Finished

at last, the field research here in india is finished!! there were many times that i didn’t think that i would make it through. thanks to everyone for all of the comments and support and kind words. i couldn’t have done it without you! i’m still holding my breath though until i am on my flight home, then i will have a glass of wine and breathe.

today is my last day here in ponnampet. tomorrow, i leave with the students and my advisor to travel for a week. i have sold all of my furniture and appliances to my field assistants for half of what i bought them for which works out well for them and me. i have tried to pawn off as much equipment as possible to the students so that i can fit all the beautiful fabrics and kurtas that i have acquired in my 2 bags…we’ll see how that goes. hopefully i won’t have to leave anything behind.

we finished up our last research site, # 20, on saturday afternoon. we couldn’t have finished at a better time. for one, my sweat shirt is shot (i'll leave it here, mom, don't worry) but most importantly, the monsoons are rolling in and it is starting to rain here every afternoon. i let the students take the reins for this week and they did pretty well. there were a couple of melt downs and a lot of leaches (luckily none of me) but we all survived.

i took them to one of the sites that we did a month or so ago that had over 100 flying foxes (a type of fruit bat) roosting there. my advisor was mesmerized and said that afterwards that it was one of his top 10 experiences as a wildlife biologist - he has been working for over 30 years all over the world. i guess it is highly uncommon to see so many of that type of bat in one area.

we had a farewell/finished with research party at the farm house. it was a little awkward at first with the field assistants hanging in the hallway and being shy with the students there, but the shyness dissolved once the dance party began : ) one of the field assistants is a dancer that has won dance trophies all over coorg for his bollywood dancing. so he taught us some dance moves and i taught some salsa... it was a lot of fun.


i am definitely leaving with mixed feelings. i am very ready to be home and to close this chapter of my field research here in india. this trip has been physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging. but i have also learned a lot about this research, about a different culture and way of life, about myself and what i am capable of and where i fold - - and along the way met some great people that i will miss. it will be tough to say goodbye knowing that i will probably never see them again. tonight we are all going out for dinner as a thank you to my field team, a farewell for me, and a congratulations for successfully completing the research before the monsoons arrived to carry us all away.