Turkey

DSC_0525, a photo by keenak on Flickr.

The photo doesn't do it justic but this turkey was fantastic.

We started with a fresh organic young turkey from Costo. Almost 9lbs since we were feeding 4 people and wanted leftover. It wasn't a cheap bird - over $2 per pound but it was well worth the money.

The night before Thanksgiving, we set the turkey to brine in a large stockpot. Filled it up with:
water - over a gallon and 1/2
1 cup of salt (next time i may cut back the salt)
fresh rosemary leaves
blackpepper
1 orange
1 lime
1 onion
4 bay leaves
brown sugar
And we let it brine in the fridge overnight till around 11am the next day.

Next we thoroughly washed the turkey to remove the brine and placed it into a large Pyrex casserole dish.
Next up was the seasoning rub. Softened 3/4 stick of butter. Mixed it with more fresh rosemary all chopped up, black pepper, and garlic. We took the mixture rubbed it all over the turkey and under the skin.

Then took more rosemary, oranges, limes, and onions to stuff in the cavity. As well as celerary and carrots - to help give the turkey some extra flavor while cooking.

We cooked the turkey at low temperatures - between 275 and 325 for 3 and 1/2 hours. (First time cooking something this long in our new oven so had to play around with the settings a bit to find the right setting) making sure to bast frequently and cover the top breast area w/ foil to it wouldn't overcook or burn as the rest still needed to cook. We took it out after checking the internal temprature with the meat thermometer. This is vital for ensuring that you have a properly cooked turkey.

It was our first time trying an organic turkey so I'm not sure if it was the turkey itself or the combination of the brine/seasonings/rub etc that made it so good. But it was juicy and lacked the gamey flavored. No part was overcooked which is typical when cooking turkeys. I hope this method will pay off when cooking with a larger turkey. For once I could not stop eating - kept on going back for more bits to nibble on.

I love Thanksgiving dinner. Probably my favorite meal of the year.

Animalistic from the OPI Muppets Collection

DSC_0538, a photo by keenak on Flickr.

I am not much of a make-up person overall. I keep it simple - some eyeliner, mascara, maybe a dash of blush and lipgloss - and that's my going out look. I love the idea of eyeshadows and lipsticks but after years of experimenting, I have determined that neither are a good fit for my features.

However, I have found my real love to be nailpolish. I love a good nailpolish color. When I need a pick me up - I buy a seasonal nailpolish. Compared to most other nailpolish lovers - I'm very much a beginner - less than 15 bottles at the moment. For years, I relied on manicures and pedicures from the Nail Salon. Recently though due to economics, I have been spending more time trying to do my own nails and starting my own collection of good staple nailpolishes.

When I found out about the OPI Muppets (http://www.opi.com/) collection, I knew I had to buy at least a few bottles - I've loved the Muppets for as long as I could remember. But that plan became quite the challenge for they were sold out everywhere. Who knew they would be so popular? I finally had to drive 30 miles to JC Penney's and Ulta in order to find a few bottles. And I am so glad I did. The names alone are great. But as someone starting a collection - the various shades of red, purple and glitter is a perfect fit for all seasons.

I decided to start with Animalistic - a bright shimmery red - very cheerful. I love how it came out - brightened up my mood immediately. I think this would be perfect for the toenails.

I'm excited to try rest of the colors immediately. Maybe I'll do one a week.

(P.S. I never figured it would be so hard to take a photo of my right hand using my left hand to hold the DSLR)

Reflections

(originally written on August 2, 2011)

It has been exactly two weeks since I have left Madhya Pradesh. In that time frame, I took a few days to visit Mumbai, London, and finally come back to the States. Additionally, I have been able to spend a lot of time reflecting on my experiences (long plane rides do have their usefulness). Two weeks ago seems like a lifetime away.
Everyone is asking me about my summer. How was my internship? How was India? Did I like it? How do I even try to explain? Just saying "Oh, it was great" seems too shallow. I feel the need to give hour long speeches on the specific details of life and how it is so different and how it really touched me to experience something like this. But is anyone wiling to listen past the general points? I am stuck in this weird world where I want to share so much with everyone but also keep so many of the moments private because they are so meaningful to me. How do I make people understand what it was truly like? These are the dilemmas I am facing now. I feel that unless you have had a similar experience, you will never truly understand. And to be cliche, it was a life changing summer. I will never be the same. I never thought I would say those words but it is true.

