Have you had your breakfast?

this week i started field research. right now i am looking at the 27 study sites with people from the college of forestry that will be on my field team. the first 3 days there were 5 of us and yesterday 7 - 2 females too which is nice. we stopped off at a waterfall and took a picture with some of the team members. the bunny ears are a nice touch :)

winding around through all these narrow roads in itself is an adventure. the only word that i know in kannada - the local language - is "neduna!" which means "slow down!" they look at me in the car and periodically ask if i am scared. we listen to indian music from a portable radio with speakers. yesterday, they were excited to play me that song from slumdog millionaire - we listened to that a couple of times...

it is a strange feeling being the only white person for miles - and i am white for a white person - so mostly i get stared at. no smiles, no waves - just stares, like what in the world is that? one of the farmers asked me, "what continent are you from?"

each morning at least one person asks, "did you have your breakfast?" i guess its kind of a greeting and inquiry in one. then they want to know what i've had - toast, jam, yogurt, and tea is usually the answer. then they look at each other and smile. i have been trying to learn to eat with my hands - or right hand only to be more exact. the left hand is for... um, bathroom stuff, so only the right hand can be used for eating and shaking and exchanging money. (don't worry i bring a packet of tissues with me) but i am ok eating with my right hand if some kind of bread is involved, although it does take me a while - but with rice, i am horrible. here they have a method of almost making little balls of rice and neatly putting it in their mouth - me, i try to do it, but most of the time rice is falling from my mouth back onto the plate. yesterday, i was using a hard tortilla like bread to scoop up the rice. asha said - you are using it as a spoon. we used to do that when were kids. then they all wanted to see my plate because someone had alerted them that i mixed all my food together... recently, i have been feeling like a monkey in a zoo :) we are all watching each other and interested in the differences in our culture.

the questions that i get asked are very direct -- are you married? will your parents select your husband? are your earrings silver? pure silver? how do you like working with us, be frank? how much money do you make? how old are you? how efficient is your work? one farmer asked - are you a bachelor? i said no, i am a phd student. he meant are you married :) -- also i get ordered around a lot -- come. sit. wait. go. -- all said nicely, just no please and thank you the majority of the time. i am chucking it up to language differences, but after poornika had told me to "sit" for the 15th time that day. i replied "yes, ma'am!" and they all laughed.

for all my dance and yoga training, you would think that i would be a little more graceful. but put a pair of hiking boots on me and my legs turn into lead - i stomp around like the bride of frankenstein (as a tennis coach once called me in my awkward jangly preteen stage). hopefully, i will get more used to the terrain and be able to balance better. i think this week is the most strenuous (i keep telling myself) because we are hiking all over the place, seeing 4-7 sites a day - but once the research starts we will be only 2 sites per week.

the coffee farms are beautiful. there are 2 types of coffee - robusta and arabica. americans drink arabica coffee. here it is mainly robusta trees which are taller (about 5-8 feet tall). coffee berries are grown on the trees and then harvested. right now, there are a lot of laborers in the farms harvesting the berries. the berries are then laid out on a flat sunny surface to dry and brown. the coffee beans are inside of the berries. i don't know the processing after that yet. the coffee farmers are pretty well off if they have medium to large farms. the laborers on the other hand are not. they usually have a row of concrete rooms where the entire family stays. the poor little kids are dirty and obviously not in school, but at least they are with their families i guess.

i am moving into the apartment this afternoon. it will be great to finally unpack my bags!

well i have written a short novel for this entry, so i'll sign off now.