There and back again, an Indian’s tale, III

The University of Hyderabad is a world outside of this one. It was quite, beautiful, and clean. And Dr. Kumar was just great. I first met one of his PhD students, Roja, who talked with me for a good twenty minutes about research, family, the States, Hyderabad, and everything else. She was great. Then Dileep Kumar came in and we had a number of good laughs. He’s set up to have one of his students accompany me on my research to add a bit of translation help when needed, but mostly just a local face to give credibility to the foreigner asking questions. It should be great.

To keep with the transportation theme, though, you should know that I had my first scooter and motorcycle rides at the university today too. My thesis advisor does research on how motorcycles are transforming the developing world, and anyone who’s been here can say that’s true. Every square inch of open space between the bustling buses and rickshaws are filled with motorcycles. Some carry one or two, while others carry three, four, five, or six people, or maybe just one person and their one-year-old buffalo, or about 500 pounds of some fresh produce off to the market. This photo is just from google, but we'll have to put some up some of our own if we can whip out our cameras in time. This is no strange sight anymore...

So motorcycles here are minivans, trucks, and sedans, all in one. What’s most amazing is how they weave in and out of everything, and how the people hardly look phased at all sitting on the back four inches of the seat that’s left to them. Most don’t even hold on, and women usually sit side saddle on the back. I’m always amazed. You can see how motorcycles just fill the gaps in this photo:

Well, on the way to lunch the professor gave me a ride on the back of his scooter. I was a little timid, but luckily it was all in the U of Hyd campus and so nothing too scary. Good thing too, because this was the prep I needed to be ready for my ride back to the train station when our meetings were over. I said I’d catch another rick back to the station, but good professor Kumar would have nothing with the idea. He had a student drive me on his motorcycle. That was great. I really enjoyed it, but still question how a family of four (or seven) make it work.

There and back again, an Indian’s tale, II

After the wicked rickshaw ride, I got off at the Secunderabad train station. It was a little overwhelming, and I at first second-guessed whether or not I should take the train. It’s apparently cheaper (and I would find this in fact is true) than a rickshaw, and I was going all the way across the city, so it seemed monetarily the better choice. But I don’t read or speak Telugu, and I hardly understand English. What if I accidently got on a train to Delhi? Cool for me, but Katrina would have killed me…

I forged ahead, got a ticket (for four rupees… essentially eight cents) and headed to the trains. There were about ten platforms and four parked trains already there, and the ticket didn’t say anything helpful. Nothing about which platform, which train number, nothing. So I started awkwardly (very awkwardly) asking every Indian around which was the right train for “Lingerpally.” I was told three different trains on three different platforms. I went up the stairs, across the sky bridge, and back down again twice before finding out what I should be asking is for the “local train.” Platform 7-A. The route you can see below - from Secunderabad to Lingerpally.

Nothing in India is on time, and when it is, it’s probably because the original time has been postponed a couple times. The trains follow suit. I waited an extra 20 minutes for the train to show up, and when it did, it was a 20 minute wait on the train for it to start. I was seriously thinking this was the wrong way to go, but couldn’t bring myself to leave because I knew as soon as I stepped off it would toot the horn and drive off. I found out later that the train was having a couple difficulties and it usually isn’t that long. But, without further ado, it started away.

What an adventure! The train ride was probably my favorite part of my experience here so far. I got to scan the entire city, seeing the abject poverty of makeshift shanties and tarp houses juxtaposed with first class, hi-tech sky scrapers. Cows, pigs, dogs, and other varmints lived along the train tracks, we crossed a river, numerous stagnant and smelly water ponds, and over a lot of roads where I could watch the chaos of the traffic below me. It was peaceful, cleaner air, and the breeze coming in the open doors was refreshing against the omni-present, smothering heat. I also loved watching the local Indians. Kids always want a wink or a wave from the white guy on board, and may of the men try to be helpful, offering me seats and advice. I preferred to stand by the open door though so I could poke my head out and watch the city. This of course made for a couple close calls with oncoming trains that almost decapitated me. But not much detail needed here. Katrina will probably be reading this…

Unfortunately, the train was very efficient, and arrived at the stop across the city in just a short time compared to how long it takes to maneuver the roads. I wished it could have lasted longer. True, sometimes one could hear the rails creaking or feel the entire train-car shaking, and wonder if it was smart to have ever stepped on board, but apparently it’s ok. There was an article in the paper this morning about 26 who just died in a train crash, but I suffered no such fate.

