EXPEDITION....INDIA
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Yenakum India Pitakum
UPDATE!
May I just say that I am at the
tippy top of excitement for my journey. Everything I see, feel, here, and taste
just excites and amazes me. The differences between India and America are so
vast but the similarities are all there too. Not only am I learning so much
about this culture and country I'm learning a lot about myself. I have never
thought about it before but I'm learning just how strong and flexible I can be.
I am overcoming so many fears and learning at a rapid rate. Me and my host
family get along so well and I would never trade them for the world. They keep
telling me that I am there "Gift" but in reality i know they are
actually mine. One day when sitting with my host sister she asked me why i
loved India and my response was endless. I think the reason I'm enjoying it
here so much is that i don't just look at the big picture i appreciate all the
small details and constantly remind my self that 1. I belong here, 2. I can do
this! 3. This is a once and a life time opportunity and every minute counts.
Every little thing that confuses me, I push my self to ask questions.
Every positive thing I encounter I
embrace strongly with a smile. For the good or for the "different" I love
this place and wouldn't change it for the world.
Things i love:
1) The adrenaline rush i get when
i cross a road with cars and bikes and cows and goats coming from every
direction
2) The family bonding times in
the house when we all just laugh at my Tamil and enjoy each others company
3) The food that is making my stomach grow at a rapid rate....and the
fact that I don't care because its taste so good!
4) How much I can grow to love bucket showers!
5) The funny and usual feeling I get when little kids run and giggle at
me and call me “foreign girl”
6) That funny moment when I am looking out the car window and randomly
see a stray cow on the sidewalk
7) That awkward moment when I wake up and my host sister tells me all
the weird things I say in my sleep
8) The exciting feeling I get when I get to eat all the food with my
hands including cake!
9) The friendly people in class who tell me what to do when I am
extremely confused and don’t understand the teachers accent
10) That amazing moment when I stop and think “Oh my goodness I am
actually in India!
Beach.....
ancient temple found after a tsumnamie
Thursday, July 5, 2012
DAY ONE!
Me and Juwaala woke up early around
seven and she skipped school so she could hangout with me! I was feeling a little sick but that didn’t
stop me from having an amazing day! We had a fashion show and I tried on all of
her old half Sarries and Selvars and I loved them! And they even gave me
earings! They made me feel so beautiful and my Ama (mom in tamil) would call me
Cinderella and Barbie and she is so nice! Than we went over the AFS questions
but I happened to forget one, how to use the toilet? It is trickier than it may sound and juwaala
had to come show me how to flush it!
Than I met Gamma (grandma) who is so adorable! And sweet and I carried out the Indian
tradition of touching her feet to be blessed by her, which made her so happy!
Than Juwaala did her Indian dance, which was beautiful and amazing and I WISH I
could dance like her. They asked met o dance and I was awful and showed them a
really bad version of the hoe down throw down! They laughed and it was all
good!
I
went upstairs for a nap around two; which would be like three in the morning at
home and I actually got sick and almost puked and my host mom held my head and
made me feel much better! They treat me like a third daughter here and even say
I am now part of the family <3
When
I woke up from my nap I felt much better. We went downstairs to bring Gamma
back to her apartment. This was my first time actually on the Indian roads
which are INSANE!!!! Ill post about them
later it is a very long story! I stuck out like a sore thumb and people look at
me like I have six heads and its kind of funny. When we reached her apartment
Gamma gifted me with a flower for my hair, and two pairs of earings and some
oreos! (because they all know that they are my favorite)
Than
we went to the supermarket to pick out some food that I would like since we
were going on a road trip the next day. It was here that I relized I am a giant
in Asia and look really different compared to everyone. I felt everyones eyes
on me in the store. We picked up some soups and noodles and candies and chips
for the ride and set out for back home! Than we packed for our road trip that we had the next day and i even got to try on the school uniform which is so so cute.
I am learning so much already about, school and social life, laws, government and history and the differences are very vast but the similarities are very interesting too because even though we live thousands of miles apart we still share so much. Like movies and music and dressings and gossips and Its all SOOO fascinating!
Hello Home!
ARRIVAL IN INDIA!!!!
The sound of those plane wheels
hitting the ground was the must amazing sensation of my life and knowing that
this was where I would spend the next year of my life!
We made it through customs, through baggage
claim and were ready to walk through the doors to be greeted by AFS to bring us
to a hotel for orientation. BUT THERE WAS A SURPRISE!!! Our host family’s
stayed up late and picked us up from the airport to bring us home J IT was amazing!!! It
was dark and crowded but you could still see the happiness in all of our faces
as we hugged our knew second families and set off our separate ways to what we
would soon call home J
The
car ride was not awkward at all like most people said it was going to be! It
was amazing and happy and we were all smiling. My host parents couldn’t really
understand me but Priyanka and Juwaala were there to translate my fast and
excited English. When we arrived at the house I was greeted by a big cake with
my name on it! And they crowded around as I cut the cake and priyanka fed it to
me with her hands (which I was so surprised by the lack of forks) they thought
my reaction was funny too and brought me a plate and fork. We stayed up till
two in the morning talking. And I gave them all there presents, which was supper
cute! My host mother did ask about the
black hair ties that I was wearing on my wrist
which I though was completely normal. But in India it looked like some
sort of religious rope that showed devotion to a god so I took them off and we
all laughed! We went to sleep around two and I felt so welcomed, safe, and
happy and knew that this was a home I most certainly could get used too.
