, roofless, have no toilets, and sometimes do not even have a door. Up to 6-7 people live inside of these homes. And yet no matter how destitute some of these womens’ conditions seem, every single woman I’ve encountered so far has always gone out of her way to offer water, chai, or some type of food. In addition to talking to them about the training sessions and the importance of saving, I have also had the opportunity of listening to their views and their problems.

I’ve been to the homes of women who are mess hall workers, maids, garland makers, vegetable sellers, street sweepers, street food vendors, handcart sellers, tailors, and a variety of other occupations. While one may find it easy to subjugate some of these women as ‘lower class individuals,’ they are some of the most beautiful, most inspiring, and most hard working individuals I have ever met. And in my book, that makes them high class. They’re also hilarious, which makes it a bonus for me to talk to them J And if anyone is wondering how exactly I talk to them—I have an interpreter (and she’s awesome by the way)! Since I cannot speak mahrati, she asks them the questions and then translates what they say. But I’ve actually started picking up on some of the vocab (because of the fact that I interview at least 5-10 each day), and am sometimes able to gage what they are saying in response… which is amazing! And even more awesome, I have actually met a few families that speak Telugu so I have been able to speak to them directly, without the use of my interpreter. When this happens, she’s able to take a break for a while :P

In regards to the people I work with-- each of the 7 branches has a great office staff and the man who runs the training sessions, Mr. Kawalle, has honestly become my best friend. You think I'm kidding, I'm not. I see him every day for about 5 hours and he's almost become a mentor of sorts! But everyone has been so friendly and willing to help regardless of how busy they are. I think I definitely lucked out with the organization I was assigned to. 

I have about 2 and a half more weeks of my internship left—this coming week I am going to be doing in-depth interviews regarding my academic paper topic. I am writing mine on slum eradication- what’s been done in the past, what is happening currently in the 7 slums I work in, and what I think the future will be based on my research. Thus, these in-depth interviews will be on what those in the slums think- how they think slum rehabilitation and slum redevelopment should happen (if they agree with participatory development). The week after, I will be talking to a variety of local NGOs and Pune’s government officials to see what their particular views are. It’s definitely going to be a busy two weeks but I am looking forward to it!

I also have to mention that I have started taking the bus to each of the branches instead of rickshaws because it’s faster and cheaper. And that’s definitely been an experience. Jumping onto a running bus, or jumping off of a running bus, being shoved and pushed, and almost being hurled out of the bus due to the crazy driver’s braking are definitely frustrating—but mostly funny. I’m laughing thinking back on all of my experiences so far. All in all, my days have been tiring, but they’ve been so worthwhile at the same time.

OK so I hope that makes me all caught up on my blog posts! I am so sorry for anyone that actually read all of this- but hopefully my next post will be shorter!  

HAPPY (late) DIWALI!

I know this post is extremely late but better late than never, right? For those of you that don’t know what Diwali is, it’s the festival of lights- it’s the biggest festivals here in India. It signifies a new beginning, and is spent with family. It’s also best known for the use of fireworks and firecrackers. Essentially, it’s awesome. Refer to some of my facebook pictures if need be :)

So on October 21^st, I frantically turned in all sorts of papers/assignments/paperwork and got in a rickshaw to go to the Pune Airport. I was told it was extremely far away, and yet I got there within 25 minutes -_- And me being me, I got there about 4 hours before my flight even arrived… so I spent the time doing lots of people-watching, making new friends, and trying airport food- time well spent if you ask me. Once I was on the plane is when I realized I was heading back to a home I hadn’t been to in years. I wasn’t really sure what to expect considering I had not seen in Hyderabad in so long.

The first few days in Hyderabad were spent at my aunt’s house while the last few days were spent at my other aunt’s house. Looking back, I can’t believe how the 9 days went by so fast… but to summarize all of what I did while there, I saw family I haven’t seen in years- on both my mom’s and dad’s side. More important than simply seeing my family, I was able to talk to them, connect with them on a somewhat higher level considering I was no longer half a world away from them. It was incredible to see everyone. I felt so much love the entire time I was there- and it was great to see that everyone still felt the same way despite not having seen me for so many years.

