It feels crazy to say this, but I am just about halfway done with my trip! On one hand, it feels like it’s going by incredibly fast and on the other hand I feel like I’ve been here for decades and am counting down the days until I am back with cooler climates and calmer roads. A lot has happened this week and Sophia and I have some exciting trips planned for the coming weeks, so we hope to stay in good health with steady motivation to push through to the end.
Project
I haven’t really talked about our project in a while, and truthfully it’s because there isn’t a whole lot to say. We’ve taken a break from testing and have been putting together a new design that will combine the promising aspects from both solar ovens we have tested, but it seems every time we bring the design to our director he has something else to say or something new he doesn’t like. So we are kind of stuck in brainstorming mode right now. Such is the design process… you iterate and iterate until you end up with the best solution. It is just frustrating for the people who are excited to have a final product!
In the meantime, we have been able to visit St. Xavier’s, where SAAP will be moving in the fall. It is much cleaner and nicer than the workshop at the compound, and while I am sad that SAAP has to move (there will be lots of displacement and struggles for the people who currently work here), I can see the benefits for the company.
I also got to help out with a solar water heater installation that happened at St. Michael’s, which is the most prestigious high school in Patna. The problem was when we arrived at the school they didn’t have any water – it’s kind of hard to install a solar water heater when you don’t have any water to heat up! So we positioned the plumbing and left. It was a nice break from working on the solar oven though, and the campus was beautiful – the balcony looked out at the Ganges river and there was a slight breeze so it felt a little like being at the beach (wishful thinking…!)
People
Even though it is only the halfway point, we have already begun to say goodbye… Sister Eren received a call for a new mission and so she left the compound last week. We threw her a party and many people presented her with flowers and sang her songs at Mass. Sophia and I miss her very much!
We also met Sheila and Sebastian – friends of Fr. Jesu who came and stayed with us for a few days. Sheila had a huge and outgoing personality, while her elderly father Sebastian was calm and caring. I learned from Sheila that if you rest your head on your hand at the table, it means you are tense and it is considered a bad habit here. I told her in America it means you are relaxed (I actually meant sleepy/bored but was trying to be polite) and when Fr. Paul spoke up to say “what if your head is on your hand when your husband dies??” Sheila retaliated “I’d keep it there – that’s a good reason to be relaxed!!”
Through Sheila, I discovered that traveler’s diarrhea and problems with drinking unclean water are not just a concern for foreigners. Sheila ate some street food while we were out one day (the same kind of street food she enjoys often in her home village) and was sick all night after that, but talked about it and went on eating like nothing had happened to her.
Fr. Paul has also been sick a few times, and just kind of goes through the motions like it’s a normal occurrence. This got me wondering – what do people wish for here? Do they wish for cleaner water and safer food because they get sick all the time, or does it even cross their minds because they are so used to having a “weak stomach”? Do they wish for cleaner air and better sanitation, or are they so used to the trash on the roads and spitting out the dust (their spit is incredibly red) that they just can’t even imagine something different? When does a “developing country” become developed? And who gets to decide what that means?
Obviously I don’t have all the answers to these questions, and I’ve seen conflicting results. I’ve had teens come up to me and ask if my water has been filtered before asking me if they can have some, but I’ve also seen some people just bend down and drink the water off the streets. Some people have told me that they hate how hot it is here, and yet I’ve seen other people stand in the heat for several hours without giving any notice to how sweaty they are. It makes me wonder what people want to ask me when they see me walking on the streets of India, and it also makes me wonder: if I was born somewhere else, what would I wish for?
Adventures
This week we saw our first Bollywood movie! The movie was called Bharat and was about a boy (named Bharat) who lost his father and sister while running away from the violence of the Indian partition. The movie followed his life story and consisted of many “music video” moments – there were several 20 minute scenes with lots of video enhanced dancing and singing. The best part of that was Lawrence got up to dance along in the aisle every time the music started! The movie was about 3 hours long with a 5ish minute intermission. And there were snacks! We enjoyed popcorn and masala chips (basically spicy chive and onion potato chips). The most intriguing part of the movie was during one of the war scenes, Bharat stood and sung his allegiance and encouraged several of his army men to do the same. To my surprise, about half the theater stood up to sing along with him. I looked around the room and the people who were not standing all looked very uncomfortable. I wish that I knew more about the history behind what was going on in that moment because it definitely felt like I was part of some sort of protest.
I mentioned earlier that we visited St. Xavier’s – on the way home from this journey, we stopped at a place called Tarumitra which was a sustainability focused college/park/jungle paradise. I got to enjoy the “free air conditioning” (Fr. Paul’s words) of a rope swing and I indulged my inner child by playing in a tree house. I also saw a dog!! 🙂
The last exciting thing we did this week was we went saree shopping! I did buy one and I do have pictures, but we are still waiting to take the material and get it tailored so I will keep you in suspense until we have the real deal 🙂 One interesting thing that I learned is that women in India are not allowed to wear sarees if they aren’t married. Don’t worry – I am not trying to tell you any secrets by wearing mine! I loved the experience as much as I loved the material I bought. We went into a fancy showroom and sat in comfortable chairs as the men who worked there took material out, waved it around, and laid it on the floor for us to see. We then told them which material we wanted to stay and which material we wanted them to take out, and we also asked prices and our friend’s father bargained with them to get us a really nice deal. We took the different materials we liked and went in front of mirrors as the workers wrapped each one around us so we could see how it looked. Both Sophia and I left feeling very beautiful and pampered!
So you’re halfway there…
…what have you learned so far?
Well, there have been plenty of ups and downs for sure. The most annoying thing is people literally don’t make any plans here. You want to meet your friend at 6:00 tomorrow to go to the mall? Expect them to show up at 4:30. Or, perhaps not at all. You want to go to a different city? Make arrangements a week in advance but know that they’ll probably be cancelled the night before you leave. I am SUCH a planner and an organizer, and this has been my biggest pet peeve.
I am also beginning to realize that while “missionary work” can seem so picture perfect, it is really a challenge and a transformation and is MUCH easier said than done. Something I wrote in my journal the other day – “you can’t just walk in, engineer a solution, and fix the problem. There is always some sort of road block no one really wants to fix – and why would they? The things I think are ‘road blocks’ – no schedules, trash everywhere, the many things that make me uncomfortable – are the very things that give these people life and purpose. Who would want to change that?”
Things I have learned about myself:
1. I absolutely NEED my family (hi mom 🙂 ). Before this trip, I used to have wishful thoughts about opportunities to live in other countries or getting a job in a different state. But after being here for a month, I am realizing that my heart is with the people I care about most and no experience or time could ever change that.
2. I actually really like vegetables and miss them waaaayyy more than I expected. Tonight’s dinner consisted of rice, mashed potatoes, and pasta, and normally I’d be pretty pumped about that. Today I didn’t really want to eat any of it. Everyone keeps saying India is super diverse and the food is different everywhere you go but I’m still waiting to experience something excitingly delicious.
Hmm… okay well I thought there would be more to that list but this is all I am coming up with for the moment. It’s almost 10pm here so I think I will just end this post with a few fun pictures and you can stay tuned for what I learn in the second half of my trip!
Sending love
An Indian Summer 