One thing for sure, even with the frustrations and obstacles that occurred periodically, I do not regret the experience for a moment and if I had to do it all over again, I would. The good outweighs the bad. Plus, I really miss everyone. As I am slowly going through my 1000+ photos, I am smiling to myself as I relive various memories. The people who shared in my experience is what really made the difference.

Here's a link to my flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/atraxia/sets/72157627309689958/
I am still in the process of uploading photos - so it's a bit of a mess right now.

Included are 3 photos:
A group photo on a field trip to Mandu, Madhya Pradesh
the "Queen's necklace" Mumbai
the London Eye, London

Last week at Samaj Pragati Sahayog

(originally written on July 12, 2011)

It is officially the last week of our internship with Samaj Pragati Sahayog in Bagli area of Madhya Pradesh. I'll be honest, in the first few weeks during the intense heat - it felt like this internship would last forever. However, now that only 5 days remain - I can't not believe it's almost over.
The turning point was around week 5. We seemed to hit a certain comfort level with the area, with the projects and most importantly with the people. And in turn the people seemed to hit their comfort level with us. We developed some amazing friendships, had some great times and now have several new facebook friends. That is what I am going to miss the most. The amazingly dedicated people who work for SPS that took the time to befriend us over the past 7 weeks, took the time to make us feel welcome, and took the time to arrange their schedules and work to accommodate our internship. We have spent many evenings joking around in the mess hall after dinner, went on a few adventurous roadtrips, watched movies together, and just bonded over our differences and sameness. But thanks to facebook and email we will hopefully keep in touch and see everyone again soon.

Another amazing thing that occurred over the past 7 weeks is the transformation in the scenery. As you may recall from my earlier blog posts about this area is called the Drylands. When we arrived in May - it was completely dry and dusty landscape - almost barren. With the monsoon, everything has beautifully transformed to lush greenery. It is unbelievable to think that this is the same place. Even though the heat was extreme in May, I am so glad I came then otherwise I wouldn't have understood the extent of the dryness/lack of water and how much influence the monsoons has on the local economy.

The last few days will be tying up loose ends - finishing up my project, paying the bills, meeting with our visiting Penn coordinator Aparna for a special project, and saying sad goodbyes to everyone.
Next on the itinerary is Mumbai for a week and then London for a few days. It'll be interesting to see how I acclimate to city life after so long in rural India.

Attached are 3 pictures - one of the greenery and low lying rain clouds on our campus, one of our neighbor Pooja dancing in the rain, and one of the fabulous Mehndi that Pooja did on my hand.

Friendly Villages

(originally written on July 6, 2011)

The interesting thing I've noticed when visiting various women at their homes in villages is the apparent lack of privacy. My intention is to talk to an SHG (self-help group) member, 1 woman, about her income and expenditures or loan usage - pretty private financial household data. However, many times her husband is there, a few of her own children, many other children from the village who are curious, curious neighbors, other ladies from the same SHG, or relatives that end up sitting in the meetings as well. Many times, the woman is still willing share this private data in front of all these people. My cynical side does come out a bit and wonder how truthful are these families when they are talking in front of other people but it seems to be pretty honest stories. It is eye-opening to realize that the village is a very intricate community made of relatives and friends who share in many parts of their lives and help each out in the times of need. All of them contribute to child care or chores. Many provide financial assistance, which is very relevant to understand when thinking about loan repayments and defaults.

The other reason many people show up to the meetings is because they are curious about me. Here I am, a complete stranger and different looking person coming to talk to a specific lady about her SHG participation. They want to know why, which is understandable. One of my favorite visits was to talk to 2 ladies about their loans. However, we never even got to talk about the loans in the first visit. So many people showed up - kids, husbands, wives, neighbors. And they peppered me with questions. It was really fun to interact with them and engage in their curiosity. I showed them what an American Dollar bill looks like and they showed me what a 10 Rupee note looks like. They wanted to know about poverty and farming in America. What do we grow? What was my village like? Am I married? How long did it take to come here? After two hours, we realized that we wouldn't be able to ask about the loans - especially since one of the ladies disappeared half way through - we decided to come back the next day.

