Five months in India ends as winter break begins. Daly College has an interesting end of semester schedule where all students except for 10th and 12th grade students are out for a whole month before school picks up again on January 12th. Because our Hindi teacher is extremely passionate we are having Hindi lessons while basically the whole school is empty while the 10thies and 12thies (as they are called) are having enrichment classes. My host sister, Muskan, is in 11th so she hasn’t been coming to school - lucky I know - and I moved into the hostel/girls boarding house on DC campus. Lauren, my fellow American, also moved into boarding with me so our families wouldn’t need to unnecessarily drive us back and forth from school only for 2 hour Hindi lessons. We will stay in boarding until the 22nd when the boarding house closes, winter break commences, and I go on a tour of Rajasthan!! I'm very excited but I'll make a post about that next week!
Coming to stay in the boarding house is nothing too shocking for us because as a part of our program we spend the first 6 months with our host families and 4 following months in the boarding house. So either way we would be coming to boarding sooner or later and I guess this way we just came a little sooner. Going into boarding I was pretty neutral with the whole situation. I would have a large group of girls to hang out with all the time but I would also be missing out on my host mom’s awesome Indian food. Now that I’ve been here for a week I can say I’m a huge fan of Bharti House. Again, because it's enrichment time, there are only 10th and 12th graders in the boarding house. Maybe it’s because I have a younger sister the age of the 15 year old 10th graders or I just get along with those younger than me but I have developed a tendency to spend time with my group of 15 year old girls. There’s Bhaavya who’s very outspoken and sassy, Swarnim who is quieter but possesses wisdom beyond her years, Angeli who joins me in eating our weight in chocolate and is never caught not smiling, Lavaniya who was the first girl to befriend me and make me feel comfortable in the boarding house with her laid back attitude, Shivani who dances any time she can think of a new Bollywood song to sing, Sumrin who is Lavaniya’s partner in crime and everyone’s source of passive humor, and many many more sweet girls.
Coming to stay in the boarding house is nothing too shocking for us because as a part of our program we spend the first 6 months with our host families and 4 following months in the boarding house. So either way we would be coming to boarding sooner or later and I guess this way we just came a little sooner. Going into boarding I was pretty neutral with the whole situation. I would have a large group of girls to hang out with all the time but I would also be missing out on my host mom’s awesome Indian food. Now that I’ve been here for a week I can say I’m a huge fan of Bharti House. Again, because it's enrichment time, there are only 10th and 12th graders in the boarding house. Maybe it’s because I have a younger sister the age of the 15 year old 10th graders or I just get along with those younger than me but I have developed a tendency to spend time with my group of 15 year old girls. There’s Bhaavya who’s very outspoken and sassy, Swarnim who is quieter but possesses wisdom beyond her years, Angeli who joins me in eating our weight in chocolate and is never caught not smiling, Lavaniya who was the first girl to befriend me and make me feel comfortable in the boarding house with her laid back attitude, Shivani who dances any time she can think of a new Bollywood song to sing, Sumrin who is Lavaniya’s partner in crime and everyone’s source of passive humor, and many many more sweet girls.
The strict boarding house rules for girls has absolutely brought everyone closer in a way. There are no phones, food, or make up allowed in the dorms and yet all of those things seem to exist. I pride myself in possessing an innate talent at sneaking food into the house after the DC cafe closes, into my room, and opening my door for a mini food party. No one ever expects anything too bad from the exchange student so I’m the perfect person so break the rules. Unlike the boys’ houses, Bharati house has a common room with wifi which is very exciting. Sometimes if the connection is good I can even lay in my bed and surf Facebook or finish my most recent TED talk series! I almost feel just as lazy as if I was at home! If I'm being honest though the girls probably have wifi and the boys don't to make up for the lack of freedom we girls have compared to the boys. There is constantly Hindi tv on in the common room as well so I’m hoping to learn some Hindi by osmosis. All in all it’s a really laid back atmosphere and the girls are always really great at including us in whatever is going on (especially the waxing lady who comes once a month to wax all the girls hehe)!
This week Lauren and I were staying in the guest room which has its own bathroom and is very nice but when we return from break we will be integrated with all the other girls in their dorm rooms where 12 girls share a room and cupboards. It will obviously be a big change and something I will have to work towards adjusting to because I thoroughly value my time alone but I know it will not be a difficult acclimation because I have wonderful girls to be around!
This week Lauren and I were staying in the guest room which has its own bathroom and is very nice but when we return from break we will be integrated with all the other girls in their dorm rooms where 12 girls share a room and cupboards. It will obviously be a big change and something I will have to work towards adjusting to because I thoroughly value my time alone but I know it will not be a difficult acclimation because I have wonderful girls to be around!