Pilot testing in Patna District

To begin the qualitative adventure, first we had to pilot test our interview guides and make sure that the research assistants got some practice before the real thing. We learned that sometimes block coordinators bring all pregnant women they can find instead of your requested 4-6. We also learned that it is inappropriate to give out 15 snacks when 35 “spectators” are also there, watching. 

Focus Group using participatory learning tools... what, what.

So when the driver decides there is something wrong with the car after you have driven a whole 10 minutes on the way to your site and tells you he's going to park here for 30 minutes while the company sends another car, there is only one thing to do. Sugar cane juice!

I was sitting in between pilot testing interviews and decided to take some pictures of the women sitting outside. Lucky me I captured this beautiful women adjusting her sari.

Healthcare workers discussing anemia. Hooray!

The view from the health sub-center. Quite pretty, right? You wouldn't even suspect this was taken from right above the bathrooms... or maybe you would.

Indian clothes are what the cool kids wear

During a brief time between when the Emory girls arrived and when the Emory girls went to Patna Market and bought clothes, we all just wore my Indian clothes around. :)

Lost in Translation

This could be the title for the majority of my posts. But this one is about miscommunications with a translator so I thought it appropriate.. :) My research assistants did not feel comfortable translating my interview guides into Hindi (I found this out a week before we were to leave for the field) and so I set about looking for a English/Hindi written translator. One would think this would be easy in a place and work environment where most people speak Hindi and English. Alas, wrong again.

There was one option that we could find on short notice who did not work for CARE but another NGO nearby. Terms were settled but then we had to courier the documents over to her because she had no email address. This should have been the first sign but no... I just arranged it and moved on, excited for my Hindi translations to come in on Friday.

When we had to arrange for a courier to pick them up, I was suspicious on how a computer file could not be emailed at a local internet cafe instead. This is when we found out (3 days before we left for the field) then these were handwritten. OH. I had reformatted the guides to take up fewer pages thinking I could just cut and paste them back into their original forms. I didn't think that would require actual scissors and paste in this circumstance. SIGH.

In the midst of this, other miscommunications occurred and I ended up going their myself to this small apartment on the other side of town to pick up these handwritten documents. I was not in a happy mood.

And then when I arrived... this wonderful elderly lady opened the door and said hello, she offered me a seat and was so shocked that I had come to pick up the papers myself, expecting a courier. She offered me a Sprite and told me fun tales. Like she was not actually a translator but had been doing work for a friend and found out half way through that this translation work was not for her friend, but for CARE. And then she decided she would do it anyway. She was actually an Urdu fiction writer and was working on a new novel. And she lived in a cute apartment with a view of the Ganges River (see picture below) and many years ago it was much higher than this but the waters had receded lately.

Oh my gosh it was the cutest thing ever. Totally removing any bad feelings I had on the subject and I sat there and talked with this woman, drank my Sprite, and met her neighbor and neighbor's daughter. Bam. Happy times. :)

Vaishali District

On our trip to Patna market, we had two friends came along who then invited us for an outing to Vaishali District that weekend. The Emory girls and I were 4 so this plus 2 means a few too many for your standard Indica (here) so we stuffed ourselves in 2 in the front and 4 in the back and set off on the 2+ hour car ride to see the sights.

Sight 1: The taxi. Did not. Show up. But we were supposed to wait on Boring Road and not at the guesthouse because no one knew how to get the taxi to our place. So, we waited outside and checked out the seen at 6am on a Saturday on the roadside. Turns out there is a small group of guys who like to hang in front of Café Coffee Day and, talk? And the Chai-wala is there making his chai. Lots of people to stare at you still and if you stare back for long enough, they will eventually walk away… and wait until you are not looking to stare some more. Then again, we were a bit of a sight.

We made it! The Vshwa Shanti Stupa or World Peace Pagoda seems to be the sight to see in Vaishali District. According the wiki, some of Buddha’s relics have been enshrined in the foundation and the chhatra of the Stupa (here).

The water by the stupa is the “coronation tank,” filled with water believed to be sacred. Vaishali’s elected officials were anointed by the water here before swearing in. 

Trees by the stupa.

We had to take off our shoes to walk around the stupa. And that marble was HOT! We stuck close to walls to stay in the shadows when we could.

Our friends going for a paddle boat ride in the waters by the stupa.

Alexi went down first to take a picture of the group. So I took a picture of her first. :)

Outside of the museum we saw the stupa from a different angle, across the tank. But wouldn't you know it, I'd been here before! Yep, last November we drove through this place and stood right here at sunset. And I took this same picture. Who would have thought I'd make it back here of all places in India?? 

The Ashokan Pillar, built at Kolhua from a single piece of red sandstone with a life sized lion at the top. This is the only pillar without an Ashokan edict written on it.

Alexi, the photographer. 

Here I am!

Ali hiding in the sunflowers...

Ketan Market

After that we went to Ketan market. I didn’t know that this place existed! We decided that it must be the place everyone went before PM mall. :)