The next day proved to be a bit more productive. We did talk about general loan issues and what the SHG group dynamics were like. But the same crowd showed up with even more questions. I was okay being distracted from my initial goal because they were so cheerful and friendly and amusing. They went out to buy milk only because they wanted to make me tea - an otherwise not common expenditure. They invited me to stay the night for dinner. It was lovely interacting with them and getting to know them. Many of the visits feel one-sided because I do majority of the questioning - so it was nice to see this two-way dialogue.

To get to understand some of the issues and see the full picture, it is important to develop a relationship with the people you are visiting. You can't just show up with a sheet and start interviewing them. You have to sit and chitchat, maybe for a couple of hours, maybe for a couple of visits before you can get to the pertinent questions. While this may seem time consuming, it is a valuable experience because you get to learn so much about daily rural life and many other things that they deal with other than the things you were focused on asking them about in the first place. Everything is so interconnected in village life.

Attached is a photo of the friendly village. Hopefully I'll get to go back and see them one more time before I leave.

Bagli Haat

(originally written on June 27, 2011)

Since we are in a pretty remote and isolated area, it is not easy taking extravagant weekend trips around India. The closet train station and airport is at least 3 hours away in Indore on really bad roadways which really limits travel options. The buses are not fun for such long periods - so we try to get a group of people together to hire a car & driver to take us to some local sites. Luckily there are plenty of things to do and see in the local area.


One Sunday a group of us went to Kaneri, a waterfall and Hindu temple deep in the jungle - Julie posted a picture a couple weeks back. Another Sunday we took a trip to Indore (the closest big city) where we went to Treasure Island, the big commercial mall. It was air conditioned which was a nice relief from the extreme heat. We watching a Bollywood film - Ready with Salman Khan and Asin, ate at Pizza Hut, had some ice cream at McDonald's, and did a little shopping. Additionally, we got to go to a local market and buy some fantastic mangoes. Two other Sundays we spent at our campus doing laundry, taking naps and a lot of reading. There isn't much to do on Sundays at our campus, especially when the electricity goes out for several hours at a time - so the day feels very long.
This past weekend, we spent the night at Jhatashankar, the main office location in their guest room. We watch 3 movies: Crash, Bridget Jones' Diary and Sherlock Holmes. We ate really good food (pasta casserole, potato cutlets, mango & chocolate ice cream!) and were able to take baths with heated water. It felt like heaven. On Sunday morning we walked a couple of kilometers to a popular Hindu Temple and met a nice village women who showed us her fields. She was so friendly and inquisitive - between Julie and I, we were able to have a somewhat decent conversation in Hindi. In the afternoon, we went with Hari, the Jhatashankar cook, to the Bagli Haat. Haat is the weekly market - it happens in Bagli every Sunday. Local farmers and other people come from the surrounding areas to sell and buy vegetables, fruits, snacks, and other household items. It was quite crowded and quite a colorful site to see. It was particularly amusing to watch all the cows trying to steal potatoes out for sale.

Julie and I were taking a lot of photos of the different vegetables and people when a nicely dressed gentleman came up to us and mentioned something about press pass. We got worried that we weren't allowed to take photos and put our cameras away. We had a brief stilted conversation in Hindi about our names, where we were from and how we were interning at SPS. Then he asked to take our photo. We said sure, why not. We thought he was just another person maybe visiting from another city or some government official. We never got his information and didn't think anything more about it. Until this morning. One of the core team members asked if I had seen the local Hindi paper. I said no, since I don't read Hindi, I don't pay attention to that paper. She found it and showed me the article. In the middle is the picture of Julie & I at the market - the photo taken by that gentleman. The article states we are two foreign girls shopping at the local market, attracting quite the crowd of people staring at us (nothing new - this happens everywhere we go) and how we are interning at SPS. We made the local news! I am greatly amused by this and have attached a photo of the article.

Other photos attached are of Hari selecting potatoes (potatoes show up in every meal in one way or another) and of the overall market.

I can't believe we only have 2 full weekends left. Our internship ends July 16th. Time is flying by.

More Kumbaya Photos

Here's a few more Kumbaya Photos...

1photo: Anju and Pappu hard at work at figuring out the costs of the items

1photo: Anju showing off her Kumbaya made outfit. The shirt is all natural dyed.

