Basically when I saw this picture I knew straight away that it represents everything I wish to convey about myself.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Just In Case You Didn't Know....
First of all, I need to give all credit to the one great Susan Kizzee (another intern here) who captured this moment with such grace and valor. If it weren't for her and her talents I would not be making this post. So....I hope that is some consolation for using a picture you took Susan.
Basically when I saw this picture I knew straight away that it represents everything I wish to convey about myself.
If people ask about my life I should just start handing them this picture.
Basically when I saw this picture I knew straight away that it represents everything I wish to convey about myself.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Return Pt. 1
For those of you still reading - I've returned. I know this post is long but please don't be disheartened. I'm 68% sure that I have good things to say.
After about 16 days of traveling I'm back in Mussourie, in the office, sitting at my desk. Much happened along the way, I traveled nearly the entire length of India. I went to Kolkata, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, and then back again. It certainly wasn't that long, but for some reason or another it felt like a long time. It felt like time away from home and today felt like a homecoming - driving up the mountain, through the clouds to Mussourie. That itself is quite an odd phenomenon since I was only here for a 10 days before I left. Must have had a powerful effect on me...
But yes, what did I do? How did I spend my time? What did I learn? How have I changed? At this point, sleep logged and a little groggy from an oncoming cold - I can answer about half of those questions.
Essentially work at EMI consists of a project team taking a project trip somewhere, meeting with the client, seeing the site and then spending a certain amount of time doing whatever the client needs whether that is developing a master plan for a campus or just being a consultant on various engineering/architectural aspects of the project. The project team itself consists of staff members, interns, and overseas project volunteers that are usually older and "well traveled" in their particular field. They fly to India and participate in the project trip for a week or so and then fly back to their respective homes. Some project volunteers are from India itself so I shouldn't imply that they all come from abroad.
Anyways, this specific trip involved two project trips back to back. Firstly, a large team of us, 9 i think, traveled to Rourkela, Orissa and with the design of a master plan for an *orphanage* down there. I say *orphanage* because that itself needs a little explaining. From the night we arrived and met the client, it was clear that he was a man destined to carve his own path in the world. His passions were wide and varied. Basically he told us that he has interests but has been open to God's suggestion taking on whatever is asked of him. This has led to his property being an orphanage (with about 64 children), a school, a dental clinic, a dairy farm, a self sustainable fish farm, and mental clinic. The sign outside literally listed all of those things. You can imagine what a man with his hands in so many pockets would be like. He was constantly on the move, constantly telling stories, constantly projecting that which made him feel alive everyday. Although overbearing at times, it was a blessing to say the least. How often are we left to meet people that are so defiantly ALIVE?
Then of course, there was the children. As I said before, there were about 64 children there. Most of them were orphaned, the rest being simply abandoned by their parents (or single mother) who simply couldn't take care of them anymore. The vast majority of them were under 7 and as young as 2. With Christian persecution being the way it is these days in Orissa, most of these children have seen unthinkable atrocities. In fact some of them have seen their family members murdered, whether that be parents, relatives or sibling. I'm talking of 3 or 4 year olds seeing some of the most gruesome, evil acts humanly possible and then left to live with that as some of their earliest memories. Honestly, it was daunting the first couple of days interacting with these kids. I mean, they have suffered and seen things I can only dream of, abandoned with very little hope - yet I've lived on this earth for so many years, so many years worrying about my privilege of choice. I've spent countless hours stressed about what I want to be, where I want to go, whether my life will have meaning, whether I will miss this opportunity or that opportunity. They are all things I can stress about only if I have a "choice". It's good to understand that choice isn't inherent. It's not bestowed to everyone upon birth. It's a great, great privilege and it should be treated with the respect and appreciation that it deserves. Right but all that being said, how was I to interact with these children? Most of them spoke Oria, the local state language, of which I have no exposure to. But language was only a small barrier. It was really seeing these small beings, these little humans as giants of life - their big round eyes bearing the weight of unbearable suffering. At least that's how I perceived things. In the end however, they were just children. They were beautiful, beautiful children. You see, I know a lot of people that dislike children or at the very least don't care too much for children. I think many people are turned off by the fact the overwhelming adoration that most children receive almost instantaneously. I wouldn't say I belonged to that group of people, but I wouldn't say I adored children. I mean are they simply so cute because they are chubby, have trouble performing simple tasks, can't talk properly, and their bodies are completely out of proportion? Maybe, but not these children.
