Participant Observation 2

Field notes from St. Ann’s College

Today Abbie and I went to St. Ann’s College, which is the location of our field site for our final project. We had been there once before, but only very briefly, because we got there after classes had already finished for the day.
Today, we went by taxi and arrived at the gate at about 1 p.m. As soon as we get out of the car in front of the college, we are being stared at by everyone around us. The street is dirty and smells like rotten fruit, but as soon as we get to the gate it seems to appear much cleaner. When we enter the gate the guard stops us and asks us what we were doing and who we had an appointment with. I tell him that we are students and that we have an appointment with Mrs. Radika, so he lets us enter without any further questions. I wonder if there are any female guards, especially at women’s colleges or other institutions for women in this country (or any other country for that matter...). As soon as we walk through the gate, I notice many girls looking and pointing at us. I like the campus, it is very green and spatial; there are many trees and the buildings are tall, grey buildings which are in very good condition. I also feel comfortable on the Campus, it has a friendly atmosphere, and I catch myself thinking that I might be more comfortable here because there are only women around me. Even though the women and girls are still staring at us, it seems more comfortable to me and doesn’t bother me as much as the staring on the streets. Most girls walk by and smile at us and I smile back.
As we continue our walk across the yard, I see many Muslim girls, Hindu girls, all mingling and chatting with each other. Most of the girls are wearing “traditional, Indian” clothes, while others are wearing Jeans and t-shirts. I think to myself that it is very neat to see all these girls of different religions and backgrounds enjoying each others company. Most girls are walking or sitting in groups of four or more and none of them seem to be in a hurry. I look up at the sky and notice that it is kind of cloudy and it looks like it might rain. I wish I would have brought my umbrella. It is still really hot, even without the sun out. I am sweating and hot, but realize that it doesn’t bother me as much as it used to at the beginning of my stay in India.
I look to the left and see a girl in a Muslim Burka walk through the gate. After she gets closer to one of the buildings, she takes of her head scarf and continues walking. She seems relaxed. Many girls are sitting on benches and steps around the yard, while some are just standing around, talking. Some girls are playing with a basketball. I am guessing that they must all be getting done with lunch break around this time and about ready to go back to class. A girl in a pink and white outfit walks by and almost runs into me. She moves to the right just in time and smiles at me. As I smile back at her I cant help but wonder what she thinks about our presence here on campus. As we walk through one of the hallways, I see many religious Christian pictures and religious slogans. I find this strange, considering that the majority of the students are probably NOT Christians. I watch the students and teachers talk in front of the Administration office and just now realize that all the teachers are wearing Saris. I think that this might be part of their dress code and could help distinguish between faculty and students (which one of the teachers confirms later). I see a lady in the hallway sweeping the floor with a short broom made from small braches and sticks. She is wearing a blue/greenish Sari and her back is slightly bent. I wonder how many times she has swept this floor and decide that it is probably too many times to count. She doesn’t even look up or move as we pass. I notice that the sun has come out for a few minutes, but there are still a lot of clouds in the sky. We reach the chemistry department, where Mrs. Radkia has her office and just as we arrive at the office, she steps outside, greeting us. I observe her as she speaks and I feel very comfortable around her. She is a very friendly-looking woman and her English is very good. She apologizes and says that she has a very busy day and asks us if we would mind it if she had another teacher show us around. She is smiling and does the “head-thing.” As we are talking to her I think to myself that she would be a good teacher. After meeting the other teacher we walk around campus for awhile and talk to a few more people to make some appointments for the following week. We then decide to walk back to the yard and do some more observing and as soon as we sit down I notice that we are watched by everyone around us. I observe a group of girls who appear to be dancing around one other girl and they are dancing and shouting, but I can’t understand what they are saying. Two girls walk up to us and without hesitation, they ask for our names. I notice that most of the Indians I have met are pretty straight forward and do not seem shy at all. We tell them our names and ask for theirs. Their next question was fairly expected: they wanted to know where we were from and we told them that we were from the United States, their eyes widened and they started smiling at each other. I thought this was very interesting and wondered what they were thinking about. While the two girls are talking to us, about six to eight more girls have gathered around us. One of the two girls who were talking to us starts giggling and they continue their walk across the campus. There is a group of four girls sitting to the right of us, so they start talking to Abbie while I am answering questions from some of the other girls standing in front of us. I feel a little overwhelmed for a couple minutes, but not uncomfortable. Again, I realize that I am more comfortable around this group most likely because they are all women. I feel a breeze on my face and take a deep breath to fully enjoy it. From the corner of my eyes, I can see that many eyes are still on us, but some students who saw us when we entered, seem to have gotten used to the fact that we ere there and continued on with their regular activities. The group of girls gathered around us has now moved on and the girls to the right of us ask if we are students at St. Ann’s. We end up talking to the group of students for about 20 minutes and gather a lot of valuable information for our projects. It starts to rain, first lightly, then heavier, so we move further up the stairs to get some cover from the roof behind us. I enjoy the smell of the warm summer rain and don’t mind the few cooling drops that hit my legs. I watch the students in the yard and am surprised to see that most of them are in no hurry to get out of the rain unlike in the States. Some girls go and stand under covered areas, while others simply stay where they were. None of the really seem to mind the rain and I think that they must be used to the sudden but usually short monsoon rains. After the rain has mostly stopped, we decide to head home. We say good-by to the girls and thank them fro the conversation. I have to laugh when the one girl tells me that we were really nice and she didn’t think we were going to be. When I ask her why, she said that she expected us to be shy and not talk to them, but now she thinks we are nice. I smile at her and all of us exchange e-mail addresses. As we leave campus, I take one more look around and notice that even though we are still being watched, that most of the students have gotten somewhat used to our presence. I just now notice that there is a volleyball net set up right next to the small stage.