A bit of a delay on the blog, but between the training session, presentations of our project to University professors, and Mom and her crew visiting, things this week have been pretty crazy.
So with the help of Lakshmi and Keilash we arranged our training session with 5 women from UGER in one of the school rooms at an Apna Jatan center. For 5 days from 11 am to 4 pm we sat on the concrete floor and helped cut fabric, hammer snaps, and snip threads as the women worked to design and sew the first 70 pads. Mumptaji, Pinkiji, (two enthusiastic women from Jatan) Steph and I were in charge of shopping for colorful fabric made of 100% cotton for the pads. Our shopping gave us a chance to explore the local markets of hatipol and bapu bazaar like locals. At first the women weren't too sure about having us around, but by the end of the week, we were joking about hitting each other with the snap mallet, and steph trying on our items for size.
Thursday evening, Mom, Mrs. Dunsirn, Hannah, and Anna arrived in Udaipur. I got a chance to see them on Friday afternoon, take the cable cars to the top of the mountain and go back to the Lake Palace Hotel with them. Seeing mom was great, but it was a bit strange because two worlds were forced together. Over all it was such a nice vacation to see my mom and my childhood friends, and hang out by their pool while sipping white wine. Their accommodations were so beautiful, more incredible than any of the museum palaces or forts I've seen so far. But I couldn't help but compare the living conditions I've seen in the field, to those of mom and her friends. Quite a contrast.
On Saturday, Steph, Nat, and I spend 3 hours in a work meeting with local university professors who are interested in our project. It was so invigorating and refreshing to get local support but also criticism of our work. Afterwards we hurried to prepare 30 sample pads with tags, marketing materials, and order sheets for Lakshmi to take to her conference in Bangalore. She will give talks about the importance of Safe and Environmentally healthy alternatives to disposable pads. Hopefully she will be convincing, and our product will help her cause.
Saturday night and Sunday was full of mom time. Saturday she had steph, nat, allison and I to the lake palace hotel for a delicious breakfast. Steph and I ate so much we felt sick afterward, but the spread at the palace hotel; piles of fruit, cheese, breads, fish, and various indian dishes; was too good to go easy. Our other activities were just as fun; a cooking class (that I unfortunately missed because of work), beer on a rooftop restaurant, trips to the Jain temple 'Ranakpoor' (where a priest sang us a blessing) and an ancient fort 'Kumbalgar' (where we ordered coffee that probably was made with goat piss). The time gave us a chance to catch up and share our stories. It had been a while since I'd seen Anna and Hannah, but it was fun to catch up and reminisce about our days in middle school at Camp BirchKnoll.
They departed but we will meet up again in Delhi... speaking of delhi... I LEAVE TODAY FOR DELHI! I really cannot explain how excited I am. We're taking the night train to Agra... to see the TAJ, then we will bus on to delhi in the afternoon. We have a great hotel lined up, thanks to steph's parent's reward points, and a few club recommendations so that we can celebrate Allison's 21st birthday in style. Otherwise, I cannot wait to explore the streets and monuments, eat some kick ass paranta, and relax at Aqua, a pool side bar that we have all agreed will be worth a visit. Nat will be there with his host family so we will be lucky to have some local there to show us the ropes; hopefully his mom will take us to some good sari shops! While we are there, india celebrates the Raki festival. This is where girls give their brothers bracelets and the brother agrees to protect her... its really sweet, check out the link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raksha_Bandhan
Last night, after an excursion to a tailor called "Little Armani" in old city for suits, shirts, and skirt measurements, Steph and I decide to crown Nat our honorary indian brother. We both tied our bracelets around his wrists and talked about how happy we are to be a family.
So with the help of Lakshmi and Keilash we arranged our training session with 5 women from UGER in one of the school rooms at an Apna Jatan center. For 5 days from 11 am to 4 pm we sat on the concrete floor and helped cut fabric, hammer snaps, and snip threads as the women worked to design and sew the first 70 pads. Mumptaji, Pinkiji, (two enthusiastic women from Jatan) Steph and I were in charge of shopping for colorful fabric made of 100% cotton for the pads. Our shopping gave us a chance to explore the local markets of hatipol and bapu bazaar like locals. At first the women weren't too sure about having us around, but by the end of the week, we were joking about hitting each other with the snap mallet, and steph trying on our items for size.
Thursday evening, Mom, Mrs. Dunsirn, Hannah, and Anna arrived in Udaipur. I got a chance to see them on Friday afternoon, take the cable cars to the top of the mountain and go back to the Lake Palace Hotel with them. Seeing mom was great, but it was a bit strange because two worlds were forced together. Over all it was such a nice vacation to see my mom and my childhood friends, and hang out by their pool while sipping white wine. Their accommodations were so beautiful, more incredible than any of the museum palaces or forts I've seen so far. But I couldn't help but compare the living conditions I've seen in the field, to those of mom and her friends. Quite a contrast.
On Saturday, Steph, Nat, and I spend 3 hours in a work meeting with local university professors who are interested in our project. It was so invigorating and refreshing to get local support but also criticism of our work. Afterwards we hurried to prepare 30 sample pads with tags, marketing materials, and order sheets for Lakshmi to take to her conference in Bangalore. She will give talks about the importance of Safe and Environmentally healthy alternatives to disposable pads. Hopefully she will be convincing, and our product will help her cause.
Saturday night and Sunday was full of mom time. Saturday she had steph, nat, allison and I to the lake palace hotel for a delicious breakfast. Steph and I ate so much we felt sick afterward, but the spread at the palace hotel; piles of fruit, cheese, breads, fish, and various indian dishes; was too good to go easy. Our other activities were just as fun; a cooking class (that I unfortunately missed because of work), beer on a rooftop restaurant, trips to the Jain temple 'Ranakpoor' (where a priest sang us a blessing) and an ancient fort 'Kumbalgar' (where we ordered coffee that probably was made with goat piss). The time gave us a chance to catch up and share our stories. It had been a while since I'd seen Anna and Hannah, but it was fun to catch up and reminisce about our days in middle school at Camp BirchKnoll.
They departed but we will meet up again in Delhi... speaking of delhi... I LEAVE TODAY FOR DELHI! I really cannot explain how excited I am. We're taking the night train to Agra... to see the TAJ, then we will bus on to delhi in the afternoon. We have a great hotel lined up, thanks to steph's parent's reward points, and a few club recommendations so that we can celebrate Allison's 21st birthday in style. Otherwise, I cannot wait to explore the streets and monuments, eat some kick ass paranta, and relax at Aqua, a pool side bar that we have all agreed will be worth a visit. Nat will be there with his host family so we will be lucky to have some local there to show us the ropes; hopefully his mom will take us to some good sari shops! While we are there, india celebrates the Raki festival. This is where girls give their brothers bracelets and the brother agrees to protect her... its really sweet, check out the link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raksha_Bandhan
Last night, after an excursion to a tailor called "Little Armani" in old city for suits, shirts, and skirt measurements, Steph and I decide to crown Nat our honorary indian brother. We both tied our bracelets around his wrists and talked about how happy we are to be a family.
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