Namaste

Namaste Everyone (hello),

So it is now very late in Jodhpur, and extrodinary hot, but I am almost beginning to get used to it. Tomorrow I leave for Setrawa, a rural village where running water is a luxury that I will not have (and neither will internet.) But, now an update on what I have been up to.

Early Monday morning, we took a prop plane with Jet airways from Mumbai to Jodhpur, about a 2h15m flight. On the way, I took this picture of Mumbai just after we took off.

When we arrived in Jodhpur (to the most run down airport I have ever seen, and also doubles as a military base as evidenced by military jets under green grass hangers) we we met by the FSD (Foundation for Sustainable Development) team. (FSD is the program that we are working through and has arranged most of our schedule.) Then we went to our hotel, as can be seen below. The hotel is a very nice hotel, especially for India, and perhaps most importantly, has air conditioning and a generator (the power is off daily from about 9 am to noon.) The doorway to my room is at the bottom left.

After the hotel, we went out for a very India lunch (I'm getting lots of practice eating with one hand, but the hard part is tearing the naan with one hand, which I am getting down.) Then, we went to a big event with Simbali Trust (the organization in Setrawa that we will be working with) in which they explained what they do, which includes paying for a private education for Dalit (the lowest class) girls to break both class and sexual barriers. At the even were newspaper and TV reporters, and below is a picture of us in the newspaper, which calls itself the most read newspaper in all of the state of Rajasthan. (The article was on the front page of one of the interior sections.)

Then we had a very nice dinner, and for the first time, I had a solid night's sleep.

Today was indeed a big day, of which one of the main goals was shopping. I did indeed get 3 traditional Indian shawls (which I will put pictures of me up when I get the chance.) The stores were very interesting and cheap. You can get nice button down collared shirts (I got 2) for R115 (approx $2.75.) Very amazing. The other thing that is very striking about the stores is the insane number of people hired there (which applies to every commerical place in India, including restaurants.) There were probably about at least 2 people waiting me at any given point. Then, at the checkout counter, there is one person to calculate the amount you owe, another person to take the money and give change, and then another person takes it upstairs, where you have to show the receipt to pick it up from yet another person. Incredible amounts of labor.

In the late afternoon, FSD set up some interesting people to talk to us. Two people in particular really struck me for their comments on the caste system. They both agreed that the caste system was a great system when it was created, as it allocated labor in a very efficient manner. But then they differed, in which one person said the caste system is outdated for the present, as, for example, you do not need the strongest men to fight wars as was true in the past. However, the other person still believed that each caste was meant to do what it started as. This person, when I asked why he believed Jodhpur was such a successful city, responded that he believed it was because of monarchy as opposed to democracy. He cited how politicians today can only run for 1 5 year term in which they pay lots of money to win the election and spend the 5 years in office to get their money back that they lost. Then, he pointing out how kings get to stay in office their whole life and have a much better incentive to do stuff right because they will be handing what they have done to their son (a very important chain for Indian society)

Lastly, he is a picture of Dennis and I in a rickshaw (something we have been traveling in a lot.) So far, we have only gone up to 5 people in one rickshaw, but I'm sure we will do more at some point in the future.

So long,

-Andrew