Erik, Delhi - Week 6

Hi everyone,

For most of you who know me personally, you probably know that I've been back in the US for about 2 months now.  I'm sure you're all wondering why this post is coming up so late.  The answer is simply that I procrastinated to the point of having forgotten about it, and was reminded that I had a follow-up to write because of an email a friend of mine sent me today of the blog she's writing while studying abroad in Brazil (thanks for the unintentional reminder, Shelby!).  So for all of you who have been waiting impatiently, if there are any of you, I sincerely apologize about how late this entry is.  The good news is that while I had forgotten about this blog, I haven't forgot my stories from Delhi (specifically the stories from my final week there, all of which will be new to you)!

A lot of interesting things happened to me before I returned home.  With only seven days left to see Delhi (only the day I returned home was free), I really felt a lot of pressure to make sure I could see everything I wanted to in the city before going back home.  So while I had been traveling around Delhi my Sundays off for the previous weeks, and Sunday being my last day in India, I had to force myself to make time after work to see the sights - definitely a very stressful experience.  Monday, I went with two friends from work to see the Lotus Temple, one of the most interestingly-designed buildings in all of Delhi, since it happened to not be too far from the Khushi Home for girls in the southeastern part of the city.  Unfortunately, when we arrived, we found out that it was closed on Mondays, so we weren't allowed to enter.  In spite of our thorough disappointment, we decided to just hang out and found a tourist-oriented restaurant nearby.

Don't be too disappointed for me though.  On Thursday, after working at the Ummeed Boys' Home, my Indian co-worker there, Sachin, invited me to see the Lotus Temple with him, so I DID end up getting to go!  It was a very hot day, so I was relieved that he took me there in his own car (complete with air-conditioning and the Indian version of Sirius Radio!) instead of us taking an uncomfortable autorickshaw. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me (this was an impromptu trip), but he had his smart phone, so we did get some photos of the complex.  Unlike most of the religious monuments in the city, which are either Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh, the Lotus Temple is actually a house of worship for the Baha'i Faith, a relatively recent religion from Persia which emphasizes the unity at the core of all religions.  As a result, members of all faiths may enter and pray in this unique building's austere, simple interior, as were we.  Neither of us really WANTED to spend much time praying, so we (like most of the other tourists) were only there for a few minutes before touring the rest of the site.  One thing which was a complete surprise to us were the pools in the shape of lotus petals in a ring around the temple.  Though one of them desperately needed to be cleaned out, they were a nice complement to the beautiful grounds surrounding the temple.  Afterwards, upon learning I had never tried sugarcane juice before, Sachin drove me around for a while looking for a sugarcane juice stand, as we talked about Indian music (this song in particular, which he tried to teach me the chorus of - my Hindi isn't nearly good enough to actually know it, but apparently it was good enough to find the song on Google two months after the fact, so I think that's pretty good!).  The creamy juice tasted very different from what I was anticipating, being not super sugary like soda, but ended up being rather good!  He then was trying to drive me to a nearby metro station so I could head back to the Ria Residency, but with the rush hour traffic (INDIAN rush hour traffic), the fastest thing to do was jump out of the car in the stalled traffic and have me jump on a bus heading for the metro - when I finally arrived there, the cars were so clogged up with commuters, I missed my stop because I couldn't exit the train!

The Lotus Temple, with its petal pools (photo by spirittourism.com)

