god bless america

Happy 4th of July! Today has been a good day so far. We hired 10 ennumerators (the young guys who speak Tamil and--theoretically--English who will actually administer the surveys to the borrowers). This charity called the Tamil Nadu Foundation found the enumerators for us, and essentially as a form of repayment, they want us to make a donation. India is interesting (and kind of refreshing) because if people want something from you they just come right out and say it. He wasn't rude or tacky about it, just direct. And their charity does good stuff, so we're going to see if we can get our parents to give a little and maybe USF to give a little, and we will too. Anyway, the survey is translated, so now all we have to do is get the consent form translated and pick our random sample (and from that make up a surveying schedule). So actual surveying will start on Monday. I can hardly believe it. I can also hardly believe how long it's taken to get to this point, but this is supposed to be a learning experience, and we're learning a lot.

So I think we're going to just chill out this afternoon (I know what you're thinking: isn't "chill out" all they ever do?) and then tonight, as I mentioned, we're going to the 4th of July bash at Sparky's. I think I might have two glasses of milk. I think I might just sit there all night in the air conditioning, drinking milk.

Oh, one interesting Pondy story. We rented a motorized scooter thing (like a motorcycle, but wussier, I guess), and E drove it to a beach 10 kilometers away in crazy Indian traffic with me riding on the back. He was freaked out, I could tell, but he was an excellent driver. M went on the back of the scooter of a guy she met in Pondy (just a friend; Romeo is still very much on her mind). In theory it's incredibly dangerous to be out in crazy traffic with huge trucks and buses whizing by (sometimes less than a foot away) while you're on a tiny scooter going really fast with no helmets. But you regularly see whole families, including toddlers, on these scooters (the toddlers aren't driving, of course). E went pretty slow, for which I was greatful. And since there are so many bicycles and random things on the road too, none of the Indians care if you go slow, they just go around you.

And because I've been here for nearly a month, Indian traffic no longer seems odd or scary to me. I'm sure many of you are familiar with the crazy traffic situation in most developing countries, but I will explain anyway. Imagine a street like Burnside. Replace about 2/3rds of the cars with motorcycles and autorickshaws. Have a cow, dog, or goat wander into traffic every once in a while. Ignore the painted lanes; they are an irrelevant pretense. If someone is in your way, feel free to swerve into oncoming traffic to pass them. Feel free to run red lights. Go as fast as you can. Honk your horn at least every 30 seconds. If you are getting off the bus, don't expect it to stop; it will just slow down enough for you to jump off. If you are walking, walk in the street, because although there is almost always a sidewalk, it is almost always blocked by something (a pile of rocks, a woman selling fruit, a pile of garbage, sleeping children, etc). Cross the street anywhere you want, and feel free to dash in front of fast-moving vehicles.

Enjoy the fireworks or whatever you're doing, and if I don't die in a car crash, I'll post again soon.