try and then try a little harder.

When I first got to India, I felt like I was doing things totally alone. I didn’t know anyone here, didn’t speak the language, and was completely lost RE: my job. This isn’t a bad thing, I enjoy trying new things and just going with the flow. Last week though, I was left to truly figure things out for myself when my co-worker (and essentially my translator and my means of transportation around Udaipur) had to leave last minute on a 26-hour journey to his native land in Himachal Pradesh to celebrate his sister’s engagement.

After he left, one of my volunteers encountered some urgent visa issues upon her attempted departure from India, and I was left to fend for myself and represent a freaked out 19-year old girl within Indian bureaucracy and the 110+ heat of Udiapur. All I can say is, I feel accomplished.


In many ways, the climate and the realities of Indian life are not pleasant. It’s extremely hot (and AC is rare), there can be tons bureaucracy and seemingly useless formalities, and resources tend to be stretched very thinly. To outsiders and Westerners (myself included), it’s easy to pin Indian organizations as inefficient, too lax, or disorganized. But I’m learning that most practices here are simply in place to make India a bit more bearable. The best example of this is the chai, wherever you go, even banks, government offices, etc, you’re brought hot chai, which makes long waiting times more bearable and always relaxes the mood. You also may be told to come back in the morning or evening, which is a way of saving you the inconvenience and discomfort of doing anything during the hottest parts of the day. These things have been really frustrating to the volunteers (“no, I don’t want a 10th cup of chai, I want my visa so I can go home.” Or, “no, I don’t need to ‘take rest’, I came here to help”). But if you embrace it all and try to understand where things come from, you find that relaxed attitudes and the constant flow of chai will not make anything happen any faster, but it may make the processes a bit more bearable.

A "lake" in Udaipur:


Amongst a bit of chaos, I have really appreciated friendship and family in India, especially since it can be tough to talk to friends in the US because of the time change. When my volunteer called me at 2am from the Mumbai airport, stuck and terrified, one phone call and one of my oldest friends from Kolkata, Akhila, and another friend, Basu, were there in 20 minutes to pick her up in Anny’s (my uncle's) car. They took her to the embassy, fed her, bought her new ticket to Udaipur, and then scolded me for saying thank you. Then on a quick day trip to Delhi last week for a meeting (it's about 12 hrs train ride each way) I was rejuvenated by lunch with my friend Gitzy. And some new friends here have shown so much support and given me really great advice with work and general India challenges, even though we've just met. What more could I ask for? (except that I miss my friends and family and think of you all the time)