Adventures in Anadur

And so I’ve survived my first week here in Anadur.  I don’t think survive is quite the right word… I’ve lived my first week here in Anadur.  It has truly been a fantastic journey for me to acquaint myself to living in rural India.  I tell you, it’s a bit different than living in Los Angeles. 

You have to love an Indian sunset.  Picture taken in Anadur.

So first, my accommodations.  My work is located on a campus about 2km outside of the village of Anadur.  The closest city is Solapur, which is located about 1 hour away by bus.  I’ve visited twice for work and to get myself some personal things (toiletries, sheets, etc.).  It is a pretty standard city, population about 3 million it seems.  I’m planning on “exploring” it at some point in the next few weeks, so I’ll update with some more info then.  The same goes with Anadur, population 10,000.  I haven’t really had the chance to explore the village too well because the only way for me to get there is by own two feet, and I haven’t felt quite so motivated yet.

Part of the vegetable market in Solapur.  
I was able to see it as we were going to fix 
the company car.  
Definitely more to come about Solapur.

The “campus” of the organization that I’m working with consists of 2 buildings located off of a main highway (one of which is a hospital, so I’m safe…..), but is completely surrounded by land and farms.  It’s gorgeous here.  At night I can look up into the sky and see thousands of stars (not something we can really do in LA).  Peacocks, cows, and stray dogs roam the fields.  I’m starting to get in tune with nature.  Although I have to admit that I have a small fear that anything with more than two legs has the ability to completely devour me…insects included (although the mosquitos have already taken advantage of that one).  I know I can get over this fear, but I think it may take me some time…

The campus!  To the left is the hospital.  To the right 
is the office and guest house (where I sleep).  
In front is one of the MANY stray dogs of India.  
Read on for further information about them.

The view from my window.  In the foreground is the 
small garden planted by the organization 
(completely organic).  

I am living in a guest room, pretty standard.  But, exciting news, it comes complete with…a flushing toilet.  Oh yes, no more squatting here.  So only positivity on my end.  The best part is that the organization runs a nursing school to train Auxiliary Nurse-Midwives (ANMs), who work in the villages as a part of government health centers.  So the school consists of 19 village girls ranging from age 18 to 29 (some are married with children back at home).  So they roam the “halls”.  I’m still attempting to learn their names: 8 down, 11 more to go.  The only issue is: none of them really speak English. 

My room!  Nothing to get too excited about though.

Which comes to obstacle number 1: language.  Yes, I am currently one week into learning yet another language: Marathi.  Marathi is the regional language of the state of Maharashtra (which is where I’m located).  Although close to Hindi (which I was learning in Ahmedabad), it is different enough that my 3 weeks of Hindi classes don’t help much.  Well, I’ve started learning this language.  However, I can currently only speak in singular first person present tense, which limits me to sentences like “I want food” and “I dance with my feet”.  Some other basics I’ve learned are: Maza nau Andrew ahe (My name is Andrew), and a good one: Tumza gau kotay ahe? (Where is your village?).  But then again, I’m only one week in.  We’ll see where I stand a few months from now.

The food, as I’m sure you all want to know, is pretty standard fare.  I eat in the mess with all the other students (although they usually eat at different times than me).  Breakfast will usually consist of some sort of grain dish with roasted peanuts and onions and chillis.  Such dishes are called: poha or sushila.  Lunch and dinner are the same: a vegetable (which varies from meal to meal. Examples include: bitter gourd, cabbage, or potato), chapatti (toasted flat bread), rice, and a watery lentil dish (called warad).  So although it seems like I’m carbo-loading, there is no planned marathon in sight.  I can only hope that I’m getting enough protein….

But the people here have been really warm and welcoming.  I’m currently in this position where I’m still very much considered a visitor at some points, where at others I’m just another employee.  The students have taken to calling me “Andrew Sir”, which flies really weird with me.  But then again, it’s not like I can tell them to stop (seeing as I can’t form that kind of sentence yet).  The NGO employees are again very nice and welcoming.  I’m trying to learn everyone’s name, but then again that’s a challenge because it isn’t American names I’m trying to learn, but Indian names that are really unfamiliar to me.  And Obstacle 2: none of the employees really speak too much English.  So…I guess that’ll force me to learn Marathi?  Or have no substantial conversations for the next 10 months.   I think I’m going to go for the former.  Fortunately, the teachers of the Nursing School are three guys aged 24/25 and speak very fluent English.  Hence, 3 new friends!  It’s very exciting.  They’re from Karnataka, a bordering state to Maharashtra, and speak Kannada (no, not Canadian...), with only varying degrees of Marathi. 

The first day I arrived in Anadur was the last day of the holiday of 
Ganpati, which celebrates the god Ganesh.  
It lasts 10 days, and on the last day a statue of Ganesh 
is thrown into a lake.  Here, all the people of the 
organization are preparing to throw the statue 
in the lake.  To the left are the girls of the Nursing School.

The work…oh the work.  I’m still figuring out my place here at work and what exactly I’m to be doing.  I know they want me to be creating information management systems, but I’m trying to figure out exactly what that means.  So for this week, I am merely trying to orient myself into the organization, finding out more about their programs and projects, and mentally coordinating the structure of the organization.  Pretty soon I have to develop a workplan, so hopefully I’ll be better situated to do that. 

And so my week ends.  I try to walk around the campus after dinner each day.  I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading.  And I am woken every morning at about 6:00am by 3 stray dogs barking their guts outside my window…why? I’m not entirely sure.  But I have no desire to get in the middle of it. 

One morning the head of the organization (who also
 lives on the campus) woke me up at 7:00am - yeah, 
that's early - to go to Naldurg, a city about 5km away, 
which has an impressive fort that was built 
in the 1500s.  Here's a view of the fort.

Certain years when there is enough rain, 
the fort forms these waterfalls.   This year, there was 
enough rain (actually a lot in India).  
Here I am sitting in a room underneath one waterfall 
and looking out to another.  
It was gorgeous.  Again, this is about 7:30am.

I’ve heard LA had some scorching temperatures.  But luckily monsoon season is coming to an end here and weather is really evening out.  So I can’t really relate to the heat anymore. 

Stay cool!

Andrew