 I was also able to see the 4 homes in which my parents and I lived in Hyderabad before moving to the US.  As I walked down all the little alleyways and roads, all I could think about was “wow I actually grew up here.” And for this reason, I am 100% glad I went to Hyderabad for Diwali break. One of the main reasons why I came to India was to reconnect to my roots—and I was able to do exactly this. In addition to seeing my family, I was reminded of my past- of where I come from—and ultimately it made me realize how far my parents and I have come. Moreover, it made me realize how much my parents sacrificed so I could have a better life. They left their families, their homes, the only worlds they knew to start entirely from scratch. It’s absolutely mind blowing to reflect on how much all three of us have grown up over the last 10 years. It’s even more mind blowing to think about all the experiences I’ve had, all the people I’ve encountered, and all the opportunities I’ve been presented with. There’s much more I could say but I’d go on for pages and that would just be painful for everyone, so I think I’ll stop here and say: I’m incredibly lucky. And no amount of words in the world are enough to thank those who have helped me get to where I am today (including every single family member). 

Onto the next post regarding the weeks afterwards in Pune! 

Travels to Mumbai

At 6am on Wednesday morning, I left the apartment in order to go find a rickshaw- which I was told would be hard because there wouldn’t too many on the road. However, I quickly found a man who was willing to drive me to Pune Railway Station. It took about 25 minutes and once there, I was immediately overwhelmed by the smells of delicious foods, the perfume of some of the women walking by covered in Burkas, as well as the smell of urine and so much more. Our train was supposed to leave at 710am but like all things in India, of course there was a delay and we didn’t really end up leaving until about 740. I wish I could say it was a great train ride but we were in the AC section- which meant the oddly tinted windows had be shut the entire way. But as a bonus, we received omelettes for breakfast which were SUPER yummy!

We reached Mumbai by 11am and my first impression was- wow. We were in the old part of Mumbai- the very southern tip. So all of the architecture was from the colonial period and the scenery was just breathtaking. Another thing that caught my attention right away was the amount of pollution. What some people believed to be fog or mist covering Mumbai’s skyline as we drove by- was actually pollution- our first glimpse of the many problems that plague the growing city of Mumbai.

We quickly dropped off our bags at the hotel- which was a very nice hotel might I add. It even had showers! I happily enjoyed my first overhead shower since August and reveled in it J We then went to Manibhavan- where Gandhi lived from 1917 to 1934. It was an odd feeling to be walking around and looking at all of the books that he read during his lifetime, and viewing some of the letters he wrote to people such as Hitler.

From here, we went to the Bombay High Court. We were given the opportunity to enter a few of the rooms where there were active cases going on. What I liked most while I was there was the fact that the lawyers have an ongoing conversation with the judge(s)- there is no jury. From what I could tell, it really gave the judge the opportunity to use his expertise and experience to challenge the lawyer- while giving the lawyer an opportunity to show the courtroom his skill in arguing the judge. Though I could not understand what most of the cases were about (due to the time limit), it was a really neat experience to be inside of the high court. Unfortunately, I have no pictures- as we were not allowed to bring our cameras in!

The next day, we listened to two different speakers. One, Ms. Neera Adarker, spoke about the transition of Mumbai from Mills to Malls, while the other, Matias (from Switzerland) spoke of his study on ‘neighborhoods’ (not slums, I’ll explain later) around the world- from Tokyo to Mumbai. He has a background in economics and urban planning. I cannot explain how much I liked him and what he had to say in a few words. But I’ll try to sum up what he said. Essentially, the government is trying to ‘redevelop’ slum areas by tearing down the structures in place, and constructing high rise buildings in order to move people into ‘better lives.’ What the government is not realizing is that these people move into the high rise structures, don’t really know how to live in it because they aren’t given any type of aid or maintenance help, and so they immediately move out back into another slum area. As Tokyo did many years back (and now known to be one of the best cities in the world), Matias believes that the government here should allow the slums to be in a constant state of development. In his words, “dynamism is important- as is allowing this development in the presence of vernacular forms.” He also told us that the people of these neighborhoods are incredibly skilled- with a variety of businesses.

