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 25, 2010

Goa

For the first time while in India, I slept past 5 am and got up at 6:30. I haven’t felt this rested so long. We enjoyed a great breakfast buffet and then treated ourselves to a massage to the astounding price of $14. Nearly felt guilty.

Afterwards, we headed for the beach. The hotel is only about 200 m. from the beach and we had all these weeks looked forward to a long walk on the beach, a walk that is not interrupted by people, cars, dogs, trash, water, and anything else we have had to dodge. Just a walk.

We had no intentions of swimming in the ocean and that was a good thing too. During the monsoon season, the ocean gets really rough. Unfortunately, it also meant that it rained a lot. But, we still managed to walk for an hour, albeit a little interrupted by a minor shower. The Arabian Sea roared angry at us and once it got us really good. The beach meets the water at a fairly steep incline which means that the water is fairly deep close to the beach. It also means that the height of the waves can easily be misjudged and sneak up on you. Thank goodness it was warm and windy. It helped drying out.

During our walk, I saw fishermen casting their nets in this rough ocean. One man would stand on the beach while two others would run far out into the wild ocean with the nets. Along the beach, I saw straw huts made of palm leaves, the fishermen’s houses. I was again reminded of how easy my life is.

After a wonderful, but soaked, walk, we returned for some lunch and then headed out to see what Goa had to offer. We were prepared for off-season slack, but Goa completely shuts down during the day. There was nothing to do. When we arrived the night before, I saw a very different Goa, full of life and fun and I had looked forward to exploring that. We had also heard about renting some scooters and sightseeing that way, but unfortunately we didn’t get around to doing so. I wish we had had another day, but at the end of the day we enjoyed another great supper at the grill & bar and retreated for a short night. Our cab left for the airport at 5:00am next morning.
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