Ithaca to India

Hello again! A little update: I've recently had the opportunity to be formally introduced to many members of the Vapi Riverside Rotary Club, during the Interact Club installation ceremony for the upcoming year. Interact clubs are a subset of Rotary International, and are designed to promote leadership and service to middle and high school aged youth. They are found around the world, just like Rotary clubs, and they are a popular high school extracurricular option for kids here, especially if they have parents who participate in Rotary. The two Interact Clubs sponsored by Rotary Vapi Riverside Each year, there is an installation ceremony for new officers and members of these clubs. This year, the installation was also where I met many members of Rotary for the first time, and had the flag exchange ceremony. This is one of the Rotary's many symbolic gestures, where I, as an exchange student, present my sponsor club banner (Ithaca Noon) to the President of my host cl...

This time last week, I was enjoying my first Indian Gujarati meal, after sleeping in until 4 pm following two days of travel and recovery rest. Now, even though it feels like so much time has passed, I have only been on exchange for about 7 days. Here's what I've been up to this week: 1. Eating food! I have adjusted to the meals here pretty quickly, because they are just so good. Most people here are vegetarian for religious reasons, and my first host family is Jain. This means that not only do they not eat meat, but also eggs, gelatin, and root vegetables. Jainism is a separate religion from Hinduism, and is "concerned with the welfare of every being in the universe, and with the health of the universe itself" (according to Jainism at a Glance ). In the USA, following this diet would be difficult, but here, Jain people have been practicing for thousands of years. A typical meal consists of dal,  a soup-like dish with a lot of protein; a cooked vegetable (usually ...