Mum, bye!

     Right now I'm sitting in the lobby of our hotel. On my right is a cricket pitch, and it's sunny and in the 70's. Typing a blog post on my phone isn't easy so I'll keep this short.

     Before I came here, I imagined Pune to be like Boston, westernized, only with more traffic and Indian culture. Instead, it's hard to compare them. First difference: the traffic is everything you've heard about India and worse. The issue isn't bumper-to-bumper jams, instead, the only bumpers meeting bumpers is when a car hits a motorcycle or rickshaw. Crosswalks are merely decorative; people run across the road when they can get across without (definitely) getting hit. 

     But there's no reason to dwell on the negatives, because India is incredible. The streets are so busy: stray dogs, fruit vendors, women wearing scarves around their mouths to keep out the pollution while they speed by on motorcycles, men talking in alley-way shadows at night, et cetera.

I met my host family yesterday during a wonderful ceremony. After our host siblings put Tilak (the red powder traditionally used in welcoming guests) on our foreheads and we received necklaces with orange and white flowers, we spoke for some time. My whole family speaks English and seems very sweet. I won't say too much about them because internet safety and privacy are important, but trust me, I'm in very good hands. 

     Breakfast is soon, so I'll tell you all that the food here is amazing. Except for the onion and lemon juice and hot sauce, which I learned are meant as garnishes.  Don't eat them together.  For your own sake.
     Picture of moment of impact forthcoming.  

Time of Departure

     This is my last night at home before I leave for New York City in the morning.  Flight at 9am, arrives at 10am.  (Not the 15 hour flight to Mumbai quite yet).  Given the fact that I'm still in an advanced state of denial over this whole thing, I'm not sure how to describe my emotions.  When you talk about something and explain it in the same words day after day, you start thinking of it in a limited way: 

"I'm going to India this summer!"

"That's so cool!  For how long?"

"I'm going for 6 1/2 weeks."

"Wow!  How come?"

"It's a State Department program for American high school students to learn languages that aren't commonly taught in schools..."

et cetera.  I have it memorized.  So it feels like I say that "yes, I'm really excited" and "no, I'm not that nervous" more than I think about being excited or nervous.  Frankly, I just don't know what to expect.

     I plan on looking back at this blog in the future so I can see how I was before my trip.  So, future me, this is for you.

     I believe that India will be extremely loud and chaotic with a ton of people, all the time.  My family so far seems very kind and I look forward to meeting them.  I don't know anyone on the program too well yet but I am really, really pumped to meet people tomorrow!  Lauren, my Resident Director, seems like she knows what she's doing and will be a great resource.

     I'm anxious to entering an India that's entering a new phase like I am--an India under a new leader.  I can't wait to look down on North Africa and the Atlantic as I fly over the globe FOR 15 HOURS.  Most of all, I look forward to getting enough rest tonight, since I have to get up at 5am tomorrow.  Therefore, good night all.
     (Here I am, cleaning up my blog, looking back at my old writing.  And so, past Erik: It is.  They are.  You should be.   You will.  She does.  She was.  Don't worry.  We flew over Iceland and Russia, idiot.  Good night.)

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (Also, the Application Process)

     I just took my AP Art History exam this morning, so that's where my brain is.  And so I felt the need to include a famous Gauguin painting in this post's title.  Alright, that's my lead in.

     As promised in my first post, (I suggest reading this blog from the beginning,) here's a brief introduction to me and why I chose to study in India out of all those exotic places listed down below.  Mera naam Erik hai (one of about three Hindi sentences I know so far), and I'm a current Junior from Massachusetts.  My life at the moment is studying for the four AP exams I'm taking but I promise I do more than that.  I do tons of theater at my high school and a local theater company, I have some really awesome friends and family that I'm going to miss a lot, and I'm an outgoing introvert.

