bombings

India is the #2 terrorist target country in the world. #1 is Iraq.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indias_terror_death_toll_second_only_to_Iraq/articleshow/2312796.cms

As I've already let most of you know, I'm fine.

The bombs were detonated in "the softest of soft targets:" a popular Chaat (snack) shop that re-opened only a month ago, and a park in which a number of people were watching a sound and light show.

We still don't know who planned these attacks, or why.

Immediately after the bombings, peace rallies broke out all over the city. Shops closed on Monday in observance of those killed Saturday. Driving by the bombed park, I saw a group of people carrying flags and protesting the violence. The local newspaper is calling for an overhaul of intelligence and counter-intelligence. Some blame the current Andhra Pradesh ruling party.

The other night, an ASCI student asked me what I liked about India. His response was better than mine, which cited the Indian friendly, relaxed, and engaging attitude towards life. He hit the target I was looking for more squarely - India is a very diverse country, he said. There are many different types of people living here, with different religious beliefs and different practices. Yet everyone gets along.
Sound familiar? But here, "tolerance" is somehow more intimate and more personal. People seem optimistic about one another, and they engage each other closely.

I'd like to think that the optimism can survive, no matter who tries to destroy it.

oh, andrew (field work pt. 2)

I wouldn't normally do this, but I feel the need to respond directly to Andrew's comment.

If only you could see me out there. It's ridiculous. I can't stop saying "hi," "namaste" "mee peru?" "na peru Alex," "bagunara?" to Every Single little kid that looks at me. Men and women stare, and I look back and smile. They smile back. I introduce myself to all sorts of people, whether or not they speak English. I can't help it!
Today, walking through a bazaar area in the old city, a kid who called himself John (real name: Azam) and claimed he spoke 6 languages (I think he meant that he knew some words in each - still impressive.) came up to me and asked me where I'm from. I couldn't help but have a conversation with him - yeah, it was possible that he was trying to rip me off somehow, but he really didn't seem like that. I felt honesty from him, and having traveled a decent amount, I'd like to think that I'm at least a mediocre judge of that.

He told me about a good Hindi movie called "Partner." He told me that I should be careful for pickpockets and watch out for cars. His friend had recently taken a trip up to Delhi and died in a car accident. He told me where to find good clothing shops (turned out to be closed because we were a bit early). He wanted to know my country, the languages I spoke, and what I was up to in Hyderabad. He told me about his classes in the 6th grade. He was a good kid. I only wish I had been Slightly less tight with my money. He had some pearls in his hand, and he offered a necklace to me for 1 American dollar. I turned him down, and I regret it. My Rs. 40 would have gone farther with him than it will wherever it ends up. We told each other how nice it was to meet - we'll probably never meet again.

So trust me, Andrew, my problem here if anything is quite the opposite.

field work pt1

I've now been to the field (that is, slum areas) three times. I'll be headed out again today. I kind of know what to expect - kids everywhere introducing themselves and practicing the few words of english they know; half-suspicious half-curious men and women watching my every move; arguments among neighbors; pots being filled with water; babies without diapers; saris; smells.
but today we're going to a slum far poorer than the three i've been to. i doubt the streets will be almost spookily clean, as those were. i doubt the people will be as friendly as in the first two slums i visited. i also doubt i'll feel the sense of community i did in those first two. the most recent one was different - the people seemed far more isolated and fearful of one another. some attributed this to islam, but i'm assuming there was more to it than that. the houses seemed in decent shape, so i don't think it was a new slum.
i'm very curious about the "social capital" in the slum we're visiting today. if people in this poor area isolate themselves from one another, it might be tough for any group loan program to succeed. but maybe i'm being pessimistic because i've been up half the night coding.

over a week and a half ago.

Many of the PGD-HM students are doctors, which is definitely comforting. So is having a public health PhD living next door. So I shouldn't have been too worried when I went from feeling great at 6PM to feeling dizzy at 6:15 to full-blown fever/nausea at 7. But it's still India, so I started writing a will in my head just in case (I was delirious, and i'd recently read about a whole bunch of semi-rare diseases that can kill if not treated quickly). After emptying some of my stomach contents up and out the top, though, I felt my fever go down a couple of degrees (to, it turned out, 103). At 9PM I knew I'd get through it. Which I did. Apparently, quite a few students here came down with similar ailments. When asked about whether they thought the food downstairs caused it, everyone responds "no, no - I think it's the change in the weather." Now, I'm not a doctor, but I've never heard of rainy weather making people puke and shit liquid. In fairness to them, I think the students meant that the latest front may have carried some virus with it. I'm not a doctor, and I really have no idea how all this works. But I'm buying hand sanitizer - my apologies to future generations. ps: my thanks to jess for taking good care of me.

horns, all the time.

if i listen, i can hear cars honking 24 hours a day from my room. i thought this would begin to bother me, but so far i've enjoyed the constant sound. it seems as though something is always happening. three times a day (or is it more?), we hear the imam from the mosque next door wail over the traffic noises. the doorbell to every room is a loud buzzer that i can hear from at least three doors away. people expect each other to be friendly and ready to chat all the time. why haven't i tired of this? i think a big part of it is that i have a single room to escape into whenever i need seperation. but i've also embraced, to the extend i'm capable so far, all the noise and action that this relatively uneventful part of town throws at me. i've set my expectations for lots of noise and lots of human interaction, and i love it so far.

i did not take these pictures

But I thought you might enjoy them. Enumerators took this as part of their camaera training (they were supposed to take pictures as if they were shooting houses for identification purposes - hence the number).

swimming at ASCI bella vista campus

Jess and Laura, with Shailesh and Gautaum, two ASCI hospital management students. I took this just before we went swimming.