Week 1: First Glimpses
One week has passed since our first day in Kadapa and I have smelled a lot of smells, had my feet swell up like a pregnant womxn, and have gotten quite used to being in a constant state of sweat.
What I experience in Kadapa, India cannot be generalized and represent the entire country of India. I am catching only a small glimpse of India as I live in a rural part of Kadapa and work for Aarti Home for Girls as an intern. So please take my words with a grain of salt.
As interns, we live in apartment-like homes, a quick car/bus ride away from Aarti Home and Aarti School where we are spending our days working on a big fundraising project. This week was full of orientations, presentations, and project meetings, and now Andrea and I are working with Stanford interns to fundraise $40,000 by August 15. It is very ambitious and the wifi has definitely tested my patience. There is so much to do and I hope we can use our time here as best as we can to create sustainable and effective projects that the future interns can carry on. I am in awe of Sandhyamma, the amazing leader and founder of Aarti and her ability to smile despite all of her responsibilities and pressure.
Our days are long with our projects at Aarti School and sometimes we visit Aarti Village (the home for girls) afterwards and play and bond with the girls until dark. There are so many of them, that I feel like it is a little hard to create strong friendships. But they always have a smile on their faces and bright personalities and so many games to play with us!
The community is very welcoming, but I have to admit, I do miss my family, friends and community back home. This is the first time I am in a country where I don’t speak the language or really know a lot about the culture/history and let me tell you I feel and look like a foreigner. It’s helped to message friends, but the time difference (+12.5 hours) does not make it easy. Anyway, although I am not *thriving* in this country just yet, I am excited to keep learning & absorbing like a sponge!
Things I wasn’t expecting to do…
Learning how to eat with my hands (no forks/spoons) and resisting the urge to use chapati as a tortilla to make burritos
Hearing the local language (Telugu) and not understanding ONE BIT
Seeing cars drive on the left side of the road like the UK
Hearing people honk all the time, not in an angry way: they honk as a turn signal, as a greeting, when they’re happy, and just because:)
Being tired & wanting to sleep A LOT like literally 10–12 hours each night
Seeing monkeys casually in the streets
Dreaming some real vivid dreams due to my malaria meds (?)
Watching as everyone waterfalls their drinks from water bottles
Food
Indian food is like a wild party in my mouth full of so many flavors and spices where half the time I don’t know what I am eating, but I am sweating bullets and asking for more. Being Mexican did not prepare me for this and I realize what a bland person I actually am. I wouldn’t say that it is too spicy, but it is definitely SPICED and I am starting to like it more and more. Still, breakfast is a little hard since I am used to a more sweet meal like cereal or a granola bar. My stomach has not gotten upset (yet), but I know our host mothers are purposefully giving us less spicy things.
Highlights:
Going to Aarti Home and getting to play/get to know all of the girls who call us “akha” or “big sister”
Drinking the sweetest tastiest chai tea ever
Feasting on sweet sweet mangos (side note, my sweat and body scent is starting to smell like mangos)
Mood(s): grateful, tired, hot, confused