NATIONAL PDO
NATIONAL PDO
I packed up my bags, had my last home cooked meal and said a
final goodbye to all my relatives. Though the Goodbye was the hardest thing I
have ever had to do in my life I knew I just had to think it was only a “see
you later”. I set off on that plane ready to embark on my year long adventure!
Me and
Hannah were part of the first batch to arrive and Hannah had to here me cry the
whole flight! When we landed we were greeted by a YES-Abroad alum from
Indonesia. We grabbed all of our bags and took the hotel taxi to the hotel to
meet all of the staff and volunteers. We got our name tags which looked super
official. Than, we went out to lunch, which I could not eat at all because I
was too nervous and excited.
When all
the other “YESers” arrived we started to talk about everything that we were
feeling.. All of the countries were there but, India Malaysia and Thailand were
the only ones leaving right away. The India Group was the smallest and
consisted of Me, Mila from Montana, Maggie from Seattle, and Rowan from Ohio.
We clicked immediately and especially because we had the best group leader EVER! He was A Yes-Abroad Alum from Mumbai
and his name was Austin ( later to be referred to as “DAWWWW-STIN) The PDO was
jam-packed with workshops from 7 to ten. The most memorable part would probably
be the trip to the State Department and embassy’s!
To go to
the embassies we split up by country and took the bus with the Departing
inbound students from our country staying in the U.S. The bus was Packed with about
50 YES kids from india and than just the four of us who were from the U.S going
to India! They were the most friendly and amazing people ever! They Gave us
some great tips such as: “Never cross a street, You will be hit!!!” and offered
to teach us cricket! Our bus wound up getting lost so we missed the embassy but
we didn’t mind much because we had a
really fun ride. Next was the State
Department, Which I was extremely Nervous for! It was super High security and
we all had to go through metal detectors and be escorted by groups of ten into
this huge fancy and official meeting room that looked like the U.N! The Under
Secretary even came in to talk to us and answer questions! I was terrified but
managed to raise my hand ask how she and the state department made attempts to
involve students from all different socio-economic class in both the Inbound
and Outbound program. Than there was a panel discussion with representatives
from all the different continents there to answer are questions. And this is where
it gets CRAZY!!!
Let me just
give some background information. During the interview a few months back there
was supposed to be a talent show. For this talent show I thought it would be a
great idea to write a rap about what thing program is all about to the beat of
“where is the love”, by Black Eyed Peas. I performed this rap unofficially in
the Lobby just kidding around but I guess what of the state representatives
over heard it and loved it. Soooo, back to the State department experience.
I was sitting there trying to pay
attention to the speakers when all of a sudden I here from the representative
“I here there is a Yes-Abroad Rap going around”. MY face went Red as can be and
I froze and I think I almost cried I was so in shock. Imidiately everyone knew
they were talking about me and turned to see me. I was shaking terribly!!!!
They begged me to get up infront of everyone and rap. Ummmm yeah I refused to
rap for the u.s government and be known as a rapper! But they made me Promise to record it and sent
it to them :p SCARIEST THING OF MY LIFE!!!! Oh and to add on to it im also
known as the Girl who sleep talks about Allen Evans (person who Runs
Yes-abroad) and screams and cries because I thought the late night room check
knock was actually a serial killer out to get me!
The Gateway
orientation was really fun too! It was a lot less of and at a really nice new
hotel. This was just For Malaysia Thailand and India Right before we left! It was a lot more relaxed and also had
AMAZING food! Here we learned more
country specific information. It was so much fun! And we got a lot of good
bonding time with our India group. And even came up with a new saying: YOLAFT!
Its short for You only live a few times because in India Hindus believe in
reincarnation so YOLO just would not do! Also me and mila decided that we are
WINNERS and so even we lose we still win. So everything we do we only will
accept victory all year. For example: I finished my potato soup and
Dinner…WINNNER!!!, Mila answered a question during a workshop…VICTORY! Me and mila have a lot of common but I call
her sasquash because she is “sassy”. One night allen evans came over to are
table and just so you know if you don’t know allen evans he is super
intimidating and I kind of have this slight fear of him but yet we all love
him. So he came over and Said that the department of state assigned him to MAKE
SURE that the rap was sent to him. So we had to make a music video on my rap
which was extremely ambessing and I looked realy awkward and weird in! And than
he played it on the big screen for everyone and than sent it to the stae
department :p.
Okay im going to fast forward now
because I want to talk about INDIA. So the rest of Gatway orientation summed
up.
1)
Maggie told allen evans I sleep talk about him
(awks)
2)
A huge lightening storm came and I freaked out
3)
A yes abroad alum told us scary stories and made
both me and mila cry L
4)
We bought allen evans a pink monkey that said
hugs from DC J
5)
We made a toast for a great
year to come
6)
The Yes-abroad kids from Indonesia and Malaysia
and Thailand returned and we got to talk to them for a little.
7)
I cried a lot and was super emotional and than
Allen had to pull me aside and talk to me about not getting home sick!
SO THATS is for Orientations J and what I learned is
already coming in handy now that im in INDIA!!! (sorry about my grammar)
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