At the train station it was easy enough to catch a rickshaw to the University to finish the first leg of the journey. He was a great guy, this new driver. He asked about my religion and we had a good (albeit broken) conversation about how God created love, not religions. He’s apparently a Christian, and then five minutes later, assured me he was also Hindu. Made me smile. He gave me his phone number and asked that I come visit him and his two kids and wife. I just might.

There and back again, an Indian’s tale

Today Kyle took a train ride across the entire city of Hyderabad. He was off to meet a professor named Dileep Kumar at the University of Hyderabad. And it was quite the journey.

Usually we ride rickshaws everywhere, and that’s an experience all in itself. That’s also how the day began. Let us give you a lesson, should you ever find yourself in Hyderabad. You wave one of our friendly-looking (sometimes pimped-out), three-wheeling, bus dodging rickshaw friends down (or they kind of creepily saddle over to the side of the road and peek out at you hoping you want a ride), and then try to communicate where you’re going. Today it was, “Secunderabad train station?” A genuine head bobble responds, meaning this rick driver registered my thick American accent. Then the bargaining process starts. “How much?” “50 rupee.” If it’s ridiculous (which this kind of was), you can kind of laugh or just start walking off to see how willing the driver is to lower his quote. Or you can just jump to a lower price. “No. Twenty!” Then it’s in his court. He can drive off in a huph, or… “Fourty!” “Thirty!” Another head bobble, and the journey’s started!

Indian roads are fantastic. You can get a good idea of what that means with the following quote from the US embassy about them…

Travel by road is dangerous... Buses, patronized by hundreds of millions of Indians, are convenient... However, they are usually driven fast, recklessly, and without consideration for official rules of the road. Accidents are quite common. Trains are somewhat safer than buses, but train accidents still occur more frequently than in developed countries.

On Indian roads, the safest driving policy is to assume that other drivers will not respond to a traffic situation in the same way you would in the United States. For instance, buses often run red lights and merge directly into traffic at yield points and traffic circles. Cars, auto-rickshaws, bicycles and pedestrians behave only slightly more cautiously. Indian drivers tend to look only ahead and often consider themselves responsible only for traffic in front of them, not behind or to the side. Frequent use of one's horn to announce presence is both customary and wise. It is usually preferable to have a licensed experienced driver who has a "feel" for road and driving conditions.

Rickshaws dodge and dive in and around each other, and giant buses often converge on your little rickity rickshaw like a hammer and anvil coming together. We’ve had a few experiences where the light to the front and back of us was narrowing quickly, and all of a sudden you’re not sure if you’ll make it through in time. Seen Indiana Jones before? The part where the boats are coming together and they almost get crushed. Yep. 

Anyways, add to countless breath-taking near-death experiences the fact that the air is so polluted and hot that it’s hard to breath at all, and you wonder how you ever make it anywhere alive. Really, though, they’re now tons of fun and we’re not even phased anymore. The way road rules work here is that they don’t, so people have to trust each other as drivers instead of trusting the law’s ability to keep people between the (nonexistent) lines painted on the pavement. This picture is just one, relatively calm and peaceful, intersection your rickshaw will cross on a normal day's commute.

Anyways, this is getting long. You'll have to catch the rest of the amazing trip in the next post!

Letter 2

I'm sitting here trying to think of what to say, what to pick and how to say it. it's been a long week, and we feel like we've learned so much. (and sorry if nothing is proper-cased, the shift keys in the internet cafe are sticky and not worth the effort).

i've been so touched by the stories i've heard. particularly of a woman who told us her story with so much passion and life in her. she contracted AIDS through her husband and found out while she was pregnant.she felt so scared and so unsure of what would happen to her and her baby girl. so much anguish and distress from a disease she did not know much about, and that suddenly made her stigmatized. through LEPRA - a foundation we are working with - she was able to be educated and receive help and just the support she needed. there's more to her story, and i can't do it justice, but it was so touching. now she works for LEPRA and does so much for others in the situation she was in. she's helped start a program to help positive individuals find spouses who are also positives so that the disease doesn't spread, and so many other things, and she's just one person in this organization, just one individual. we were so impressed with her and all the others, and with the organization overall.

