A glance at the picture above gives you an idea of the sites and cultural excursions I will get to take part in over this summer. I will be visiting the Golden Triangle (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur), and then flying to Hyderabad for studies. The Taj Mahal is located in Agra.
So pre-departure feelings are a mix of sitting in the front seat of a rollercoaster that is about to go down the steepest incline you have ever gone and taking a sip of the sweetest coldest lemonade on a hot summer day. I guess you could say I am excited, anxious, nervous, and happy about visiting half of my heritage.
I recently went to Hungary, Romania and England this past winter vacation where I got to see relatives and one side of my complex ethnicity. After being able to reconnect or connect for the first time rather, with people who understood my upbringing and could appreciate the hungarian delicacies I so often make at home with my grandmother, I was inspired to explore the other half; Indian.
Currently I stand amidst a giant Himalaya mountain of clothes trying to sort out what exactly to wear. The climate is hotter and the dress must be a little more conservative than America's daily fashion styles, from advice I have heard. I have had to take a million shots for the world's deadliest diseases of malaria, typhoid, japanese encephalitis, polio. I have been looking through travel guides at books a million discerning the right amount of sunsreen and mosquito repellant to take.
I am excited about my group of fellow ISA (International Studies Abroad program) students who I am partaking this journey with. They are American, but we will not only be interacting with each other, we will also be taking classes with international students and indian students who are enrolled in this Studies in India program at the University of Hyderabad.
We have a guy from VA Tech who has just about as much school spirit as I do (CANE for life), a dancer from Luther College and Iowa, and a Beta Chi Theta brother from University of Minnesota. I mention the fraternity because it is a south asian oriented fraternity and I recently had the opportunity of founding a South Asian interest sorority, Delta Phi Omega, on my campus with four other lovely young ladies. So I have already started talking and reaching out to my future BFF's for life and studyabroad buddies. I am sure we are going to all have a BLAST. Each of us, from what I have observed, have wanted to go to India for some time and this truly is a dream come true.
Well off to my packing and preparations. The door bell just rang with the UPS man who is bringing me the newest version of the Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary and I want to get started on practicing. My father is going to be victim this summer as I practice my speech and writing skills with him. He grew up in India speaking English, Telegu, and Hindi so he will be my study partner in Beginning Hindi.
Priyanka
No comments:
Post a Comment