The other big site I had to see before leaving India was the famous Akshardham Temple, an enormous Hindu temple complex located on the western side of the Yamuna River.  On Wednesday, after work, one of my co-workers told me she and two of her roommates were planning on visiting this site after work, and she invited me to come along with them!  Of course I said yes, and we took the metro further out than I had ever taken it before.  I had heard that this complex was very recently built (it opened not even a full decade ago), and as a result of its newness, its size, and its importance, the security was very tight - we had to give up our cameras and bags before being allowed entry.  It was very disappointing not being able to take photos inside - the entire complex is gorgeous and quite modern, with plenty of small fountains and pools, the hum of quiet music, and a well-constructed temple in the center, adorned with carvings of scenes and animals/animal-gods from Hinduism.  The inside of the actual temple was beautiful, with ornately carved walls and ceilings, paintings of propagators of Hinduism in India, statues of various gods, and an awe-inspiring central room, filled with huge golden statues and decorated with bright crystals.  While touring the area outside the temple, we noticed that it looked like a storm was coming.  After being separated from my co-tourists as we went different ways on the metro, I exited the Hauz Khaz station near Munirka and found that it was pouring rain.  After 15 minutes of having Indians beat me to the autorickshaws outside the station, I got lucky and heard a car shout "Munirka!"  I confirmed what I had heard, and squeezed my way into the tight cabin in the back of the truck, with seven or eight Indians packed in.  Though it normally takes about five minutes from the station in an auto to get to my neighborhood, the heavy traffic and flooding roads turned five minutes into 30-plus!  In spite of this painfully slow end, it was still a memorable (in a good way) day!

The Akshardham Complex (taken from the metro station)

 

A DECENT photo of the main temple (photo from Wikipedia)

 

The fabulously opulent central chamber (postcard image from mountainsoftravelphotos.com - the bigger version linked is certainly more impressive!)

 

My last few days of work were interesting, but relaxed.  On Monday at the girls' home, I found out that a girl named Kajal had had an allergic reaction to some sort of plant the previous weekend which left her with hives covering her face.  Although she was going to be okay, it was clear that the rash was bothering her.  That same day, I saw one of the older girls at the home grinding leaves with stones and mixing that with water into a thin paste.  When I asked her what she was doing, she explained that she was grinding neem leaves in order to make a medicine for the hives on Kajal's face.  I thought this was absolutely fascinating, and was touched that she was going out of her way to help her friend - it's a real testament to the close bonds that the girls have from living together!  On Friday, I watched part of a movie with the girls (Bhoothnath - a movie about a ghost that befriends a child whose family has moved into his manor, and perhaps the first movie appropriate for children I had seen them watch, besides on of the animated Barbie movies).  They were so enthralled with the film, they didn't even notice me leaving to go home on my last day there!  It made me a bit sad, but the next week, when I was home, my co-worker who was still there said that they all missed "Erik-Bhaiya," which made me smile.

 

Ishrat making the medicine for her friend

 

 Meanwhile, at the boys' home, I spent my last few days mostly talking with students about the United States, and the cultural differences between the US and India, with many of the lessons about India involving Salman Khan, a famous action star and a favorite of the boys.  We also spent a lot of the time playing games, like carrom, but also cricket, hangman, Uno, and chess, all of which was fun.  On my last day there, the boys gave me a parting gift to remember them: a nice, white shirt that they all signed!  It was a very sweet gesture, and they took a photo of me holding the shirt next to Sachin as I was about to leave - if I look a little sad, it's because I was - it was my last day of my internship in India, and the next day I would be leaving Delhi.

 

My goodbye to Ummeed Sneh Ghar

 

My final day in Delhi was a lot more relaxed than I was anticipating - having seen everything I definitely wanted to in Delhi before leaving for home, I spent the day relaxing, trying to avoid feeling stressed about going home.  But before going home, there was one thing I still had to do.  I had heard the whole time I was in India that I absolutely HAD to try butter chicken, an Indian delicacy popular in Delhi.  I decided to finally try the little hole-in-the-wall restaurant just down the street from the Ria Residency to sample the food I had heard so much about.  I sat down at the otherwise empty restaurant while the staff sat and watched the Dark Knight in Hindi.  When my food came out with some rice and a Sprite, I dug in.  Butter chicken is a chicken cooked in a spicy, buttery sauce and served over rice.  It was probably the tastiest thing I had eaten since I had arrived in India!  The dish managed to live up to the hype that had been built up around it for me, and I'm definitely glad I managed to get to try it before leaving.  When I got back, I found out that the owner of the Ria Residency had cooked me a lunch for my last day in India, even though I had just eaten a very filling lunch.  She had prepared some delicious puri, an Indian dish involving small "balloons" of fried bread, which are dipped into a sauce and eaten.  I managed to be able to fill my stomach even more, and thanked her when I was all finished.  I then spent the last two hours or so in my room at the Ria Residency, enjoying the air conditioning and just chilling out and packing up my stuff around the small room that had been my surrogate home for the past six weeks.  When my cab arrived at 5:30 to take me to the airport, it was definitely a bittersweet moment - I was happy to be going home to see my family, but I would miss my Indian "family" (Smita-mum and Suresh the caretaker), all the friends I had made during my too-short time in India, and all the experiences that I had had in India and wouldn't be able to have back home.

