Since I have posted, I have had two full days at my internship, which has been amazing. As I said last time, my internship is at a legal services place which will have me exploring a bunch of different issues related to women's rights. It is pretty much a perfect for me.
Getting there is kind of tough. To do it I take at least 3 forms of transportation, in addition to my feet. To remember where I need to go when I have my key words: "Bandra Station. Goregoan with return. Platform Number 1. Green Stripes. Platform Number 1. Green Stripes. Platform number 1 green stripes. Bus 33. Threes with tails. Baghat Singh (like the fat lady does when its over) Nagar. Baghat Singh Nagar. Walk walk walk. Station Please. Platform number 2. Green Stripes. Platform number 2. Green Stripes. Platform number 2. Green Stripes. Pali Hill/Turner Road/Holy Family Hospital." To give you a break down: Brandra Station is where I ask my rickshaw driver to take me. Goregoan is the train station. Platform Number 1 is where I stand at Bandra Station. I get into a green striped (second class, womans) car. Baghat Singh Nagar is where I get off of the bus. Then I walk to my site. Station is where I tell the bus driver I'm going on the return. Platform number 2 is where I stand. When I get off, I tell the rickshaw driver any of those locations and pray to ever diety known to mankind that one will take me there. The three hardest parts of my day are getting off (yes off) the bus at Baghat Singh, I never seem to be able to see it; getting on the bus to take me to the train station; and finally finding a rickshaw. There are a lot of people normally looking for a ride so the drivers can be picky.
Anyways my internship site is turning out to be great. I've spent most of the past two times there reading/researching Indian laws and rules and regulations as well as various factors that impact women. This has been really helpful in giving me a framework for the report I'm eventually going to do. Additonally, it is providing me with some information that I wouldn't know or understand otherwise. Once I'm able to learn more and understand more I'll look forward to telling everyone about what I'm learning but right now I'm still just processing all that there is to know and sorting it. Both days that I have been there, women have come in normally to file for divorce or address some issues with their husbands. One particular woman "M" is fialing her case on Wednesday, and I got to read over her petition this week. I couldn't believe some of the things I read. For example, her husband abandoned her and her new baby at the hospital and refused to pay any of the bills in the hospital. She had been abandoned and abused by this man that she trusted and married without the support of her family. Since I'm going with her on Wednesday to court, and will probably see and hear more of her story as she goes through this process.
This weekend we went to the Navarati Festival, which was pretty much a HUGE dance party. We went to this location where literally thousands of people were dancing around in huge circles. I wish I could say that I joined in, but they were moving really fast and it was hard to even follow their movements, let alone adance with them. Later we were told that people had been practicing for at least a month leading up to the festival, there were a lot of prizes invovled in the event, so the level of dedication is not surprising.
My classes are continuing to go well and I am enjoying myself and the different opportunities for learning they each offer. My Bollywood class continues to expose us to the side of India that is infused with music and laughter. While Green India challenges us to look critically at ecological problems in the country.
Peace, Love, and Elephant Kisses-Emmy
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Classes and Birthday Bashes
Greetings my friends! You are reading this blog entry after a very long, exciting and eventful week!
This past Tuesday, we watched another great Bollywood movie (I'm going to become quite the buff by the end of the semester...probably not but maybe), Rang De Basanti. The movie shows a British girl, Sue, coming to India to film a documentary about her grandfather's, who was an officer in the British army, journals about a group of men who challenged the British rule in the 1930s and the friendships she makes with the students she works with. Unlike many movies about the Indian Independence Movement, this movie portrays the use of violence as opposed to nonviolent means to fight oppression. I don't want to give too much away but I would definitely recommend it.
I finally have my internship set up! I know I had mentioned working at VIN home in my last post, but things were not coming together fast enough, so Pamela mentioned that she had a friend, Jaya, who worked in legal aid, among other things, and often did counseling for women in need. Today Pamela and I went to meet with Jaya, and it seems like everything will work out. Jaya really wants me to get a full experience of understanding how oppression works at different levels- legal, poltical, economical- and see how they are all interconnected so she has some big plans for me, which I am excited about. She is going to arrange for me to go to at least family court session to see how the system works, as well as a case filing to go through the hope and anxiety that results from filing a case. Jaya also determined that she wants me to write a report about what I see, think, and feel, while I am going through this internship and connect it with various research work. This is an excellent opportunity for me to explore macropractice and have a better understanding disenfranchisment and how to empower individuals on as many different levels as possible. I am really excited about this internship, as it is so close to what I am doing.
