Internship in India with the WASH Institute

WOooo-AAHHH, it's been a brick! I hope everyone has at least slightly enjoyed my GoPro vids and I promise to say "umm" or "uhh" 25% more in my next upload, don't worry. I just had to write a mid-internship update for the Parents Fund Internship Grant that I was awarded and so I decided I better slide some updates into this platform as well. I’m just short of the midway point in my internship and I couldn’t be more excited for the next half! This has been an incredible experience and every day I am faced with new challenges and ideas. I’ve been hard at work in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu. I’ve gone into the field and watched our Mobile septage Treatment Units (MTUs) at work, I’ve learned how to test 14 different parameters for water quality analysis, I’ve given a presentation on Public Health differences in the United States and India, and I’ve been exposed to countless awareness, construction, and education projects in the nearby areas. In the next week I’l...

So I returned from Pondicherry this morning, arriving just after 4 AM. One of the main methods of travel between cities here are Sleeper Buses.... which are very uncomfortable and don't provide much sleep, but it was definitely cheap travel to go over 300 KMs, each way. I slept through my alarm, nearly missed the second bus to work, and choked on cold tea, but I'm surviving. My weekend in Pondicherry was unforgettable and I'm very lucky I had a Pondy native to show me all around. It was really the first time since I've been here that I've felt like a tourist. But that's not why I'm here, right? I came to be a part of a very influential non-profit organization and to do what little I can to make the lives better of some, if any, people. I've been very dedicated to this goal and it was really hard for me to let myself relax and just enjoy the weekend on the coast. I thought about it constantly... In the cool AC of the high-end restaurants and the b...

Today I got to do my first bit of field work! Tomorrow I will be testing the effectiveness of a new attachment on the Mobile Septage Treatment Units (MTUs) by analyzing the effluent (clear water output) that was brought back to WASHi today. I am very much in the mind set of taking one thing at a time while I am here. I rode the bus successfully today, tomorrow I hope (PLEASE) to wash my clothes (by hand), and maybe on Thursday I’ll even pack… my… lunch… It really is difficult to handle even the smallest of issues sometimes here, but the good parts are so amazing. The food continues to impress, JP (friendly old man) calls me his son, and I played volleyball for like two hours today (met a bunch of people my age who speak English very well that I’ve begun to get along with). Also, I am looking forward to this weekend, as I am hoping I’ll end up in Palani or Kodaikanal. Both places are pretty deep into the mountains which are nearby me and I want to see them so badly (and to feel th...

So, I have reached my room in Dindigul. Actually I reached it yesterday but this is the first opportunity I have had with internet on my computer. Today, as I've been trying not to use the data on my phone, I sat outside in a chair and did pretty much nothing for like 2 hours (it was wonderful). Very easy to hook up to that nice nature-brewed WiFi out here. My plane flight wasn't bad at all, although things don't work in foreign domestic airports like American domestic airports and I will need to continue reminding myself of that (made it on my connecting flight with minutes to spare). But it was all over quickly and I was warmly welcomed yesterday, I am the first "international student" that has ever stayed in this area and most definitely this hostel. Over the last 24 hours I have had my picture taken when I'm not looking, I've been asked to review food items (no, they do not know about the Yelping), and I've sweat clean through my clothes thre...

I've purchased a  *one-way* plane ticket! I'll be going to Dindigul, which is a city in Tamil Nadu (one of the southernmost states in India). I'll be flying through Chennai to Madurai, which isn't shown above, then I'll be driven to Dindigul and more specifically a very small town called Reddiyarchatram. I have housing secured for 1.5 months, so it is likely I won't be coming back to New Delhi for a long time. While in Dindigul I will be traveling to all kinds of places where there are WASH Institute projects going on and where I'll be able to learn so much. I'm also excited about going to Ramanathapuram and Thiruppullani, where I'll be testing water qualities throughout the coast and trying to build towards a more sustainable future for the people that live there. I'll probably make it over to Kerala or Karnataka, but I won't really know my schedule until I end up at the WASH Office in Dindigul, this Saturday.  My work continue...

Today was my first day of work! It set the tone for how the rest of the summer is going to go and I feel much better about it now. There is talk of me going to Madurai, maybe even as soon as next week! According to the WASH Institute (WASHi), I’ll get the most out of my trip there. I met lots of people at my job and they were all very interested in America and had a lot of questions. Particularly, there were several people asking about the recent shooting in Virginia Beach. I hadn't realized that something like a mass shooting, which has begun to appear regularly in the media in the US, affects people of the world so greatly. It's very refreshing to hear the concern of others on why things haven't changed for the better. It's also very difficult to explain to them why things haven't changed, due to the intense division across parties in our country. I am going to learn so much more about the difference between our two cultures as I see more this summer. I...

Today I got my first chance to traverse the city! I am no longer jet-lagged and I am very happy about that. We decided to celebrate my newfound energy by heading out to see some guy's tomb. Turns out it was Emperor Humayun's tomb, who was the second Emperor of the Mughal Empire. Saw some fantastically beautiful architecture, the Sunder Nursery, and some stray dogs while we were out! It was wavering at about 109 degrees Fahrenheit today, where there was an immense temperature difference in the shade. We used every ounce of energy we had an saw some amazing sights. I started using my GoPro today, so keep an eye out on Facebook for when I throw that up there! If you don't have Facebook send me a message or post a comment and I'll help you out. I'm beginning to struggle with the concept of how much money residents in Delhi make and how difficult it can be for so many people to survive? I ordered food last night and there was a comment in my delivery driver...

I know now what it feels like to be jet lagged and... it sucks. I would like to write about all of the amazing things I am going to do today, but I'll be lucky if I can make it til tonight without passing out from exhaustion. Yesterday I went to the Green Park market, a walking mall nearby, where I bought some clothes and some snacks. I felt a pretty big rush from being out and about by myself in this country which I truly have such a little grasp of. Sensory overload is the only way I can describe it, it's hard to even walk around without getting in someone's way, let alone record/take pictures at the same time! I'm hoping that I get a little more used to it over the next few days. It was a pretty easy trip, with only a mild freak out when my phone lost service and I couldn't call an Uber Auto back to my apartment (I found a Starbucks nearby, so I survived). Uber Auto's are rickshaws that can transport you to any number of places in Delhi, for a f...