 

And here I am now,contentedly watching a two-week long marathon of the Simpsons on TV and dreading the end of summer break, while at the same time looking forward to being busy again and enjoying thinking about where my next big adventure will take me.  Two years ago, I could never have possibly foreseen myself spending six weeks in Morocco, my first experience outside of the country (besides Ontario, which isn't TOO different culturally from Michigan), and even last year, never would I have guessed that I would spend the first half of my summer in India.  I certainly have some ideas, but who knows?  It could be almost anywhere!  I'm sure I'll go through the same stresses that are involved with travel and being an especially nervous person, but I'm still looking forward to more positive experiences in new and fascinating cultures and societies.  Until then...

 

Namaste (for now),

 

Erik

Ejona Korcari, Week 13, Tirana Albania (the last week)

This was the very last week I spent in Albania. I had a lot of things to do this week. First I went in Korca. There was a huge event called the "Beer Fest". This continued for four days. The event gathers thousands of people each year. During the event the best singers and bands are invited to sing in a public park. Also a lot of meat companies advertise/sell their products (cooked). And of course, there is a LOT of beer. Korca Beer is the first Albanian beer, so the event is really important for the city's economy. I went there with my aunt and uncle and we had a blast.

The next day I spent with my grandparents. They were too sad I had to say goodbye. Since my internship was in Tirana (four hours away from Korca) and I was really busy with other things, I didn't get to spend much time with them :(. 

The next few days I tried to get the most from them and I went to shadow the doctors I talked about in the previous blog. It has been so much fun to be by their side. I have to wear a white coat when I am present during the patient visits. It is an amazing feeling to think that one day I will be a real doctor. Other doctors refer to me as Ms. Doctor, and I get butterflies in my stomach (lol). They say its ok to call me doctor since one day I will be their colleague. 

My other grandmother had to spend two weeks at the Military Hospital (main trauma hospital in the country) after an injury she had, so I had to spend a lot of time with her there. It was great i had to spend a lot of time with her, but I wish she wasn't sick and we weren't in a trauma hospital. The only good thing from that is that I got to see a lot of injured people and learn a lot about their condition. It was like unofficial shadowing. The doctors and the nurses there were really friendly too. Of course, it was really sad and traumatic to be surrounded by so many injured people. 

Another thing I haven't mentioned before is that during this time in Albania I also volunteered as an English tutor. Now passing the English exam is a requirement to graduate from an Albanian High School, so a lot of people in the neighborhood were interested to learn/improve their English. i also had some parents as my students. This gave me an amazing satisfaction because not a long time ago I was the one who didn't know English. I was glad that I could help and I tried my best to engage and encourage people to attend. 

The last two days I spent with my uncles and their families. We went to family dinners and I spent some time out with my cousins. I also went shopping to buy some souvenirs. In the morning I meet the girls, who also returned from the time with their families. We went to the airport and took the plane back to USA. It was an amazing time in Albania. I will miss everyone and everything. I will miss the people, the food, the coffee....EVERYTHING. 

Beer Fest Dinner

My cousin

Dinner with cousins and uncles

Cousins (I am the oldest of all)

The best flavor of Fanta ever

Energency Medicine At Hospital

This is my last blog from my internship in Albania....

