Half Way Point

March has certainly sneaked up on me. I can't believe that this is the half way mark of study abroad. I don't think my life has ever so flown by. December seems like forever ago and I felt like I haven't been able to reflect on all my experiences.
I thought I would share with you guys some frustrations today because I have painted a rosy picture so far of my experience. Something that bothers me is the concept of Indian time. Things start late, I went to a play recently and it started 3 hours late. I almost left the performance but my friend was in it and I wanted to support her. I have just instituted a policy of adding at least 1-2 hours for things starting or arriving at your destination. Another frustration is travelling time and the amount of time I sit in traffic or waiting to get on public transportation. If I had all the time that I lost, I could write a novella(just kidding). Something that has definitely challenged me is the beggars on the street. I am grabbed, poked and followed down the street. I want them to keep their grubby paws off of me. It is sad that I have lost my sympathy towards them but they are ruthless in their advances. I walk fast and say jao(it means go away in bangla). There are other normal frustrations of living in a different culture such as communicatiion. Sometimes you don't understand all the gestures or the language. When you are lost and need directions to get to the metro, gesturing doesn't always do the trick. My last major frustration is school. It is a lot more strict then I am used to. I don't like that there is a dress code or they take attendance. In a lot of ways, they treat their students like high school students and not mature adults. Also the way education is delivered is through dictation and dictation is not fun. I think its hard to learn if you are not actively engaged in the material and actually questioning what is being taught.

Besides my frustrations, I want to share with you guys some of the things that I still need to accomplish. There is still a lot that I would like to see in Kolkata. I want to go to the Botannical Gardens for sure and explore some of the parks. I also need to make it to the Indian Muesum and some temples. I am hoping to go to a tiger reserve in the Himalayas soon and that needs to be planned. I do hope to continue to challenge myself with this trip and be open to all experiences. I think a lot of travelling is taking a jump off a cliff and not looking back, there is no other way to make an individual grow.


Bekkah