i’m back ‘home’ in mussoorie. i realized i have spent the same amount of time ‘out’ of this city as i have ‘in’ it. no more 100+ degree days for here at 7000 elevation, long sleeves are more appropriate and i’m beginning to i think i was made for this elevation. 20 of august, 2006, i set my feet on indian soil and i am amazed at how much life has changed in such a short amount of time. a world which before i knew only from books, i am now apart of everyday. this life requires a slow pace. it’s...
Read Moreon our way back ‘home’ from machilipatnam, we stopped in secunderabad & hyperabad. one: to drop off sashi kiran, our civil engineer, two: to rest before our marathon journey home, and three: to see the area. secunderabad & hyperabad are india’s twin cities and the capital of the state andhra pradesh. in a place where ancient lanes meet vehicle-choked highways, it is also the fastest growing metropolis in the world. you know when you call a 1-800 number to get help with your computer, you probably call here. all the big names have offices here in an area called ‘hitec city.’...
Read Moreher name is anna, my name is jill. one 6 hour train ride from vijayawada, our paths crossed. we shared a bond between seats 55 and 56 which was unique and memorable. she went to school to be a psychologist, her brother’s a priest. i call myself an architect, my brother’s a software engineer. she’s been a sister in the catholic church since she was 28. last month, she turned 70. next month, i’ll be 25. the gray hairs peek out from beneath her head covering. my blond curls are in much need of washing. we talked about andhra pradesh and gelatto in italy. she told me of life in the...
Read Morei really had no idea of what to expect on a project trip. i knew it was a hospital, i knew it was in machilipatnam…and that was about it…thrown into the process, a sink or swim kind of experience. it reminded me so much of school, trace paper flying, vision driven, watercolor delineation…ah. i loved it. we all visited the site together the first afternoon. the only vehicle big enough to hold us all was the clinic’s ambulance. cross ‘ride in an ambulance’ off of my list of things to do in life. [and yes mom, it was done without an...
Read Morethe week was wearing on us and come friday morning, we were ready for a break from the drawing board. it was time to see the area. rajesh and charles loaded us in the van and we headed to the local wharf to watch the fisherman brining in the morning’s catch and then to the bay of bengal…what a sight. what an experience. the boats were neatly lined up along the coast, some colorfully painted, others badly need of repair, but all still in operation. if you had any doubt of their ocean use, the strong fishy smell in the air...
Read Morewhen the paul’s opened the children’s home in july, they had six children waiting in line. it’s only september and the number has doubled. some have come because their fathers died of tuberculosis, others because there were too many mouths to feed at home. a precious few because they are all alone with no family, home, or friend who will claim them. whatever the reason for bringing them there, the doors remain open to all and arms fly wide open to greet them. i know i am here to design a hospital, i know my main purpose here is to...
Read Moreanother night on the train, though this one not as bad as the last. maybe i’m getting used to this indian travel or maybe the ear plugs are really just that good. the scenery has changed since my eyes were last open. the rain has stopped and the cities have been replaced with small villages, the rolling hills are now flattened plains. back at home, in plains of my own, i would often find myself driving. i loved rolling down the windows and turning up the music. with my hand out the window enjoying the ever-present kansas ‘breeze,’ i would...
Read Morethe place machilipatnam [ma-chili-putnam] a city off the coast of south east india [one of the sunsets from our roof] [the small site in ‘downtown’ machilipatnam] the purpose to make tangible through the built environment the vision of NACEA [north andhra costal evang-lization association] and FAME [fellowship of associates of medical evang-lism]through a hospital design, CMC [chri-tian medical center] for the city of machilipatnam, in order to reach out to the surrounding villages and offer physical, emotional, and spiritual healing to all in need. [i broke in my watercolor set for our design presentation drawings] the players the paul family: the heart of the purpose and of nacea…the indigenous voices of...
Read Morea twenty six hour train ride wouldn’t be so bad if that were all we had. but on either side of the day long adventure, existed another six hour train and hour and a half taxi…all in all 6 days of strictly traveling. let’s just say we are anxious to get to this place i am just now learning to pronounce, machilipatnam. each sleeper train car is filled with many compartments. there are six beds, two sets of three bunk beds, perpendicular to the long of the train. each set its own window and a small space from which one climbs...
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