Jalgaon Schedule

We just wrapped up two nights in a hotel for some needed rest and time to ourselves.  Last night we went to a classical indian music festival.  The music was great. This morning we have shifted to our new host families.  I have enjoyed talking this morning with my new host Pankaj, his wife Anshu. Also in the house are their son and daughter and Pankaj's mom and dad.  We are on the top floor of a building in the heart of the city and it is a nice spot.  I have a laptop and wifi which is also a nice convenience and I am enjoying a plate of fresh papaya, strawberries and apples as I type.
Today (Saturday) we will spend the day with the host families and possibly attend the music festival again tonight.  My host is taking me this afternoon to a university to meet some water conservation specialists. Tomorrow we will head south to see two world heritage sites over Sunday and Monday.  We will spend Sunday night in Aurangabad to reduce driving time on the highway. The world heritage sites are the Ajanta caves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajanta_Caves) and the Ellora caves  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellora_Caves) which are amazing rock cut Buddhist, Hindu and Jain temples in cliff hillsides.  Also on the list is a visit to the Daulatabad Fort (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daulatabad). The fort has a 45 minute hike to get to it which includes passing through a dripping, bat infested cave! The muslim fort has never been conquered unless you count the time someone bribed the guards and got in.
We will return to Jalgaon on Monday night, have a vocational visit to an irrigation company on Tuesday then transfer to Nashik on Wednesday.
Cheers, Ryan

Jalgaon

Namaste~

We're in Jalgaon, mid-way between Nagpur and Mumbai. (Population 328,000 according to Lonely Planet). We took the train from Akola after experiencing several harrowing trips by car on the narrow and crowded highways around Akola. The team is in a comfortable hotel today for a 'rest' day. We don't really need to rest, but we are enjoying some down time to talk about our experiences and to get caught up on email, reading and corrrespondence. There is a phrase in Hindi, "Athiti Devo Bhav", the guest is god. This translates into incredible hospitality from our hosts and indeed every Rotarian we have met. Our every need is met instantly or anticipated.

I am so grateful to my lovely hosts in Nagpur, Amravati and Akola - Chandrasheki and Aasha Vaid, Rajendra and Manju Bansali and Dr. and Arati Kibe respectively. Their extraordinary hospitality has made me feel at home in their homes. District GSE Chair Sanjay Tatwawadi has ensured that our program has been enriching and we thank him, all of the members of the district GSE committee and especially the club presidents and Rotarians who have been so generous with their time.

Nagpur Univ and the Rotary District 3030 Conference

Akola Day Two

I don't read Hindi but I get the idea, watch out.

Today was our first full day in Akola and the team split up for the morning session.  Rachel went visited some schools, Sarah and Kat went to a couple banks while Tyler and I went to the PDKV Agricultural University. At PDKV Tyler and I first visited a research site where they are working on medical plant farming.  Indians consume large amounts of medicinal plants and the wild stocks are dwindling.  Commercially raised plants are showing lower concentrations of the active medicinal chemicals in the plant so they are researching ways to improve this. They are also working on inter-cropping medical plants between existing crops. We then went to another research area where they are working on water conservation methods such as drip irrigation and contour farming.  We have noticed a big disconnect between the researchers and the farmers as there is little to no educational outreach to teach the farmers more efficient farming techniques.

Tyler demonstrates the converted stairmaster well pump

This bucket drip watering setup uses 1/3 of the water and gives a better crop yield than the normal irrigation method.

Check dam near Akola

After lunch we all got back together and headed off to the countryside where there is a project sponsored by the Seattle Rotary District 5030 that builds check dams for villages. The check dams serve to capture the tail end of the monsoon flows in the stream and retain the water for a number of uses.  The farmers are able to use the water for supplemental irrigation, it helps to recharge the dropping groundwater levels, provides water for women in the nearby village to use so that they don't have to walk miles to do laundry, and the kids enjoy playing in the pool when it is hot out.  All our visits have been great here in Akola and the hosts have been wonderful.  We have a combined Rotary club visit this evening at 9 where all 5 clubs will join up for our presentation.

Amravati

We just arrived in our new hosts homes in Akola.  Internet access was poor in Amravati so I will give you the details on our stay there now. First off the locals pronounce it Am-rouw-ti and none of us could pronounce it correctly.  It was a much smaller city (only 680,000 pop.) than Nagpur.  The town has less infrastructure and is mainly used only as a mid-point for transferring cotton and oranges from the farms to the bigger cities.  Our hosts were no less hospitable though.  My host family was great although the hostess made me eat so much is was getting to be borderline punishment.  She was too sweet though and would say "Just one more chapatti Ryan, for me?" Of course I couldn't say no and it turned into three more chapattis, with more palak paneer, curry, etc. Then came the rice and dal, then the dessert. Then chai.

Sartak, my host's son

My host family had a daughter (7) and a son (3) who were both extremely adorable.  The son calls me cha-cha which is Hindi for uncle. I enjoyed spending time in the mornings and evenings with them.
Our GSE program in Amravati had us start with the two New Year's Eve parties I mentioned before. Saturday they took us to a leper colony and then Amravati University in the morning and to the HVPM Sports Center in the evening.  The HVPM is one of the largest sports centers in India and many great athletes train there.  My host, Vinay, brought Tyler and I there on two of the mornings.  The first day we had a private yoga session followed by some badminton which is quite popular here.  The second morning we played badminton with my host's group of friends who are very good.  It was nice to get some exercise in the morning as we have not been exercising at all here.  Between the traffic and the possibility of getting lost, no one is jogging in the mornings and gyms are nowhere to be found.  Also, we are generally too busy to have time anyway.
At our evening tour at the sports center we watched a demonstration of the Indian gymnastics of mallakhamb which is unlike anything we had ever seen.  Search for some videos of it if you have time.
Later in the evening we went to see another new sport for us called kabbadi.  We decided that it is a mix of red-rover, capture the flag and wrestling.  It was exciting as we were honored guests and received some rock-star treatment. Sarah took some great pics that I hope we can get up online.
Sunday we visited a small village that had been adopted by the local rotary club.  We had all been wanting to see a typical village and it was a great experience.  I enjoyed seeing the homes and the different water systems that are used.  They also had a small school and tiny library that we visited.  After the village we visited a small farm that was growing cotton, oranges and lemons.  We had a combined Rotary club visit in the evening a gave a nice presentation that was well received.  Three clubs hosted a joint meeting so we could do one presentation instead of three. They hosted a lovely dinner after the presentation.
This morning we moved to Akola which is normally a two-hour journey.  I think we made it in about 1 hour and 15 minutes thanks to our crazy driver.  I think we all need massages for our stiff back and neck muscles that were continuously clenched in tension for the entire journey. I have a great host here in Akola, Dr. Rajesh Modi who is a gynecologist and endoscopic surgeon.  His wife is also a surgeon and I will meet her later today.  They have a very nice house and I am enjoying a laptop with wifi for the first time here.  I will try to post more often now that access is better.  Tonight we are going to the market to see a jeweler (Kim might  get something nice) and then a pool dinner.  A pool dinner is what we would call a potluck dinner.

Video #2

Ryan posting for Tyler

Happy New Year

We rang in the new year last night at two great outdoor parties in Amravati.  There was plenty of dancing and it was warm outside which made for a different New Year's experience for us all.  No standing in the rain at Kerry Park watching the Space Needle fireworks this year.  We got home a bit late but Tyler and I still made it to yoga class at 6:30 followed by some badminton.
Happy New Year Seattle