this was written the first morning I was here. My internet has been limited, to say the least, so I wrote it on my computer and now I'm posting it. I'll try to keep this more updated, but I won't make any promises! Here's a few pictures to show you something!
Whew, finally here. The journey to get here was not easy, let me tell you. Bus from Brunswick to Boston, flight from Boston to Newark, NJ and finally a straight 14-hour flight into Delhi. I thought I would be close to my home-stay when I landed, but it was another 1.5-hour drive. Which I will talk about in a minute. The plane ride here was rough, but luckily I sat in a row where there were only 2 of us, rather than 3. This gave my plane buddy and myself extra legroom for when we slept. I learned that the guy sitting next to me was a rising senior from Cornell named Braveen. His parents live in Delhi and he was coming home for the summer. He asked me what it was I was doing in India and I was nervous to tell him I would be teaching English. I felt like I was telling him his country needed my help or that I was some know-it-all college student on my way to rescue the children I would be teaching. Ever since I’ve been a part of the Alternative Spring Break program, I have asked myself whether college students going to other places to volunteer is a good thing. While I believe that this kind of work is important, I can understand the position of the people whom we help. I try to imagine what I would feel like if someone came into my neighborhood and said they were there to help. I guess this experience will help me to figure these things out and answer some of the questions that have been posed to me. Although I was nervous, I told Braveen what program I was working with and what I would be doing. I suppose some of my hesitation came with good reason because he said, “Guess it looks good, right?” I felt awful and everything I had feared came true. I’m still weary of his response and I hope I can get past this idea of this experience as something that “looks good”.
The plane ride wasn’t all bad. We started to chat about what we did in school and the fact that we flew over some of the mountains where they caught Osama. He was interested in my international travel, or my lack of, and some things about Bowdoin. Overall, he was really nice and I was glad I could sit next to someone who made me think about my experience and challenge me in ways I think are important. Once the flight was over, he helped me find my way through the airport and through immigration. Here is where is gets messy. I was told to meet at a coffee shop in the airport. Guess what? Ever other visitor must’ve gotten the same instructions because there were tons of drivers waiting with name signs. I didn’t see mine, so I went to the next place I was told to go: Gate 5. Again, I did not see my sign. It’s at this point where I became hyper aware of my foreigner status. The people, mostly men, stared at me straight on with these looks of confusion as well as humor. I could tell they knew I was lost and I immediately became intimidated and scared, to a certain extent. A young gentleman came up to me and asked me if I was lost and needed to use his phone. Normally I wouldn’t think twice about someone being courteous, but in this situation, I was very cautious. While a part of me was scared, I knew I needed to call my contact and get a hold of them so that I could finally get back. Fortunately, I was able to find my driver after calling and was on my way to my home-stay.
Driving here was insane. I thought for sure we were going to crash…like 50 times! There are no lanes here, only general directions that the cars move. At this point I was so exhausted I kept coming in and out of sleep, until finally I stayed awake. There were tons of people on the streets and tons of cars all around. At one point there was a cow hanging out in the street that made all the cars move around her. I thought that was funny. At this time of night, nearly 11, hundreds of people were busy on the streets and tons of shops were still open, booming with business. It amazed me. I guess it also doesn’t help that Brunswick closes at 8p.m. Ha ha. SO we finally arrive at the house and the man says, “You, come” and directs me to the Doctor’s house where I am staying. His two small children greet me with excitement and immediately ask me my name. I learn their names are Sowmick and Jiyati. They are the children to my contact for the program. They show me to my room and I pull out my notebook to write down their names as to not forget, and before I know it Jiyati has my pen and is writing her parents names down too. I was so happy that they were so open to me and so welcoming even after only 5 minutes. The shower here is not separated from the rest of the bathroom, so we have to squeegey the water off the floor. The toilet paper must go in a waste bin, not down the toilet. They keep their water in a huge bin that opens and closes for access. It’s a really nice home and definitely a new of living that will take some time to get use to. I’m awake now at 6a.m. and hoping I can adjust quickly. I think today will be the day I get shown around and have the chance to buy some weather appropriate clothing because I am sweating like crazy!ALSO, things may be tough now but I just got my grades. Hell yes! Ownage baby!
until my next post...which will be very soon :]
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