"Leeza, you are my sister"

Another day at the farm...

It is still pretty hot here but I am getting used to it little by little. Sleeping at night is the worst, but the days are getting easier at least.

I have a job come 6:00 PM everyday. I become a sprinkler. Using a giant tube I water the plants, grass and trees all over the farm. Because there are no crops, the water is used to flood the dirt. Actually, I am not a sprinkler as the name implies, I am more a flooder. Everything gets flooded; I feel foolish to be drowning grass and dirt with water that the villagers down the street could be using to drink or cook with, but I simply do what I am told.

I went for a walk this morning for about an hour and proceeded to have dirt thrown at me, "Engres!" (foreigner) yelled at me and 3 men with bikes try to run me over laughing. It's not as bad as it sounds really, I just picked out the three worst things. The landscape is absolutely beautiful and watching everyone prepare for their days throughout the village is quite different from what I am used to seeing. Kids fetching water, women with bundles of firewood on their heads and men plowing, smoking, or cutting wood. I love the village walks and this morning I was lucky enough to turn back at just the right time when the government water trucks were coming to deliver to the village. Everyone but the family I am with came with buckets to fill for the day.

I am starting to make progress with the wife I am staying with. (I cannot use names of people or places or any photos of them either because of the research I am doing in accordance with the IRB rules.) She showed me her wedding album today and we sat talking inside for a few hours when the sun was at its hottest. She asked if I had a boyfriend and begged to see pictures; I showed her and she told me: "he better be nice to you, he looks like he is." I told her yes, the best anyone ever has been. Walking back to the house tonight, our hands full with dinner and the enormous black dog, Sultan, guiding us through the dark she said to me, "Leeza, you are my sister." I was truly touched and commented that with 2 brothers at home in the US, I always wanted a sister.

I am slowly starting to feel more at home here, but I am simply not getting enough research done due to the heat. When nature throws you a curveball, what do you do? At this point I am planning to head back to Jaipur in a few days and then return here July 1 when the heat is gone, the crops are planted and the school re-opens.