First Impressions

Namaste!

Most of the women seen on the streets are beggars

India has been nothing short of incredible. I’ve only been here for week, yet I’ve learned more than I would have in during an entire term at school. The people here are genuinely kind and go out of their way to help foreigners, the food is delicious (and surprisingly not too spicy!), the architecture is beyond amazing, and the culture is incredibly rich and diverse. Even the beggars on the streets are adorned in colorful, intricately woven clothing. Every aspect of life is vibrant and carries meaning.

One of Jaipur's holy cows

Learning Hindi has been, as expected, quite the challenge. I’ve learned the entire alphabet of the Devanagari script as well as a few phrases, but the pronunciations for which English has no equivalent have proven to be very difficult. The only other complaint I have is of the weather. Ninety degrees and unbelievably humid, I can’t even go outside wearing glasses because they'll completely fog up. The worst part is, as a woman, I am not allowed to wear “revealing” clothing; shorts and tank tops are not acceptable so I am forced to take on the heat in pants and long sleeves. I will discuss gender issues more later on, as there are many, but for now I’ll just note that I have seen very few women out on the streets, as it is not acceptable for them to be in public areas. 

The group I will be studying with for the next four months consists of twenty one students from across America and nine staff members from all over India. The group dynamic has been great so far, and everyone is very open-minded and well-traveled.

The program’s center, and where I will be living for the next few months, is located a city called Jaipur, the capital of the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. The city is unlike anything I have ever seen before: adorned with enormous, jaw-dropping palaces, yet teeming with beggars roaming the streets, the city is a fascinating mix of the old and the new, the rich and the poor, the developed world and the developing world. The streets are lively with vendors, children, and cows which roam the street unharmed as they are considered to be holy animals. Though it is a controversial topic, and many people believe that the cow was deemed holy for political reasons, it makes for some great vegetarian food. 

As is the case throughout India, traffic laws are extremely “flexible”. Navigating the streets in a rickshaw feels like playing a real life version of Mariokart; lanes lines are completely ignored, and traffic lights and speed limits might as well not exist.

The program center, where I will be taking all of my classes, completely blew away my expectations. It consists of one main classroom, a garden with a badminton court, a kitchen, library, computer lab, a few offices, and even our very own meditation room, complete with incense and representations of the gods. It is also very well air conditioned and they provide us with a delicious, Indian-flavored lunch every day.

Hindi graffiti overlooking the city of Jaipur


My homestay house is also very comfortable, and I get my own room and bathroom. With three stories, intricate woodwork, and marble floors, it is a very impressive, beautiful home. My “Auntie” (homestay mother) is very hospitable and kind. She is Sikh and of upper caste (which she does not hesitate to mention at every given opportunity). She has a twenty-five year old son and a husband, both of whom are currently away but will be joining us in a couple weeks. (The marriage was, of course, arranged). Parvesh, the house servant, is of a lower caste, which is the main factor Auntie attricutes his poor English-speaking skills to. Though I will be discussing the issues of caste and arranged marriages in more detail later on, I can confidently say that from what I have gathered from my experiences so far, both are widely accepted aspects of life, and Indians are very quick to defend them.

That’s all for now, and I hope you enjoyed my first entry as there will be many more. Feel free to leave any comments and I’ll post a link to the rest of my pictures from this week.

Phir milege (see you soon!),

Annika