And boy, are they skilled. After Matias’s lecture, we went to Dharavi, mistakenly known as Asia’s largest slum. This is where Slumdog Millionaire was filmed. Apparently, there are larger slums in Mumbai than Dharavi, but people simply refuse to look into the matter before putting a label on it. However, we were given the opportunity to visit a recycling unit as well as a potter’s business. My group had a tour guide by the name of Raiz Khan, who lives in Dharavi. Just looking at him, I could tell he was a genuine man. He carefully took us through the alleyways and brought us to various destinations, one being the recycling unit. Here, people cut up different plastic materials, sift through them, then pick out the various colors and organize the pieces. Some of these colorful pieces are then used as beads while other materials are used for other purposes. As we looked on to the people going about their business, we realized that they had no protective gear. There were no safety measures taken- and yet they went about laughing and going on with their work. Next, we were brought to a potter’s business. He was such a jolly man who made perfect pots without even looking! And as we walked to various locations in the areas, we looked inside some of the homes- at what all the people were doing. Many homes were not simply homes- but also places of businesses for things such as tailoring etc. I remember talking to a few of my friends while walking through the alleyways and we spoke of how skilled these people were- how knowledgeable they were. I’ll use Raiz as an example. Despite being a tailor, he also works as a journalist and an activist- and yet his life is confined to such constraints where he is unable to move up the social ladder.

When we asked a few individuals here what they wanted most from the government, they said that rather than the ‘redevelopment’ projects that Matias spoke to us about earlier, they wanted incorporation of their businesses and lives into the development plans. Simply destroying their homes and areas of businesses, and relocating them into high rise structures is not going to make their lives better by any means. They not only lose shelter, but they also lose employment- as well as a sense of dignity, from what I could tell anyway.

Dharavi was incredibly eye opening and I am lucky to have received the opportunity to see it- outside of a movie or a textbook. It made me even more excited for my internship- where I will actually be working in seven slums all across Pune. I am interested in talking to the people more than anything, and besides that, I am going into it with zero expectations. By no means do I hope to enter into their homes as some type of ‘liberator’ that is set on opening their eyes to a better way of life. Rather, I hope to listen, and learn from them. As Matias said, it is highly important for us as individuals to recognize, understand, engage, and THEN go about intervening with what you think is the best route.

Sorry for the incredibly long post… I’ll try to cut back next time, haha. Anyway, this past weekend after Mumbai has been very quiet. I’m actually really sick right now but I’m hoping this lemongrass chai I keep drinking will help. I have a lot of upcoming papers and presentations to be working on, but I figured I’d get this blogpost out of the way first! I can’t believe that I leave for Hyderabad in less than a week—or the fact that it’ll be November upon my return to Pune.

In other news, I saw a parrot today on the terrace! That might not be exciting news for anyone- but I lovelovelove parrots, and getting to see one made my day, as well as the jasmine flowers that I picked off the bush (also on the terrace). Parrots, jasmine flowers, lemongrass chai, overlooking the view from the terrace, and breathing in fresh air I think was exactly what I needed after a hectic few days.

Hope everyone that still reads this thing has a good upcoming week!

Love,

Sai 

Mahabaleshwar- An Amazing Weekend

This past weekend, my environmental class headed to Mahabaleshwar for a 2 day field trip. We were given essentially no information about where we were going, what we’d be doing, or where we were staying (you know, all the important stuff). Our professor did this intentionally because he wanted us to have no expectations before we went. So the entire class was pretty much highly skeptical of the trip. I know I definitely was. But let me just say, it was by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

We left Pune at around 7am on Saturday morning. The ride there was short (2.5 hours), compared to the 7 hour journey we had to the tribal village. We dropped our stuff off at the place we were going to be staying. I don’t even know how to describe it except for that it was AMAZING. It is a little lodge-type house run by a Zoroastrian couple. I will have to add pictures because my words do not do it justice. We met the man that runs the place, Peter. Peter is practically blind but he is one of the most intelligent, vivacious, and funniest men I have ever met. He used to be a teacher but now exclusively works on maintaining the lodge for those who stay there.

A part of the house is this cool porch area 

After our introductions with Peter, we went to see the Western Ghat mountains up close. It was extremely foggy but it was surreal to be standing there… I felt like I was walking on clouds. I took a lot of photos but I can honestly say that I don’t think any of them capture the beauty that I was surrounded by. While there, we listened to our professor speak to us about the environment in Mahabaleshwar- how it came to be, and what is being done to protect it. It was declared an eco-sensitive zone a couple of years back and because of this, many businesses and corporations are restricted from coming to the area.

The Western Ghat mountain range

I also got my first street corn on the cob here! Sadly however, I was attacked by a baby monkey and he got to eat half of my cob. I thought it was hysterical and I was impressed by how high the monkey was able to jump :P Oh, and the half that I was able to taste of my cob was DELICIOUS- sprinkled with masala and lime J

We then went to an ancient Krishna temple- the temple was built because the location was the origin of the Krishna river (temples are built at all originating places of rivers).  As we sat there listening to our professor speak about how the temple was 2,000 years old- I was left in awe by the scenery around me. We also meditated and chanted OM together, with our professor leading us along. It was incredibly serene and peaceful. I am starting to like and understand my professor a lot more- though he seems to be insane at times… he’s definitely growing on me!

