Wow, what a whirlwind introduction to life in India! I can’t believe it’s only been less than 3 days since I got here…there’s just been so much going on. I’ll save some material to make sure I have things to talk about in the future, so for now just a few quick bits about my first few days in India and at CIIE.
First of all, the flight — so long…major props to all my Indian friends who make the pilgrimage back to the motherland every few years. This is me at the beginning of the flight, bright eyed and excited:
And now by the end of the 30-something hour trip:
I still haven’t gotten over the jetlag, but that hasn’t kept me from exploring my new surroundings. Everything from near death experiences I have every time I take an auto-rickshaw (more about this in a future post), to dealing with the ever-looming threats of monsoon season, to learning about the social culture of India (particularly the state of Gujarat, where Ahmedabad is located) has been an eye-opening experience for me.
The very first thing that hits you is just how lucky we are in the US for the all of the little things we take for granted. Even at a priveliged place like IIM-A, I have a limited supply of drinking water, issues balancing the level of A/C used, and pretty unreliable wifi. This will definitely take some adjusting to, but it’s really incredible to see with my eyes what a developing country looks like. Now that I’m a bit over the anxiety of living here, I think I’m learning to focus less on what I don’t have compared to life in the US, but rather what things India has and where it’s going.
First things first, I have to give a shout out to the food and the general eating culture here. Unlike the US, the dining experience is at a more relaxed pace and is more of a group experience. I was coming back home yesterday from some cafes around midnight last night and saw a group of a dozen or so middle-aged women just hanging out in front of the restaurant where they appear to have been until closing. Tell me, how often do you see our parents stay out until midnight on a Sunday night with their friends? So far my eating experience has been mostly at the mess hall on campus (which I am extremely grateful for) and going out to cafes. It’s not unusual to go cafe hopping, especially since food is cheap in general. I get breakfast and lunch for the equivalent of $1 and a night of cafe hopping will probably get me into the $8 range. Pictures in the following post!