It has been a mindblowing first 4 days here in the capital of this incredible country. I can't help but think back several months to when I first decided to come to India to study. Since then, many people have asked me why I waited until senior year to go abroad, and to most of them I reply with "Why not?"
I actually had no intention of going abroad during undergrad because I got the impression that it would just be too much money. I realize now that yes, it can cost a lot, but the added benefit is invaluable. And as I saw more and more of my friends begin to engage in independent travel and tell me stories of different parts of the world, I definitely started to catch the travelbug, and from there began exploring options for semesters abroad.

The second question people often asked was "Why India?" To this I have a few responses. One is that it took me awhile to figure out which subject(s) I felt most passionately about academically, and when I finally declared my major as Sociology Service Learning because of my interest in understanding socioeconomic differences and my overall fascination with people, India, still undeniably influenced by the caste system, seemed like a perfect fit. Many people also don't know that my mother lived in a Sikh Ashram for several years while I was growing up, so I learned a lot of the customs, traditions, and even some of the Punjabi language. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism)

Needless to say, I have been looking forward to this trip for so long and once I officially applied to the IES program in Delhi, my excitement and motivation grew ten fold every time I learned something new about India or the opportunities offered through my program. During spring semester, I was busy enough with classes and extracurricular activities, and at times it seemed overwhelming to have to sift through paperwork and trudge through the red tape necessary to study abroad. But the study abroad offices at both Bryant and IES were extremely helpful in answering my questions and providing me with the necessary paperwork and background information I needed to feel comfortable and secure.

Once the semester ended, I decided to move to Provincetown, Mass with my roommate in order to work and save as much money as I could in order to really enjoy myself when I went away. Okay fine, maayybe the fact that Ptown is like, the greatest place on earth (or at least the east coast) also had a little bit to do with it, too. I wound up working about 4 or 5 jobs over the course of 6 weeks, and becoming friends with amazing people. I actually learned so much living on my own and doing some interesting odd jobs. I was only there for a short time, but I left feeling much older. When it came time to move back home, I had about 6 days to get any errands, paperwork, and wits together before the big departure. It's so strange to think that 7, 8, 9 days ago I was running around the greater boston area like a madman scheduling doctor's appointments, dentist appointments, buying supplies, filling out paperwork, spending time saying goodbye to friends and family...it seems like so long ago.

These past several months I did a lot of research to prepare myself physically, mentally, and emotionally for an 8,000 mile voyage across the Atlantic. The one thing I never anticipated was how difficult it would be to say goodbye to my family. I have done a pretty good amount of travelling around the U.S. for someone my age, but I have never been outside of the states. Never. Not even to Canada. So the idea of being separated from my parents and my siblings for such a long time and not being able to visit them when I want is very foreign to me. Even now it hasn't hit me yet, though I'm sure it will. But for the most part, they understand that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and that all their patience, hardwork, and dedication to my wellbeing is going to pay off in so many ways.

I was very nervous and a bit overwhelmed navigating through security and making sure I was boarding the correct plane at first, but as soon as I sat down in those nice comfy American Airlines seats and felt the rumble of the engine as it prepared for a 6.5 hour voyage to London, I knew that my comfortable, suburban world as I knew it was about to shatter. And I couldn't have been more grateful.

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I am living now in Delhi, India in a gated middle-class neighborhood called Neeti Bagh in the southern part of the city. There are 12 other students from all over the U.S. here with me doing this program (3 boys, 9 girls), and all of us are getting along wonderfully. Everyone is just so excited to be here and we all come from such different places, yet we all have this intense infatuation with India. The staff here has been so so SO extremely helpful and every one of them has gone far out of their way to help us and to make sure we are safe when we travel, eat, sleep, ... everything! I can't stress enough how supportive and fantastic this program is - they spoil us here!

At a later time I will elaborate more on the sights, smells, colors, and people that I have met so far and the fun things we have been doing during orientation, but for now it's getting late and tomorrow we have to get up and leave by 5:30am to catch a train to Mussoorie up North in the mountains for a weekend excursion. I encourage you all to look through my pictures to see some of the Neeti Bagh neighborhood, Delhi markets, and the Ghandi Museum we got to go to today.

Indian fact of the day:
Timur (great grandson [I think] of Ghengis Khan who had control of Delhi after the Tughlaqabad dynasty) loved to play chess, and the term "Checkmate" comes from the Hindi phrase "Shah (sometimes pronounced Sheh) Maat" which literally translates to "King You are Defeated."

Cool, eh? Okay, off to bed for me. Goodnight!

written by  Indiestani on July 18, 2008 from New Delhi, India
from the travel blog: New Delhi
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This past week has involved a lot of activity. Since we got back from our Mussoorie trip, we've started our Intensive Hindi class in the afternoons. We have a great teacher who is very proficient in both languages, and is able to explain some of the cultural intonations that go into learning a language so different from many western languages. As of now, we've almost gotten through the entire 48-character alphabet, including vowels, and can read and write in Devangari script. We've also learned several useful phrases and this week we're tackling grammar.

Aside from Hindi class, we've been doing some touring at other Universities in Delhi where we have the opportunity to take classes outside of the classes offered through the IES program. So far, I've been most impressed with the sociology classes offered at JNU. JNU is a graduate school named after Jawaharlal Nehru - the first prime minister of India (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru). The class I'm looking to take is called "Social Stratification in India" and focuses a lot on class discussion to help us understand the reading. Because it's a graduate school, the students seem a bit older, but the campus is beautiful and I'm definitely looking forward to studying in that atmosphere.

Next week, some of us have a big break in our schedule. They left us some free time because some students are moving into homestays, and some have already started classes at JNU. A handful of us have decided to hop on a train to Northern India, where we're planning on taking a tour from Amritsar in Punjab to see the Golden Temple, to Dalhousie, to the beautiful mountains of Dharamsala, to Manali, and finally landing in Kullu where we'll take a train back to Delhi. The whole trip will last 9 days and 8 nights. The few of us who are going are so excited, and will be taking tons of pictures all around.

Gotta go get some lunch before Hindi class, I'll write more later!

written by  Indiestani on July 30, 2008 from New Delhi, India
from the travel blog: New Delhi
tagged Hindi and Jnu
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