Week 2: Data, Sarees, and Delhi

Today I am writing on a Monday. My second week is officially over, and I am starting my third week out of nine as an intern at TAF.

Since my last post, I have been working a lot and immersing myself more and more in the Poshan Clinic project. But I have also been slowly exploring Delhi, following all the recommendations my coworkers have been giving me.

Data Week

On the work side, I finished my first draft analyzing the data on the impact of the Poshan Clinic. I will keep the main findings secret for now, at least until the document is finalized. But I can say that it was a week of full immersion in RStudio, Stata, Excel, and many, many data tables and statistics. 

It was a lot of work, and I am definitely a little tired, but I am also learning so much. I still cannot believe that in just two weeks I already have a first draft of a 27-page analysis. This week, I will be working on the presentation for the paper and finalizing some of the remaining details.

Inside the office, there were also some very important cultural updates. 

On Wednesday, the communications team, with whom I share the floor, came dressed in beautiful green sarees. They looked amazing. I think my turn is coming soon: at some point I will have to buy a saree and, more importantly, learn how to wear it.

Comms team in green sarees

Also, my supervisor, Nandita, now drinks mate. Every day she asks me for some, so little by little, Argentinian culture is entering the office.

Nandita trying mate

In exchange, I keep trying new Indian snacks. This week: Masala Lay’s.

First Masala Lay’s

Life Outside the Spreadsheet

Outside the office, I visited some incredible places this week: Lodhi Garden, Khan Market, Triveni Café, the National Gallery of Modern Art, and a few others. I am following my coworkers’ recommendations very seriously. 

What I find magical about Delhi is how much history exists everywhere. Ten minutes away from home, I can suddenly find myself walking next to these beautiful monuments, gardens, and buildings that carry so many layers of the city’s past.

Exploring Lodhi Garden

And, of course, the World Cup continues. Argentina has been winning all its matches cleanly so far, thank God (and by God, I mean Messi). The only problem is the time difference. Here, the matches are usually at 6 or 7 in the morning, so it is not very easy to go somewhere to watch them that early. 

As you can see, a lot of things happened this past week: data analysis, office lunches, green sarees, mate, Masala Lay’s, Delhi monuments, and Argentina matches at impossible hours. 

Next week, if everything goes well, Nandita and I will be traveling to the field to see how the Poshan Clinic works in action, from the grassroots level. I am really excited to see the numbers I have been working with come to life, and not only exist as rows in an Excel sheet. 

We were told that temperatures may reach 40 to 50 degrees Celsius where we are going, so I will be drinking a lot of water and trying my best to survive the heat. 

Stay tuned!

Leyre in India