The End

Ejona Korcari, Week 12, Tirana Albania

This is the last week we are working at the Ministry. We talked with our supervisor and she agreed that we spend the rest of the time left in Albania with our family and friends. In the Ministry currently there is not a lot of space because the building is under construction. This is the best time to do this because most of the people are going in holiday, so the less workers, the easier to make changes. Even the Minister and our supervisor are going on vocations during this month. August is the peak of the touristic season in Albania. I wrapped up the translation I had to do about the Tourism Package and now I am all done. It was long and tiring. This was a document that i had to be careful to translate it with no mistakes. This is a long term plan on what Albania has to change about tourism, how to improve tourism services, what measurements to take, and their consequences. Also we helped with some small things at the National Coastal Agency. On our last day we went to say Goodbye to everyone we worked with in the Ministry. It was a bittersweet moment. I am happy I get to go back to USA, but because we spent so much time in here, I am sad we are leaving. I made so many new friends and built so many connections.We promised to keep in touch through emails and social media, so I hope we continue talking. It was a pleasure to work with everyone and I will miss all those wonderful people who taught me a lot of things and skills. They always identified us 3 as a group, so I will miss Enxhi and Kledia too. 

At the Minister's office

Outside of the Ministry on our last day

Kledia | Tirana | Week 12

After speaking with our supervisor at work we all decided that this week would be our last week at work because she and over half of the Ministry were taking their vacation. In Europe it's a very common thing for work to slow down dramatically in August as almost everyone takes their two week break. Also the Ministry was undergoing major construction and there was nowhere for us to stay so we mostly worked out of our apartment and coffee shops in the area. We finished up the translation that was given to us the week before and worked a little bit with the National Coastal Agency on some questionnaires that they were planning on giving out to tourists. The last day we went in and said goodbye to everyone! It was very emotional because we got used to being there and everyone calling us "vajzat nga Michigani" - the girls from Michigan!

[In front of the Ministry]

[In the Minister's office]

Kledia | Tirana | Week 11

After taking a 6 hour bus ride from down south back to the capital I started feeling a little under the weather. I think the combination of the sun, the sea and the long ride really did a number on my system and I ended up with a fever and so I didn't end up working for two days. When I went back to work, my other roommate and I were given another translation job. This one was a little different than the others because it was going to be given directly to people who were interested in investing in Albania. This translation was a summary of many of the tourist destinations in Albania. It was a bit difficult to translate because the language was pretty and flowery and language like that is much harder to translate than government documents that tend to use straightforward language. However, I learned a lot about the tourist sites and about the history  and architecture of different castles. This translation took us bit longer than usual because of the language and I think by this point we were burned out from translating.


For the weekend we decided to go up north because we spent a lot of time down south and hadn't explored the north much. We asked around at the ministry and they recommended that we go to Velipoj -- a beach right next to the border with Montenegro. When we got there it was very crowded! Which we should have known because it was the first week of August and literally the peak of tourist season in Albania. It was a different experience because most of the people that were vacationing there were Albanians from the Northern region or Albanians from Kosovo and they have different dialects than I'm used to so it was a bit difficult to understand when they would talk to me. Of course from my experience at the Ministry I couldn't help but notice everything that was going well and what needed to be improved on. It was good experience for me to see exactly how the situation was on the ground because it gave me a better idea of what the Ministry was trying to do. This weekend with all the tourists made realize that one day Albania will be full of tourists and that it will be very crowded. It was a bittersweet realization because it won't be "undiscovered" anymore.

[Very big cow in Velipoj -- it was a nice combo of farm & beach] 

[Pretty good calamari in Velipoj -- cheap and yummy ]

Ejona Korcari, Week 11, Tirana Albania

My time in Albania is going by really fast, especially because I am busy all day. During the time that the Harvard people were working in Albania we were part of their Black Belt team. Their last project at the Ministry was to make a Tourism Package. We worked with them and other people who contribute in the realization of the project. We worked with the people of the team to do research, write it in English and make the materials flow and be easy to follow. After the materials were ready the Harvard leaders made the package and they presented it to the Conference last week. This week I got a new translation to do. Guess what was it?

