During the infant massage instructor training that I attended, the trainer began the course by talking about how you meet people for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. The other women in the training were incredible and inspiring and I hope that someday our paths will cross again. We all exchanged contact information and promised to let each other know if we ever ended up in each others’ home countries, which ranged from the Czech Republic to United Arab…
It is my final night in India and I’m overwhelmed with emotions and thoughts. I left Jhalawar Friday evening and spent the weekend in Delhi with Cearet and her family. This is all so bittersweet. I really cannot find the words to explain how grateful and thankful I am to have been here and to have been granted access into the lives and culture of so many beautiful people and places. I am humbled, I am thankful, I am sad,…
I’ve been back in Arizona for about a week now and it’s never felt so good to come back to my roots after going abroad. After living in both Tokyo and India—two countries I swear must be some of the most different from Western culture as you could find—it feels right to settle into my own customs and ways. I guess, “The American Dream” has never felt so real. I don’t mean that in the sense of “I was dying…
Back in the US, things are a bit different. I’m very happy to have showers with walls that are always hot. To have toilets that you can throw toilet paper in and a bearable outdoor climate. But there are so many things about my time in India that I already miss after just a few days of being home. The beautiful bright flowers on every tree on every corner, spending time with my extended family, sitting in the sun with…
Time has really gotten away from me lately as my internship comes to a close, so I will have to make this one short! For my video project, I’ve come to understand my place as a foreigner a little more. Paromita told me that by virtue of my identity, a video composed of me narrating Indian history and throwing in some pop-culture references can come off as dominating, even if I don’t mean it. In order to fix this, I…
“Babies come out the same way no matter where you go,” was a common phrase that people liked to tell me when I told them that I was going to work at a birthing center in India for five weeks. And in many ways, they’re right. No matter where you go in the world, humans are more alike than different. Not only in our basic anatomy, but all of us have the same basic needs as well. Watching new moms…
I travelled alone this weekend to the city of Jaipur. On my first day I walked through the Pink City to the Hawa Mahal, and perused through the bazars that lined the streets. Because I was alone, I found myself engaging more with the people around me than I would traveling with friends. While purchasing some trinkets from one of the stalls, a shop owner and I struck up conversation. The shopkeeper offered to show me a temple down the…
One reason that I enjoy traveling so much is because it reminds me that the way I usually do things is not always the best or the right way to do it. I am constantly reminded of this during my time here in India. My first day here in India, I went to leave my apartment and found myself unable to lock my door. The key fit the hole, but no amount of turning it to the right would lock…
It doesn’t feel like I have been here for 3 weeks. I have settled into a routine with work and the days are passing quickly. Not much has changed over the last two weeks, save for the weather. The monsoon season ended as abruptly as it began, and after a brief week or two of rain it is now over. This may change the way I structure my research and questions around the monsoon, but I still have ample time…
By Erin Haley After the conclusion of my internship about two weeks ago, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to different parts of India, including Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi. Jaipur was beautiful and offered many historical sites to see, the favorite of mine being the Pink City and Galtaji, also known as the monkey temple. I even got to feed, walk, paint, wash, and ride an elephant! (See the pictures below for the Michigan-inspired elephant painting!) Delhi and Agra were…