Today, when Pamela and I took the train to my site, we were in the women's car for my first time, since I have only ridden the train before with Mike- who obviously is not a woman. While we were riding on the train, women were buying nail polish and jewlery, gossiping, and feeding their children. I was sort of taken aback at what I saw. Compared to the mixed gender car, this car was so much more lively and exciting to be in. In the mixed gender car, everyone is very quiet and hardly acknowledges each other, however in the women's car everyone is taking care of everyone. They are helping each other on and off the train, scooting over to give more room for everyone to sit down. It is sort of like this mini-community that happens only in the train, an unspoken code that says "If you need something I'm here, now try this nail polish it will look great on you." I am really looking forward to being able to ride in the women's car as I continue my internship and I'm sure I will have at least one or two more experiences to write about.
This past weekend, our friend Ishan had his 21st birthday. To celebrate, we went to Mud Island (yes Mud as in dirt and water mixed together, there is another spelling, but for all intensive purposes, "Mud"), where Ishan's dad's company has access to some bungalows and houses on or near the beach. Mike, our friend Kunal, and I left my apartment in Bandra around 7:15 friday night and took a rickshaw to the island, which took about two hours. Now if you know Mike, and you know the size of a rickshaw, you know that it was a tight fit, but if you don't know Mike, he's a giant and rickshaws are not designed for longer trips,so the three of us were pretty much squished in the rickshaw through all the traffic for quite some time. When we got there it was really dark, so I didn't really get a chance to see the area until the next morning. However that night at midnight, Ishan officially turned 21. In India this means that everyone of his friends and family members calls him or if we had been in the city, would have shown up at his house. In fact one of his friends, Justin, showed up just past midnight with balloons. As it was, we all sang loudly for him and celebrated. The next day when we were having cake,Ishan cut the first piece and then went around to all 15 (ish) of us and offered us a bite of his cake. Apparently this is how its done. Totally fun and totally messy. I had never done this before, but it was really fun and it might start happening at my birthday celebrations from now on.
Mud Island itself is gorgeous. We were able to walk along the beach (my favorite) and take in some gorgeous sites. The water was really dirty so we couldn't swim in it but it was a great trip all the same. I forgot how much I missed being at the beach and wandering around.
We headed back from our weekend birthday bash celebration this morning, bright and early. Somehow I still ended up in the back seat with Mike and Kunal, which was pretty tight but not nearly as bad as the richshaw. We ended up back at the school around 9:00, in time for those who needed to to go to class and for me to meet Pamela! It didn't take nearly as long to get into the city as out of it, because there was less traffic.
Happy Ramzan Id! As all celebrations and festivals in Mumbai, Ramzan Id is a big deal and is currently being celebrated throughout the city with enthusiasm!
Peace, Love, and Elephant Kisses- Emmy
An Amazing Sunset over the beach at Mud Island
This past Tuesday, we watched another great Bollywood movie (I'm going to become quite the buff by the end of the semester...probably not but maybe), Rang De Basanti. The movie shows a British girl, Sue, coming to India to film a documentary about her grandfather's, who was an officer in the British army, journals about a group of men who challenged the British rule in the 1930s and the friendships she makes with the students she works with. Unlike many movies about the Indian Independence Movement, this movie portrays the use of violence as opposed to nonviolent means to fight oppression. I don't want to give too much away but I would definitely recommend it.