I have to translate the Tourism Package from English to Albanian. This is a document about 55 pages long and I have about 7 business days to finish. I think that this is enough time if I work intensively during our office hours. There has been other works to do in the office like other previous weeks but my main focus is the Tourism Package.

An afternoon my cousins and I went to visit the Artificial Lake Park. That is a park where a lot of people go for a walk, jogging or just to spend some time away from the busy life of Tirana. We had a lot of fun in the fresh air. We visited the amphitheater in there, bought ice cream and then headed home.

Another afternoon we sent going at the mall. I was surprised to see that the mall was very similar to the ones in USA. There was a diversity of brands and shops. It was a blast and we bought a lot of clothes :).

My cousins and I at the amphitheater near the Artificial Lake in Tirana

The mall in Tirana

The mall

Velipoja in the evening

Velipoja

The weekend I spent with the girls in the city of Shkodra and Velipoja. Shkodra is a beautiful city in the North of Albania. After spending a couple of hours visiting the vity we traveled to Velipoja. This is a town in the district of Shkodra. In the middle of the town there is Buna River and The Adriatic Sea is situated on its side. I think this town has the most crowded beaches in the whole Albania. Especially because this is one of the closest beaches for tourists that come from Kosovo. As you might imagine most of the people here were Northern Albanians and people from Kosovo (also Albanians as they like to call themselves, that's a different story). We spent two amazing days at the beach and around the town. I will miss all this when I leave Albania, but as for now I really miss USA and my family and friends.

Ejona Korcari, Week 10, Tirana Albania

My trip to Albania has been a blast so far. At work we have been all the time working non stop. A lot of days we had to work after hours in order to catch up. New people that we had not meet or worked before asked us to do translations from them. Seems like people have been talking about us and now everyone in the building knows we do a nice job and pretty fast. We try our best. I have been improving my communication skills and have improved my english and Albanian. This week we got to attend this conference organized by the Ministries and the Harvard groups that operate in most of them. Harvard students presented the results of their job in Albania. It was really nice to hear the amount of work that got done in such an amazing period of time. Abanian government is being really productive and that is really good for the people. 

Me working at the office

This weekend I didn't get to go with the other girls on a trip to a costal Albanian city because I wasn't feeling really good. Instead I stayed at home. I visited grandma and she took good care of me :). 

Since my blogs tend to be long I never mentioned previously what I get to do during my free time in here. My experience in Albania has been really intense. Except the work at the ministry and traveling with the girls, during my free time I do several other activities. I have been shadowing several doctors at the UHC Mother Teresa in Tirana. I started by shadowing a radiologist doctor. Later she presented me to other doctors that work with her and they all were happy to have me there. This was at the pediatric hospital. I learned how to use the CT-scan and how to do scans of different body parts. I saw and read the interpretation of the doctors for the scans, X-rays, cystographies etc. The doctors and technicians are really nice and they are always answering my questions.

The room from where the CT-Scans are made

Another doctor i shadowed was Prof. Dr. Mentor Petrela (PU-PH Paris). I become part of his team. I got to follow patients pre and post operation, went with him during rounds, spent time in the clinic during patient appointments, had the chance to see how the patient is prepared for the surgery, the protocols and how they checked on them day-by-day after the intervention and much more. Also I had the chance to shadow residents and nurses and learn more about Medical schools in Albania and the education needed to be a Neurosurgeon. I saw cases of aneurysms, hematomas, hernia, traumas, tumors, peripheral nerve problems, emergencies etc. Through imaging techniques like CT-scans, MRI-s, Angio-scans I got to see how some of those cases look like and how we can diagnose those patients. I also got to meet a lot of patients who were really nice to me and let me watch procedures and tests done on them.