This campus is a great place for them, a perfect place for them some might say. Orphanages in general have a reputation of being a really brutish places, really hardening the skin of children and making them fight for every little bit of life. This place couldn't be more different. Essentially the entire place, despite its lack of formal facilities (many of the children sleep on the floor of the single school room they learn in), functions as a family - in the purest sense. The children all sleep together, eat together, play together, learn together, and work together. Now regardless of the fact that its a symptom of necessity, the way it's done is absolutely remarkable.
Now this church I had gone to the weekend before I left had a sermon about "debt". It's a big problem in India. Most people in his area are heavily in debt, destined to keep trying to climb out of a hole that is getting deeper by the second. The pastor told this story about the first couple of years for the church. Many people would come to him, come to the church and ask for deliverance from this debt. It was something they couldn't bear anymore. Wanting to love these people, the pastor happily made ways for this to happen. In many instances he actually personally eradicated their debts. They were very grateful, extremely overjoyed, but then over time something odd started happening. Instead of growing closer and more involved in the church, most of these people actually ended up leaving the church all together. They couldn't bear to face the pastor anymore. They were essentially shamed, shamed of their dignity in front of him. Although some instances demand it, it can be concluded that sometimes outright gifts can be more damaging then good. There is a sense of dignity and respect that people want to maintain. They want to be able to provide for themselves, to be able to make their own way.
The campus lived this ideal. All the children are responsible for this place that they live in. There are no handouts. They aren't here for free. They make their way. The children wake up as the sun rise and being their morning chores; catching fish for dinner, milking the cows, preparing meals for each other, sweeping the campus. It's a busy hive of activity, children of all sizes performing all sorts of tasks. I even saw a couple of times a little child filling an entire water bucket much too big for them to carry. Someone saw them struggling and came over without a word and helped them carry it wherever it had to go. All of it is wordless, thankless - it's just their way of life. It all essentially translates into a sense of ownership for these children. This is their campus, their family, their life. For so many children that have been completely stripped down, this must be incredibly empowering. It works in magnificent ways, because you'd expect a fantastic amount of quarrels and fights among 60+ children that have little and have to share things constantly. In reality, there are very, very few - shockingly little in fact. The staff watching over the older kids, the older kids watching over the younger ones, and everyone watching out for each other. Having stayed at the actual campus for a couple of nights with the survey crew, I can attest to the authenticity of these actions. I was able to see the kids in some of their most intimate moments, fully unaware that anyone was observing.
It truly gave me an understand of why children are beautiful. I would go as far as to say that it has made me adore children. I now see the hope they provide, the shining beacon of light they can be in situations of complete darkness. Yes, children are truly wonderful. The moments interacting with them over the week are numerous and too many to retell here. I can't afford to lose more readers by extending this post much longer. Suffice to say, in between and in amidst all of our work there were plenty of memories with the children. The senior member of our team, an architect from australia, actually had his birthday during the trip and the children put on a program to commemorate him one morning - which was beyond endearing. They even all got in a line, all 60+ of them, to go up and hug Uncle Bill, wish him happy birthday, and give him a kiss on the cheek. It was a moment worth admiring with tears. Also, we decided to finish our work and dedicate our last day to simply "play with the children" which turned into a full pledged field day with prizes and everything. We had races around the campus, with us stationed near a hose spraying kids as they went by. We played sharks and minnows. I mean we played various games that they all loved and laughed throughout. At the end we also purchased a large tarp and introduced to them the glorious, holy concept of a "Slip N' Slide". That was hilarious. It was really great to see all these children discover exactly what a Slip N' Slide was and take to it with an unbridled joy and enthusiasm - even the little tiny ones. It really brought out the joy in a lot of us. We ended up having a race of our own. Yea, don't worry. I won. A couple of us, including the 60+ year old Uncle Bill, took a ride on the Slip N' Slide, and generally we just laughed and ran around with all the kids during the entire day.
