My first week here has been somewhat tough. My initial reservation against accepting a placement in India came back to haunt me as I have been having a tough time adjusting. The biggest obstacle for me has been the language barrier between myself and the office staff as well as with most of the people I am surrounded by on a daily basis. Since most of the office staff speaks Tamil exclusively, it has been a struggle to start figuring out my place within this organization. There are about 30 people on staff and most of them are field workers who come into the office about once or twice a week. I have had the opportunity to accompany them on some field visits in the targeted urban slum areas within Madurai, accompanied by a translator of
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