Protocols 

Doctors' locker room

One of the floors I did rounds with the team

Ejona Korcari, Week 9, Tirana Albania

This week was a bit different. We finished some short translations and social media work around the office during Monday and Tuesday. The rest of the week we spent it in another city in the south coast of Albania called Vlora. There we had to work on a project organized from the National Coastal Agency of Albania and a French organization. In the port of Vlora was anchored a scientific boat called Tara expedition. Their current mission was to study the small fragments of plastic floating in the surface of the sea. On Wednesday we got to see a presentation and a seminar from the group of people that work in Tara and find out more about them. There were present students from University of Vlora and Tirana too. On Thursday and Friday we got to visit the boat and meet the equipage. The Coastal Agency had organized an event involving kids from the orphanages of 4 different Albanian cities. The kids were from 3-15 years old and they didn't speak english, so I got to translate for two groups of the older kids. It was really fun. I learned so much myself about research in a boat, the life of the equipage, the boat itself and the sailors shared so many stories with us. It was really exciting. The kids were really fascinated by all this. They kept asking questions and the scientists tried to answer them in their best abilities. Tara was an unique ship. As we were on a tour in the boat, I was looking at some posters and to my surprise, I saw that University of Michigan was one of their scientific partners. I felt so proud I go there. 

The Seminar we got to attend with Tirana and Vlora students

Tara Scientific boat

UM is under Scientific Partners

Me in the board of Tara

Waiting for the kids to arrive  

Me translating for the oldest group of kids

Treats in Vlora

Since I am a Biology (Neuroscience) major, and have taken a lot of science classes being in this boat was really exciting for me. After the our in the boat I started reading about the boat and their past and present expeditions. I also think that it would be really cool if I ever participated in an expedition like that and travel around the world. It was a really unique experience.

Life as a Londoner

Hello readers,

My name is Jack Ridgway and I am currently finishing up my 2-month internship with OpenTable Intl. in London, England. Sadly, this is my first and last contribution to this blog. I would have liked to be an active writer but my primary internet and computer source was at my Opentable office and desk. Unfortunately, being primarily a tech-company, Opentable places domain restrictions on your google access at work (with the hope of everyone staying on-task) and thus, I was unable to access this Google Blogger feature for the majority of my period here. So, I'm sitting here on a Bank Holiday Monday, in an extremely quiet Pret-a-Manger, using spotty wifi on my laptop, to write you this post. 

I'll try and keep things short and sweet here in my post. Because, as I've learned talking to friends from home, things that might seem of massive importance to me while I'm here, tend to be rather unimpressive to the average listener.

Why I'm here:

I was hired by a Michigan Alumnus through the International Internship Department at Michigan to be a Project Coordinator for OpenTable here in London. I was born near Newcastle so having a UK passport was extremely helpful through the whole process I must say. I'm sure, or rather I hope, that a few of you have heard of OpenTable before. Basically, OpenTable is company through which you can book reservations at all the best restaurants. OpenTable is very popular in the states and is based in San Francisco. I've actually found that mothers are generally the most knowledgeable of OpenTable and have the app on their I-phones (what does that say about chivalry, gentlemen?). A user can make a restaurant reservation and search for restaurants by cuisine type, location, price, etc.

As mentioned, Opentable is very strong in the US. Through their current expansion into Europe, they are working hard to penetrate new markets and get as many restaurants, and people, using the app/website as possible. This is where I come in!

As a project coordinator, everyday I interacted with new restaurants who our sales team has recruited to join the Opentable family. Once the restaurant agrees to pay for our services and allow us to help them get diners, Project Coordinators will organize what benefits they will recieve and how to optimize their intake of diners!

As a german speaker, I primarily dealt with german restaurants, with a strong focus on Berlin. Even more specifically, my task within the Project Coordination team of 8 people, was to get restaurants mobile-optimized. This means that you can view a website on your iphone and it is simple/easy to use without having to scroll down forever or zoom in to read tiny font. My task was to make it easier for diners throughout Germany to book restaurants from their cellphones. In order to do this, I designed and implemented the code of mobile websites and also contacted hundreds of restaurants with prototypes of their mobile-optimized website.

I could not speak highly enough about OpenTable and the fantastic work environment I enjoyed everyday. Download the app!