     Where Are We Going? To Pune, India!  My reasons for choosing India/studying abroad in general are a bit complex, but I'll try to explain.  Here's why, in a semi-order:

1. I love traveling.  Obsessed.  Don't know why.  I love maps, learning languages, and going on airplanes.  I went to the state Geography Bee in sixth grade (nerd).  I plan on majoring in geography and/or urban studies.
2. India has a ton of people in cities and a lot of problems.  I figured that's a good place for someone interested in geography/urban studies to start.
3. I love my home--this is not a trip to get away from family.  At the same time, I want to meet new people and visit new places.  There is more to life than Whitepeopletown, MA.
4. Learning Hindi is going to be hopefully very useful.  At the moment I speak English, a limited amount of French, and I took one year of Latin (and hated it). But Hindi, unlike Latin, is useful!  And I just think it's so neat to speak another language, and was always fascinated when my family members would.  Also, I don't want to be the typical monolingual American.
5. I've always been interested in Indian culture, although by no means would I say I know a lot.  But I'm learning.  I STILL have never seen a Bollywood movie.  If you have a favorite, leave it in comments below so I can watch it!
6. The food is rather scrumptious.
7. I want to study abroad in college again.  Also, this is to test the waters a bit--do I definitely want to travel for a living and study geography?
8. It's going to look awesome on a college resume.
9. I'm extremely excited to meet my other American buddies as well as Indians.  New friends.  Yipee!
10. This is a dumb reason but I'm looking forward to the New York City pre-departure orientation and looking out the window of the airplane and seeing the entire world below me.  I think because I can actually imagine myself doing that, and I know what it will be like, unlike India.
11. Where else could I go?  I have no legitimate reason to go to Tajikistan.  I'm mad at Russia.  I don't speak Chinese and other people are already learning Mandarin, so they can have that one.  The Middle East was off limits because I have worried parents and I'm sort of Jewish.  South Korea was definitely cool and acceptable, as was Turkey.  But India seemed like the best bet.

     I'm also going to explain a bit about the application process.  I filled out my initial application in the fall.  If you think you might just apply but don't care too much about it, don't.  The application is long, you need to write essays and get teacher recommendations and fill in a whole lot of information about yourself.  I would recommend a teacher that can not only speak to your abilities, but also to your personality.  So that initial step takes place during the fall and was due on November 5.  I found out that I was a Semi-Finalist on December 11, which was one of the best days of my life.  I found out I was a Finalist (in other words, I got the scholarship) on February 28, which probably was the actual best day of my life.  The order in which news comes out varies from year to year--for mine Hindi was one of the first, and Chinese the last.  Also, sometimes news comes out by state.  Or region.  But sometimes not.  So don't worry about that, you'll find out when you find out.  However, it is true that good news comes sooner than bad news.

     Application Tip #1: Make sure you want to do this.  Really stop to think about what your life might be like if you get it and go.  Are you ready?  (pause for moment of introspection.)  If so, continue on.

     Application Tip #2: Don't procrastinate!  I actually did, if I remember correctly, and barely got it in on time because of too many people on the website at once.  Don't let that be you.  Read over all of your application carefully.  If you do a rush job, they'll notice, and besides, you can't.  It's too long.

     Application Tip #3: Don't think that you'll get it the first time.  That gets rid of the disappointment and only leads to a happy surprise if you get it.  Trust me.  The first time I applied, I thought I had a very good chance and was devastated when I found out I didn't get to be even a semi-finalist.  The second time, I tried (and somewhat succeeded) at not even thinking about it.  And it worked!

     Application Tip #4: I'm not going to say exactly what I wrote in my essays or talked about, but I'll give some advice since you're taking the time to read this, so you're probably dedicated.  Show them that you want to go to learn the language.  If you imply that you just want to go to the country because you're interested in its culture or whatever, my limited experience has shown that you won't get it.  And I'm telling you this because if you aren't interested in the language aspect as much, I wouldn't recommend going: language classes are going to be four to five hours everyday, five days per week.

