rained out & abandoned on a bridge.

Woke up extremely early today with severe neck pain. I cant move to the right! With all of the meds that I've taken in the past month, I'm a bit paranoid that somethings going to go wrong with my body and i'm going leave india with a life changing physical problem. The overdose on malaria meds and quick trip to the ER didnt help my mental state either (i'll have to explain this some other time). So I wasnt sure if I should goto work but after a quick chat (and words of encouragement) from my dad, I gathered up the strength and energy to trek through the daily downpour. Joanna had the day off and wanted to buy some clothes so we walked over to Gandhi Market. Unfortunately the market was closed, so I ended up at work an hour early. Sat on the steps again. Two hours into the work day, Dr. Athar came over to me and advised that I head home because it was raining. So I'm thinking "whats a little rain to get all shaken up about?" The recent floods (which they refer to as 26/7 - like 9/11 but the month and date are reversed here) have everyone in a state of panic whenever it rains (which is at least 3 times a day!). Well anyway, happy to head home early on a friday, I pulled out my umbrella and started searching for my ride home. It didnt take long before I was sitting on a bridge in broken down taxi. The driver decided to pull the taxi to the side of the road and then to let the car roll wherever it felt like in neutral. I thought we were going to hit the median! Then, he motioned for me to get out the cab because he didnt feel like taking a chance in his broken down taxi anymore. Lovely! So there I was, standing with my umbrella, which was practically useless because I was completely drenched. I walked around in knee deep water, going from cab to cab, until on my ninth try, the guy decided to risk the rain and take me. Meanwhile, the associate director from AVSAR called and told me to head home because of the uncertainty of the rainfall. Its really nice to have people looking out for us here, we all feel very supported and taken care of!

Since I've been here for almost a week now, I know my way around (well generally), so when he took an unnecessary turn, I realized that I was being taken for a ride. But at times like that, there's really nothing that I can do because the taxi driver knows that I dont have the skills to argue with him. !! I got dropped off way before my apt complex and had to walk through a nasty, muddy mess. By the time I got home, I was ready to fly back to America. Everyday is a challenge in India. Each day is a combination of a million little miracles.

We're planning to go out in South Mumbai tonight despite the recommendation from our associate director to stay in...

niramaya means good health

I bet you're all wondering how it worked out with the bus system. Well, I went over to the bus stop near Mahatma Gandhi Market (the shopping area near me) and waited for the number 8 bus. 8 in Hindi looks like an vertically inverted L (in case you ever need that info). And so came the bus, completely packed with people hanging out from all directions. Whether or not the bus has come to a stop is a non-issue here because if you wait for it to stop, you may as well wave goodbye to all the bus riders staring at you. I took a taxi. Yes I know, I'm a sell out but I dont care. I'll experience the bus and train rides along with the roommates, besides that, for personal traveling, i prefer taxis. I calculated how much more I would be spending if I take a taxi to and from work everyday and it comes out to being 17+ dollars more (for the month) than taking the bus. In indian rupees its quite significant but since I'm still in conversion mode, I'm perfectly happy spending an extra 724 rupees (1 dollar = 43 rupees). If I had come for longer, I would be riding the bus like the rest of the volunteers.

I arrived at work a little earlier than expected. The taxi ride was only 8 minutes compared to the 45 minute bus ride that I had allocated time for. People tend to start work later here in India, so even if it was 10 am, no one was at the office. I sat on the steps of the Krishna building near Hind Mata Theater for a good 50 minutes before anyone came by. My salwar kamiz (indian outfit) was completely soaked from the ridiculous heat. I spent majority of the morning observing aka quietly sitting around waiting to be acknowledged. I learned more about Niramaya and how they serve the underprivileged women and children of the four major slums of Mumbai. Niramaya runs an outreach program at each slum through a doctor dedicated to each area. Health workers - who are not medical professionals - go door to door to each slum dwelling to speak with the families about their medical needs. Its primarily the health workers who build the relationships with the community and the doctor comes into the picture when the people need treatment. Niramaya also holds educational sessions for women and children on a variety of topics, some of which include nutritional cooking demonstrations since majority of their patients are malnourished children. HIV/AIDS is a huge problem in these slums as people tend to get their immediate problem resolved but never address the actual issue of how they are getting infected or sick. I learned that being homosexual is actually illegal in India; this law was established during the British colonization. Different NGOs have tried to repeal the law but the Indian government merely said that the society in India is not ready for this change and acceptance. The doctor that I'm working with in the office (who also serves as the office project manager) was very candid about the gay community and how its perceptions are managed here. I was a bit in shock at how open he was with his language.

The afternoon was very educational for me. Niramaya is aiming to push a new program for HIV/AIDs education materials as well as condom distribution in slums. A few months ago, they had applied for a grant from a local organization. Today was their interview with the organization and as long as all goes well, they should get the grant! So you can imagine how nervous and excited everyone in the office was! Three individuals from the potential sponsor, AVERT, came to discuss the financial info, structure of the organization, and the combined goals of the two groups. After all of that was discussed, they headed over to the clinic in the Baiganwadi for a site visit.

In the evening, we had our first "Reflection" session with the associate director of AVSAR. It was nice to sit around and discuss my first day and to hear about the other volunteers experiences. Its very reassuring to know that everyone is going through the same thing. The support that AVSAR provides is something that makes this whole experience gel much more easily. I think I would feel lost without it.

