For any SiSA student traveling to India next summer, I strongly recommend bringing as much bug spray as possible and using it continuously. This certainly won’t prevent bug bites but will of course reduce the risk of mosquito and bug borne illnesses. I say this due to my own brush with a mosquito – borne illness, dengue fever. I am certainly not eager to discuss my experience in detail but I will say that I ended up in the hospital…
Several times I’ve picked up my pen, yet I find myself at a loss for words. Reflecting on my time in a South Asian island nation during the summer right after returning from an internship seems beyond my current expressive capacity. I know that to truly contemplate or succinctly summarize this experience, one needs to extend the timeline—perhaps it will only be a few years later, looking back at this summer in Sri Lanka, that I will discover its true…
I figured it would be prudent and productive to describe what a typical day for me is like here working at Selco Foundation in Southern Bangalore. My day typically starts at 7:45 in the morning where I take a quick, very cold and refreshing shower. Sometimes the maid for the AirBnB comes, however, I often try to clean up as much as possible before the maid arrives. I often try to practice my Kannada (the local language, mainly spoken in…
As a part of my intern experience, myself and some other interns (one from Ohio as well) got to go on a work trip up to Kalaburagi in Northern Karnataka to do site visits with some of the individuals and communities that had received solar interventions in cooperation with Selco Foundation. I was so excited to go and leave the city since it had become very overwhelming. The city of 15 million dwarfed any place I had lived in, so…
Both through my independent explorations as well as my work at the office, climate change and its impacts on people have taken center stage. The city itself is adjusting to the complex and unpredictable changes that climate change is delivering. For instance, last year Bangalore had record low rainfalls which stretched the ability of the city to provide the bare minimum resources to its people. This year has certainly been an improvement, but changes are still potently clear. To my…
While I’m posting this in India I wrote it in the States and never got around to posting it. I’m really excited to be going to India. I will be volunteering as a slum teacher in Faridabad in the metro of New Delhi. For all of my life I’ve always wanted to visit India. Probably since I was a small child and I saw the film “The Little Princess” I think it’s called. Anyway this is also the week of…
The first two weeks of my ten week stay have been exhilarating and very interesting to say the least! After being delayed three hours on the tarmac at Charles De Gaulle in Paris, I finally arrived in Bangalore at around 2 am. The landing was anything but smooth. Due to the heavy rains in the area, we had to circle the city twice until conditions were good and once we landed, the plane seemed to bounce on the runway before…
I would describe my emotions as a little nervous and more excited. I am nervous because this is my first international trip by myself, and I am excited to see my extended family in India. Originally from India, I moved at a very young age and haven’t seen India through the perception I have right now. Despite being a native, India still presents unique challenges. Navigating through these unprecedented challenges would perhaps prepare me for my future endeavors. Additionally, I…
Research can be a formidable task, and my journey through my internship has been both enlightening and challenging. Despite previously working as a research assistant for several semesters, managing a project with a degree of independence has presented its own set of obstacles. My project delves into the nuances of the bilateral relationship between the European Union and Sri Lanka, focusing specifically on how Sri Lanka’s adherence to human rights influences the financial support it receives from the EU. Initially,…
Blog 4 – The Next Two Weeks Lately, things appear to have settled into a slower rhythm – I’ve grown far more familiar with the city and, surprisingly, even the language. I’m now used to taking the ‘share’ autos to save money, drinking morning and afternoon chai, and even using the bathroom! Having wrapped up most of my responsibilities in the health division internship, I often find myself helping with random tasks and accompanying my colleagues on field trips (they…
