Kandivali, Mumbai
Kan-deev-li - It’s all in how you pronounce it. Say the name of the area in which we live wrong, and there’s no telling where you might end up. Ric drivers look at me wanting to be helpful. When I add: Thakur Village, that really stumps them. I’m struggling to pronounce these correctly. Something I need to work on.
We’re settling in and live much farther north than we did last year. My trip to work is about an hour and 40 minutes and requires a ric, a train, and another ric. I took a book to read on the first day…ha! There’s just no room to move on the train…even to hold out a book in front of you. I’m just going to enjoy people watching. I’ve yet to see another Westerner on the train or in Kandalivi (Can you say Kan-deev-li?) Frank and I really stand out and lots of heads turn as we go by.
It was exciting to return to Dasra, and especially to see the progress made since I left Mumbai in January. I sat with Deval, Dasra’s president, on the first day. We spent about 5 minutes catching up. (I mentioned how happy I was to see the new office with desks for everyone, and shared condolences over the recent tragic death of a staff member.) Then, it was right back to work like no time had passed since I left. Neera, the COO, joined us, and she and Deval filled me in on how Dasra has evolved. It was good to hear how they are sharpening their focus and better classifying the services being offered. There is a lot of transition going on, and I think it will help to make a good thing only better.
I haven’t posted before now because of challenges we’re having with the internet. Wireless didn’t work well here, so we installed a cable modem. It’s taken five visits from the cable company and involved no fewer than 15 technicians, only one of whom speaks English...kind of. Tonight I’m working on the cable modem, and we're still not where we need to be. You’ve got to laugh at stuff like this though. I guess I would except I was really hoping to stay in touch with family by using Skype, and especially wanted to be able to see live video of our kids and beautiful new granddaughter. I’m not giving up on that.
A couple of nights ago, we were out walking when I spotted four girls about 15 years old in sports uniforms. They all play on a volleyball team. Last year I never saw girls playing any sports. I was glad to meet these kids. I also loved playing volleyball in high school and college, so we had that in common. Before I knew it, we had an invitation to their school the next morning to see the final practice before the big game.
When we got to the school, the girls were outside volleying. The coach was working with the boys, leaving the girls on their own. When they saw us, they were pretty excited. In no time at all, I was volleying with the team.(Please don’t let my PT know about this. Yes, this was crazy, but I was caught up in the moment.) We had a great time and the girls were eager for attention and coaching. We ran drills, talked strategy, and just had fun. (Did I mention that it was well over 100 degrees?) We stayed for an hour, and then I needed to get back to work after a quick shower of course!
I’ve forgotten how much the heat and pollution take out of you. Couple those with not being completely past jet lag, and well, it’s time for bed.
Background
If you take a look at the top right hand corner of this page, you’ll see links to the NGOs Frank and I are volunteering for. You’ll also find archives on the page of postings from our first American Jewish World Service volunteer assignments.
We’re settling in and live much farther north than we did last year. My trip to work is about an hour and 40 minutes and requires a ric, a train, and another ric. I took a book to read on the first day…ha! There’s just no room to move on the train…even to hold out a book in front of you. I’m just going to enjoy people watching. I’ve yet to see another Westerner on the train or in Kandalivi (Can you say Kan-deev-li?) Frank and I really stand out and lots of heads turn as we go by.
It was exciting to return to Dasra, and especially to see the progress made since I left Mumbai in January. I sat with Deval, Dasra’s president, on the first day. We spent about 5 minutes catching up. (I mentioned how happy I was to see the new office with desks for everyone, and shared condolences over the recent tragic death of a staff member.) Then, it was right back to work like no time had passed since I left. Neera, the COO, joined us, and she and Deval filled me in on how Dasra has evolved. It was good to hear how they are sharpening their focus and better classifying the services being offered. There is a lot of transition going on, and I think it will help to make a good thing only better.
I haven’t posted before now because of challenges we’re having with the internet. Wireless didn’t work well here, so we installed a cable modem. It’s taken five visits from the cable company and involved no fewer than 15 technicians, only one of whom speaks English...kind of. Tonight I’m working on the cable modem, and we're still not where we need to be. You’ve got to laugh at stuff like this though. I guess I would except I was really hoping to stay in touch with family by using Skype, and especially wanted to be able to see live video of our kids and beautiful new granddaughter. I’m not giving up on that.
A couple of nights ago, we were out walking when I spotted four girls about 15 years old in sports uniforms. They all play on a volleyball team. Last year I never saw girls playing any sports. I was glad to meet these kids. I also loved playing volleyball in high school and college, so we had that in common. Before I knew it, we had an invitation to their school the next morning to see the final practice before the big game.
When we got to the school, the girls were outside volleying. The coach was working with the boys, leaving the girls on their own. When they saw us, they were pretty excited. In no time at all, I was volleying with the team.(Please don’t let my PT know about this. Yes, this was crazy, but I was caught up in the moment.) We had a great time and the girls were eager for attention and coaching. We ran drills, talked strategy, and just had fun. (Did I mention that it was well over 100 degrees?) We stayed for an hour, and then I needed to get back to work after a quick shower of course!
I’ve forgotten how much the heat and pollution take out of you. Couple those with not being completely past jet lag, and well, it’s time for bed.
Background
If you take a look at the top right hand corner of this page, you’ll see links to the NGOs Frank and I are volunteering for. You’ll also find archives on the page of postings from our first American Jewish World Service volunteer assignments.
posted by arr at 12:22 AM
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