As I walked along Park Street the other day, it occurred to me that I actually feel comfortable living in Kolkata. I don't mean this as a tourist might say that she feels safe or able to enjoy a two week vacation. I mean that Kolkata feels like a comfortable place to live. At this point, I know how to get around to some of the more important places (school, shopping, and my host family's home) and feel less of an outsider than my physical appearance might suggest. After all, people recognize immediately that I am not a full-time resident whose family has lived in India for generations. But I feel like I am no longer a tourist, bound by maps and disoriented at every turn. In fact, after two weeks in the city, I finally have something resembling a routine.
My friend Bekkah and I live with an Indian couple in South Kolkata. Shantanu and Rashmi live on the third and fourth floors of his family home. Bekkah and I share a bedroom with two single beds and two closets. Next to the bedroom is the bathroom. The shower head only has cold water, so we fill a bucket with warm water to shower, but it works. The shower and connecting pipes are also where the maid washes our clothes every day after sweeping the floors. It was certainly an unfamiliar experience to see a maid cleaning the floor for us as we slept and hand washing our clothes! The other room that we use frequently has a couch, a few chairs, and a desk for homework. Bekkah and I enjoy living here. Shantanu and Rashmi are very kind and generous people who always try to provide good food and good experiences.
I attend St. Xavier's College for classes. The school is only a short walk, an auto-rickshaw, and a metro ride away from the house where I live. It is considered the best college in India from what we have heard. However, I am more interested in the comparisons so easily visible between my college experience in Minnesota and college at St. Xavier's. Students here stand when their professors enter the room and when speaking, addressing professors as "sir" and "ma'am." They also spend more time each week in class, although they do not receive nearly as many assignments to complete outside of class. In all, I take eighteen credits worth of classes:
My friend Bekkah and I live with an Indian couple in South Kolkata. Shantanu and Rashmi live on the third and fourth floors of his family home. Bekkah and I share a bedroom with two single beds and two closets. Next to the bedroom is the bathroom. The shower head only has cold water, so we fill a bucket with warm water to shower, but it works. The shower and connecting pipes are also where the maid washes our clothes every day after sweeping the floors. It was certainly an unfamiliar experience to see a maid cleaning the floor for us as we slept and hand washing our clothes! The other room that we use frequently has a couch, a few chairs, and a desk for homework. Bekkah and I enjoy living here. Shantanu and Rashmi are very kind and generous people who always try to provide good food and good experiences.
I attend St. Xavier's College for classes. The school is only a short walk, an auto-rickshaw, and a metro ride away from the house where I live. It is considered the best college in India from what we have heard. However, I am more interested in the comparisons so easily visible between my college experience in Minnesota and college at St. Xavier's. Students here stand when their professors enter the room and when speaking, addressing professors as "sir" and "ma'am." They also spend more time each week in class, although they do not receive nearly as many assignments to complete outside of class. In all, I take eighteen credits worth of classes:
- 4-credit Study Abroad Seminar: Our trip director, Professor Madhu Mitra from CSB/SJU teaches a class that looks at India through Indian novels
- 4-credit "Perspectives on India": Dr. Sweta Ghosh from St. Xavier's teaches a class on the history and sociology of India
- 2-credit Bengali: Learning the Bengali language with a professor from St. Xavier's
- 2-credit fine arts: We will attend a variety of performances and workshops to learn about art, especially folk art, of West Bengal
- 2-credit Service Learning: We will work with students at the Loreto Day School (one of the reasons why I came to India) and reflect on our experiences
- 4-credit International Relations: I am taking an International Relations class with fourth-semester political science students at St. Xavier's. In addition, I will write a dissertation relating to international relations. My plan is to probably write something relating to the changing relationship between the United States and India, especially with regards to their foreign policies.