Reflections on the First Week

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 my favorite part!); roti, a form of flatbread; and rice, to eat with the dal poured on top. This meal is not exclusive to Jainism, as it is the standard structure throughout the Western part of India. So far, my favorite meals have been idali (a South Indian dish), dal-wada (a fried lentil treat), and okra (or "ladyfingers") as a cooked vegetable.

 (Buying vegetables)

 (My very first Indian meal)

2. Getting to know my host family! I will live with three different families during my time in India, and my first family consists of Sejal, my host mother, Parag, my host father, Vrushika, my host sister, and Vrushika's paternal grandparents (known as Dada and Dadi). We are currently preparing for Vrushika to go to the USA, as she will be leaving for her own exchange adventure very soon.

Parag is a chemical engineer and Sejal is a mechanical engineer. On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to tour the pharmaceutical factory that they are currently building. Vapi is known for its industry, and I believe this factory is one of three that Parag co-owns. However, my host father is only consulting on the construction of this facility, which will be manufacturing the intermediate for antacid for Faryl Pharmaceuticals. Rather than by Parag, the factory will be run by Sejal and Gaurav, Parag's first cousin. Gaurav's Mastery in Pharmacy and Sejal's degree in Mechanical Engineering will combine to be perfect skills for the operation. Needless to say, I have a very interesting host family, and I am looking forward to my time with them.

 (touring the factory construction)

3. School! I began my time at Vapi Public School (VPS) on Thursday, and it has definitely been an adventure so far. On Monday, my host father and I went to meet with the principal, who is also a Rotarian and has an intimate understanding of how RYE works. She expressed a desire for me to share as much as possible with the students at VPS about my home and culture, because the mission of the school is "to make our students Global Citizens and Future Leaders of One World Family".

 (visiting the school)

As an exchange student, and especially as one who has already graduated high school, I get to shape my "timetable" (or schedule) to consist of classes that I am actually interested in taking. I was placed in the 11th Standard Humanities class, but am constantly moving around the school to take Art, Pottery, and History with young kids, and I have personal lessons in Hindi and Needlework. The little ones in the school (VPS has elementary through high school students) are especially interested in me. Most of what I remember from my first day is a lot of shouting and waving and kids yelling "Didi! Didi! DIDI! Dididididididididi didi!!!" (Didi means "big sister" in Hindi). It was definitely overwhelming, but a little less so after the first day.

I will write a blog post soon centered around how school works, and what I have noticed so far. I guess to wrap up the experience of what the first three days of school have been like so far, I could give examples of some of the questions I've gotten, including: "What is your name, Didi?", "Are you French?", "What kind of pens do you have in America? Can I have one?", "Can I have your autograph?", and "Didi, can you say my name?".

   

(My school uniform, and boarding the school bus on the first day)

In conclusion, there's been a lot of new things I've experienced over the past week, and I know I've barely scratched the surface of what Vapi has to offer over the next eleven months. There are also more upcoming exciting things, including Friendship Day (my first holiday here), meeting my host Rotary Club, and my first orientation (where I will be meeting the other exchange students!). Stay tuned for more updates :)

Maddie