Time is Weird

I remember one Saturday night in October 2011, back when I was just beginning the Rotary process and had no idea where I would be spending the 12 months following graduation, when my friends and I were running all over the Carleton campus and stopped in the Arb to sit on a rock and look up at the stars.  We began to think about how small we really are in the universe and, naturally, this led to an in-depth discussion of quarks and relativity including time travel and time bending.  This profound conversation led me to a simple conclusion: “Time is weird.”  My mistake was to speak it, because it only earned me several minutes of my friends’ laughter and a year of teasing.  However silly, I maintain that it was a valid conclusion.

The reason I brought up this memory, apart from simply recalling a great night with all my friends back in Northfield, is because today marks one month since I have been in India.  It is really difficult for me to believe – one month!  Thus far I have measured my time here in weeks, but now I can think in months.  One month sounds so much longer than four weeks.  At the end of my first week here I was sure it had been a month, but time has only gone in reverse from there.  Now that I have actually stayed here an entire month, it feels as if it has only been a week.  Pretty weird.

A month seems like such a long time (I have already been here 1/10 of my exchange – crazy!), and I have gone through a lot.  On the car ride to Pune from the airport, I was riveted by everything I saw out the window, but now a rickshaw ride through the city is merely a part of my daily routine.  That is not to say that everything is familiar to me, I doubt I will accomplish that even by the end of my exchange.  It is, however, becoming a part of my everyday life and that is promising.  I am extremely excited that something initially so foreign I now regard as normal.   I do not think of it as boring that I am getting used to my life here, I regard it as really cool that I have been able to adapt to this new culture so quickly.

It is not only an accomplishment to have made it this far, but I also think of it as a solid beginning to my exchange.  I have certainly had my ups and downs, but I have experienced so much.  I have learned volumes about Indian culture, American culture, myself, and what parts of human nature transcend different cultures.  My time here has been invaluable, and I still have so much time left, so much more to see and experience!  The completion of my first month here has given me a renewed sense of purpose and a new enthusiasm which I hope will last me a long time.  Peering into the future, I have a lot to look forward to.  Some highlights of the (the ones that I know of, at least) include playing dhol for the ganpati festival (this will be the subject of my next blog post), starting yoga, finally meeting the other exchange students, the many festivals over the next few months, and potentially joining soccer, ultimate Frisbee, or a gym for some exercise (hard to believe, but I miss it).  Anyway, I’m going to wrap up this post, but look forward to hearing about all the awesome experiences I am having!