we are finishing up our initial meetings with our partners this week and into next, and then we'll get started on nailing down and proposing our projects. it will entail meeting with the partners again to talk about specific projects, visiting communities to do needs assessments, and lots of asking questions and brainstorming. i'm so excited, and i hope i can contribute something meaningful and sustainable. i've already learned so much just from being here in india and from seeing the amazing people here who are making such a difference.

kyle will begin meeting with partners, but with a different aim. he will be getting to know them and finding out what HELP has been able to contribute and how our partnerships can improve. he'll be seeing how well projects from last year have held up. things are not as we expected, so he'll have some work to do, but i know he will do a great job.

aside from project work, we've done a few fun things too. gone to a bazaar, had lots of indian food, ridden lots of rickshaws (woohoo!), gone to see avengers again (indians loooove the hulk, they went crazy for him. oh, and also they have intermission - it just stopped in the middle of a big action scene. really funny), and just walked the streets.

tomorrow we're visiting a leper colony and meeting with another great partner about the dam project. then friday we're going to charminar - the 'old city' of hyderabad. should be great! oh, and we didn't go visit the tribal people this week after all due to some unforeseen stuff, but hopefully later if it works out.

here are some pictures. they're on fb too, but just in case you didn't see them. they were taken in a rural village a few hours away that is doing some great things to help themselves. super cool people.

katrina
(not to be confused with the famous bollywood star. they get so excited when they hear my name, it's great)

Letter 1

Taken from a letter sent to grandparents (minus the mushy stuff), as that's the most efficient way to do this via internet cafe. Hey, it's called letters from hyderabad anyway, isn't it?

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

 

We’re safe in India and it’s been a busy few days! We are finally adjusting to the time change of about 12 hours. It is very hot here, but it’s actually not as hot as we were bracing ourselves for so that is a blessing. It still definitely sucks our energy, so along with the jet lag we’ve been a tired bunch. Luckily we’re adjusting well and we’ve been able to sleep a little extra when we need to.

The city we’re in is called Hyderabad. It’s a huge city of 7 million people, sprawled for what seems like forever. There aren't really any skyscrapers, so it’s just a huge area with lots of small or medium-sized buildings (and the taller ones look unfinished, with rebar sticking out of the top). It’s very colorful here and yet very dirty. The roads usually have lots of dirt, decaying bricks and garbage, and there are people everywhere. There are always new smells, some good and some bad. My nose hasn’t had a break. :)

The other remarkable thing has been the traffic. Oh my goodness, it’s as crazy as I’d ever imagined. Cars, buses, bikes, and rickshaws (three-wheel taxi cars) almost never stop, just filling in whatever space is there – no one pays attention to lines on the road. There is constant honking, but not as we know it. People honk just to let others know that they are there; so it’s a safety measure rather than a sign of annoyance or near-accident. Despite the craziness, I do not feel unsafe. The system is just different, and the drivers just trust everyone else to do their part. It’s definitely an adjustment, but it’s kind of fun.

So far, we have met with a few of the organizations we will be working with while we’re here. The first was a program to try and help villages end child labor. These children who are sent off to work do not get to go to school, so once they are pulled out of work they are not up to speed. So this organization also has a school designed to get them up to speed in 1-2 years. The intent is that then they can enter public schools and have a chance at a decent life. There are complications, but it is progress. We got to meet a class of girls and they told us their hopes and taught us songs and games. It was a great experience.

The other organization we’ve met with deals with different stigmatized medical conditions. They mostly help with leprosy, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis. They provide testing, medical attention, and help to rehabilitate and support the people dealing with these diseases. It is such a great program, we were really impressed. We met people with leprosy and the other conditions and got to hear some of their stories. 

Next week, we will continue to meet our other partners before we get started helping them. I am especially excited for the end of next week because we are going to go and stay a few days with some tribal people in the north of our state (Andrha Pradesh) to learn about how a dam that is being built will displace them. We are hoping to do something to try and help lobby against this dam because it is unnecessary and will displace and end up killing many of these tribal peoples. I am really interested in this project, and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get to go and stay with these people. Even our country director who is from here doesn’t know their language. We'll probably get to see a snake charmer, and who knows what else.

That's all for now. Our house and our teammates are awesome. There's just too much to tell. But we are safe and happy and doing great! India is definitely spicy all around.

Love,

Katrina and Kyle

 Some photos (none with my camera yet, but i'm excited for that):

Some of the girls at the school - beautiful spirits.

Kyle in front of a Hindu temple. So colorful!

We walked across this. We're getting pretty good. :)

From Seattle to Dubai, and then...