Afterwards, we had a delicious lunch AND we had strawberries and cream!!! Mahabaleshwar is known for its JAMS (like the kind you put on bread) and strawberry everything! It was so so so so good. Dinner was also good. We had a typical Zoroastrian meal- and since it was my first time having it, I was excited to try it! And I’m not surprised I loved it. Despite the fact that I was exhausted by the time dinner was over, I ended up staying up past midnight, playing Mafia with the rest of my classmates. It was an awesome time.

The next morning, we awoke real early! We had a tour of Peter’s farm and I was amazed at how well kept it was. There were medicinal plants, lime trees, guava trees, mango trees, lots of flowers, and lots of crops. The women who work at Peter’s lodge actually use these crops to make all of the food. We had a chance to taste all of this at the ginormous breakfast we had after the tour. I don’t think my stomach has ever been happier at any breakfast I’ve had. We had lots of bread with homemade strawberry jam (mmmm!), and Indian style scrambled eggs, as well as fresh fruit. SO GOOD.

After stuffing our stomachs, we got ready to go on a 4 hour trek up the mountains to a destination known as Wilson point, from which we were able to see everything. It was a really nice trek- and a great work out. I also have to mention the fact that Peter came with us the entire way- and may I remind you that he is pretty much entirely blind. Seeing him and hearing him speak really inspired me. He has so much motivation and is just an all around great person. Along the way, we saw some little critters- I held a baby toad and a baby crab! Once we reached the top, we meditated again with our professor and then headed for lunch. It was another delicious meal with grilled cheese & veggie sandwiches and Indian style pizza. I feel like I talk about food so much in my posts but honestly… I can’t describe how AWESOME it is! We dropped Peter off after lunch and then headed back to Pune.

The view from Wilson Point

It became stormy right as we were leaving

No one wanted our weekend to end. It was by far the best trip I’ve had in India so far. Nothing felt rushed or stressful. We were simply able to breathe, relax, and take in the environment around us. It was amazing.

Since the trip however, reality has slapped me in the face as I am presented with more deadlines about lots of papers. We were also informed about our internships, and I actually had my first visit to the organization I am interning for today.

Beginning soon, I will be interning at an organization called Parvati Swayamrojgar. It is a microfinance institution that lends out loans to the urban poor. The organization has 7 branches all throughout Pune. I learned today that my job will be to assess their financial literacy training program. Every individual who applies for a loan from Parvati has to undergo this training program. My job will be to figure out what type of impact the program has had on them. Thus, I was told that I will have to visit all 7 branches, every week, throughout the course of my internship. I will have to develop a questionnaire and then interview the slum dwellers myself (with an interpreter alongside). So I will be doing fieldwork, which is exactly what I wanted to do! It sounds as though it will be a lot of work, but I was told that if I plan ahead and really invest a lot of time and effort into it, I will come out with a much greater perspective on how the urban poor function- and how we can come up with ways to help them in the future. The only downside is that all of the branches are pretty far away from where I live. The rickshaw rides will be super long, but I think it will all be worthwhile in the end.  I’m super excited to start, especially because the one of the current debates in India is about the poverty line estimation. It is said that the urban poor can live on 32 rupees a day while those in the rural area can live on 26 rupees a day. This is being contested to a great extent, and it will be interesting to see what happens. I think, for my final paper, I am going to do a comparative analysis on how Parvati’s financial literacy program has impacted those below the poverty line & above the poverty line.  Also, I will add that 86% of the institution’s loan borrowers are women!! So this organization has done a lot towards the area of women empowerment- which is beyond exciting and I can’t wait to get an up close glimpse of that.

But enough rambling. I will definitely write later about the internship as I visit the organization/branches more throughout the month of October! We have to spend this month familiarizing ourselves with the staff and writing a proposal on the type of work we would like to do. Then the real work begins!

Love,

Sai

Typical Friday

So after posting something about the tribal village visit, I thought maybe posting about what a typical Friday here is like would help understand what I'm up to here in India!

I wake up every day at 5am (don't ask me why... I've just gotten used to it, even if I end up sleeping at 130am)

I take my time getting ready. Turning the bath water on and waiting for it to get hot, as well as for the bucket to fill up takes a total of 15 minutes. After taking my bath, I settle down with some chai and do last minute homework or reading.

