Namaste! Welcome to India, madam!
This is what I hear from everywhere since my arrival...At first, I was in the safe "cocoon" of airports, taxis and the fancy Ibis Airport Hotel in Mumbai where I stayed for one night.
The next day I had to take another plane to Indore. One exciting moment during travel was the evacuation excercise at the Mumbai Airport. We all had to leave the domestic gate, they delivered drinking water and chairs and we sat under beautiful trees full of huge "bats"... I think it must have been flying foxes or fruit bats, no one could tell me exactly...
Only on that second day, when I got off the plane in Indore, it felt like diving into it all: into the colours, odours, tastes, into the heat and the horning of the cars and trucks...simply into the chaos! Into incredible India! I've let it all pass by, since the guy who picked me up form the Indore-Airport couldn't speak any English. He just held the sign in his hands "bioRe India Ltd." and we both understood we've found the person we were looking for... I followed him and two other guys followed us. I sat in the front and the two guys behind. We drove through Indore and picked up another guy who jumped in at the back. We stopped once more and the driver tried hard to pronounce something in English. Finally I understood he said "one purchase, madam". One of the guys at the back hopped off and came back with a bottle of water for me. And then we left Indore...
I looked out the front window and absorbed everything, dusk came and soon everything was dark...The guys exchanged a lot of news, it seemed. They gossiped like I would have only imagined women could ;). Only rarely they said some words to me. After two hours we stopped at a "roadhouse" so they could pee and have a chai. The driver showed me to the back of the building and it was the first time I had to use my hindi skills to find out which were the girls'-toilets. I was very happy to find myself remembering at least these basics... There were several squating toilets, I went into one and found I couldn't close the door, since the lock did not fit at all. I inspected two or three but soon decided not to pee...it was not urgent and the smell of urine was to obtrusive, there were no flushes, I had no paper... ok, let's not go into any further details.
The driver offered me something to eat and I declined, since I didn't want to strain my digestion too much just in the beginning.
But I realised these offers were his efforts to make me feel comfortable and I was very grateful for it. He said it would be another 30min until we'd arrive at bioRe. We continued on the dark roads, horning at every motorbike, bicycle or person walking or sitting along the steet, doing scary overtakes and avoiding run over, dead dogs...
When we finally arrived at bioRe at around 20:30, I was shown to my room with a torch. I could not see much from the campus, but I noticed that the paths and borders were all very neat and tidy. Then I got to meet Claudia, the student form HAFL who's research work I am going to continue. Also Monika Messmer from the FiBL was there for a short visit in India. We sat together and talked and discussed what will need to be done in the next few days. At the Garden Kitchen the cook warmed up some dinner for us and I really savoured it, I was hungry from the long journey.
The next day I was all mesmerized by the sunlight, the fresh green and the beauty of all the flowers. Here you see the building where I'm staying:
And here's a glimpse into my room. I will share it with Seraina.
The chipmunks are all around the place:
This is what I hear from everywhere since my arrival...At first, I was in the safe "cocoon" of airports, taxis and the fancy Ibis Airport Hotel in Mumbai where I stayed for one night.
The next day I had to take another plane to Indore. One exciting moment during travel was the evacuation excercise at the Mumbai Airport. We all had to leave the domestic gate, they delivered drinking water and chairs and we sat under beautiful trees full of huge "bats"... I think it must have been flying foxes or fruit bats, no one could tell me exactly...
Only on that second day, when I got off the plane in Indore, it felt like diving into it all: into the colours, odours, tastes, into the heat and the horning of the cars and trucks...simply into the chaos! Into incredible India! I've let it all pass by, since the guy who picked me up form the Indore-Airport couldn't speak any English. He just held the sign in his hands "bioRe India Ltd." and we both understood we've found the person we were looking for... I followed him and two other guys followed us. I sat in the front and the two guys behind. We drove through Indore and picked up another guy who jumped in at the back. We stopped once more and the driver tried hard to pronounce something in English. Finally I understood he said "one purchase, madam". One of the guys at the back hopped off and came back with a bottle of water for me. And then we left Indore...
I looked out the front window and absorbed everything, dusk came and soon everything was dark...The guys exchanged a lot of news, it seemed. They gossiped like I would have only imagined women could ;). Only rarely they said some words to me. After two hours we stopped at a "roadhouse" so they could pee and have a chai. The driver showed me to the back of the building and it was the first time I had to use my hindi skills to find out which were the girls'-toilets. I was very happy to find myself remembering at least these basics... There were several squating toilets, I went into one and found I couldn't close the door, since the lock did not fit at all. I inspected two or three but soon decided not to pee...it was not urgent and the smell of urine was to obtrusive, there were no flushes, I had no paper... ok, let's not go into any further details.
The driver offered me something to eat and I declined, since I didn't want to strain my digestion too much just in the beginning.
But I realised these offers were his efforts to make me feel comfortable and I was very grateful for it. He said it would be another 30min until we'd arrive at bioRe. We continued on the dark roads, horning at every motorbike, bicycle or person walking or sitting along the steet, doing scary overtakes and avoiding run over, dead dogs...
When we finally arrived at bioRe at around 20:30, I was shown to my room with a torch. I could not see much from the campus, but I noticed that the paths and borders were all very neat and tidy. Then I got to meet Claudia, the student form HAFL who's research work I am going to continue. Also Monika Messmer from the FiBL was there for a short visit in India. We sat together and talked and discussed what will need to be done in the next few days. At the Garden Kitchen the cook warmed up some dinner for us and I really savoured it, I was hungry from the long journey.
The next day I was all mesmerized by the sunlight, the fresh green and the beauty of all the flowers. Here you see the building where I'm staying:
And here's a glimpse into my room. I will share it with Seraina.
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