Here we are, after a very enjoyable flight from SLC to Seattle, awaiting boarding our first ever international flight together! We've been thinking for a couple months now that the trip to Dubai from Seattle would be going west, skirting the Himalaya, and landing us in the Middle East after only 14 hours. Well, one only needs look at a map and can tell that isn't the truth. We looked up flight routes the other day and Kyle found map on a press release when Emirates Air first opened the Seattle-Dubai route.

In other words... We're flying NORTH! Right over the arctic, the polar bears, Santa Clause, the north pole, Mother Russia, etc. etc. etc. Oh and Canada too. We'll make sure to take some good snap shots of the Kremlin and the caribou as we go.

Then we've got three hours to stretch our legs, walk around Dubai (meaning the airport - we're not allowed to leave because of Katrina's illustrious past record), and possible base jump off that building Tom Cruise almost died on in MI 4. Then... HYDERABAD.

To say the least, we're pretty stoked. Last night we received priesthood blessings from Kyle's Grandfather, and were reminded so beautifully of the real reason we're going - to learn, to love the people, and to do what good we can. Kyle received some emails back from some of the people he'll be researching with and things seem to be falling into place there. We've also had some good ideas from HELP's partners on the type of work they'll be wanting. Katrina's trying to decide now where to put her energies.

So with little more ado, the next post will be from India!

Two days (+two days)

We're leaving in TWO DAYS! We leave on Tuesday and fly from Salt Lake to Seattle to Dubai to Hyderabad. When we land, it'll be Thursday in Hyderabad. So it'll be "four" days until we're there.

Thanks to everyone for your support and enthusiasm!! It has been such a blessing to have so much encouragement and help. We are really excited, and have lots of little things to tie up here... but really we wish we could just get on the plane right now.

Next post will likely be from India! It's so surreal... but so awesome!

And don't worry. We're bringing toilet paper. 

Two weeks!

We leave in two weeks from today! We're getting excited.

Just for fun, here's a song from our favorite Bollywood movie (so far) called Lage Raho Munna Bhai. It's catchy, even if you don't know what the words mean :)

Mangoes, heat, and good to do

ONE MONTH FROM YESTERDAY! It's kind of unreal, but so fantastic.

Our excitement has been growing rapidly, and our Saturday spent at a training conference for HELP International has just fanned the flames. It's becoming more and more real, which is both scary and invigorating.

We heard from special presenters about principles of development, learned more particulars about what projects we can work on, and got to meet much of our team. I love the dynamic already, with so many personalities and interests. 

Some of the highlights:

• Mangoes will be sold all down the streets the first month or two while they're in season. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
• One of our country directors is from Hyderabad, and even she is dreading the heat... 
• There is a really big problem with missing children in India. Children will get separated from their parents for one reason or another, and if they do not know their way home there is no way of police looking it up; there is nothing tracking addresses. As a result, many of the children in orphanages actually do have living parents, they just do not know where.
• A potential project includes helping individuals in a leper colony find a way to generate income. I think it sounds really interesting.
• Sometimes people will cram like 11 people into a rickshaw... (see photo and imagine 11 people in that).
• I'll probably get to prepare a few classes on various public health topics, including basic "growing up" for adolescents who aren't really taught about it, hand washing, and who knows what else.
• There are FIVE positions left on our team! Join us! If you or anyone you know is interested, let me know, or visit  http://help-international.org/ to find out more. It's going to be amazing!

A rickshaw, like many we'll ride this summer to get around town.
(Thanks Wikipedia!)

On top of all that, I won a really great backpack! Perfect timing too; the one I've had for at least five years is on it's way out. Now we only have a few more things to get to prepare... Luckily, we'll buy much of our clothing there since it will be cheaper! Our visas came in the mail today too!

Selavu!

Visas!

It's been a little while, but we're still going strong!

Today we got an email letting us know that our visas have been approved... WE'RE GOING! Only a month and three days left...

Part of our visa paperwork. We had to attach our passport pictures to the first set of paperwork, then take a picture of our picture and signature and load that onto another online application... weird, no?

Other than that, we've been reading up on India and international development, getting more vaccinations and our malaria medication, and Kyle has been working on a training he'll be doing tomorrow for all the other evaluators. (I know, he's awesome).

Saturday we have an all-day training, and I'm getting super stoked. I look forward to learning a lot and meeting our fellow India-goers. We'll have to let you know how it goes!