I leave the apartment at 750am. Unlike other people, I live SUPER close to where the program center and classes are so it's about a 5 minute walk for me. Once I get there, I have breakfast with all the other students.

At 8:15am I have to speed walk over to my first class at 830- environmental perspectives. This professor hates people being late so we literally have to race the professor to class (not joking).

Straight from environmental, I head over to Development Economics at 10:15am. This is my 2nd favorite class and it always seems as though the time goes by super quick. Today, our professor ended the lecture about a half hour early so we could spend the rest of the time talking about food, music, and movies-- he gives the BEST recommendations for restaurants and other places to go to around Pune- for which we are very thankful!

From Development Economics, I head straight to my Social Justice class which ends at 1:30.

Normally we have lunch at this time. Today, however, we had birthday celebrations! On the last day of every month, my study abroad program celebrates all the birthdays in that month together. 6 mini cakes are bought and people take turns cutting them. We then had a delicious lunch- also bought by the program center. We had parathas, biryani, raitha & wait for it... a CADBY. What is a cadby you may ask? Well, the GREATEST chocolate shake I have ever had... sprinkled with oreo type pieces all throughout... it filled me right up. Glorious, I tell you.

After lunch on most Fridays, people go their separate ways and meet up later to go out and celebrate the start of the weekend. Today, we heard about an exhibition being hosted by 20 NGOs so a group of us decided to head over. After going on a mini shopping spree on the road where my college campus is, we went to the exhibition.

Though I was expecting a lot more people to be there, I had a good time walking around and seeing all the different types of work that local NGOs around here do. A lot of the NGOs present at the exhibition did some work relating to helping those that were physically and mentally disabled. The entire thing was put on by a woman named Veena, who I had the opportunity to meet. I asked her what inspired her to do all of this. And she told me that she does it all for her daughter, that she sadly lost one year ago. Puriva, her daughter, was a physically and mentally challenged child, who fought hard for her life, but ultimately lost the battle. Through this process, Veena was introduced to several organizations who worked with fighting disabilities and as a result, realized that these organizations were not reaching the common people. For this reason, she decided to create a platform to bring these NGOs together so that the people could truly see their work. After talking more with Veena, I walked around a bit more and found a small booth that was selling mini bags and decorations made by HIV positive women and children. I couldn't resist buying a beautiful blue bag & one of my friends got the prettiest peacock decorations :)

Then, I headed over to my yoga class that I have 3 times a week. Let me just say, I am so happy I am taking yoga with the instructor I have. She is extremely laid back but so on top of her stuff as well. Yoga is calming for me but is also a work out. I definitely am sweating by the end of the session. But it's an amazing feeling! At 615 I start walking back towards my apartment.

The walk back home is well lit and once it becomes dark, ALL the college students come out and start their weekend festivities and shopping also! This means it's the busiest time for all the street vendors. So my walk home is definitely not a boring one. I always stop to snoop around the little shops and take a closer look at all the beautiful little knick knacks I often see as I rush to class, my yoga class, or other meetings etc. I think perhaps my favorite thing about walking home is crossing the street-- not even joking. I've had some near death experiences seeing as how crossing the street here in India is an artform, but it's awesome weaving through all the two wheelers and cars and bike riders etc. Love it. I'm weird, I know.

So it's 730pm and now I'm home! Normally, I would be doing something with friends. However, I have to be up at 5am tomorrow for a environmental perspectives field trip to a national park. I will be staying there overnight and we have no idea as to what we are doing. Our professor insists on not giving us any information because he claims it will be a better experience that way. Thus, here I am, about to begin the midterm exam and essay I have due on Monday- as I will have no time to do them over the weekend. It's unfortunate, but I am strangely looking forward to this field trip. My environment professor is one of the most amusing individuals I have ever known- and he's also brilliant. It takes a little bit of time to understand what he's saying most of the time... but he's growing on me, as well as his class. He told us to be prepared to see snakes. And if we do see a snake, he told us to look it straight in the eye and smile. Once the snake sees our genuineness in our eyes, it won't do anything, apparently. In fact, according to the professor, any animal who can look into the eyes of a human and see that they are good will not harm them. Every animal except for a mosquito. And for this reason, he told us to bring our mosquito repellent. Hahah.

Sorry for two long posts! I will write an update on how the weekend trip went- and hopefully I will have lots of stories :)

Love,
Sai