Yea it was fantastic. It was something I will surely remember forever and I'm glad to have the opportunity to share this experience with all of you. I have enclosed below a picture below of us all around their big tree on the last day. The picture is a living lesson of why you should only have one person taking a picture at a time. There were about 3 or 4 cameras in various places taking pictures as various times. Everyone is looking in different places and most people have some awkward, forced look on their face because they aren't sure what is going on (yes, including me).
Okay that is enough for now. I'll talk about the 2nd half of the trip in a later post. In the meantime, I'm grateful for every single one of you. Enjoy.
After about 16 days of traveling I'm back in Mussourie, in the office, sitting at my desk. Much happened along the way, I traveled nearly the entire length of India. I went to Kolkata, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, and then back again. It certainly wasn't that long, but for some reason or another it felt like a long time. It felt like time away from home and today felt like a homecoming - driving up the mountain, through the clouds to Mussourie. That itself is quite an odd phenomenon since I was only here for a 10 days before I left. Must have had a powerful effect on me...
But yes, what did I do? How did I spend my time? What did I learn? How have I changed? At this point, sleep logged and a little groggy from an oncoming cold - I can answer about half of those questions.
Essentially work at EMI consists of a project team taking a project trip somewhere, meeting with the client, seeing the site and then spending a certain amount of time doing whatever the client needs whether that is developing a master plan for a campus or just being a consultant on various engineering/architectural aspects of the project. The project team itself consists of staff members, interns, and overseas project volunteers that are usually older and "well traveled" in their particular field. They fly to India and participate in the project trip for a week or so and then fly back to their respective homes. Some project volunteers are from India itself so I shouldn't imply that they all come from abroad.
Anyways, this specific trip involved two project trips back to back. Firstly, a large team of us, 9 i think, traveled to Rourkela, Orissa and with the design of a master plan for an *orphanage* down there. I say *orphanage* because that itself needs a little explaining. From the night we arrived and met the client, it was clear that he was a man destined to carve his own path in the world. His passions were wide and varied. Basically he told us that he has interests but has been open to God's suggestion taking on whatever is asked of him. This has led to his property being an orphanage (with about 64 children), a school, a dental clinic, a dairy farm, a self sustainable fish farm, and mental clinic. The sign outside literally listed all of those things. You can imagine what a man with his hands in so many pockets would be like. He was constantly on the move, constantly telling stories, constantly projecting that which made him feel alive everyday. Although overbearing at times, it was a blessing to say the least. How often are we left to meet people that are so defiantly ALIVE?
Then of course, there was the children. As I said before, there were about 64 children there. Most of them were orphaned, the rest being simply abandoned by their parents (or single mother) who simply couldn't take care of them anymore. The vast majority of them were under 7 and as young as 2. With Christian persecution being the way it is these days in Orissa, most of these children have seen unthinkable atrocities. In fact some of them have seen their family members murdered, whether that be parents, relatives or sibling. I'm talking of 3 or 4 year olds seeing some of the most gruesome, evil acts humanly possible and then left to live with that as some of their earliest memories. Honestly, it was daunting the first couple of days interacting with these kids. I mean, they have suffered and seen things I can only dream of, abandoned with very little hope - yet I've lived on this earth for so many years, so many years worrying about my privilege of choice. I've spent countless hours stressed about what I want to be, where I want to go, whether my life will have meaning, whether I will miss this opportunity or that opportunity. They are all things I can stress about only if I have a "choice". It's good to understand that choice isn't inherent. It's not bestowed to everyone upon birth. It's a great, great privilege and it should be treated with the respect and appreciation that it deserves. Right but all that being said, how was I to interact with these children? Most of them spoke Oria, the local state language, of which I have no exposure to. But language was only a small barrier. It was really seeing these small beings, these little humans as giants of life - their big round eyes bearing the weight of unbearable suffering. At least that's how I perceived things. In the end however, they were just children. They were beautiful, beautiful children. You see, I know a lot of people that dislike children or at the very least don't care too much for children. I think many people are turned off by the fact the overwhelming adoration that most children receive almost instantaneously. I wouldn't say I belonged to that group of people, but I wouldn't say I adored children. I mean are they simply so cute because they are chubby, have trouble performing simple tasks, can't talk properly, and their bodies are completely out of proportion? Maybe, but not these children.