Holiday

The roommates and I hung out in the apartment for most of the day except for the grocery shopping trip. Its amazing at how easily we all get exhausted here; its mainly because of the heat. I understand why people constantly rest. I was laughing at my relatives and kept teasing them by saying that all they do is eat and sleep. I spoke too soon. Now I find myself running back to the apartment just so I can sit under the fan.

In the evening, we ventured out to Bandra on the train. We took tons of pictures and hung out of the train like the locals do (there werent that many people around so we were able to do all of this!). Our destination was our Hindi tutor's house where we attended a puja (a prayer gathering). There was a group of six girls that are volunteering in India for six months so we all exchanged numbers! Our network is already growing. We will probably all meet up this weekend to experience the Mumbai nightlife scene. After the puja, we headed over to the upscale restaurant, Olive. I felt like I was in NYC! We were all so happy to eat salads and entrees that we havent seen in weeks. Supposedly Bollywood celebrities hang out at Olive but I didnt see any! Then of course came the daily downpour. It took us 40 minutes to get a taxi and then another 45 to get home. What a night!

My NGO: Niramaya Health Foundation

Went to visit Niramaya Health Foundation today. Its basically three small rooms in a part of Mumbai called Dadar. The associate director of AVSAR took me on the train again, I was a little more comfortable this time around. We spent about 45 minutes there, 30 of which were spent waiting for the woman who we were supposed to meet with to show up. They made it clear that they are not sure what they want me to work on because I am their first non-medical student volunteer. So basically, I am an "experiment" to see if the business side would benefit from volunteers. Talk about pressure. They advised me to take the bus there, but since I've been on the train for the past two days, the bus is going to be a whole new experience (and this time its going to be on my own). That will be Thursdays adventure.

Tomorrow is a holiday - the annual Ganapati festival.

Here's some info about it : The modern history of the Ganapati festival dates back to 1894, when the Maratha politician and Indian nationalist, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, or "Beloved of the People", gave it a distinct political face. Though the festival had largely been a private affair, where each family purchased an idol of Ganesh and then took it out in procession on Ganesh Chaturthi before immersing it in the river, pond, or tank, it had not been without its public and community aspect, since often several families pooled their resources to buy a larger-sized idol. But one of Tilak’s achievements was to make the Ganapati festival the vehicle for the aspirations of the Maratha people as well as those of other Indians who desired independence from British tutelage. Henceforth, the Ganapati festival was to become a largely public affair.

Day One: Orientation

We spent the day with the director of AVSAR at orientation. She went over a ton of information that was really helpful. I learned more about my NGO (which I will be visiting tomorrow). My project will involve working on the organizations brochures and branding campaign, which fits into most of what I did throughout my past rotation.

Then came the scary part of the night - the Mumbai train system. I am completely freaked out. The train that we got on was supposedly not crowded (i beg to differ). There is no concept of personal space and people are quite comfortable brushing up against you, actually i think its preferred to stand that way. I have to get over that quickly. There are so many things to keep track of - when's my stop?, is someone trying to steal my bag?, am i going to be able to get off the train?, what platform should i be on?, is this train going in the right direction?, and the most terrifying for me is always hoping that I can keep my balance while walking on the downward sloping slippery steps at the station. !! I'm always looking at the ground to make sure that I'm not falling down that I havent had the opportunity to to observe my surroundings. It's definitely going to take some getting used to. I already appreciate how clean and organized America is relative to here.

After the train ride, the evening was quite pleasant. Though it was raining, we walked around South Bombay which is primarily the business district. First stop was a local pastry shop. We walked up Marine Drive and saw Chowpatty Beach from across the Arabian Sea. Bombay University is gorgeous with its Indo-Gothic architecture. I had the pleasure of seeing the Gateway to India as well as the infamous Taj Hotel(which charges an average of $500/night). A volunteer named Vikram showed us around; he knows ridiculous amounts of information about the city so it was amazing just to walk around and listen to him rattle off stats and random tidbits about the area. We went to a barista(the coffee was much needed!), and then ended up having dinner in the tourist district. There are so many amazing things at the markets, I cant help but wonder how badly we're going to get ripped off when we end up buying things.

There are three other volunteers here this month. One girl has been here for two months, and the other two (who are from Canada and are friends) are here for September and October. It's really great to meet people with similiar interests and to experience everything for the first time together. I dont know what I'd do if I was completely alone here. Though it would be much easier to be here if I had a buddy from home with me...

A slow day

Met the roomies today - Sherry, Miriam, and Joanna. Sherry has been here for two months and will be staying until next June. She went to Drexel Med! Who knew that my roomie would be a fellow Philadelphian? Then again, we already know how small the world, especially for a gal like me. The other two girls are friends from Canada. They both went to McGill and are taking a year off before medical school. I'm the only business person here...AVSAR gets mostly medical students as volunteers.

The apartment is nice, it has two bedrooms, each with a bunk bed and a pull out bed. Both bedrooms have bathrooms. The room that I'm in has western facilities (aka a toilet). We have two computers, one with internet access and cable tv!

We decided to venture out in our area to look for a place to eat. Unfortunately it was pouring and we got lost. I think we went in every direction except where the restaurant that we were looking for was. We finally found the place and sat down to have our first lunch in Mumbai. yummy.