Last week I had the privilege of traveling to the amazing city of Varanasi. This city is like nothing I have ever seen before and it was captivating. The purpose of this excursion was to travel in small groups and learn about a specific NGO. I visited the NGO Kiran Village that works differently abled adults and children on a variety of things from education to social integration. This organization was amazing to learn about. You will hear more about them from me soon because I have decided to do my independent study project (ISP) with them. ISP is a month-long project where students are able to choose a topic and do qualitative research on that topic for the last month of the program.
Another purpose of this trip was to practice conducting interviews in preparation of our upcoming ISP. We did two interviews in English and one interview in Hindi. I was incredibly nervous for my interviews because it is not in my personality to start a conversation with someone I hardly know. I am happy to report that the three interviews I did went very well and I was able to learn some great information. I am no longer so nervous about having to do interviews for my ISP in a week.
The professor that took my group to Varanasi actually grew up there and was excited to show us his favorite spots. It was great fun! We took a boat ride on the Ganges, drank Lassi, and met his family and friends.
