You look up to see a teacher hovering over you. Staring. The words that tumble out next determine your life.
The due date.
The interim becomes wartime. Frantically struggling to accomplish this task consumes your everyday actions. The due date becomes a goal, a time that divides the now and with which the after begins.
The struggle is real.
In all reality, it wasn't that bad. Monday morning, Aditi asked for my paper by Friday. I wasn't ready for that. The date wasn't something we hadn't previously discussed, and thus I was going by the World Food Prize's deadline: October. I had a week's notice, which, to be fair, could have been much, much worse. But in that week I was plunged back into my high school schedule. I diligently worked, skipping tea breaks, coming back from lunch early, staying up recklessly late. Yet it was my last week to see friends, to get together with people whom I might not see again. In all, it was one crazy juggling act.
It was one crazy week.
Disclaimer #1: I do not have many pictures for this post as my (well, Mom's) camera has mysteriously and inexplicably ceased to work. My apologies, but do look forward to the next post about the weekend, there will be plenty there! :)
Monday was average and awesome! Mondays are always productive for me, and I was in my usual bubble when Aditi had approached me. Of course, when she asked, I told her I could have the final for her Monday. Something about being around my supervisor makes me incredibly ambitious and enthusiastic. But as I sat back down at my desk an overwhelming feeling of "what have I just done?" washed over me. I was determined not to let her or myself down, and so the craziness started. I did make it to futsal that night, though. I decided I would not let work impede on my social activities, even if that did have greater consequences later in the week.
Previously, Olivia had asked if I would continue with interviews for her. Alone! She repeated several times in the email that she had full confidence in me -- a confidence that was not matched by my own. I had checked with both Aditi and Lisa; they approved a solo excursion with the translator. I called Gyan, arranged for us to go out Tuesday morning, and met him at Banglamuti Temple to interview users of the Nag Bahal and Washa Hitis! While I wasn't able to work on my own project, I was not about to let Olivia down either! And interviewing had been one of my favorite parts of working. :)
Although we only got to interview two people, they were both an hour and a half, taking up the entirety of the morning. The first woman used Nag Bahal Hiti occasionally for washing carpets and rugs. During the dry season, it is heavily polluted from the sewage pipes, but in the wet season it is diluted enough to use sparingly. The second woman used Amrit Hiti and gave us a great insight into how poorly tenants there are treated. Gyan and I even got to see Amrit Hiti and the temple for Ganesh! The system set up there is one mimicked by many other hitis due to its success.
Tuesday afternoon was much more work, but after 5 pm, I went to futsal with the ICIMODers! They play at a different pitch (field) near the road; we had quite an audience from people who would stop as they walked up the street. :) Confusingly enough, team members here would swap out and nobody wore colored jerseys to identify their teams. Since I didn't know about half the people, this led to a few mistaken passes, but in the end it was all fun (and just a game! :)). Tuesday evening I went with Prabesh to a place called Bricks Cafe. It was really quaint and had a similar setup to Ghangri Cafe -- but with a twist! There was an ongoing performance where every ten minutes a couple would come out and perform a traditional dance! They wore authentic clothing and had speakers set up to play the music, and the dance style varied from different castes to different regions! It was really neat to get to see this bit of culture before I left. That night, I paid for being out with sleep deprivation -- at 2 am I called it a night (morning?) and got some shut-eye.
Wednesday I got in a full work day!This week had also consisted of many Skype calls to Sean Finn, one of my closest friends from home. Without his encouragement and editing, my paper would be nowhere close to what it currently is! For dinner I met up with May and then we went to Futsal after! Wednesday was my latest night, with a final bedtime of 4 am. That is 3 hours of sleep, friends.
Awakened and jazzed for the day, Thursday resulted in another productive workday, but also a time to admit that I wasn't able to do everything. I made sure it was okay with Aditi, that the best I could turn in at that time was a rough draft, not a final copy. I had also had major technical issues the whole week, and I wanted to finally get my hands on Microsoft Office in order to format it better than Google Docs could. It all worked out, though, and I set back to work, finishing up my suggestions and conclusions.
