I have an exorbitant amount of free time at school and at home. I thrive when I have a busy schedule and that’s when I’m the most efficient, so the hours of having nothing to do is awful. I become indolent, pique and end up spending too much time analyzing my exchange experience. I’ve reached a rough patch in my exchange where I’m realizing the boundaries of my time here. I don’t have a lot of freedom to go gallivanting around the city - alone or with others. AFS India has a wonderful network of people, but they don’t allow a lot of travel - again alone or with others. My Hindi classes are stagnant and exasperating and I honestly don’t see myself being fluent in another 6 months. While this sounds very discouraging I am not in the pits about life over here, I’ve just accepted my reality. I probably won’t do all the things I wanted to do like learn classic Indian dance, mhendi (henna tattoos), or become a master chef. There are 3 things I have decided, with much conversation with my Americans, that have contributed to this atypical exchange experience: Indore, Daly College, and the interaction between AFS and NSLI-Y programs.
My hometown, San Antonio, has a population of 1.5 million people. My current city of residence, Indore, has 3 million people. These two cities have been the core of my exchange. I have compared the two, found similarities and differences, and missed one over the other. San Antonio, despite being half the population of Indore, has several social opportunities - even though I didn’t think so when I lived there - such as various amusement parks, movie theaters, malls, unique cuisine, academic institutions, museums, and heritage. Indore has one kick ass food street called Serafa, although I have yet to go, one “good” mall, and 2 historical sights. It’s been difficult to adjust to the discrepancies between the two cities in addition to the dissemblance of the US and India. My elder host sister, Ranjana, explained Indore to me really well. She hit the nail on the head when she said that Indore is one giant suburbia, it’s the place where families move to raise their kids because of the good schools *cough cough Daly College* and it is considered to be one of the more safer cities in India. So if this is the identity of Indore why am I on a year long exchange is such a humdrum city in comparison to Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, or Pune?
My hometown, San Antonio, has a population of 1.5 million people. My current city of residence, Indore, has 3 million people. These two cities have been the core of my exchange. I have compared the two, found similarities and differences, and missed one over the other. San Antonio, despite being half the population of Indore, has several social opportunities - even though I didn’t think so when I lived there - such as various amusement parks, movie theaters, malls, unique cuisine, academic institutions, museums, and heritage. Indore has one kick ass food street called Serafa, although I have yet to go, one “good” mall, and 2 historical sights. It’s been difficult to adjust to the discrepancies between the two cities in addition to the dissemblance of the US and India. My elder host sister, Ranjana, explained Indore to me really well. She hit the nail on the head when she said that Indore is one giant suburbia, it’s the place where families move to raise their kids because of the good schools *cough cough Daly College* and it is considered to be one of the more safer cities in India. So if this is the identity of Indore why am I on a year long exchange is such a humdrum city in comparison to Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, or Pune?
Just because I had an excuse to post about the things I miss the most my pets, Mexican food, and Fiesta.
The answer to that question is Daly College. It was built in 1882, almost 150 years ago and it is the best co-ed boarding school in India. Because the aim of my NSLI-Y program is to learn Hindi it would make sense for an exchange program to place their students in a school with such a high reputation. But that thought isn’t without flaw. Daly College may be the best school in India but that doesn’t mean it’s the best for exchange students. DC is successful because it produces the highest test scores and has the most prosperous students post graduation, but you need to take into account the cultural differences at work in this fact. The student population within DC is not a diverse one, in terms of geographical diversity yes but in respect to their economic class no. When students graduate they already have significant family connections and resources to get them places. Daly College isn’t a school renowned for it’s ability to help students from all socio-economic backgrounds to achieve at the same level post graduation in the professional realm. Their grading system is based solely on their students’ ability to memorize their textbooks, replicate them on exams, and the relationship of the teacher and the student. Our Hindi teacher is unquestionably passionate about his time with us but doesn’t understand our needs as American English to Hindi language learners. In next week’s blog post I’ll expand on the Indian education system and teacher student relationships, but hopefully now you have a basic understanding of what I mean when I say Daly College isn’t the best place for us.
Since we are not the only 4 exchange students in India I have met many other exchange students from other countries that are my age on exchange through different programs. My Americans and I are hybrid students because we are split between the NSLI-Y India program and AFS India. AFS has a heavy presence in India, as it is the forum through which most students travel while NSLI-Y is a program run solely from the US government. Because we have this mixed identity we are sometimes caught in the middle between the two organizations or marginalized from one. NSLI-Y is a more distant program to us because we deal directly with AFS alumni and volunteers. It’s sometimes nettling to deal with AFS India because I feel as if they don’t fully understand the NSLI-Y program. Because it is foreign to them and not directly related to AFS they tend to stick to the exact rules and regulations of NSLI-Y and exclude us from AFS activities. Although when it serves their interest we are included in the AFS circle. An example of our inclusion would be when we were asked by the AFS India national office to provide a report on how we celebrated international education week. 1. We had no idea we were supposed to celebrate this week in some manner let alone be aware that it was happening. 2. When we asked for clarification on what they were hoping to see from us we got a vague answer only requesting pictures of whatever we chose to do. In this circumstance we were only included in this because the AFS India national office wanted include us in a report about what all their hosted students were doing. An example of our exclusion would be the vast AFS alumni and volunteer network. I was fortunate to attend the annual AFS India volunteer meet in West India so I was able to meet the AFS India Indore chapter and various other chapters from all around India. I had never met any of the people in the AFS Indore chapter and we all live in the same city! My other Americans still haven’t met the group of people that could be a source of potential support to us during our time here. Seeing all the people we could have had access to the past four months was very frustrating but it continues to rattle me because there is still no real effort to link us to this group of people.
