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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Head Bobble and Adjusting

My amazement has not worn off.  What a city and what a culture!  I should start by explaining my life here.  I live with my host family which consists of Jayant (father), Neeta (mother), Niraj (16 year old brother going to Rochester, MN for exchange), and Akash (12 year old brother).  Also living with us are my two grandparents.  We all live in an apartment in the middle of Pune.  The last two days have been hectic but fun as I try to learn how to fit in.  My host family is very accommodating and they are easing me into Indian food.  I have been told to drink only bottled mineral water for a week to allow my body to become accustomed to India and then I will be allowed to drink filtered water.  They have also bought bread and jam for me to eat at breakfast so I will feel more at home and have made sure I have not come into contact with nuts.  I am so appreciative of their protection and care, because I would be so lost without them. 

Because Niraj leaves so soon, much of his (our) extended family has come to visit to say goodbye, giving me a chance to meet all of them.  I also need to talk about family, but that will have its own blog post as well because there is so much to say.  I have no idea what they talk about because it is in Marathi, but I occasionally catch ‘Erik’, ‘Northfield’, and ‘exchange student’ in conversation.  It is also a running joke that the only Marathi I know is “Namaste”, which everyone finds hilarious. 

Sunday after sleeping in, Niraj took me out on his “two wheeler” (this is what they call all scooters or motorcycles) on an errand.  The idea scared me a lot after what I had seen of Indian traffic but it was amazing and I felt so free!  I live only about 20 feet from a busy road so it’s only a second or two before you are surrounded by people.  After this I met two of my “brothers” (they also call cousins brothers and sisters) and all my brothers and I played cricket in the alley.  I had no idea what was going on and often dropped the bat like in baseball, much to the amusement of Akash.  Though I believe I lost, it was very fun to join in an Indian activity.  I know the big question you are all asking is “Do they really do that head bobble?”  Yes, they do.  I was so excited the first time I saw it, and it turns out it’s not just every once in a while, they do it all the time.  For those of you who don't know, the head bobble is really hard to read.  It can mean yes, no, maybe, or can just take the place of an actual response.  I felt like a true Indian yesterday when I found myself naturally doing it in conversation with my father (thanks for all the practice Kiana!).  It is amazing how quickly you can adapt to small things like that.  

Yesterday I twice participated in a festival called Raksha Bandhan in which a sister (female cousin or actual sister) ties a rakhi (sacred thread) around the brother’s wrist symbolizing her love and prayers for his well-being in return for his promise to protect her.  I felt so special to be included in this ceremony after being here only a day and a half.  The festival is actually on August 2nd this year, but Niraj leaves tomorrow, so he will miss it.  This means I will go through the ritual several more times, which is fine by me. 

I am still working to settle in, including filling out paperwork and registering for school among other things.  I intend to visit Aishwarya and her family soon (some of you know her as Aish), and it will be very fun to see her in her own country while I am the exchange student.  It will be a strange reversal of roles.  The rest of the eight exchange students in Pune this year will be arriving soon and I will meet them the second week of August, which is very exciting and will truly kick off my exchange here.  Expect another update soon.  Namaste!

Monday, July 30, 2012

Wow.


That is pretty much all I can say when I consider the flurry of activity that filled the last five and a half hours after getting off the plane in Mumbai.  Only a few hours in, my time in India has already been one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  There was so much to see, hear and smell that I could run through it all in real time and I still wouldn’t do it justice.  In fact, I have enough to say that I’m going to break this down into two parts.  I’ll start with my journey to Mumbai. 

Travel:  It was long and boring.  I’m not sure what I expected from a solid 24 hours of travel, but it wasn’t fun.  I left my house at 7:45 am dressed in my Rotary blazer and khaki pants and met Colby, the other North Star outbound to Pune, at security.  After the arduous task of checking a bag, I said my goodbyes to my family and my adventure began.  The flight to Newark was short, but the layover there was not.  Five and a half hours of waiting in an airport that makes MSP seem like a palace.  Then came 15 hours of extreme time zone confusion on my flight to Mumbai.  We departed Newark shortly before 9 pm and arrived in Mumbai around 9:10 pm.  My body is so mixed up I may just sleep through tomorrow.  I used this opportunity to treasure my last taste of true, un-subtitled, un-dubbed, American film and enjoyed such cultural gems as Wrath of the Titans and Mean Girls.  Once I got off the plane, through security, and past the baggage claim, I walked outside and hit a wall of heat.  I had been told this would happen, but thought arriving at 9 pm would somehow excuse me from this unwanted welcoming present.

