Student life on campus is everything that the US is not. Each class, our professor and host are served hot tea/coffee by a formally dressed young man. Slightly awkward yet unintentional, the attendant just stands by the professor at the front of the room until the professor either senses his presence or turns around to speak. He thanks the silent attendant where then he may depart from the room.
Other culture-shocking moments:
1-Harleen, a wonderful host, warned us not to leave MICA grounds due to protests.
2-The inability to pronounce "v" and "s" sounds, such as "wizit" instead of visit the web site and "conjumers" instead of consumers. Fortunately, I think I have conquered this pronunciation dilemma and rarely have problems understanding our professor and speakers.
3-The entire city of Ahmedabad is dry. Prohibition, something so distant to us as Americans, is still happening in the state of Gujarat. So, what do 350+ MICA students do at night? Tennis, dancing, and music--lots of music. Random 80s like Aerosmith and REO Speedwagon and even David Guetta's, "Sexy Bitch" are among a few artists that radiate the air on warm campus nights. If you do choose to take part in illegal drinking, like the young man stumbling into the cafeteria one afternoon, then you just might be dragged by your feet out of campus by security guards. (This really happened).
4-Administration comments to director on scantily clad Americans, with inappropriate clothing items being Nike shorts. Proper clothing on campus is nonnegotiable--even knees must be covered.
Class. Lunch. Free night.
In good news, we have been informed that we will not be traveling via train (12-15 hours) from Mumbai to Goa, but we will be flying! Extra day in Goa on sandy beaches, minus bugs and classrooms? F yes please.
Here's to August.
3 comments:
Was that you in those Nike shorts? I've seen you in Nike shorts and you look pretty cute. Culture shock runs both ways. Great blogs, keep 'em coming!
No, it was some friends. I do sport mine during P90 workouts though, but no one said anything to me
Wow...what do you do since you can't drink or even wear shorts? Crazy! The accents and random tea-server man sound pretty awesome though :) And how can you not love random 80's music blasting all the time? Even sober, that sounds like an excellent time! Glad things are going semi-amazing and I'm sure it will get so much better :) Miss you/love you!
Post a Comment