As I am sitting in this Starbucks on the opposite side of the world, I can't help but laugh to myself. I've been living in South Asia for two weeks now, and it's been an eventful and exhausting two weeks! I went through a ten day long, intensive orientation for the internship I am participating in, and it was exhausting! From learning new parts of the city, to learning a new language, my brain has thoroughly been fried. One of the funniest things I experienced was on Monday of this last week. In the older part of the city there is a large mosque that me and several friends were going to visit. In order to get around this part of town, you have to take cycle rickshaws. We split up into two groups, argued with our rickshaw driver over a reasonable price, and we were off. Our rickshaw driver was a little, old man. And we were four young women in our 20's . As we pulled closer to the mosque, the road became more uneven, and hard to navigate. At one point, our rickshaw got stuck. We felt bad for the man, who had to jump off of the bike to pull us along. One of my friends attempted to jump off of the back to help, but a middle-aged man appeared out of nowhere yelling, "No, no, no! It is [South Asia]! No issues!" The man then pushed our rickshaw off of the uneven road, and helped us to get to our destination! So when anything unexpected happens, our new favorite thing to say is, "no issue, no issue!" The coming weeks will be extremely busy, as we have finally settled into our new flat, and are able to begin our work now. The majority of my work will take place in the slums, and I am excited about it. It is an interesting situation, with the poor here in my country. I refuse to give them money, because it ultimately does not help them. They are forced to give up the money to their owners at the end of the day, and I don't want to contribute to that. However, it is morally defeating to be unable to help them. I look forward to a day where this country, and its people are freed from the bondage of poverty.
 |
| Personal photo from Chawri Bazaar Road. January 2015 |
Sounds like you are having an exciting beginning to your internship! Hopefully the feeling of exhaustion wears off soon so you can fully enjoy your time there. Going to the mosque must have been so interesting! I would love to see a mosque outside the US; it is definitely on my bucket list! I hope your internship itself is off to a good start. You didn't talk too much about that specifically, so I’ll just hope for the best!
ReplyDeleteI definitely suggest going to Istanbul to see some beautiful mosques! The blue mosque is one of my favorites. As far as the internship goes, i'm teaching a lot of English, and providing basic health care education to children in the slums (how to brush their teeth, wash their hands, etc.). It's been great so far!
DeleteI hope your internship had a good start. What part of South Asia are you in? I am also curious to know what your internship is about. Cudos to you for having the courage to travel to a completely new world and trying to learn a new language ALL of it while finishing your assignments for this course on time. I hope your trip and your internship is enjoyable and successful!
ReplyDeleteHey Nidhi! Right now I am in India, but i'll get to travel around a little bit as the semester goes on. My internship is a lot of English teaching, paired with basic healthcare education for kids in the slums. I get to do some security-related things as well. But, overall, it's been exciting and fun!
DeleteHey Nidhi! Right now I am in India, but i'll get to travel around a little bit as the semester goes on. My internship is a lot of English teaching, paired with basic healthcare education for kids in the slums. I get to do some security-related things as well. But, overall, it's been exciting and fun!
DeleteHey Dakota, I haven;t had a chance to read your introduction yet, but wow! You live in South Asia? That is so cool. I used to live him Japan when I was younger, and I miss it a lot. Sounds like you are having a lot of fun! I hope everything is going great with your internship.
ReplyDelete