2 photos: showing how the cutting it done w/ stencils and checking out the quality of a shirt

1 photo: demonstrating how to sew on a pocket

Kumbaya

(originally written on June 20, 2011)

Kumbaya has to be one of my favorite Samaj Pragati Sahayog initiatives. Partially because they produce beautiful items, partially because it is a really innovative project to promote women's empowerment, and partially because the staff is some of the friendliest people I've met so far.
"The unique significance of Kumbaya is that in a predominantly agrarian region, where there have been no traditional marketable crafts, it makes machine-stitched ready-to-wear garments, home linen and accessories designed to market specifications and international trends. Located deep in the tribal drylands for the last fourteen years, Kumbaya has empowered women from one of the most deprived areas of the country by creating livelihoods through the dynamic skill of garment fabrication. Most of these tribal women had never stitched a garment before and had no options other than manual labour. Kumbaya is also hope for many differently-abled people, particularly women, whose inability to contribute manual labour in an agricultural area leads to their abandonment. Today over 500 women in 50 villages of Udainagar revenue circle and Bagli tehsil have learnt stitching."

They have 2 centers where women (and men and handicapped people) from surrounding villages come to train and produce various garments based on orders that Kumbaya receives. At the main office location is the 3rd Kumbaya center - where they store the cloth, cut items to be stitched by the ladies at the 2 other centers, and create samples for potential production. Additionally, this is where Shahid, one of the employees, does his specialized embroidery. His work is amazing and it's just memorizing to watch him create the beautiful pieces. Here's a neat mini-documentary that focuses on Shahid's craft.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT-X0r5aC5w&feature=player_embedded

Majority of my time is spent at the main office location and Anju, coordinator of the Kumbaya initiative, is my main companion on my bus trips back and forth (She speaks Hindi and English - so she does a lot of translating so I don't end up in some random village because of my horrible Hindi skills). So I have gotten to know the Kumbaya team at the main office location very well. They are lovely group who are very friendly (and made me some fabulous shirts! I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of money before I love).

I couldn't help but attach a lot of photos

1 photo: one of the centers where villagers are working on their products - with various patchwork quilts on the wall

1 photo: all the men working in the main location - in charge of cutting, sampling etc

3 photos: Shahid at work and two of his embroidery work

Local Tribal Women and Self-Help Groups

(originally written on June 13, 2011)

One of the main goals of SPS (Samaj Pragati Sahayog) is empowering local women, particularly their rights to sustainable livelihood. I've had the opportunity to meet with several women from a variety of backgrounds. Even though this is a rural area - people are very diverse in their forms of employment: agricultural laborers, daily wage laborers, self-employed, migrants, displaced and so forth. But many of the women have the same issues and come together in Self-Help Group meetings (SHG), SHGs are facilitated by SPS - it provides an opportunity for local women to take part in a local savings and loan plan that is completely decided by them. One may consider it a form of Microfinance - however, SHG is more focused on including social programs with their financial awareness - learning about nutrition, how to sign your name, community marriage opportunities etc. Whereas many Microfinance institutions are more profit driven and focused on repayments. Even though SPS monitors the meetings, the women make the decisions regarding the rules of the group, how to save and who to give loans to etc. This is a huge part of empowerment. Now many women have been able to use the loans for healthcare or their child's education or expanding a business opportunity for better source of income This opportunity allows women to have a say in many of their daily household decisions. It helps women be more confident in handling money and speaking up for their rights. It has been great meeting these women and seeing how they are benefiting and growing through the help of SHGs and SPS. This description barely touches the iceburg of SHGs and how interconnected it is with so many other programs.
Attached are photos of some meetings I've sat in or some of the women I've met.

Drylands

(originally written on June 7, 2011)

As mentioned earlier, the area of Madhya Pradesh that Julie and I are staying is known as the drylands. Only with monsoons does the area get any water that will help with the crops. Until the monsoons arrive, the landscape is very barren due to the lack of water and extreme heat. Water scarcity is a big issue in this region. There is not enough water for drinking let alone for crops which is necessary for nutrition and income. The region is completely dependent on the monsoons. SPS started as an organization focusing on how to conserve water during the monsoon season in order for there to be water in other months. Julie and I went on a field trip to look at two water reservoirs - one just completed and one in progress - with the hopes that it'll contain the rain water for use in the months after monsoons end. This water will help irrigate the crops so the local farmers are able to harvest a 2nd crop that increase their personal food supplies as well as have more goods to sell on the market.

