Chronicles of Claire's World Food Prize Internship to India

Today had a few new adventures, as well as some built in tradition. I woke up early after a very small amount of sleep, and made a snap decision to go to the Catholic mass with Christen and Leah and the head of HR at ICRISAT. Mass was fascinating.

This is the church. The men sit on one side, the women on the other. It was all in English. Most of the seating was on the floor, and shoes were left outside the church. It was very crowded and the floor was not extremely comfortable, but it was worth the amazing experience. For communion, the women all went up first, and it was not neatly organized like back home. People randomly stood up and hopped into the crowd of people. There was also no wine (mabye because of the income of the church?)

After church, I packed. I barely managed to squeeze everything, but it worked out in the end thanks to Leah’s help! I had a table full of things that I wasn’t bringing home and had my friends raid the table.

I think Charlie was pleased with his haul! After this, we regrouped and played volleyball. The net had disappeared, so Christen and I built one out of my leftover string.

We learned that we are all awful at volleyball, but it was great fun anyway. After that, we had a relaxing swim in the pool. We showered and regrouped and Sol, Christen and I journeyed to Miyapur to get the traditional farewell pizza. I am a pro at navigating the city by now and we made it with no events. The people at Domino’s now know me by name-it’s because I’m American! We got the pizza and it appears that that every single autorickshaw in the city of Hyderabad was out of service. We saw a bus that said “Patancheru” and said ‘what the heck’ and hopped on. After a detour through the BHEL district, another Bonalu festival, asking about 5 Indians if we would actually end up in the proper place and squeezing with less than 6 inches on either side through the traffic, we ended up at ICRISAT.

We ate, played a final game of Scrabble, did the traditional back and head massages and said our good nights. I’m really sad. I will share my final thoughts tomorrow, and keep everyone posted on my travels home (well at least let you know that I got there!)

There are a few things that I have encountered in India that I have never encountered in the United States. I know that they are not uniquely Indian, but they were a very unique part of my Indian experience. The first is the price of things. The exchange rate has hovered between 46 and 47 Rupees to the Dollar for the two months I’ve been here. That being said, everything is INCREDIBLY cheap. I could get nice shirts for 6 bucks. My usual breakfast costs about 20 cents. Total for the day, I can eat on three dollars. And that’s eating a good amount of food! Along with these prices has come the art of bargaining. The first time I was encountered with it, I was slightly terrified. Now I’m an old pro and have no problem trying to work down the price of an autorickshaw ride or a purse. I know that as a white foreigner, they charge me at least double what they would an Indian, so I have to do my best to come out even (to be honest, even the doubled price is cheap). I am going to come home and not be able to buy anything. It will all be too expensive! Sad but true fact—the cost of my retainer is more than most Indians live on per month.

The cheapest form of transportation for short distance is the autorickshaw. I have come to love these little guys even though I was also scared of them at first. With no seat belts, no doors, oftentimes no working headlights these small machines seem like an accident waiting to happen (and oftentimes that is what happens). There is a sort of thrill riding along in a little autorickshaw (especially if the driver has some good Telugu music! It feels like a movie!). They are pretty quick in the busy traffic since they are small and you can always find one (no guarantee that they will ask a reasonable price or know the place you want to go). One of my proudest moments in India was when I managed to get the autorickshaw down to the price that Indians pay (8 Rupees!).

Communication here is quite interesting for the foreigner. Most people speak at least a little English, but it depends on several factors how much they know. The biggest communication block for me had nothing to do with spoken language, but everything to do with head shaking. Indians shake their heads “yes” in a way that would be perceived as “no” in America. Sort of sideways, not up and down. At first, this was very confusing. I’d ask someone in the cafeteria if the food was spicy (shake shake shake). I’d ask the autorickshaw driver if he could take me to Chandanagar (shake shake shake). I would ask a question in one of my lectures about if brinjal was the same as eggplant (shake shake shake). By now, I’ve mostly gotten used to it. I’ve even tried it out a few times, and it’s kind of fun!

For my final (less than a) week in India, I thought I would do one post every day sharing a few of my favorite things, the things that I will miss most.

My first two favorite things are very contrasting and one without the other wouldn’t be nearly as much fun, in fact, I would probably go crazy with just one. These two things are the ICRISAT campus and the city of Hyderabad/Secunderabad.

The campus is peaceful and quiet, nothing like most of India. There is space, blooming flowers and trees spreading out above our heads, buildings that are well kept (for India) and a security fence boarding the couple thousand acres. There are places to walk and bike (I’ve never reached the edge of campus!). The weekends are especially quiet (most people don’t live on campus). This sort of complete silence starts to make me a bit antsy after a while (like a four year old in a church sermon).

The city on the other hand is a new world. At first, even a few hours away from the campus would leave me overwhelmed and exhausted. I simply don’t have enough eyes and enough brainpower to register everything there is to see. Colors, smells, and sounds constantly bombard you. The masses of people stare, ask for pictures, and hustle along in their own worlds. The pollution of the air and the water is very visible, making me miss the clean air of the campus, but half the time I don’t even notice since it is so exciting. The city has everything. Near the Charminar is the old part of Hyderabad, near the Hussain Sagar lake is the newer part, in fact parts of Cyberabad could be in an American city.

The city has the world’s largest 3D IMAX theater and an 800 year old fort. There are people riding camels and people driving snazzy little cars. There are temples, mosques, and churches. I think I used the most different kinds of transportation of my life (car, taxi, autorickshaw, train, boat, plane, and bike). I love the city at night. The nighttime masks a lot of the uglier side, for better or worse. Many of the buildings are decorated with Christmas lights and beckon to customers from the busy streets.

Coming home to the campus is always a relief. My ear drums ring, and I breathe in the scent of the cleaner air. These two parts make a whole, they make a complete experience on both ends of a spectrum. Isn’t that more exciting than just being somewhere in the middle of the spectrum?