The weirdest part of everything going on right now is how normal it feels. I have officially been living with my host family in Madurai for a week and already it feels like a century.
Madurai is wonderful. It is definitely my favorite cities out of the ones we have been in (plane landed in Chennai and we were had orientation in Thanjavor.) It is crowded but the people are so so kind. They are always more than willing to help when we are lost or confused and always want to know more about us (especially when we attempt to speak a bit of Tamil).
I have finally mastered cycling to and from school in the morning. It was rather more than terrifying in the begining. I have to take a route which brings me down many huge streets and across some atrocious right turns. I had this long complicated map with some landmarks rather than street names (many streets dont have names and if they do they are written in tamil... which uses a syllabic alphabet of 247 characters.) So the act of figuring out which way to go was itself a monumental task (even though i am quite the wizard of directions... cough cough). On top of this, the traffic is silly. the streets are packed with cars and motorcyles and scooties and buses and autos and other bikes and people walking and stray dogs. Trying to stay alive and not be mowed down by any of the vehicles whizzing their way like 2 cm away from you and outrunning the buses that move like whales through the streets is difficult enough without also having no idea where I am. Then i pull over and ask for her but the people i select may not speak very good english... after getting lost a few times though and maybe sobbing a bit- I finally figured out not only my way to school but what is on many of the other roads around the area as well- silver lining!
My host family is utterly sublime. I love them with all of my heart. My host mom (Srideevi- devi for short) is reallly cool. She is young and totally chill and helpful. She doesnt get stressed out easily or force food upon me like many of the others. She is funny and smart. Her two daughters (swastika- 11 and shrinidhi- 8) and SO cute. They love cuddling with me and playing, and exploring my things, and singing and teaching me how to dance (since I stink) and laughing at my attempts at tamil and basically just hanging out every sec of every day. Which is perfect until i have work to do... But they really make the host family experience so much easier because they offer me tips and constantly break the ice with new people and experiences. I love them so much. Then there is my Ammaa. I am literally obsessed with this woman- my grandma. She is very round and small and she has tiny hands and feet. She jabbers away at me in Tamil and is always smiling and laughing. She prasctically died when she saw my Toms with holes in them and spent all afternoon getting out tons of her shoes and trying to give them to me. Finally we found a pair and we threw away my old shoes. Unfortunatlye the shoes she gave me broke the first time i wore them... she was in a tizzy at this and avidly found me new ones. She also gave me a nightie (that is what they call the floor length night gowns that you sleep in here) and tried to give me tons of clothes. She always wants to take care of me. She giggles and shouts at me when I hold my hands together in respect protesting that I am her grandaughter and should do nothing of the sort. I just wish i could put her in my pocket and take her to school.
School- classes are amazing. I love learning Tamil even though it is extremely difficult. All of my professors are amazing- smart, funny, approachable- just absolute gems. The classes are tiny- obviuosly no more than 12 students in any class since that is how many people are on my program. Oh Sita! You are literally the best study abroad program ever! I adore all of the other students on my program- such interesting, wholesome and adventurous people. I wake up every morning excited to beginning my day and (despite the cycling) feel nothing but elation until I go to sleep at night. Well, elation and exhaustion. The days are hot and cultural immersion is quite tiring.
Okay well i feel that I have barely scratched the surface of life here but at least you all have a tiny taste of what i have been up to! More to come!
Madurai is wonderful. It is definitely my favorite cities out of the ones we have been in (plane landed in Chennai and we were had orientation in Thanjavor.) It is crowded but the people are so so kind. They are always more than willing to help when we are lost or confused and always want to know more about us (especially when we attempt to speak a bit of Tamil).
I have finally mastered cycling to and from school in the morning. It was rather more than terrifying in the begining. I have to take a route which brings me down many huge streets and across some atrocious right turns. I had this long complicated map with some landmarks rather than street names (many streets dont have names and if they do they are written in tamil... which uses a syllabic alphabet of 247 characters.) So the act of figuring out which way to go was itself a monumental task (even though i am quite the wizard of directions... cough cough). On top of this, the traffic is silly. the streets are packed with cars and motorcyles and scooties and buses and autos and other bikes and people walking and stray dogs. Trying to stay alive and not be mowed down by any of the vehicles whizzing their way like 2 cm away from you and outrunning the buses that move like whales through the streets is difficult enough without also having no idea where I am. Then i pull over and ask for her but the people i select may not speak very good english... after getting lost a few times though and maybe sobbing a bit- I finally figured out not only my way to school but what is on many of the other roads around the area as well- silver lining!
My host family is utterly sublime. I love them with all of my heart. My host mom (Srideevi- devi for short) is reallly cool. She is young and totally chill and helpful. She doesnt get stressed out easily or force food upon me like many of the others. She is funny and smart. Her two daughters (swastika- 11 and shrinidhi- 8) and SO cute. They love cuddling with me and playing, and exploring my things, and singing and teaching me how to dance (since I stink) and laughing at my attempts at tamil and basically just hanging out every sec of every day. Which is perfect until i have work to do... But they really make the host family experience so much easier because they offer me tips and constantly break the ice with new people and experiences. I love them so much. Then there is my Ammaa. I am literally obsessed with this woman- my grandma. She is very round and small and she has tiny hands and feet. She jabbers away at me in Tamil and is always smiling and laughing. She prasctically died when she saw my Toms with holes in them and spent all afternoon getting out tons of her shoes and trying to give them to me. Finally we found a pair and we threw away my old shoes. Unfortunatlye the shoes she gave me broke the first time i wore them... she was in a tizzy at this and avidly found me new ones. She also gave me a nightie (that is what they call the floor length night gowns that you sleep in here) and tried to give me tons of clothes. She always wants to take care of me. She giggles and shouts at me when I hold my hands together in respect protesting that I am her grandaughter and should do nothing of the sort. I just wish i could put her in my pocket and take her to school.
School- classes are amazing. I love learning Tamil even though it is extremely difficult. All of my professors are amazing- smart, funny, approachable- just absolute gems. The classes are tiny- obviuosly no more than 12 students in any class since that is how many people are on my program. Oh Sita! You are literally the best study abroad program ever! I adore all of the other students on my program- such interesting, wholesome and adventurous people. I wake up every morning excited to beginning my day and (despite the cycling) feel nothing but elation until I go to sleep at night. Well, elation and exhaustion. The days are hot and cultural immersion is quite tiring.
Okay well i feel that I have barely scratched the surface of life here but at least you all have a tiny taste of what i have been up to! More to come!
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