The pictures give you an idea of how dry it currently it. Everyone is counting down to the monsoons because apparently the heat will lessen and the whole area will turn into lush green scenery. I can not wait to see the transformation. As well see how much water the reservoirs manage to capture.

3 lessons

(originally written on June 6, 2011)

Into my 3rd week in India and I've learned 3 very important things...
1. Patience is key. Rural India runs on a completely different schedule and time frame. Everything requires a lot of coordination and patience. It is extremely hot which can make things even more difficult. It is not easy getting anywhere because everything is pretty remote and isolated. The buses are late. People are late. Meetings are late. Things change. How do we get there from here? We're taking the bus? The car? Who's going with us? Who speaks English and can help translate? Oh, this meeting changed? Oh, we're going here now? Wait, it changed again? The electricity here. And now it's gone. Cellphone service here. And now it's gone. Internet connection is here. And now it's gone. The generator broke and now there is no water? Well, crap. You get the picture. It can be very frustrating at times not knowing what is going on hour to hour let alone day to day. But I keep in mind how much effort everyone is making to ensure that we are given a full orientation and taken to various sites to learn everything. It is not easy to coordinate all this - very time consuming. And I really appreciate that they are willing to take the time to introduce us to every aspect of the organization.

2. There is poop everywhere. Cow dung. Water buffalo dung. Goat poop (Amazing how much goats poop. I visited one family in the village who had 9 goats - they were nonstop pooping machines). Hog poop. Chicken poop. Cat poop. Dog poop. Lizard poop. Bird poop. And all these animals basically run around free. In the streets, shop store fronts, people's front yards etc. So you always have to be on the look out for poop. And if you really think about it - it's dry season here - so everything is dusty and dried up - which means the poop is dried up - which means there is probably poop dust in the air mixed in with the other dust. Lovely thought, huh?

3. People stare. people know you are a foreigner and they stare. No matter where you go or what you are wearing or what you are doing, people stare. And if you happen to be a person of a larger size, people really stare. Adults have slowed down their bikes to a stop just to watch me walk. Little kids laugh and point their fingers. And sometimes the kids or teenagers will say mean things. But you need to remember, this is rural India. They may not have had exposure to many outside things. I am vastly different. I am wearing tshirts and pants - not the typical outfits so I already stand out. And in this area - food security is a big issue - many people have very little to eat so they are skinny or even malnourished and anemic. So a larger person may be a completely foreign concept. Having a thick skin helps as well as ignoring the stares - b/c there is not really much you can do about it. However, when I do interact with the local villagers (primarily women and children) - they have been nothing but nice.

This trip has definitely been an experience so far.
-Keena Kang

Pictures from SPS

(originally written on May 31, 2011)

Keena Kang forwarded along these pictures the people at SPS took of CASI interns starting their internships.

1st photo: Resting in the shade after looking at the watershed - talking with the local men on how it was constructed

2nd photo: Looking at a watershed that was constructed with the help of SPS in Agra (Bagli Block).

First Week In Madhya Pradesh

(originally written on May 31, 2011)

Julie and I have had a great introduction to Madhya Pradesh and Samaj
Pragati Sahayog. For the next 7 weeks we'll be working Samaj Pragatic
Sahayog (SPS) in the Bagli block of Madya Pradesh. This area is known
as the drylands. And right now, it's extremely dry. Everything is red
dirt and dust with very little vegetation. All everyone looks forward
to is the monsoon which should be arriving in the next 10-15 days -
after a few days of rain, everything will be come lush green. I can
not wait to see the transformation.

The past week has been spent getting an overview and understanding of
what SPS does. It is amazing to see how it has developed over the past
20 years, what all it has accomplished and how interconnected every
initiative is. I am in awe of the dedication the staff has toward the
various efforts. It started out initially as a watershed development
scheme and has expanded over the years to include Self-help groups (a
form of microfinance), Kumbaya (a women's tailoring cooperative),
livestock program, dairy collection, irrigation, Right to Food,
Mid-day meals and so forth. The reason for watershed is because this
area is extremely dry with very rocky soil. It is almost impossible to
gain access to any ground water and monsoon only lasts for 50 days -
the villagers need to be able to access water for the whole year based
on the rain from the monsoon. So various watersheds were developed to
help capture the monsoon rains - whether in large ponds or the ability
to allow water to seep into the ground. From there, SPS realized that
other matters needed to be considered in order to ensure the
livelihoods of the poor villagers. Majority of the people in this area
are extremely poor - daily wage labourers or marginal farmers. They
are barely making ends meet and end up going into massive debt. So SPS
is trying to help the people overcome their hardships through
innovative strategies - particularly programs that encourage women
empowerment. I can wait to learn more about the details and how SPS
has changed people's lives.

