Left behind
The visitors from the NKDA board continued their journey back to Finland this morning. We joined them on a trip to Cochin yesterday and spent the entire day in fort Cochin. It’s been quite a busy couple of weeks sence we have been trying to visit as many places as possible in such a short time. The meetings and interviews have been interesting though and many new objectives came up considering the reports we’re preparing. From time to time I felt that I don’t have enough time for my work, forgetting that I was working all the time. We all have our own resonsibilities here and as I want the best result possible, I sometimes find myself worrying a bit too much about how efficiently I spend my time here. Also the fact that we have only 5 weeks left here seems a bit unnerving, but on the other hand I really don’t mind going home. Nevertheless, it was nice to get to know each other better or even for the first time in some cases. We had a lot of fun and I did get more information, also a refill of motivation, during our time together.
A couple of days back I realized how accustomed I am on living here by now. That sort of thing kind of sneaks up on you. I don’t pay as much attention to the small eccentricities and everything is done by routine. Back home the feelings are the same. Although we miss each other very much and would never wish to be apart, we both are used to living this way after the two months that it has now been. And it is also a weird feeling, to feel at home in India. It does help me with my work in a sense that I can concentrate on writing and analyzing more than to my surroundings, but it’s still no easy task. Every time I get something finished I learn something new that changes half of what I have accomplished so far. The amount of knowledge can sometimes get a bit exhausting and hard to summarize or narrow down, but I have learned to take a break whenever that feeling hits on me. Otherwize your stuck or produce the poorest report ever.
The currency is another thing that has changed its meaning over time in our minds. At first everything seemed so cheap and we were almost cought by the idea that now is the time to shop. For me the greatest temptation has been the essential oils and the spices, which both are naturally so much cheaper than in Finland and come in so much bigger variety. But still, as being a student doesn’t provide me with too much income, I’m rather saving up for the experiences that I can’t buy in Finland no matter how much money I would have. I’m aiming to collect as much information as I possibly can on these upcoming weeks, including the video interviews now that we managed to buy the camera (well, Simo was kind enough to go out shopping whilst me and Janne are trying to work and enjoy the room service at the hotel), so that on the end of may I would be able to work from a distance. I have been planning my own, private bachelor party, sence I don’t have time to have one in Finland, and for this I have had help from a local travel agency; www.nivalink.com I searched out a few and this one has been the most sincere, most persistant with trying to arrange my trip the way I want it and with the small budget I have, and the most polite on the customer service. So if you’re ever in India and need guidance, try to reach Sonal at sonal@nivalink.in or any other of their personell, I’m sure they will be very happy to help you with your travels. Tomorrow we will be heading back to Thiruvalla by train and on tuesday there is a nationwide strike, that will quiet down all the business for one day. I will be starting strikes of my own, that involves rules like
1. No more chocolates
2. Daily exercise (heat is no longer an acceptable excuse)
3. Healthier food (Deep fried food is delicious, but it’s always deep fried..)
And also denying all the fun and delicious for the next month or so. Luckily I have always felt that rules are meant to be broken from time to time..
Esa Etelätalo (NKDA chair), Liisa Timonen (NKDA administrator), Kaija Saramäki (External evaluator), Janne Hirvanen, and the faculty of the Edayaranmula L.P. School evaluating the progress of construction funded by the NKDA.
