A country of tropical palm trees, elephants, skyscraping Hindu temples, colorful fabric, and spices galore – to a country of mushroom picking, European old towns, infamous wodka, pubs, and cobblestone streets – a nation with exploration links to America, olives, Angolan and Cape Verdean descendants, superior wine, and melodious, nostalgic, evening music. It has taken me some time to soak in all the connections and similarities one can notice from around the world. Through just being in one location and having the necessary amount of concentration, one can imagine he were in a different world, in a country he already explored, or a country he can only dream of: maybe a city across the ocean, or a desert of another continent. In recent times, I have been jotting down notes while in an auto, train, or car, which remind me of the past, of other places in the world. I never thought that I would be able to vividly visit my home, half way across the earth while in India. I cannot count on two hands the amount of times something in this Southeast Asian nation has reminded me of my exchange year in Poland, or of the short study time spent in Portugal.
It is strange how one event or one person can come around in your life and trigger a memory, create an image, or an attachment, even if it may initially seem quite strange. I think about the international bestseller book, Shantaram. (Those pages are turning quickly!) The main character goes through his time in India, Bombay specifically, after escaping prison in Australia, having a New Zealand fake passport, becoming friends with a German woman and a Spanish woman, hearing stories about saunas in Norway, eating delicious Indian food, and then to only live in an Indian slum and be reminded of his friends and family back in Australia. I would never have expected to be reminded of so many previous places here in India. It is funny how even though I am living in this tropical place, little things can still remind me of the most meaningful places in the world for me.
As a group of Americans, with our supervisor we had a planned, educational excursion to Hyderabad, a city northwest of Chennai, a cooler and dryer city! It was an excellent four days sandwiched between two overnight train rides. While here, there was some time to think, like in my last entry, the train ride in particular. The city has so much history, but unlike in Tamil Nadu, the land of many temples, the history here started with a famous fort reminding me of a place right outside of Lisbon. There was much Muslim influence, drinking of popular Irani tea and eating delicious Pakistani chicken curry, a symbol of the diversity and cultural influences immigrants and history can have in India -- similar to the Angolans and Cape Verdeans comprising much of the population of Lisbon, or the “Indian-Italian” restaurants interestingly spaced throughout the city. It is strange sometimes how two different places can be linked in memory and be extremely similar, even when in half a sentence back it was noted they were quite different.
It is strange how one event or one person can come around in your life and trigger a memory, create an image, or an attachment, even if it may initially seem quite strange. I think about the international bestseller book, Shantaram. (Those pages are turning quickly!) The main character goes through his time in India, Bombay specifically, after escaping prison in Australia, having a New Zealand fake passport, becoming friends with a German woman and a Spanish woman, hearing stories about saunas in Norway, eating delicious Indian food, and then to only live in an Indian slum and be reminded of his friends and family back in Australia. I would never have expected to be reminded of so many previous places here in India. It is funny how even though I am living in this tropical place, little things can still remind me of the most meaningful places in the world for me.
As a group of Americans, with our supervisor we had a planned, educational excursion to Hyderabad, a city northwest of Chennai, a cooler and dryer city! It was an excellent four days sandwiched between two overnight train rides. While here, there was some time to think, like in my last entry, the train ride in particular. The city has so much history, but unlike in Tamil Nadu, the land of many temples, the history here started with a famous fort reminding me of a place right outside of Lisbon. There was much Muslim influence, drinking of popular Irani tea and eating delicious Pakistani chicken curry, a symbol of the diversity and cultural influences immigrants and history can have in India -- similar to the Angolans and Cape Verdeans comprising much of the population of Lisbon, or the “Indian-Italian” restaurants interestingly spaced throughout the city. It is strange sometimes how two different places can be linked in memory and be extremely similar, even when in half a sentence back it was noted they were quite different.
Contrasts and connections.
I have been going to my field placement every Tuesday and Thursday outside of the city. It is a wonderful place, and I have constantly been considering how I will write one entry about this, but I have not yet come up with the right idea. Nonetheless, at this small, local organization, I have come to meet an extreme amount of hospitality, something Indians are known for. As soon as I reach my destination someone is there to pull out a chair, turn the overhead fan on, and serve me for the Tamil Nadu tea time, 10 to 11 am. The organization is run by a middle-aged couple, two extremely nice people. Throughout my time there, I have gotten to know them very well. While appreciating them very much, I cannot help but be reminded of my two wonderful host families in Poland. Maybe it is the college study-abroad experience that cannot help but relate to a year as a high school exchange student; maybe it is the relation of hospitality, or the importance and centralization of food of which is not seen in America. Every time I get off the yellow, three-wheeled share-auto, walk past the small village, and women cooking, to the brightly colored center building, rolling green hills, and palm trees in the background, and see my two Indian supervisors, I cannot help but think of my families back in Poland -- the people who hosted me for seven and then four months, who treated me so well, taught me so much about the language, shared their family with me, and fed me huge amounts of delicious food (it was inevitable to gain a few pounds). Although here in India, there are many differences: I do not live with three cats and a dog that loves to fart; I don’t get to go mushroom picking or visit the rural, countryside house; I don’t have a host mom to laugh with while drinking some wine, eating homemade bread, or “trying” to bake a cake; I have not been able to prepare Thanksgiving dinner, or help with a birthday dinner; there has been no reason to walk half a mile to the nearby Rotary club for the weekly meetings; and there is no one to take me skiing for winter break or to discuss the amazing places to travel to. India has its own experiences and great benefits which I will surely remember. Yet, it is impossible to go one place in this country without being reminded of something else.
Sometimes those inevitable connections in life, subconsciously making those comparisons of distant memories with people half way across the world, can be difficult. However, it is a claim to the amount of experience and knowledge you can have by traveling and opening up your thoughts and views. I sometimes have that bitter-sweet feeling of being reminded of my quiet, green, secluded home in the Upper Peninsula when I walk through the campus here. While in Hyderabad, the finally visible stars in the sky reminded me of lying out on our trampoline at night, or having bonfires below the sky. The pictures one Indian woman showed me of her life cleared a path for my mind to wonder: to family back home. The students on campus getting together for lunch, skipping class, gossiping, or going out for an afternoon on the town are reminders of random outings and random car rides with friends in my home and college. India is a place so different than anything I have personally experienced. It is a wonderful place, full of culture, learning opportunities, and diversity; with that, there are many aspects of its culture which can be compared to places half way across the globe.
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