It's a bug's life

Well after meeting with Myrada on Monday, we decided we would head up to Chitradurga on Tuesday morning. Tuesday, we got everything together, purchased bus tickets in advance and made our way to the bus station. En route we stopped to get coffee which took longer than it should have (while Cafe Coffee Day has a similar menu to Starbucks, they have not quite mastered the efficiency that comes along with receiving a cafe mocha in under 2 minutes). Suddenly we were rushed to take an auto towards the Magestic Bus Station, which was a 30 minute ride away. We hopped in an auto and he slowly made his way to the bus station. When we got there, we had five minutes before our bus. We got to platform 1 and asked someone if they knew which of the buses was embarking for Chitradurga, he gestured that we had to go back to platform three. We found the conductor yelling "durga durga durga!" and hopped on the bus. About ten or fifteen minutes later when we presented our ticket, the bus conductor laughed, " this is the karnataka state transport (KST) you have to buy a ticket for this bus."

Traveler's note: while the bus system in Karnataka is thorough, it is really confusing as to which bus you are taking; the type, the time, the route. You could have a volvo option (which I know now means a private A/C bus) or you could take the KST bus, which usually has more stops and as I was told many times "no reclining seats!"

Well instead of starting over, we stayed on our existing bus and rode for almost five hours until we reached Chitradurga Station. We then took an auto and met our contact at the Myrada office, Mr. Vijay Kumar. He was really enthusiastic and walked us through the general framework of Myrada's SHGs (self help groups). Something interesting we learned was about the way in which federations (organized groups of SHGs) and RC's (resource centers) interact and allow Myrada to have an "invisible" hand in the SHG work. After about an hour, we hopped in a jeep, driven by Rafiq (also known as Rafi), and headed to dinner at a hotel. (Travelers note: In India, eating at a hotel is actually eating at a restaurant or possibly a hotel with restaurant attached.) I had a sweet corn soup and aloo gobi and naan. (I only wrote this here to show how vivid my memory has become since I got to India!)

In any case, after making a quick stop at Mr. Kumar's house for his travel pack and at Rafi's to drop him home, we headed towards Holalkere, which is where the Myrada training center was located. We arrived and were greeted by two or three men who helped us take our bags to our cottages. I opened the door to my room and was met with a scene from "It's a Bug's Life." There were flying beetles, mosquitos, and giant spiders with the longest legs I had ever seen in every corner of the room. I immediately had a panic attack and did not know what to do, I had never felt so overwhelmed by such tiny things! I ran over to Doug's room and rapped on the door frantically, "Is your room filled with bugs!?" He was happily sitting on his bed and laughed "they don't seem to bother me." Upon closer inspection, I could see that he did not have hardly as many bugs as I had in my room and the ones that were there did not seem to bother him. He said that he would trade with me, but I felt that if I was going to be scared of bugs, then there was not much hope for me over the next few weeks, because bugs (innocuous at that) were a lot less significant than some other things. I am proud to say I did not kill a single one. Instead, I talked out loud to the spiders, the pallis (small harmless lizards -- yes akka there are TONS!), beetles, and random bugs I had never even seen before. I got dressed, too scared to take a shower and jumped underneath my mosquito net, after making sure that the spots on my net were not moving. At first, I was frightened of sleeping, I could hear the beetles bumping into the wall, the flies whirring around and probably the pitter patter of a small palli's feet. The net thing I knew, it was 7:30am.

When I awoke the next morning, I continued my strange tradition. I began to check each corner of the rooms and speak out loud to the bugs. The worst was in the bathroom because the windows are not closed, there are just metal bars, so anything that can fit, can fly in and out. I kept an eye on each giant spider, each mosquito, everything as I cautiously filled my bucket with hot water and finished my bath.

When I returned later in the afternoon, I went to use the sink when I saw the BIGGEST cockroach I have ever seen in my life. I started throwing water on him and screaming at the top of my lungs. I felt like I was trapped in the corner and I could feel the spiders in the corners just laughing at me. I threw some more water at the cockroach and darted through the bathroom door and slammed it shut. My heart was beating fast and my face was flush, I yelled out loud "okay! you got me, I'm scared!"

The first few days on this campus were really rough; I was constantly talking out loud, trying to negotiate with bugs that don't actually respond or care and trying to slowly get myself to just relax and remember that nothing here, except the mosquitos were really interested in biting me. (Or so thats the line I was fed ;)... )