The reason I haven’t been writing about what specifically happens in my week every week is because my blog would turn into a very dreary, repetitive cycle of writing. The only thing I did this week worthy of mentioning was go on an AFS “service trip” to an old age home (nursing home). The reason I have this in quotations is because Indians have a very interesting idea about serving others and volunteerism. Before this visit to the nursing home we were just told a time to meet at school. We didn’t have to bring anything or even change out of our unattractive, unflattering formal uniforms. There were 10 Daly College students from Round Square (another exchange program/forum), including my younger sister Muskan, and then me and my three Americans. We loaded up on our school bus at 3PM, stopped at Sanchi Point for a quick after school snack, and arrived ready for unorganized instruction. Let it be known that none of us had any idea why we were going to this old age home and what service we would be providing to them so when we arrived and no clear instructions were given we milled around for a while until it became clear that the pan of food that mysteriously materialized out of the back of the bus was to be served by us to the “inmates” or elders of the home. Muskan and I jumped right in the serving line and once that became too crowded with too many cooks in the kitchen took to encouraging the shyer girls from our group to get off their damn high horse and talk to the gentlemen we were serving. If I, a girl unable to speak Hindi, could make perfectly enjoyable conversation with the nursing home members they sure as hell could too. Once we finished serving everyone, clearing their plates, and taking several painful, posed photos with the poor residents we were on our bus and back at Daly College an hour later.
This trip was my second experience with Indian community service and to put it in few words it was as contradictory as Indian culture itself. One of my Americans, Liam, has a pretty awesome blog (click on the link and you can read from his perspective!!! DO IT! DO IT!) and he recapped our first service trip with Bridge the Gap Club from Daly College quite eloquently. I won’t write about my personal experience because I share all the same views as Liam and I don’t think I would be able to keep my temper and not use crude profanity. In short both of these experiences have made me sick to my stomach, frustrated, and discouraged. Those who know me personally will know that it is my aim to dedicate my career to the service of others and hopefully work in the humanitarian sector. Both of these “service projects” were very personal for me and not in a good way. My poor mother has had to listen to several phone calls, at inappropriate hours of the night due to my disregard for the time change, while I writhe in bitterness and try to rid myself of the feeling of hopelessness. Again, Liam does a great job of explaining our overall involvement and background in community service while at the Daly College!
I don’t mean for this to be a depressing blog post and I know it is very unbecoming to hear someone talk so negatively about an experience that has so much potential. This is just my reality and I’m okay with it. As Thanksgiving passes this week I know I do have things to be thankful for such as my host family and wonderful Americans both of which I wouldn’t have survived without. I’m still trying to finagle trips around India when I can, possibly becoming a thorn in the side of my superiors, and create excursions to look forward to. My host family continues to be supportive and doting, including me in all of their family activities and I even get to go out on a school night this week for a birthday dinner for one of my Indian friends!
Happy Thanksgiving!
The reason I haven’t been writing about what specifically happens in my week every week is because my blog would turn into a very dreary, repetitive cycle of writing. The only thing I did this week worthy of mentioning was go on an AFS “service trip” to an old age home (nursing home). The reason I have this in quotations is because Indians have a very interesting idea about serving others and volunteerism. Before this visit to the nursing home we were just told a time to meet at school. We didn’t have to bring anything or even change out of our unattractive, unflattering formal uniforms. There were 10 Daly College students from Round Square (another exchange program/forum), including my younger sister Muskan, and then me and my three Americans. We loaded up on our school bus at 3PM, stopped at Sanchi Point for a quick after school snack, and arrived ready for unorganized instruction. Let it be known that none of us had any idea why we were going to this old age home and what service we would be providing to them so when we arrived and no clear instructions were given we milled around for a while until it became clear that the pan of food that mysteriously materialized out of the back of the bus was to be served by us to the “inmates” or elders of the home. Muskan and I jumped right in the serving line and once that became too crowded with too many cooks in the kitchen took to encouraging the shyer girls from our group to get off their damn high horse and talk to the gentlemen we were serving. If I, a girl unable to speak Hindi, could make perfectly enjoyable conversation with the nursing home members they sure as hell could too. Once we finished serving everyone, clearing their plates, and taking several painful, posed photos with the poor residents we were on our bus and back at Daly College an hour later.
This trip was my second experience with Indian community service and to put it in few words it was as contradictory as Indian culture itself. One of my Americans, Liam, has a pretty awesome blog (click on the link and you can read from his perspective!!! DO IT! DO IT!) and he recapped our first service trip with Bridge the Gap Club from Daly College quite eloquently. I won’t write about my personal experience because I share all the same views as Liam and I don’t think I would be able to keep my temper and not use crude profanity. In short both of these experiences have made me sick to my stomach, frustrated, and discouraged. Those who know me personally will know that it is my aim to dedicate my career to the service of others and hopefully work in the humanitarian sector. Both of these “service projects” were very personal for me and not in a good way. My poor mother has had to listen to several phone calls, at inappropriate hours of the night due to my disregard for the time change, while I writhe in bitterness and try to rid myself of the feeling of hopelessness. Again, Liam does a great job of explaining our overall involvement and background in community service while at the Daly College!
I don’t mean for this to be a depressing blog post and I know it is very unbecoming to hear someone talk so negatively about an experience that has so much potential. This is just my reality and I’m okay with it. As Thanksgiving passes this week I know I do have things to be thankful for such as my host family and wonderful Americans both of which I wouldn’t have survived without. I’m still trying to finagle trips around India when I can, possibly becoming a thorn in the side of my superiors, and create excursions to look forward to. My host family continues to be supportive and doting, including me in all of their family activities and I even get to go out on a school night this week for a birthday dinner for one of my Indian friends!
Happy Thanksgiving!