Expectations

I will be working as Nest Summer Fellow at the Devarayaneri Gypsy Colony in Trichy, Tamilnadu, India! The colony is made up of nomadic female artisans who sell prayer beads at seasonal festivals in India, and working with Nest allows them to have an income year round. I am extremely excited to be working at this site. While I have been to India in the past, I have never been to South India. All I know about the region is what I see on tv, the internet, and in movies so I'm really excited to be able to experience the culture first hand. Additionally, I am intrigued by the opportunity to learn from these women, as their lifestyle and background is completely different than anyone I have ever met.

As far as what work I will be doing for Nest, it has yet to be confirmed. However, I hope that I will be able to work hands on with the women and be able to not only help them with their loans, but also learn from them. I am going into this experience completely open minded as it is different than anything I have ever done before, and I would just like to continuously learn from every step I take. I am hoping to make an impact somehow, whether it is helping one woman specifically, or the group as a whole. No matter what, I would like to say, at the end of my trip, that I helped make a difference in someone's life.

In general, I am a little nervous of acclimating myself to the weather, as I am not a huge fan of hot weather. Even being from Southern California, I don't think I'll ever get used to the heat, so it's something I will have to suck up. Additionally, I am deathly afraid of needles and looking at the list of vaccinations I need to get before leaving for India is making me a bit queasy. But, I'll get over it. In regards to language, I'm not quite sure yet is I will have problems with a language barrier. English is one of the official languages in India and almost half of the population speaks it. I don't think it will be a huge problem while working there.

Right now, those are most of the thoughts streaming through my head about my upcoming summer. Until next time!