NSLY-I is a non profit organization sponsored by the government that aims to send American high-school students all around the world to learn languages that aren’t commonly spoken by American youth. When applying, you preference a language which is based in a specific country. For example if you wished to learn Turkish you would be placed in Turkey, for Arabic the possible countries included Morocco, Jordan, and Oman, and for Hindi you would get to live in India. My motivation in selecting India and the Hindi language through the NSLI-Y program was based on my interest in humanitarian aid and global studies. I hope to pursue a career that will allow me to work for NGOs and help others. My thinking was that with India being such a diverse country I would be able to see people living in all walks of life, especially those in extreme poverty. India has been such a hub for non profit work, so it was the natural choice for me.
After 2 days of orientation sessions by AFS at Long Island University, 16 hours on a plane, 1 full day of orientation and instruction by AFS India in Delhi, and 15 hours on a train I’m in Indore, India where I will live for the next ten months studying Hindi at the Daly College. I will be staying with a host family first semester, then second semester I will move into a dorm on Daly College campus. Daly College is the best co-ed boarding high school in India, so I know by the end of my time there I will have accomplished all of my language learning goals. At DC my fellow American exchange students and I have three Hindi teachers. Our supervising teacher is Dr. Rajopadhyay. This man is one of the best educators I have ever met. He is outgoing, kind, and just really goofy. He walks into our classroom in the morning greeting us with, “GOOOD MORNING AMERICAAAA!!!!”. I mean what’s not to love? He has also taken a special liking to me because I am from Texas and his son is currently living in Houston,TX. This geographic similarity has prompted Dr. Rajopadhyay to introduce me to every faculty member at Daly College and explain to them that his son lives in the same state where I am from. It’s all every exciting.
One of the many great things about Daly College is that they require all exchange students to participate in one of the many sports they offer, such as field hockey, swimming, bat-mitten, tennis, squash, rifle shooting, basketball, or soccer. Despite my previous dislike of the comparison of swimming and diving, I found my sporty and active self being drawn to take swimming as my sport. I thought swimming would be a laid back and relaxed sport that I would do well in because of me 4-5 years in diving, but I was so, so very wrong. Swimming requires endurance, of which I have none of, and in the case of Daly College it requires a sense of direction because their olympic sized swimming pool has no landlines. This unfortunate fact resulted in me swimming into walls during my backstroke and plowing into innocent 9 year olds.
Although I attended three total orientations preparing me for Indian life, culture, and customs, I feel as if no amount of presentations or videos could have given me even a slight image of India. India is a country is contradictions and confusion for foreigners. For example, wearing tank tops and shorts above the knee is disrespectful, but wearing saris that show the entirety of a woman’s midsection is perfectly acceptable. The amount of revealing advertisements that line streets and cover the walls of buildings is ridiculous, but again women and men staying covered in public is very important. It’s very easy to feel like you don’t fit in. My host family’s pet parrots call me kutti (for those of you who don’t speak Hindi that’s bitch). You get constant stares in public from everyone who probably think you are an albino Indian-which do exist by the way. There are also little things that exist within Indian culture that make you laugh to yourself throughout the day, such as walking into a formal school assembly to a complete acoustic rendition of Selene Dione’s I Will Always Love You and seeing signs that read “no eatables in classroom”. I know acclimating to my new life will take some time, but some things that have repeatedly caught me off guard are some of the most visible and significant parts of Indian culture and way of life. I’m still getting used to the whole left side of the road thing for driving and walking. Believe it or not walking on the left side is actually harder to adjust to than driving on the left. Indians also do not say please or thank you in Hindi. The words exist, but if you use them in conversation you will more than likely be giggled at by the native Hindi speaker. When Indians do something that would typically prompt a “thank you” in western culture it should be accepted without a “thank you” because they are doing it with the sole intent of generosity and selflessness which a “thank you”, seen as a form of payment, would negate. Sorry Mom and Dad I’m not having American manners, but I am having Indian manners.
