Orientation, Culture Shock and Indian time

The network is being very slow over here at the moment but hopefully it will hold out long enough to make this post. So right now it's a little past 5am and I am unfortunately awake due to interesting experiences yesterday. I officially win the First Person to get Sick award yay! Last night my stomach started feeling cranky and by the time we were leaving breakfast to start out on our first lecture I was feeling pretty miserable. I ended up sleeping/ lying in bed for most of the day and sadly missed the first excursion into the outer city. Luckily, they have told us that most information will be repeated many times during the orientation so I don't feel so bad about being pretty out of it. There also is a lot of information in the handbook so I'm not really worried. It would be nice if the sickness I just experienced was the only sickness I will experience here but the information I have been reading from the program says that you may get sick for up to a week, so I guess I shouldn't expect to have escaped so easily ( not that the last 24 hours have been pleasant) .

I do have to say that being here is quite overwhelming, sickness aside. I've wanted to come on this trip for a long time and now that I'm here I keep fluctuating back and forth between being really excited and wondering what I was thinking signing up for four months here. Right now we are in the old CIEE guest house which is located on the main part of campus but they have just built a new house for all the Study in India programs (SIP), which is for anyone from abroad. We are supposedly moving to the new house today, although we went to visit it yesterday for the inauguration and they didn't have beds in it yet. It is really really far away too. Most important buildings on campus are clustered within about 10-15 minutes of each other but the guesthouse is far out on past many of the other dorms. We are being provided with bikes which is good because it over a mile, possibly several to get from our house to the academic buildings.

I suppose I should back track and explain what happened when we arrived. A number of us arrived from Heathrow and met several others arriving at the same time. There was a barrage of people once we got past security and customs and the really long wait for our suitcases. Luckily CIEE had a clearly labeled sign and we were able to all meet up and get on a bus. Driving to the U of H, we passed many signs in English but clearly we were not in America. It was only around 6:00 in the morning so the roads were pretty empty, however the driving was still pretty crazy. Wherever there is an open spot, that is where one drives, regardless of the lines that are supposed to designate lanes. I think NJ drivers would do well here. People don't signal, they just honk. There are dogs everywhere!!! So far I haven't seen many cows but I see and hear dogs always. When trying to sleep over here there are many sounds of exotic birds and dogs barking, and some people have even said monkeys.

Someone on our program described the campus as a wildlife conservation or a national park. It is so radically different from anything I would ever call a university. There are just wild plants growing around and hardly anything is green but rather brown and dried. Buildings are scattered about, though there is a very good signage. The buildings are all open but designed to stay cool, with a lot of concrete. There seem to be little courtyards in almost every one, which is the only place where there is lush greenery.

Before our official campus tour, a number of us were wandering about and as we neared one of the academic buildings, a man approached the only male in our group and was encouraging us to come in. We didn't really know where we were going but we were led upstairs and into a room where a banner proclaimed that this was a Business Data Mining conference. This seems so typical of India to just be pulled in somewhere. We decided to stay for a while and proceeded to witness about 20 straight minutes of introductions by the panel and a small oil lamp lighting ceremony which was quite stunning as it seemed to be a religious ceremony in the middle of an academic conference. We decided to bow out after the first speaker, but it was an interesting experience.

As I've been writing this several other people have woken up and come down stairs. Now there are 3 people around on the computers and it is about 6:00 am. Breakfast runs from 8-9 and at 10 we have another orientation lecture. Time here is very funny though. Nothing really starts on time or goes according to strict schedule, so going with the flow is very important. There also are regular tea breaks which are quite nice too. The tea, or chai, is very very sweet but yummy! Right now I think I will be safe and try and stick with plain foods until I am sure that my stomach can handle spices.

I think I've crammed enough information into here for now. More updates to follow!