"Oh you're an exchange student"
"Yes I'm from the US"
"How long are you here?”
"One year"
"And you're in the hostels at DC?”
"No I'm with a host family"
"Oh who's your host?!”
"Muskan Arora"
"Hmm Arora...they're Punjabi!”
This is a conversation I've had countless times while at Daly College. My host father’s family is from The Punjab but he and my host mom were both born in Indore. People in India are extremely proud of their lineage and strangers are usually able determine where someone's family if from just from their last name, like in the example I have given above. Finally, after exactly 3 months in India, I am going to the place I've heard so much about from my host father, North India, to the Punjab.
My host family-minus Muskan because she's too fabulous for us and is going to a MUN conference in Singapore-is departing on a pilgrimage to Vaisho Devi. We are making stops along the way in Amritsar, Chandigarh, and various other places in Jammu & Kashmir.
It's been a long time coming for this trip and it was not easily won. My family and I have been trying to plan this for a month attempting to convince AFS India and my school to allow me to go. The AFS rules state that AFS students are allowed to travel within the country with their host family without requesting permission from AFS India as long as they just inform AFS of their travel. The only time I would need to request an approval of my travel would be if I traveled without my host family, (not alone, that’s off limits) like with a friend at school or someone else I had met in my program. This is perfect because I have traveled around a little bit and seen some nice scenery surrounding Indore with my host family. The tricky part about our trip was that we were going to an area in India that was restricted for AFS students because it was considered too dangerous due to past terrorist activity.
Being my mothers daughter I did not allow the rules to stop me dead in my tracks. I contacted AFS requesting permission to travel into the restricted zones of India. My point of contention: I would be with my host family, the most safe I could ever be while traveling. After several retracted approvals to go ahead from my school coordinator in Daly College and AFS India and I was given a quick window of approval from both parties and my family and I booked the tickets.
Now you might wonder why I wanted to travel into an area that may be potentially dangerous for foreigners. I have several reasonable answers. 1. Because my dad works in the airport he has several contacts that are useful while traveling that my family utilizes to make their trips smoother and less out of the public eye. A prime example would be when we went to Shirdi and cut the 8+ hour line to enter into the Sai Baba temple. 2. I would never have the opportunity to travel to these places again. Say what you may but traveling as a single, white American girl in North India is not smart. It's not safe. I would probably be ripped off in more ways than one just for my nationality or lack of homogeneity with the local population. 3. Anthony Bourdain, my hero and chief/author/star of No Reservations and Parts Unknown, made an episode of his time in India and he only traveled in the Punjab doing things I now have the opportunity to also do. The activities I watched someone else do on my couch back home in the US I am getting ready to experience: to see the theatrical changing of the guards at the Pakistan/India border, the Golden Temple, take a helicopter ride to the top of a mountain. All things to cross off ones bucket list
"Yes I'm from the US"
"How long are you here?”
"One year"
"And you're in the hostels at DC?”
"No I'm with a host family"
"Oh who's your host?!”
"Muskan Arora"
"Hmm Arora...they're Punjabi!”
This is a conversation I've had countless times while at Daly College. My host father’s family is from The Punjab but he and my host mom were both born in Indore. People in India are extremely proud of their lineage and strangers are usually able determine where someone's family if from just from their last name, like in the example I have given above. Finally, after exactly 3 months in India, I am going to the place I've heard so much about from my host father, North India, to the Punjab.
My host family-minus Muskan because she's too fabulous for us and is going to a MUN conference in Singapore-is departing on a pilgrimage to Vaisho Devi. We are making stops along the way in Amritsar, Chandigarh, and various other places in Jammu & Kashmir.
It's been a long time coming for this trip and it was not easily won. My family and I have been trying to plan this for a month attempting to convince AFS India and my school to allow me to go. The AFS rules state that AFS students are allowed to travel within the country with their host family without requesting permission from AFS India as long as they just inform AFS of their travel. The only time I would need to request an approval of my travel would be if I traveled without my host family, (not alone, that’s off limits) like with a friend at school or someone else I had met in my program. This is perfect because I have traveled around a little bit and seen some nice scenery surrounding Indore with my host family. The tricky part about our trip was that we were going to an area in India that was restricted for AFS students because it was considered too dangerous due to past terrorist activity.
Being my mothers daughter I did not allow the rules to stop me dead in my tracks. I contacted AFS requesting permission to travel into the restricted zones of India. My point of contention: I would be with my host family, the most safe I could ever be while traveling. After several retracted approvals to go ahead from my school coordinator in Daly College and AFS India and I was given a quick window of approval from both parties and my family and I booked the tickets.
Now you might wonder why I wanted to travel into an area that may be potentially dangerous for foreigners. I have several reasonable answers. 1. Because my dad works in the airport he has several contacts that are useful while traveling that my family utilizes to make their trips smoother and less out of the public eye. A prime example would be when we went to Shirdi and cut the 8+ hour line to enter into the Sai Baba temple. 2. I would never have the opportunity to travel to these places again. Say what you may but traveling as a single, white American girl in North India is not smart. It's not safe. I would probably be ripped off in more ways than one just for my nationality or lack of homogeneity with the local population. 3. Anthony Bourdain, my hero and chief/author/star of No Reservations and Parts Unknown, made an episode of his time in India and he only traveled in the Punjab doing things I now have the opportunity to also do. The activities I watched someone else do on my couch back home in the US I am getting ready to experience: to see the theatrical changing of the guards at the Pakistan/India border, the Golden Temple, take a helicopter ride to the top of a mountain. All things to cross off ones bucket list