Chantaa hai. I have come to endlessly repeat this to myself. It means, “just go with it” in Hindi. The best contextual example I can give was my registration with the Indian police. In my first week at school my schedule has been a bit disrupted with meetings with the dean of internationalism and other informational meetings with the school, so I have not had a chance to really settle into my actual schedule. On Wednesday, when the four other American exchange students and I were scheduled to go to our Indian classes we were brought to an unknown school official’s office -chantaa hai- then lead into a school car. Chantal hai again. Driving through the gates of DC, out into the streets of Indore, then into the police station usually would have freaked me out a little bit, but with my newfound attitude of chantaa hai I was relaxed and ready to do whatever would be requested of us when we got out of the car. After parking we were lead up a side stair case, told to wait for 20 minutes, showed our faces to an Indian official, then lead back to the car. Back to DC, chantaa hai. After this whole ordeal we later learned that all of the American exchange students needed to register with the local police. So that was our little chantal hai adventure, a trip to the police station nothing more.
I think the main reason I have been able to feel so comfortable with acclimating to life here has to be my two sisters, Muskan and Ranjana. At first we were all giddy and excited every time we talked to each other which was exhausting at times, but after a few days we have all relaxed and come to unite over common teen problems and complaints. Muskan laughs when I say, “I’m a drunk, sloppy slut” instead of I’m tired” in Hindi, but without her I could still be offending hoards of Hindi speakers everywhere. After school and hours of studying Muskan and I turn to each other for comedic relief and entertainment which never fails to put both of us in a better mood. Ranjana is 20 and Muskan is (almost) 16 so I am the middle child! Ranjana picks me up from school everyday and gives me advice on teachers, fashion, and which sport would be the best option for me to participate in. Sisters are a gift and I am now lucky to have two Indian sisters in addition to all my American sisters, biological and otherwise. Olivia don’t worry though you’re still my number one babe.
This Saturday I celebrated Eid-al-Fitr for the first time. Eid is a holiday celebrated by Muslims breaking their Ramadan fast. We went to two teachers’ homes on the DC campus and ate lunch with their families. We ate so much and everything was delicious, new, and of course spicy. Sweet Eid has been good to me and I was fortunate enough to be welcomed into these families’ homes with such acceptance. It was refreshing to see how Hindus and Muslims came together to celebrate this religious holiday and support each other in their faith.
After 2 days of orientation sessions by AFS at Long Island University, 16 hours on a plane, 1 full day of orientation and instruction by AFS India in Delhi, and 15 hours on a train I’m in Indore, India where I will live for the next ten months studying Hindi at the Daly College. I will be staying with a host family first semester, then second semester I will move into a dorm on Daly College campus. Daly College is the best co-ed boarding high school in India, so I know by the end of my time there I will have accomplished all of my language learning goals. At DC my fellow American exchange students and I have three Hindi teachers. Our supervising teacher is Dr. Rajopadhyay. This man is one of the best educators I have ever met. He is outgoing, kind, and just really goofy. He walks into our classroom in the morning greeting us with, “GOOOD MORNING AMERICAAAA!!!!”. I mean what’s not to love? He has also taken a special liking to me because I am from Texas and his son is currently living in Houston,TX. This geographic similarity has prompted Dr. Rajopadhyay to introduce me to every faculty member at Daly College and explain to them that his son lives in the same state where I am from. It’s all every exciting.
One of the many great things about Daly College is that they require all exchange students to participate in one of the many sports they offer, such as field hockey, swimming, bat-mitten, tennis, squash, rifle shooting, basketball, or soccer. Despite my previous dislike of the comparison of swimming and diving, I found my sporty and active self being drawn to take swimming as my sport. I thought swimming would be a laid back and relaxed sport that I would do well in because of me 4-5 years in diving, but I was so, so very wrong. Swimming requires endurance, of which I have none of, and in the case of Daly College it requires a sense of direction because their olympic sized swimming pool has no landlines. This unfortunate fact resulted in me swimming into walls during my backstroke and plowing into innocent 9 year olds.