I finally have my internship set up! I know I had mentioned working at VIN home in my last post, but things were not coming together fast enough, so Pamela mentioned that she had a friend, Jaya, who worked in legal aid, among other things, and often did counseling for women in need. Today Pamela and I went to meet with Jaya, and it seems like everything will work out. Jaya really wants me to get a full experience of understanding how oppression works at different levels- legal, poltical, economical- and see how they are all interconnected so she has some big plans for me, which I am excited about. She is going to arrange for me to go to at least family court session to see how the system works, as well as a case filing to go through the hope and anxiety that results from filing a case. Jaya also determined that she wants me to write a report about what I see, think, and feel, while I am going through this internship and connect it with various research work. This is an excellent opportunity for me to explore macropractice and have a better understanding disenfranchisment and how to empower individuals on as many different levels as possible. I am really excited about this internship, as it is so close to what I am doing.
Today, when Pamela and I took the train to my site, we were in the women's car for my first time, since I have only ridden the train before with Mike- who obviously is not a woman. While we were riding on the train, women were buying nail polish and jewlery, gossiping, and feeding their children. I was sort of taken aback at what I saw. Compared to the mixed gender car, this car was so much more lively and exciting to be in. In the mixed gender car, everyone is very quiet and hardly acknowledges each other, however in the women's car everyone is taking care of everyone. They are helping each other on and off the train, scooting over to give more room for everyone to sit down. It is sort of like this mini-community that happens only in the train, an unspoken code that says "If you need something I'm here, now try this nail polish it will look great on you." I am really looking forward to being able to ride in the women's car as I continue my internship and I'm sure I will have at least one or two more experiences to write about.
This past weekend, our friend Ishan had his 21st birthday. To celebrate, we went to Mud Island (yes Mud as in dirt and water mixed together, there is another spelling, but for all intensive purposes, "Mud"), where Ishan's dad's company has access to some bungalows and houses on or near the beach. Mike, our friend Kunal, and I left my apartment in Bandra around 7:15 friday night and took a rickshaw to the island, which took about two hours. Now if you know Mike, and you know the size of a rickshaw, you know that it was a tight fit, but if you don't know Mike, he's a giant and rickshaws are not designed for longer trips,so the three of us were pretty much squished in the rickshaw through all the traffic for quite some time. When we got there it was really dark, so I didn't really get a chance to see the area until the next morning. However that night at midnight, Ishan officially turned 21. In India this means that everyone of his friends and family members calls him or if we had been in the city, would have shown up at his house. In fact one of his friends, Justin, showed up just past midnight with balloons. As it was, we all sang loudly for him and celebrated. The next day when we were having cake,Ishan cut the first piece and then went around to all 15 (ish) of us and offered us a bite of his cake. Apparently this is how its done. Totally fun and totally messy. I had never done this before, but it was really fun and it might start happening at my birthday celebrations from now on.
Mud Island itself is gorgeous. We were able to walk along the beach (my favorite) and take in some gorgeous sites. The water was really dirty so we couldn't swim in it but it was a great trip all the same. I forgot how much I missed being at the beach and wandering around.
We headed back from our weekend birthday bash celebration this morning, bright and early. Somehow I still ended up in the back seat with Mike and Kunal, which was pretty tight but not nearly as bad as the richshaw. We ended up back at the school around 9:00, in time for those who needed to to go to class and for me to meet Pamela! It didn't take nearly as long to get into the city as out of it, because there was less traffic.
Happy Ramzan Id! As all celebrations and festivals in Mumbai, Ramzan Id is a big deal and is currently being celebrated throughout the city with enthusiasm!
Peace, Love, and Elephant Kisses- Emmy
An Amazing Sunset over the beach at Mud Island
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Clasees Adventures and more!
The past week or so has been pretty busy, I've actually been going to my classes and the schedule seems to have steadied out a little bit.
I started my Green India class on Friday, which I am really excited about the class focuses on different ecological issues facing India, what has caused them, and what to do to address or try and fix them. Our teacher, Soonu is AMAZING. She looks like an Indian Julia Child, with big glasses and super curly hair and the warmest face. She had just returned from her first trip to the United States and was excited to share her adventures with us. You can certainly tell that she has a passion and joy for life and I'm looking forward to working with her. She has also traveled around India quite a lot so I'm sure she will have some tips for us as we embark on various trips around the country.
