The monsoon is a curious paradox. India needs the monsoons. Without them, crops will fail. Farmers will migrate or starve. The rickety, clattering wheels of society in rural Orissa will stop. And yet when the monsoon rains happen, they do anyway.
Today I witnessed the first good monsoonal rain since I [...]

Posted on July 24th, 2005 by Lee
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I passed a funeral procession yesterday on the way to the field. It was small, maybe only 10 people. Several of them carried the dead man on a plank of some sort. There was no coffin, but his face was surrounded with bright flowers. His face was red and bloated. [...]

Posted on July 23rd, 2005 by Lee
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I went to the bazaar nearest to where I am staying last night for dinner. I could have savored any of a variety of delicious Indian foods. I had a pizza.
I am the ugly American.

Posted on July 22nd, 2005 by Lee
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Today we have learned a lesson about Internet cafes in small towns in India.
Just a minute ago, I had nearly completed a brilliant (and rather lengthy) post about my experience. OK, maybe not brilliant, but damn insightful. And just as I was putting on the final touches, the power went out and I [...]

Posted on July 21st, 2005 by Lee
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Getting sick in a foreign country sucks.
I am right now on the mend from a bout of something-or-other that I caught who knows where. That’s the thing about getting sick in a place like India. In the States, you can always be like “it was ___ that I had at ___ restaurant,” or [...]

Posted on July 20th, 2005 by Lee
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