Although I attended three total orientations preparing me for Indian life, culture, and customs, I feel as if no amount of presentations or videos could have given me even a slight image of India. India is a country is contradictions and confusion for foreigners. For example, wearing tank tops and shorts above the knee is disrespectful, but wearing saris that show the entirety of a woman’s midsection is perfectly acceptable. The amount of revealing advertisements that line streets and cover the walls of buildings is ridiculous, but again women and men staying covered in public is very important. It’s very easy to feel like you don’t fit in. My host family’s pet parrots call me kutti (for those of you who don’t speak Hindi that’s bitch). You get constant stares in public from everyone who probably think you are an albino Indian-which do exist by the way. There are also little things that exist within Indian culture that make you laugh to yourself throughout the day, such as walking into a formal school assembly to a complete acoustic rendition of Selene Dione’s I Will Always Love You and seeing signs that read “no eatables in classroom”. I know acclimating to my new life will take some time, but some things that have repeatedly caught me off guard are some of the most visible and significant parts of Indian culture and way of life. I’m still getting used to the whole left side of the road thing for driving and walking. Believe it or not walking on the left side is actually harder to adjust to than driving on the left. Indians also do not say please or thank you in Hindi. The words exist, but if you use them in conversation you will more than likely be giggled at by the native Hindi speaker. When Indians do something that would typically prompt a “thank you” in western culture it should be accepted without a “thank you” because they are doing it with the sole intent of generosity and selflessness which a “thank you”, seen as a form of payment, would negate. Sorry Mom and Dad I’m not having American manners, but I am having Indian manners.
Chantaa hai. I have come to endlessly repeat this to myself. It means, “just go with it” in Hindi. The best contextual example I can give was my registration with the Indian police. In my first week at school my schedule has been a bit disrupted with meetings with the dean of internationalism and other informational meetings with the school, so I have not had a chance to really settle into my actual schedule. On Wednesday, when the four other American exchange students and I were scheduled to go to our Indian classes we were brought to an unknown school official’s office -chantaa hai- then lead into a school car. Chantal hai again. Driving through the gates of DC, out into the streets of Indore, then into the police station usually would have freaked me out a little bit, but with my newfound attitude of chantaa hai I was relaxed and ready to do whatever would be requested of us when we got out of the car. After parking we were lead up a side stair case, told to wait for 20 minutes, showed our faces to an Indian official, then lead back to the car. Back to DC, chantaa hai. After this whole ordeal we later learned that all of the American exchange students needed to register with the local police. So that was our little chantal hai adventure, a trip to the police station nothing more.
I think the main reason I have been able to feel so comfortable with acclimating to life here has to be my two sisters, Muskan and Ranjana. At first we were all giddy and excited every time we talked to each other which was exhausting at times, but after a few days we have all relaxed and come to unite over common teen problems and complaints. Muskan laughs when I say, “I’m a drunk, sloppy slut” instead of I’m tired” in Hindi, but without her I could still be offending hoards of Hindi speakers everywhere. After school and hours of studying Muskan and I turn to each other for comedic relief and entertainment which never fails to put both of us in a better mood. Ranjana is 20 and Muskan is (almost) 16 so I am the middle child! Ranjana picks me up from school everyday and gives me advice on teachers, fashion, and which sport would be the best option for me to participate in. Sisters are a gift and I am now lucky to have two Indian sisters in addition to all my American sisters, biological and otherwise. Olivia don’t worry though you’re still my number one babe.
This Saturday I celebrated Eid-al-Fitr for the first time. Eid is a holiday celebrated by Muslims breaking their Ramadan fast. We went to two teachers’ homes on the DC campus and ate lunch with their families. We ate so much and everything was delicious, new, and of course spicy. Sweet Eid has been good to me and I was fortunate enough to be welcomed into these families’ homes with such acceptance. It was refreshing to see how Hindus and Muslims came together to celebrate this religious holiday and support each other in their faith.