Friday afternoon, Mike and I joined Pamela for another few site visits. Not to be overly optimistic but I think I may have found a potential internship site, the only thing that needs to happen is figuring out my hours and if there is a place for me. I really hope I get this one though. The place I am interested in working is called WIN (pronounced with a "V") home and its focus is: W.omen I.n N.eed. Women and teenaged girls can come and stay there if they are in any sort of distress and the group helps to facilitate solutions for the women. They also have a bedroom for at least five women to stay, and if they run out of space, they use the floor. The center helps women to find jobs and medical care if either one is needed. Another thing the home does that I think is really cool is teaching them various skills such as candle making and flower arranging. The sister (as in Catholic Nun Sister) that we met with was saying that then the flowers and candles are sold at a weekly gathering at another church where people from all faiths come to meet and pray. Then the money that is made is used to help around the house and also to the women to help them in whatever way is needed. I am really excited about the prospect of working there, so as soon as I get an "official" confirmation I will let you all know.
This weekend we did a trip up to Lonvala which is about an hour and a half north of Mumbai. The main part of the trip was exploring this huge mountain top which was beautiful. We had gotten into the city Saturday night and went up the mountain but it was super cloudy so we couldn't see much, but it was still fun and Mike took some fun pictures. Driving up the mountain was really exciting, we took all of these super sharp hairpin turns up the mountain and of course back down.
On Sunday we drove back up the mountain with all these crazy turns and could see some the beautiful scenery surrounding us. While we were driving up, there were a bunch of cows in the middle of the road, which made getting up the mountain a slightly intense process of weaving through cows and cars coming the other direction but we made it safe and sound. Everything here is this fantastic shade of green that provides a sharp contrast to the brown. I've been taking pictures but they don't do the scenery justice. On the mountain we overlooked this cliff where everyting we saw was this amazingly alive and vibrant green and AMAZING! It provided such a sharp contrast to the gray clouds that hung over us for most of the time that we were up on the mountain. On the mountain we walked near this waterfall that can be completely flooded, but wasn't while we were there so we could go around it and while we were there, we saw crabs wandering around. We also saw a camel which was awesome.
It was such an amazing weekend and such a fantastic trip.
Peace, Love, Elephant Kisses- Emmy
The camel we saw, I don't know why but this was rediculously exciting for me!
A view from the top of the mountain in Lonvala, again no justice is done in this picture.
I started my Green India class on Friday, which I am really excited about the class focuses on different ecological issues facing India, what has caused them, and what to do to address or try and fix them. Our teacher, Soonu is AMAZING. She looks like an Indian Julia Child, with big glasses and super curly hair and the warmest face. She had just returned from her first trip to the United States and was excited to share her adventures with us. You can certainly tell that she has a passion and joy for life and I'm looking forward to working with her. She has also traveled around India quite a lot so I'm sure she will have some tips for us as we embark on various trips around the country.
Friday afternoon, Mike and I joined Pamela for another few site visits. Not to be overly optimistic but I think I may have found a potential internship site, the only thing that needs to happen is figuring out my hours and if there is a place for me. I really hope I get this one though. The place I am interested in working is called WIN (pronounced with a "V") home and its focus is: W.omen I.n N.eed. Women and teenaged girls can come and stay there if they are in any sort of distress and the group helps to facilitate solutions for the women. They also have a bedroom for at least five women to stay, and if they run out of space, they use the floor. The center helps women to find jobs and medical care if either one is needed. Another thing the home does that I think is really cool is teaching them various skills such as candle making and flower arranging. The sister (as in Catholic Nun Sister) that we met with was saying that then the flowers and candles are sold at a weekly gathering at another church where people from all faiths come to meet and pray. Then the money that is made is used to help around the house and also to the women to help them in whatever way is needed. I am really excited about the prospect of working there, so as soon as I get an "official" confirmation I will let you all know.
This weekend we did a trip up to Lonvala which is about an hour and a half north of Mumbai. The main part of the trip was exploring this huge mountain top which was beautiful. We had gotten into the city Saturday night and went up the mountain but it was super cloudy so we couldn't see much, but it was still fun and Mike took some fun pictures. Driving up the mountain was really exciting, we took all of these super sharp hairpin turns up the mountain and of course back down.