     Application Tip #5: I know you always hear this, but at the interview and in your essays, BE YOURSELF.  Don't try to be the person you think they want to see.  If you're relaxed and friendly, they'll know that you can handle being alone in a foreign country.

     Application Tip #6: Thank your interviewers if you're a semi-finalist.  They are volunteers.  As in, they aren't paid.  Meaning, they're doing it because they are wonderful people.  I had two lovely elderly ladies interviewing me.

     Application Tip #7: Prepare answers for questions they might ask.  One that I had trouble with was describing a struggle I had gone through.

     Application Tip #8: Start learning Hindi/whatever language before your interview!  I had learned the Devanagari alphabet so I could say that I had begun learning.

     Application Tip #9: Don't apply to a certain country because you think you are more likely to get in.  I've heard multiple times that a proportionate number of people apply to each program, so the programs with the most students (China and South Korea) have a larger number of applicants than the smaller programs (Turkey and Tajikistan).  If I remember correctly from my year, you have an approximately 15% chance if you apply, and a 50% chance if you get to be a semi-finalist.

     Application Tip #10: Join the Facebook group!  For some reason, the "NSLI-Y applicants 2012-2013" page has over 1000 members, while the "NSLI-Y applicants 2013-2014" page has just 200.  I would recommend joining the 2012-2013 one as well as the current one for you, because that seems to be where a lot of the action takes place.
Thanks for reading, and best of luck!

An Introduction

March 30, 2014

     Namaste! Welcome to "Feeling Pune", my travel blog that I will try my best to keep up with in a country with unreliable internet access.  The title is just the beginning--expect many more bad puns as I prepare to travel to Pune, India this summer in 2014 to learn the beautiful, important, really difficult Hindi language. For prospective student travelers, anxious family members,  friends back in the U.S., and for myself, I've decided to keep a blog about my trip to Pune.  So here we go!

     This is my approximate understanding of the program--for more information, I would definitely check out <www.nsliforyouth.org>.  The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y for short, which I pronounce Nestle-Why,) is a program sponsored by the U.S. State Department to send about 650 American high school students to foreign countries to learn languages that are less commonly taught in the United States, for either a summer or a school year.  Those languages are: Arabic (Jordan, Morocco, Oman), Mandarin Chinese (China), Korean (South Korea), Russian (Russia), Tajik (Tajikistan), Turkish (Turkey), and Hindi (India).  The purpose of NSLI-Y is, according to the website, to prepare
"American citizens to be leaders in a global world.  Now more than ever, it is important that Americans have the necessary linguistic skills and cultural knowledge to promote international dialogue and support American engagement abroad.  NSLI-Y aims to provide opportunities to American youth that will spark a lifetime interest in language learning."

     To begin with, NSLI-Y is absolutely 100% sponsored by the government.  I know you're skeptical, but I promise there's no catch. NSLI-Y pays for your your schooling (we learn Hindi for four to five hours per day at a school in Pune), your airplane tickets (for your flight to the pre-departure orientation in New York City, to the country and back), they reimburse you for your visa, and give you a phone for the country, as well as 750 emergency rupees per week!  The only thing not covered is extra spending money and the cost of a passport.  Trust me, I'm going to college soon--I would not be going if it wasn't so cheap.

     It's sort of confusing, but my understanding is that NSLI-Y is the scholarship funded by the government, while other outside organizations actually are in charge of each program.  For example, the group of fifteen students who are going to Pune are with the organization iEarn India, while AFS covers those going to Indore.  This summer is the first, as far as I know, that students have gone to Indore--before it was only Pune.  One more thing to note is that NSLI-Y gives scholarships for both summer programs (approximately six weeks, mine is from a three-day pre-departure orientation beginning June 18th until I return August 6th, and the dates always change) and year programs (for which there are far fewer scholarships). 

     That basically sums up NSLI-Y, but as I said, check out the official website for more information.  My next posts are probably going to be about me/why I chose India and Hindi, and then about the application process, so stay tuned!  Please feel free to comment or ask any questions!