Welcome to my blog!

The purpose of this blog is to share with you my upcoming internship in Mumbai (Bombay), India and the journey in preparation for it. It has so far been an interesting experience and I have not even started my trip yet.

Why the name? I will be in Mumbai during June and July, the beginning of the Monsoon season. Learning to wade through flooded streets and work with this natural phenonema is to me very similar to the learning experience I have had so far and am sure to face in India. Most of India's water supply falls during the Monsoon season. It is kind of a feast or famine on water. I found this analegous to India itself, a nation of extremes and it will be my challenge to learn to work with and within it. From what I have understood of India, this amazing nation will both pull on me like the raging flood waters and at the same time fascinate me like the tranquility of a steady stream.

I have the priviledge to travel with another student who has now also become a friend. She is as talented as she is kind and fun. Together we will set out to work with an inspirational company that is dedicated to empower women in deplorable situations, often in the slums of Bombay, to better their lives. The company works with small textiles producers and our task is to develop a plan to standardize the production process so they can deliver a more uniform end result.

Before I continue with this blog I want to take a moment and thank my family, friends and college. They have been very instrumental in making this trip possible and encouraging me as I am learning to have the two most important things in this journey: patience and endurance.

I hope my blog will entice you to consider traveling to India and help you with your preparations.

Let's start swimming!!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

And then there were 10 left

Unbelievable, we have only 10 days left in India!!

We have started writing our final report and looking back on all my notes and research I am amazed how much I have learned and accomplished in such a short time. There were times we really worried about our productivity, but it is now all coming together.

We also took some time this weekend to recover a little from last week’s strange trip and I am again so happy we have this apartment where we can just retreat, even if it was horribly expensive.

Upon much request (and with permission from our landlord), I have posted some pictures of our little haven. It has a room that functions as living room/dining room and entrance, one bedroom, two bathrooms and a kitchen. May not look like a lot, but it has done exactly what we needed, except for the water situation. Not sure what exactly is going on, but it seems like we have even less water since we came back from Indore, and yet Mumbai has not tightened the restrictions. In fact, they have been talking about opening up more water. Hm..

The little spigot a feet from the ground (last picture), right next to the stool has been my cold “shower” for the past nearly 7 weeks, except for the two warm showers I enjoyed in Delhi. I will not miss this aspect. But it has been good to have a place we could claim for ourselves and leave the strong impressions of India on the doorstep.

It is a strange feeling going into our last week here. Part of me cannot wait until I board the plane that will carry me back to my family and part of me feels I am not done here. I have learned so much in such a short time and just hope I will be able to do something useful with it all. For now, I just hope that I can leave something behind that can be useful for the phenomenal people I have met.








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  1. LindaJuly 20, 2010 at 11:26 AM

    thanks for the pic of your apt and all the sights. It has been so interesting to me. Take a breath..... you have done wonders and will be home soon. I don't really get the "shower" tho... seems more like a foot washing place. Very hot and humid summer here too. Love ya

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