On Sunday we drove back up the mountain with all these crazy turns and could see some the beautiful scenery surrounding us. While we were driving up, there were a bunch of cows in the middle of the road, which made getting up the mountain a slightly intense process of weaving through cows and cars coming the other direction but we made it safe and sound. Everything here is this fantastic shade of green that provides a sharp contrast to the brown. I've been taking pictures but they don't do the scenery justice. On the mountain we overlooked this cliff where everyting we saw was this amazingly alive and vibrant green and AMAZING! It provided such a sharp contrast to the gray clouds that hung over us for most of the time that we were up on the mountain. On the mountain we walked near this waterfall that can be completely flooded, but wasn't while we were there so we could go around it and while we were there, we saw crabs wandering around. We also saw a camel which was awesome.
It was such an amazing weekend and such a fantastic trip.
Peace, Love, Elephant Kisses- Emmy
The camel we saw, I don't know why but this was rediculously exciting for me!
A view from the top of the mountain in Lonvala, again no justice is done in this picture.Saturday, September 5, 2009
Ohhhh the Joys of Finding and Internship.
This morning Mike, Pamela, and I began our quest for internships for Mike and I, or rather restarted, this is a process that has been going on since April-ish, when we, Mike and I, told Fred Koch, the director of the Social Work Program, about what we were interested in doing abroad. Mike and I both really wanted the international experience (obviously) so today was a bit frustrating for us.
The first site we went to, Holy Family Hospital, had several options for both of us. I am interested in working with people affected by domestic and sexual violence, and Mike is interested in working in the substance abuse field. There were a lot of options there for both of those issues, as well as an opportunity to work with kids, which we both want to do. Since neither one of us speak much Hindi, (a few phrases here and there, but nothing where we could interact on a regular basis with anyone, especially in a professional helping relationship) the lady at the site seemed less than eager to "take us on."
Next, we went to the largest slum in Asia, and the second largest in the world, the name of which I'm forgetting right now, but it takes up 580 acres, to go to another social service agency. Here we waited for about forty-five minutes until we talked to someone where we pretty much got the same response, they are unwilling to take us on because we don't speak Hindi.
Right now I'm just incredibly frustrated. It seems like a lot of the legwork should have happened before Mike and I got here, but instead its been happening this week. I get that every detail might not have been settled, but what if we had been able to do site visits this week, instead of waiting until the weekend. We both have made our interests known to several people before we even got here, so it would have been nice to have some agencies already thought of instead of going through a list on Monday. Also, there is the issue of time. We are supposed to be working about sixteen hours a week at our sites, right now it looks like we'll miss out on at least two weeks, or thirty-two hours, of work. I know I can make it up, but still I want to make sure I'm given plenty of time to see and explore India and Mumbai.
The first site we went to, Holy Family Hospital, had several options for both of us. I am interested in working with people affected by domestic and sexual violence, and Mike is interested in working in the substance abuse field. There were a lot of options there for both of those issues, as well as an opportunity to work with kids, which we both want to do. Since neither one of us speak much Hindi, (a few phrases here and there, but nothing where we could interact on a regular basis with anyone, especially in a professional helping relationship) the lady at the site seemed less than eager to "take us on."
Next, we went to the largest slum in Asia, and the second largest in the world, the name of which I'm forgetting right now, but it takes up 580 acres, to go to another social service agency. Here we waited for about forty-five minutes until we talked to someone where we pretty much got the same response, they are unwilling to take us on because we don't speak Hindi.
Right now I'm just incredibly frustrated. It seems like a lot of the legwork should have happened before Mike and I got here, but instead its been happening this week. I get that every detail might not have been settled, but what if we had been able to do site visits this week, instead of waiting until the weekend. We both have made our interests known to several people before we even got here, so it would have been nice to have some agencies already thought of instead of going through a list on Monday. Also, there is the issue of time. We are supposed to be working about sixteen hours a week at our sites, right now it looks like we'll miss out on at least two weeks, or thirty-two hours, of work. I know I can make it up, but still I want to make sure I'm given plenty of time to see and explore India and Mumbai.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
A few quick updates from India
When I decided to study abroad, one of the benefits that was pointed out to me- by several people, but the person who is standing out in my mind is my "kindred spirit" Mary King- was that when you want to sit inside and not go anywhere or see anything or do anything, you can. Four months I think is the perfect amount of time to live somewhere else, you can spread out your site-seeing over a period of weeks, every minute does not have to be scheduled with some "activity." So the past few days, we have all been doing just that. Hanging out in our apartment, doing laundry, venturing out for food and that is about it.