London life:

I apologize for boring you all with the work details but during my two month stint here, but outside of the office I had some enjoyable experiences too. Every Tuesday, I competed in a corporate softball league in Battersea park with some co-workers, and every Wednesday I played 5v5 football (soccer) with a different group of co-workers. Both teams were quite good actually and the Opentable teams won both leagues which was a blast for me. This is me at softball below:

Socially, I met and spent time with a group of people from Michigan State University (gross I know) who were taking part in a Study abroad program and lived quite close to me. They were an extremely kind and friendly group of girls and I have to thank them (should they so read this) for keeping me company and allowing me to have friends away from work. 

In terms of where I lived, I spent both months living in a University of London dormitory. My room was extremely small, but what I lacked in amenities, I had in city-location. Located very centrally, College Hall on Malet Street is an affordable and safe location for anyone to stay during the summer. The university rents out the rooms while the students are on summer holiday, and I would recommend College Hall to any Michigan students working in London in the near future. Not to mention the staff there were always helpful and accommodating.

So when I wasn't playing sports, spending time with spartans, or at the office, I tried to attend as many english football games as I could. As a die-hard Aston Villa supporter in the Premier League, I attended 5 games during my time here. The atmosphere at football games here is second to none and the fan culture is on a different level to any american sports. Aston Villa are also off to a good start this year so hopefully that will continue!

In summary:

These two months have been a fantastic experience for me and there is very little I can complain about. I did lose my phone and had to deal with getting a new one, which was a massive headache, but that was my own fault! I fly back in 4 days and I'm eager to get back to school despite the 5 hour time difference. It's particularly difficult to summarize my trip and write everything I did in one short blog post at the end of my time here. I did so much, met so many great people, while given the opportunity to work hard and enjoy life in a professional environment. If it were practical for me to write all my enjoyable experiences down here, I would. Please ask questions about anything you like, and I'll do my best to follow up in the comments below. 

Thanks for reading. Cheers,

Jack

Olivia - Galápagos - Week 6

For my final week in the Galápagos we did a bit of everything! On Monday and Tuesday we worked on the reserve weeding out invasive species around the garden and our two houses. We also picked some fresh cilantro from the garden that we cooked with for dinner that night! It's always nice to reap the fruits of your labor. I can't believe how big the plants have gotten since I first got here!

On Wednesday I worked on a personal project with some of the students from Oregon and Oregon State. We started to create posters to hang in the houses and common areas that list the most common plants of the island. On each poster we classified the plants as either invasive, agricultural, or native/endemic. We added accurate pictures of each plant so that the future volunteers will know what plants they should be cutting down and what ones they should keep around! It's important that the volunteers are educated about the plants so they don't cut down plants that are vital to the islands ecological system. 

Thursday was my last day working at the tortoise breeding center and We spent the day working in the nursery bagging coffee plants. We also helped clear a path to a nearby lighthouse that was starting to become overgrown with grass and other plants. 

I have had such an amazing time here over these past six weeks and am blessed to have experienced and learned more about these beautiful islands. The people I worked with have solidified my belief that every person can make a difference. Each person that came to work on the reserve offered new insight, asked questions, and went the extra mile to give back to the islands. 

I truly feel that the most important part of traveling is giving back to the places you visit. You can learn so much more about a place when you immerse yourself into it's culture and way of life. These islands have taught me the importance of respecting nature and being conscious of your impact on the world around you.

Chao!

