“I cried a lot during my poverty research,” he said. (My
immediate thoughts: “I’ve travelled; I’ve seen poverty up close. I know how the
majority of the world lives.”) While that’s true, it doesn’t matter, each life,
each person is different and their story deserves not to be reduced or compiled
with the many others in similar situations. I now know how he felt. It wasn’t
until Monday when I started my major research project in my village that it hit
me. I’ve studied, seen, and even talked with people in abject poverty. Research
is different though; I’m prying into people’s lives and asking some of them to
recall memories they’ve tried to forget about. I’m probably one of the only
people that have listened to their stories. Naturally, my eyes watered during
some of my interviews, but I made a conscious decision to be strong; not at all
for myself, but for these women…these warriors.
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| Cake in your face means we love you! |
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| Deepak's BDay! |
My co-research Shivani and I are in the village of Railmagra
for the last time to do research for my final project. This stay is for an
entire week, Monday-Saturday. As you might have guessed, the 18 Duke Students
were a mess the day we left. Long hugs, and desperate pleas to “text me!” or “Facebook
chat all week!” We are quite a funny bunch. Our final project topic was left
open to us and we have a large variety of focuses. It kind of feels like we
were thrown out here to either sink or swim for this project; I just hope everyone
is still afloat like me!
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| One of the many sunsets |
Since my last blog, we’ve celebrated two more birthdays in
the group! Both Deepak and Denzell turned 21. Thanks to all the celebrations,
we’ve gotten a chance to try out multiple restaurants along Fateshager Lake.
Each place so far has had such a beautiful view of the lake at night. During
Deepak’s dinner we realized that a Bollywood movie was being filmed on the
other side of the lake. We all quickly reached for our cameras but due the
lighting the people were unrecognizable. The film is staring two huge Bollywood
stars, Deepika and Ranveer (I had to Google them). These Indian sunsets have
been breath-taking; I really should pay more attention to them back home. If
they’re anything like what I’ve been experiencing here, then I’ve definitely
been missing out.
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| Mobile grocery |
Rather than always going to the grocery store, here in India, the grocery store comes to you! I was reading on the porch one day when a man
came shouting down the street selling vegetables. Mommyji ran outside to see
the selection. She must have been satisfied with what she saw because she immediately
went into bargaining mode. He had everything; carrots, peas, cabbage, lentils,
and more. It was like Kroger or Wal-Mart on wheels. In addition to food, I’ve
also seen people come by selling fresh milk, brooms, and other home goods.
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Playing cricket with my 3 year old village host brother.
He has the absolutely best hand-eye coordination I've ever
seen for someone so young! (This was also my first time
playing cricket) |
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The dance/cultural show we attended.
She's dancing with all these pots on her head
and standing on broken glass! Ouch!! |
Friday, Duke Basketball had a rematch with NC State. It was
a big game because we lost to them earlier in the season on their court so we
had to redeem ourselves at home. A couple of us woke up early and came to school
nearly 2 hours before class to watch the game on the projector. It felt good to
be cheering on the boys again.
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| Duke Basketball in India! |
Tomorrow my time, and tonight your time is the biggest game
of them all! DUKE vs. unc at 9pm. I am so
anxious I can’t wait. I really wish I could be somewhere with a tv that got ESPN
or at least back in the city so I could have a strong enough internet signal to
stream the game. My internet stick works in the village, but it’s pretty slow.
Nonetheless, I’ll get up at 7:30am tomorrow and furiously hit the “refresh”
button to get updates on the game. Who knows, maybe I’ll even be able to stream
it. I will go to sleep tonight dreaming of a beautiful world in which everyone sported
the ever great royal blue.
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| We found a bowling alley in the mall |
Until Next Time,
*Nicole
P.S. Happy Ash Wednesday, wish I could have gone to service today. I am continually reminded of how blessed I am each time I walk out the house. In addition, I have yet to get sick and have remained safe. God is good all the time……and all the time God is good! J
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| Maria and I |
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