This week I was supposed to meet for 5 classes- my social work internship class, 2 blocks of Green India, and 2 blocks of Bollywood. I've gone to two. I told you all about my social work internship class on Monday, and on Tuesday we had our Bollywood course. The class works like this: we meet every Tuesday morning then about four hours later, we watch a movie; then we meet again Thursday morning to talk about the movie. So this morning (its about 1:30PM here now) we were supposed to meet. Today is the last day of the festival for Ganesh, and thusly the streets and the city are going to be CRAZY, CROWDED, and, for young American tourists, potentially Dangerous. The logical thing to do then, is shut down the school. Tuesday afternoon we watched Lagaan, one of the first Bollywood movies to be nominated for an Oscar. In short the movie was about how the British were taxing the Indian villagers, and when the villagers tried to ask for a break on the tax, because they couldn't pay due to a drought and bad farming conditions, the British challenged them to an Indian cricket match. I'm leaving a lot out, but its definitely worth watching if: you have a spare four hours or so, don't mind subtitles, and LOVE random outbursts of song. Bollywood films are abound with music, seriously, its great and I love it, but if you don't like exagerated shows of emotion and completely overblown, completely impossible story lines, Bollywood movies are not for you. Sorry.
My Green India class was cancelled because our teacher is in the States, unable to teach us, so I'll have my first class of that next week.
Last night when we went out to dinner, we were sitting an empty table away from a Bollywood Actress. Apparently she is a huge deal, but I don't know her name and we were very polite and didn't stare, but Ishan tipped us off, so we all stole a quick glance at her.
This isn't the most exciting post I know, but I promise I'll be more exciting sometime soon.
Finally I want to throw a link out there for anyone who wants to do some reading about micro finance and the importance of financially empowering women. I got this in an email from the Champlain Women's Group and really enjoyed it so I thought I'd share: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&emc=eta1.
Enjoy!
Peace, Love, Elephant Kisses- Emmy
This week I was supposed to meet for 5 classes- my social work internship class, 2 blocks of Green India, and 2 blocks of Bollywood. I've gone to two. I told you all about my social work internship class on Monday, and on Tuesday we had our Bollywood course. The class works like this: we meet every Tuesday morning then about four hours later, we watch a movie; then we meet again Thursday morning to talk about the movie. So this morning (its about 1:30PM here now) we were supposed to meet. Today is the last day of the festival for Ganesh, and thusly the streets and the city are going to be CRAZY, CROWDED, and, for young American tourists, potentially Dangerous. The logical thing to do then, is shut down the school. Tuesday afternoon we watched Lagaan, one of the first Bollywood movies to be nominated for an Oscar. In short the movie was about how the British were taxing the Indian villagers, and when the villagers tried to ask for a break on the tax, because they couldn't pay due to a drought and bad farming conditions, the British challenged them to an Indian cricket match. I'm leaving a lot out, but its definitely worth watching if: you have a spare four hours or so, don't mind subtitles, and LOVE random outbursts of song. Bollywood films are abound with music, seriously, its great and I love it, but if you don't like exagerated shows of emotion and completely overblown, completely impossible story lines, Bollywood movies are not for you. Sorry.
My Green India class was cancelled because our teacher is in the States, unable to teach us, so I'll have my first class of that next week.
Last night when we went out to dinner, we were sitting an empty table away from a Bollywood Actress. Apparently she is a huge deal, but I don't know her name and we were very polite and didn't stare, but Ishan tipped us off, so we all stole a quick glance at her.
This isn't the most exciting post I know, but I promise I'll be more exciting sometime soon.
Finally I want to throw a link out there for anyone who wants to do some reading about micro finance and the importance of financially empowering women. I got this in an email from the Champlain Women's Group and really enjoyed it so I thought I'd share: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&emc=eta1.
Enjoy!
Peace, Love, Elephant Kisses- Emmy
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