...or rather continues, I suppose, since I was also working in DC. But I just finished my second day in the office of PCI India, and so far it couldn't have gone better. The office is just a short auto rickshaw ride away from my apartment, but even at just $2/day, all those rides will add up over time. Thus, I tried my hand at the bus system today. It was shockingly easy. All told, my commute now takes about an hour each way, but I get in a lot of walking and pay just pennies. a win-win, really. I might get frustrated with it over time, but today I found the right bus fairly easily (helped by the dude yelling out the window where the bus goes. He talks really fast, but if you listen closely you can catch the names. Or maybe I just thought I heard my neighborhood and got lucky. could go either way), and the driver was very helpful in telling me where to get off.
The office itself is a cool yet confusing set up; it apparently used to be three apartments (one on each floor), and now PCI leases them all. This leads to the interesting situation where you actually have to go outside to get from the first floor to the second/third. My office used to be a kitchen in a former life. I actually can't picture the space as an apartment at all because the desks and filing cabinets make it difficult to visualize beds and couches, but I assume it was quite lovely.
Everyone I have met so far is absolutely wonderful...warm, friendly, so welcoming and helpful. I have not really delved into the meat of my project yet, but I am getting more comfortable in the office and learning more about PCI India's programs in general. Time permitting, I hope to get out to the field to see their polio project in action, as well as their shelter for street children in Delhi. They really do amazing work. It's a great feeling to go to work and feel that you are really contributing to something larger. (yes yes, perhaps I am just wide-eyed and naive now and will become disillusioned later. I know that no organization is perfect, but so far this one really seems to have its act together). So that is the internship update for now; more to come as I actually get a better sense of what I can realistically get done while I am here.
In other news, the monsoon showed up yesterday! I got caught in an absolute downpour on my way home from work, and could not have been happier. Everyone seemed to be breathing a sigh of relief. And it was indeed cooler today...only about 100. Pretty high humidity this evening, but at least humidity is a more familiar feeling. And it should thunderstorm tonight, which bodes well for sleeping. hooray!
My all-American meal of cheeseburger (real beef!), french fries, and margarita. There was plenty of American food all around, including Sbarro, Baskin Robbins, apple crisp, etc. And of course other national favorites, like quesadillas.