This campus is a great place for them, a perfect place for them some might say. Orphanages in general have a reputation of being a really brutish places, really hardening the skin of children and making them fight for every little bit of life. This place couldn't be more different. Essentially the entire place, despite its lack of formal facilities (many of the children sleep on the floor of the single school room they learn in), functions as a family - in the purest sense. The children all sleep together, eat together, play together, learn together, and work together. Now regardless of the fact that its a symptom of necessity, the way it's done is absolutely remarkable.
Now this church I had gone to the weekend before I left had a sermon about "debt". It's a big problem in India. Most people in his area are heavily in debt, destined to keep trying to climb out of a hole that is getting deeper by the second. The pastor told this story about the first couple of years for the church. Many people would come to him, come to the church and ask for deliverance from this debt. It was something they couldn't bear anymore. Wanting to love these people, the pastor happily made ways for this to happen. In many instances he actually personally eradicated their debts. They were very grateful, extremely overjoyed, but then over time something odd started happening. Instead of growing closer and more involved in the church, most of these people actually ended up leaving the church all together. They couldn't bear to face the pastor anymore. They were essentially shamed, shamed of their dignity in front of him. Although some instances demand it, it can be concluded that sometimes outright gifts can be more damaging then good. There is a sense of dignity and respect that people want to maintain. They want to be able to provide for themselves, to be able to make their own way.
The campus lived this ideal. All the children are responsible for this place that they live in. There are no handouts. They aren't here for free. They make their way. The children wake up as the sun rise and being their morning chores; catching fish for dinner, milking the cows, preparing meals for each other, sweeping the campus. It's a busy hive of activity, children of all sizes performing all sorts of tasks. I even saw a couple of times a little child filling an entire water bucket much too big for them to carry. Someone saw them struggling and came over without a word and helped them carry it wherever it had to go. All of it is wordless, thankless - it's just their way of life. It all essentially translates into a sense of ownership for these children. This is their campus, their family, their life. For so many children that have been completely stripped down, this must be incredibly empowering. It works in magnificent ways, because you'd expect a fantastic amount of quarrels and fights among 60+ children that have little and have to share things constantly. In reality, there are very, very few - shockingly little in fact. The staff watching over the older kids, the older kids watching over the younger ones, and everyone watching out for each other. Having stayed at the actual campus for a couple of nights with the survey crew, I can attest to the authenticity of these actions. I was able to see the kids in some of their most intimate moments, fully unaware that anyone was observing.
It truly gave me an understand of why children are beautiful. I would go as far as to say that it has made me adore children. I now see the hope they provide, the shining beacon of light they can be in situations of complete darkness. Yes, children are truly wonderful. The moments interacting with them over the week are numerous and too many to retell here. I can't afford to lose more readers by extending this post much longer. Suffice to say, in between and in amidst all of our work there were plenty of memories with the children. The senior member of our team, an architect from australia, actually had his birthday during the trip and the children put on a program to commemorate him one morning - which was beyond endearing. They even all got in a line, all 60+ of them, to go up and hug Uncle Bill, wish him happy birthday, and give him a kiss on the cheek. It was a moment worth admiring with tears. Also, we decided to finish our work and dedicate our last day to simply "play with the children" which turned into a full pledged field day with prizes and everything. We had races around the campus, with us stationed near a hose spraying kids as they went by. We played sharks and minnows. I mean we played various games that they all loved and laughed throughout. At the end we also purchased a large tarp and introduced to them the glorious, holy concept of a "Slip N' Slide". That was hilarious. It was really great to see all these children discover exactly what a Slip N' Slide was and take to it with an unbridled joy and enthusiasm - even the little tiny ones. It really brought out the joy in a lot of us. We ended up having a race of our own. Yea, don't worry. I won. A couple of us, including the 60+ year old Uncle Bill, took a ride on the Slip N' Slide, and generally we just laughed and ran around with all the kids during the entire day.