Still adjusting the heat. You would not believe how hot it gets - you
can feel your skin baking. And being in a poor area - the electricity
is unstable so we go hours without any fan. So we just sit in the
shade and sweat and drink a lot of water. Fun times :) I think for me
it has been particularly hard, because we came from Philadelphia were
the weather was mostly in the 60s and low 70s - to then end up in 100+
plus weather within hours is quite a strain since there was no gradual
adjustment. But it is manageable - we stay in the shade, drink water,
take baths, and count the days till monsoon.

We had quite an exciting afternoon the other day. We were in our room,
reading in the shade, wearing shorts (only appropriate within our room
- we have to be covered when in the public) when we heard this noise
coming from our cooler. They do not have airconditioning here. Instead
it is a cooler which is a fan and your pour water in the back - so the
water is turned into cool air. We look at the cooler and we see
something sort of half sticking out. We both screamed and ran out of
our room. The night before, we had just been told about the scorpions,
cobras, and krait in the area - and we actually saw a scorpion - so
were in that mindset. Luckily, two men on a motorcycle stopped by and
went into our room. Apparently it was a large iguana - they managed to
get it out of our room - but the way they handled it, with a large
stick - made us wonder how dangerous it was. It really had us freaked
out. And now that's the story going around campus, 2 crazy girls in
shorts screaming b/c of a large iguana that tried to attack us from
our cooler. :)

We have booth taken a lot of photos. Unfortunately our access to the
internet has been limited due to electricity outages and so forth.
Hopefully within the next week we'll be able to share some of the
photos. We have meet some great people and seen some great things.
Stay tuned for more....

First Few Days in India

(originally written on May 23, 2011)

The trip to India was surprisingly smooth and effortless. After
hearing so many horror stories, I was prepared for some disaster to
happen but very lucky to have an excellent transition to India.
University of Pennsylvania has done an excellent job in ensuring that
everything was well coordinated which was a huge relief. Additionally,
I highly recommend flying Virgin Atlantic - it was a pretty pleasant
flight considering I spent 14 hours in an airplane.

I arrived in Delhi on May 20th around 11:30am. Had an excellent stay
at the Habitat Centre on Lodhi Road. I was able to get in some
shopping with two other interns - Laura and Julie. Laura is doing the
internship at Chintan in Delhi and Julie will be at the same
internship as I.
We checked out Khan Market, Connaught Place, and Delhi Haat. Khan
Market was fancy - with Tommy Hilfiger stores and other brand name
items. Connaught Place is not what it used to be - last time I was
there in the 90s, it was a neat area to visit - now it's kind of run
down with too many scammers. Delhi Haat is a great place to go if you
are looking for Indian arts & crafts - lots of handmade products from
all over the country.
I bought lychees, flipflops and an alarm clock (only thing I forgot to
bring - I'm impressed with my packing abilities). And of course we
stopped at FabIndia to stock up on some scarves and other items. I
could spend all my money in that store. We were really lucky that it
rained on Saturday, May 21 so it was a wonderfully cool day to do some
exploring.

We enjoyed some great Indian cuisine. The first night we ate at the
Indian restaurant in the Habitat Centre - excellent garlic naan. Some
South Indian food at Delhi Haat (at the Kerala booth). And I grabbed a
spicy McPaneer burger at McDonald's out of pure curiosity - Not bad.
The funniest was breakfast in the 50s style diner at the Habitat
Center (the only American diner in India apparently) - complete with
with 50s American music and red booths.

On Sunday, May 22nd - Julie and I left Delhi to head to our internship
destination in Madhya Pradesh. We have had an excellent welcome by the
people at Samaj Pragati Sahayog - the organization we will be working
with for the next 8 weeks. I am really looking forward to getting to
know everyone and really diving into the various projects. Everyone
has been so friendly.

Despite the extreme heat, it is a fascinating area with all sorts of
beauty. Hopefully the heat will pass soon and monsoons will start
shortly.

Please stay tuned for photos and more updates as we get more involved
with the projects and organization.