First Hours in India:  As I tried to cope with the unexpectedly high temperature, I picked out my welcoming crew: both of my host brothers, my host father, and two Rotary officials.  When we met I was handed a bouquet of flowers and my baggage was picked up by my brothers to carry to our car.  Niraj, the older, would be a Junior in high school next year but is also participating in Rotary and leaves in four days for Rochester, MN.  Immediately I was hit with how different everything was.  The honking was a constant buzz and the traffic had no distinguishable pattern or rules.  When we got in the car to begin the four hour journey home, I could not drag my eyes from the window.  There was so much to see, from tall, modern buildings to small metal shacks along the road.  It was truly reflective of the separation of wealth here.  After we left the bustling streets of Mumbai, my jet lag and overall exhaustion got the best of me and I fell asleep for a while.  When I woke up, we decided to stop for some food-at 11:15 pm.  I was excited to have my first meal in India and so I had authentic Indian…McDonalds?  I had the 6 piece chicken McNuggets.  Exactly what I would have had at home.  The two differences: it only cost Rs 75 (roughly $1.30), and I was the only white person in the restaurant.  I was surprised to find that once they had finished, everyone ordered a second part to their meal and were confused when I wanted nothing more.  I found that many people would look at me for long periods of time and one guy tried to be sneaky and got his friend to take a picture of him standing next to me.  I played along and pretended I hadn’t noticed.  The rest of the ride home was uneventful but I was still trying to grasp what country I was in.  The driving itself was extremely different, but I will need to devote an entire blog post to that.  When we finally got back to my apartment, it was around 3:30 in the morning.  I greeted my host mother and grandparents with a quick “Namaste” before collapsing to my bed.  I am exhausted and can hardly think straight, but what an amazing day it has been!


*A quick note, many of my posts will be uploaded a day or two after I write them.  I do not have constant internet access so I will upload them when I can.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Almost There!

Well here it is, my first blog post. I guess I'm a little behind seeing as my plane departs in less than 12 hours, but it happens. To start off, I am participating in the Rotary Youth Exchange program and will be attending school and living with host families in Pune, India for a year in order to understand another culture and gain a more worldly perspective. Being the first exchange student to leave from Northfield puts a little added pressure on me to pave the way for the rest of you following me so I hope I can provide some help before you have to leave. I want to dive in and try to explain the crazy mix of emotions I'm feeling right now but first I have to catch you up on the roller coaster I have already experienced in preparing for the next 12 months.


After finding out in December that I would be spending my exchange in India, I got just as excited as all the other exchange students around me, and the orientation sessions did nothing except increase my enthusiasm. I was all prepared to leave until a month ago when I had an allergic reaction to an Indian dessert. It was a rather severe problem and so my family and I quickly began research. We found out that nuts are quite common in India (especially desserts, so I may avoid the usual Rotary weight gain) and that it could cause a problem for my exchange. This caused Rotary to look into an alternative exchange. There was a vacancy in Spain which threw me into a three week limbo of waiting to know what country I would be living in for the next year. During this time India became, in my mind, a much safer place. I found out that my host father in Pune is a pharmacist and is well aware of the dangers of my allergy. Around me, a community of people rose up to make sure that my year would be a successful one. This made all the difference and now I feel perfectly comfortable with my original host country.


This last Monday (only four days ago) I awoke to a call from my dad with confirmation that I was going to India and a tentative flight plan-to depart on Friday July 27th, four days away. After three weeks of almost no information, this was a lot to take in. However, my parents and I agreed it was the right choice. Not only would I be traveling with another exchange student the entire way, but after pushing my departure back over a month, I was ready to start my adventure. Four goodbye-and-packing-filled days later, I'm ready as I will ever be.

I cannot believe the day is finally here! It is strange how I have prepared for this moment since last September and it all leads up to this moment. Yet, somehow I can't wrap my head around the fact that I won't be coming back for a whole year. Goodbyes with friends were sad but seemed more like a 'See you later!' than anything else. It is so surreal and I can't help but look around me and think that I will see it all again in a week or two. However, I know that all that separates me from India and a life-changing exchange is a good night's sleep and 28 hours of travel! I am incredibly excited to begin my journey and experience all of the amazing adventures in store for me. I'll keep you posted!