Olivia

Ashley Connelly, Week 10, 11, 12, Madrid

Hey all,

This is my final blog post as my time in Spain has ended. The past three weeks have mainly consisted of visiting tourist sites in Madrid and doing everything I wanted to do, but hadn't been able to do yet. I went to Circulo Belles Artes' terrace to enjoy some tinto de verano while overlooking Gran Via. In addition to CBA, I made sure to spend some time in Retiro and visit the Prado again. My last few weeks in Madrid made me realize how much I am going to miss being able to ride the Metro and go somewhere like the Prado- one of the greatest art museums- or Retiro- one of the most beautiful parks. Ann Arbor and Michigan definitely don't have the history or allure of Madrid

CBA

Besides doing some last minute exploring in Madrid, I took a trip to Morocco my last weekend abroad. It was one of the best experiences of my life. We took a day tour where we visited a Berber market and house, climbed a mountain, rode a camel, and ate the best food I've ever tasted. The nest day we explored the souk in Marrakech and did some bartering. We also got incredibly lost because there seemed to be no street signs, but we enjoyed wandering the streets and discovering Marrakech that way. For example, we stumbled upon a museum and the owner let us see the old hall for concubines that was closed to the public. And, we met a a guy at a spice store who gave us a tour of all his spices and gave us a sample of tea (which my friend eventually bought). It was such an amazing experience and I'm glad I took advantage of my location in Spain to go. 

Compilation of all the amazing food I ate in Morocco 

Climbing a mountain with Said 

One of the beautiful waterfalls 

the souk in Marrakech

India Week 6

I am home back in the U.S. and can't believe my journey is over! The past 6 weeks were amazing and have been an incredible learning experience. Delhi has shown me so much contrast can exist in one place, such a collision of the old and new, rich and poor. Working at a small nonprofit organization really showed the impact one person can really make and I'm so glad I got the chance to make a difference! In this last week I got to meet some engineers from Umich who are also volunteering in Delhi for 2 weeks and it was really fun to hang out with people my age again, as my roommate and I were the only volunteers in Delhi for the past couple of weeks. We saw India Gate at night and Connaught Place, which is sort of an open mall. There were certainly many pros and cons from my trip but I have definitely learned a lot. I am so glad I got to experience a country and culture so different from home, with perfectly-manicured green grass lawns and white picket fences. In Delhi they worried about monkeys terrorizing their houses and floods that came during the monsoon season due to a below subpar drainage system. People literally lived on the sides of the streets and in the garbage piles that would pile up and yet there were still huge shopping malls, where everything was just as expensive as it is in America! People crowded into homes right next to protected monuments that were thousands of years old and guarded. I find this contrast so strange as these monuments are protected so that they might be visited by tourists and yet they are right next to where people live in deplorable conditions. How does the government have money to hire guards and build fences to protect all these monuments (there are literally thousands in Delhi) and yet cannot help the people out? In Delhi I also discovered the true meaning of sexism. Everywhere there is security women are separated from men. Which is helpful in the way that the women's lines are always shorter. But on the metro there is a separate car for women and one time we were with some guys from work so we got on one of the regular cars and all the guys just stared at us the entire time. It was really uncomfortable and a lot of times people don't understand personal space/ privacy and they'll just stare, mostly because you're foreign. I managed to get used to it staying there for so long but it was still very discerning. It was hard to be trustful of any strangers for that reason, although we did meet some incredibly friendly and nice people, I was always cautious and aware of my surroundings. I never felt like I could let my guard down and in many shops, there are always men working, never women. I wonder what the women do, if they are not allowed to get jobs and work at shops. Rape has been a long-standing issue in India with no solution. I really think that there needs to be more education for women's rights and freedom, as society is so patriarchal. It really made me appreciate the freedoms we have in America, where there are still inequalities between men and women but it is not unusual to see a woman by herself, independent and in a career. It is not frowned upon to be an independent woman like it is in India, as our host mom herself told us it was hard for her to make friends sometimes because people did not want to be associated with an independent woman with a career. I am blessed to have had this experience as it has humbled me and made me more appreciative of all the opportunities I have. Although there were times when I struggled, I always knew that I had a home to go home to, where I would have all the amenities that I lacked abroad and that is so much more than most people can say. I really hope that my NGO continues to thrive and succeed and that the progress I have made in my time there has a lasting impact. This trip really showed me that I can adapt and be independent and although there were challenges, it definitely boosted my confidence that I can make it on my own in different cultures. I will treasure this experience and the memories and hope that one day I can really make a lasting large scale difference. Thank you India, for the adventure of a lifetime.