July 1st 2014

I had a mango for breakfast yesterday, and the day before, and the day before. My host family makes mango shakes and smoothies regularly. Since my first day in Lucknow, I haven’t gone a day without eating at least one mango. That’s what happens when you’re in India during mango season; I’m living the dream.

I’ve had at least one, on average four, cups of chai a day. Even with the heat, chai is the best drink around (except perhaps for the mango shakes).  

I’m not just eating mangoes and drinking chai. I’ve been speaking and learning a lot of Urdu. Wake up, Urdu. Go to school, Urdu. Negotiate a rickshaw, Urdu. Go home and talk to family, Urdu. Go upstairs and do homework, in Urdu. I can feel my English deteriorating.

Every day we have four classes. The four classes could be vocabulary, newspaper reading, sight reading, magazine reading, listening comprehension, conversation, personal tutorials, etc. etc. My classes are challenging, and it takes a lot of work to keep up in them because my classmates speak Urdu very well. I am constantly reminded of the fact that there are so many words I don’t know.

I’ve only been here for a full week, so my schedule is just starting to work itself out. We are all assigned “language partners” who are people, our age, that essentially just talk to us for three hours every week (surprise) in Urdu. My language partner is a girl named Huda who is 18 years old, and one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. We both like shopping, and she’s great at keeping up the conversation, even when what I’m saying probably makes no sense.

My host family is such a big part of my experience here already. My host dad likes to play this game where whenever guests come in the house, stare at me confusedly, he asks them to ask me in Urdu who my host dad is and who my host mom is. So the guest will, still confusedly, point to my host mom and host dad and ask who they are. It is then my job to reply “Yah mere validan hain” (These are my parents), to which the guest reacts even more confusedly, my host dad laughs and laughs, and then says “Ham malte jalte hai, na?!” (We look alike, don’t we?). They’ve made me feel like I’m actually part of the family, they talk to me, they include me, they feed me (too much), and I feel very lucky to have been placed with them.

Lucknow is very different from what “my India”---Varanasi---was. I’ve found myself very frustrated at times, recently. The staring is annoying. Always getting ripped off is annoying. And most of all, I don’t like that being a girl drastically limits everything I want to do. I want to travel outside of the city, but I can’t alone. I want to go from one place to another within the city, but finding a rickshaw is difficult, and finding one that will charge me a somewhat fair price is even more difficult. It’s not safe for me to be outside when it’s dark, and even if I’m in a group, my host family (understandably) has a before-sunset curfew. And most of all, I just want to exercise. I can’t run or exercise during the middle of the day or after school, physically, because it’s over 115 degrees (and I have to be fully covered, no shorts allowed). I’ve been doing as much as I can in my own room, but I’ve devised a plan to wake up when the sun rises and start running in a safe looking park, otherwise I’m going to go crazy.

Besides all of that, I can feel my Urdu improving. Conversations have become easier. I feel like I’m getting to know people through my Urdu conversations with them, so I’m pretty happy about that.

Last but not least, yesterday was the first day of Ramzan. Thirty days of fasting (no food and water) while the sun is shining, and then a huge celebration called Eid on the last day.  The first night was a lot of fun, breaking the fast with my family, eating a lot of different food that you usually don’t eat (though I didn’t fast, but I will try to soon).

That’s about it. I’m trying to explore as much as possible. And right now I’m trying to plan trips outside of Lucknow during my free weekends. Also, if you’re looking to watch a really well thought out Bollywood movie, with a solid plot line, and without unnecessary violence, don’t watch “Ek Villain.”

Love from India,

Ada