There were also two parties during the day Thursday! One was a farewell lunch for me, in which everyone brought something to share and I didn't have to buy a lunch! The other was a farewell party for the Water and Air Theme because four of us were ending that week. It was so sweet what people had to say about each other. I will really miss them!
Thursday night was a blast! Rato Mato was hosting an open mic night, and I had talked Neha into doing it! A few other friends had come, too; I was especially excited that Sonika, Tanuja, and Bikul had decided to join! ICIMOD has some fantastic singers -- among them, Bikul, Neha, and Tanuja are the stars! :) They were each phenomenal, and it was such a pleasure to hear them perform live! There was also a group rendition of Call Me Maybe in there, but we don't need to talk about that. ;) Thursday night, after two very busy days and late nights, I was only able to hold out until 1 am before calling it quits. I had managed to put together most of my presentation for the next day and had finished the paper. I was exhausted but proud of how much I had accomplished in those few short days.
Friday was my last day at ICIMOD. To sum it up, it was incredible. That morning, I printed off the entirety of my 30 page report and handed it to Aditi. As I walked back to my desk, I caught a glimpse of her leafing through it. It was terrifying, submitting my work from the past two months and waiting for the final judgement. A little while later she came up to my desk....I was ready for it, ready for the criticism, ready for the rebuff.
But instead, she said, "Abby, this report is really great."
Part of me died and went to heaven in that instant. I couldn't think of anything else to say; I had been dreaming of that moment for so long.
Incredulously, I asked, "Are you serious?!"
She had smiled at my disbelief, and reassured me that is was actually a good report. She had even said, "With a little work, we might be able to publish it..."
It was truly a euphoric moment. I couldn't believe it. I heard her at her desk a little bit later, telling an intern that she had just received a report which showed research was needed in a certain area, and she asked them to structure their paper around that. What I had done had an immediate impact on the research they are doing at ICIMOD. I don't know how to describe the feelings that morning -- it was exuberant, elation, joy, relief, astonishment, yet there was a tinge of nostalgia at it being my last day.
I had lunch with Rashmi, my first friend at ICIMOD, the one who had shown me where to get coffee, how the canteen worked, the one who had invited me into her home and introduced me to her family. Our final farewell would come later, though.
After lunch was my final test: the presentation. The presentation had been my true deadline, the marker that separated work time from the peace that came after. I was honestly frightened. My voice doesn't always stay under my own control when public speaking, and I hadn't spoken to a crowd in so long.
What I had expected to be a 10 or 15 minute presentation doubled in length. It was a presentation on what I had done in the past two months, and facts came flooding back to me. I even got to present on some of the interviews we had done up to that point! The presentation was followed by a long questioning period, which I survived! haha. Aditi was smiling through the entire thing, and afterwards each of my friends had come up to tell me that it went well. :)
There was a final tea break, and a few gifts along with sad farewells were exchanged in my last hour at ICIMOD. It is still hard to believe that it is all over. But wait, what about Friday night? I have one answer for you: overcome with relief and exhaustion, I slept. And I wouldn't wake up for another 13 hours.
I want to take a moment to reflect on my time at ICIMOD. Just like the last day, it was incredible. From my first day there, people accepted and warmly welcomed me. In a place where people are constantly coming and leaving, other ICIMODers still opened up and were unafraid to make connections -- even knowing that I would be leaving so soon. In my first few weeks especially, I struggled with staying focused on what I was doing. I hadn't heard of a literature review before this internship, and I seriously doubted my ability to create one. It was through the compassion and help of others that I managed to do as much as I did. Working a desk job in Kathmandu was incredibly frustrating. I wanted to be out doing and seeing things, but I came to understand that there was a small importance to what I was doing. I came to like the routine. Even now, I miss the schedule, I miss seeing everyone at ICIMOD. I am so grateful to everyone there for making my experience such a memorable one, for helping me understand the culture of Nepal, and for laughing and learning with me. :)
I am going to cut off here; for the next blog post I have loads of pictures!
Peace and love to all of my ICIMOD coworkers,
Abby
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