One Week In

Namaste नमस्ते!

It’s been a fun, busy, jetlagged, and exciting week for me! While driving to NJ, I got to see some 4th of July fireworks, which was nice because I wouldn’t be in the States to celebrate. After having fun with my family for the last few days, it was time to go to Indore. The night before, my Aunt surprised me with a tiramisu cake (my favorite!) and cheers to Indore. Being the person who is always ready, I quickly packed everything the night before I left. We finally slept at 1 o’clock in the morning, but that’s ok because I didn’t have to get up too early to get to the Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO). So far, I haven’t forgotten anything I needed back home so I'll consider that an A+.

After (almost) completing the list of fun things my cousin Meghana (who is more like a sister to me) and I wanted to do before I left, my mom, aunt, grandma, and Meghana came to drop me off to Newark airport on June 29. From there, another NSLI-Yer and I would take a shuttle to LaGuardia Airport at 11:00. There we found our NSLI-Y group going to Indore, India, and Deyang, China sitting in a circle. I got to meet some people going to Indore from all over America. Some people had to wake up at 3 am to fly here. I was pretty lucky that I got some sleep. Once everyone flying to LaGuardia landed, we took a bus to LIU (Long Island University). On the way to LIU, the AC on the bus stopped working, and we stopped in the middle of the road as our driver tried to fix it for an hour until he gave up. We decided to open up some windows for air circulation and kept driving. Why we didn’t think of this earlier, I don’t know. We got to LIU at 3:30 pm after circling around the campus 3 times. Even though we were so exhausted, we started our orientation outside with some introductions and icebreakers. I got to know everyone better as the day went on and finally we went into the dorms. Fransia was an amazing roommate and she is also going to Shishukunj International School with me! The next two days were just orientations with icebreakers, cultural adjustment, rules, more rules, and some fun games. Before we left, we had a toast to this sparkling juice that smelled like wildflowers, soap, cookies, and a bunch of other items that kept us guessing.

The bus ride was pretty fun as Bliss gave us a tour of NYC as we drove through Manhattan! We got to the airport pretty early and waited there for 2 hours, and then waited another 2 hours because of thunderstorms. By the time we got on the flight, everyone was pretty tired. I slept with lots of turbulence and later watched a couple of movies. We finally landed in New Delhi at 9:50 pm!! India literally hit us right in the face as we walked out of the airport with the new sounds, sights, air, and much more. At this time of year, India is hot and humid, but when it rains it gets cool. We stayed in a really nice hotel as it was time for another orientation. However, this one was geared towards what we could experience in Indore. We were greeted with a garland of orange flowers and red paint between our eyes which is called a tilak. And the best part, every time we took a break, we had masala chai and a snack. Oh yeah, and dancing to some Bollywood music. After that, we left for the 14 hours, First Class train ride to Indore, which taking our luggage up and down the stairs of the railway station: quite the challenge. We ate Indian Dominos as we started the journey. Each compartment fits 8 people, and the seats can be transformed into 8 beds. For miles and miles, we rode through the beautiful Indian countryside. In the morning, these two boys who were going to a temple in Ujjain played us some more upbeat Bollywood music, as we played them some American music. There was dancing, singing, some inside jokes (with more to come), and so much fun as I guess we kind of celebrated the 4th of July on the train. They also introduced us to poha, a classic dish of Indore, and this fruit called jamun, that is sour, turns your tongue purple and makes your teeth feel weird. It was very confusing and I still don’t know if I like it or not.

Today was also the day we met our host families! Everyone was eager, excited, a little nervous, but mostly excited. It was also the day the "Shishsquad" parted ways with the NSLI-Yers going to Emerald Heights International School and Daly College. As soon as we stepped off the train, I got to meet my awesome host family! I live with my host sister (Divya), brother (Abhay), mom, dad, and grandparents. I also have a unique living situation compared to my exchange friends with a huge extended family, which is called a joint family. There is always something going on, and there is never a dull moment. This week, I started learning Hindi in Shishukunj. School in India also means I will have to wear a school uniform, something I have never done before. Divya and I got on the school bus, which is super loud, as we rode the 30-40 minute ride to school. Shishukunj is on the outskirts of the city as it is an International school. My schedule kinda goes like this: Everyday, the boys get off the bus first, and then the girls get off. This is because boys and girls go through separate doors just to get their uniforms checked. They also have to fingerprint and face-scan themselves for attendance, which gets sent by text to their parents as well. (We don’t do that though). Everyone goes to their respective classrooms and stay there throughout most of the day, as the teachers are the ones who switch classes, not the students. Every day has a different prayer to start off the day for the religions Hinduism, Christianity, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism. After that, the students repeat the “auto-suggested” messages such as I am the architect of my life and the creator of my destiny. We have five hours of Hindi taught by different teachers (even the vice principal), one cultural class whether it’s music, dance, drawing or clay modeling, and then we get to play sports after school. Whenever we have a short break or lunch, the younger kids will come and talk to us, so that’s fun. The school lunches are prepared fresh each day!

When I come home, I have some food (khana) and I finish up my homework. Then I spend time with my whole family. We have dinner together, which is usually chapati (tortilla), sabzi (a vegetable mix), dal, rice, and some kind of Indian sweet. I am not used to eating so much food, so this is different! So far, we went to this place called Lavanya (an exhibition) which is a place where there are different booths of clothing or accessories from different places. We also went to a restaurant called Celebrity where I tried vegetable sizzler. My host sister, cousin (Shweta di), and I went to a mall called Treasure Island. It was fun just walking around, talking, and looking at different shops. I got to try Indian McDonald’s which is surprisingly good. They have more food geared toward vegetarians, food from different parts of the world, and a separate McCafe. The mall had cute umbrellas hanging down from the ceiling, too. We also went to this rooftop restaurant called Vrindavan which was very pretty.

Later in the week, all of the NSLI-Y India participants got to take part in a press conference! We had a lot of pictures taken, a couple of interviews, and we even saw a real peacock at the Daly College. We were featured in The Times of India, City Bhaskar, and Times City Indore. It was fun being celebrities for a little bit. Also, we had 2 days of holidays for Eid, an Islamic holiday which marks the end of Ramadan. People here will still celebrate various religions even if they don’t follow it.

From everything I’ve seen, one thing really stands out. India is known for its unity in diversity. India is such a diverse place of many languages, religions, nature, and people, but everyone has pride in standing united throughout these differences.

My first week here has been great, and I can’t wait for more!

Phir Milenge! फिर मिलेंगे

~Roshni~