Yea it was fantastic. It was something I will surely remember forever and I'm glad to have the opportunity to share this experience with all of you. I have enclosed below a picture below of us all around their big tree on the last day. The picture is a living lesson of why you should only have one person taking a picture at a time. There were about 3 or 4 cameras in various places taking pictures as various times. Everyone is looking in different places and most people have some awkward, forced look on their face because they aren't sure what is going on (yes, including me).
Okay that is enough for now. I'll talk about the 2nd half of the trip in a later post. In the meantime, I'm grateful for every single one of you. Enjoy.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Where The Wild Things Are
The NY Time has written a great piece about the delays of Where The Wild Things Are and the character of Spike Jonze. I highly recommend it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/magazine/06jonze-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/magazine/06jonze-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Orientation = Over
As of now, intern orientation is officially over. At this point we are deemed oriented and ready to experience Mussourie and India on our own with confidence and vigor. Orientation itself has been a combination of seminars, games, interviews, day trips, and prayer - all designed to really make all the interns feel comfortable. In a short week, there have been lots of things said and lot of things taught. To be honest, most of them won't be remembered, but the main aim of the entire orientation was to make this place feel like home and your co-workers like family. That was accomplished.
Other than that though, it's hard to decide what to write about. I can write for hours and hours about thoughts or observations about being here, living here, trying to figure out my life - but that can be tiresome. So a large part of me wants to just write when I have some spectactular or funny story to tell. Maybe that would be better, albeit completely different. Requests?
A board game rivalry has started among us interns. We find time to play every night, at least for an hour and it always ends with everyone but the winner, completely furious and unsatisfied. I'm glad that my addiction to competition will find a place to thrive here. Losing over and over and over again has also reminded of the frailty of life.
Ha, right. Going to a village in the mountains for the entire day tomorrow and then leaving on my three week project trip to eastern and southern India after that. That trip to the project sites will be the basis of all the engineering work I'll do for the next 4 months. It should be a lot of fun, but it will mean a break in updates for a while (probably). Hopefully I have some "colorful" stories when I get back. If I don't I can always just make them up.
Also, Ricky Rubio decided to stay in Spain? For shame Ricky.
Oh yea and I'm currently reading (in case this would be interesting):
The Tower and the Bridge: The New Art of Structural Engineering
Mere Christianity
Atlas Shrugged
The Argumentative Indian
Be back soon.
Other than that though, it's hard to decide what to write about. I can write for hours and hours about thoughts or observations about being here, living here, trying to figure out my life - but that can be tiresome. So a large part of me wants to just write when I have some spectactular or funny story to tell. Maybe that would be better, albeit completely different. Requests?
A board game rivalry has started among us interns. We find time to play every night, at least for an hour and it always ends with everyone but the winner, completely furious and unsatisfied. I'm glad that my addiction to competition will find a place to thrive here. Losing over and over and over again has also reminded of the frailty of life.
Ha, right. Going to a village in the mountains for the entire day tomorrow and then leaving on my three week project trip to eastern and southern India after that. That trip to the project sites will be the basis of all the engineering work I'll do for the next 4 months. It should be a lot of fun, but it will mean a break in updates for a while (probably). Hopefully I have some "colorful" stories when I get back. If I don't I can always just make them up.
Also, Ricky Rubio decided to stay in Spain? For shame Ricky.
Oh yea and I'm currently reading (in case this would be interesting):
The Tower and the Bridge: The New Art of Structural Engineering
Mere Christianity
Atlas Shrugged
The Argumentative Indian
Be back soon.
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