Environment

When I didn't get enough sleep, when my days are too long, and balancing everything becomes stressful, the general environment of the city makes everything SO MUCH WORSE. On just okay or good days, it is a bit easier to manage, especially because I have lived in a developing country before. But there are sometimes, some days, where these things really get to me.

Garbage

Despite the city's aim to be clean...

...it doesn't always quite work out that way. Our Contemporary India professor explained to us that while Indians have an almost obsession with keeping their personal spaces clean, public space is viewed as something to be taken care of by someone else. Though I occasionally sees signs saying not to, littering is very common and I see people do it all the time. It doesn't help that there aren't any public garbage cans. While there isn't garbage all over, per say, there is definitely much more than I care to be around. On a rough day, having to see, smell, and walk among the garbage is hard. 

Traffic

Anyone that lives in a city anywhere will have to constantly deal with traffic--the crowdedness, the noise, the lack of peace and quiet at any given hour of the day. Indian traffic is much more intense than anything I have experienced, like I posted about earlier. I took a video to share with you so you would get a better sense of what I mean, but it won't upload. But just imagine what it would be like with not a lot of sidewalks, hardly any traffic lights, not a single stop sign, and tons of cars, motorbikes, and rickshaws that weave in and out of traffic however they want. 

Pollution

Because of all that traffic, there is so much pollution. Breathing it and walking among the air pollution is something I really hate. It makes my boogers black, my eyes burn, and my face and feet feel so dirty that I always have to wash them whenever I come home. Indians hate it too, and they have devised a method of tying scarves around their faces to block the pollution. I haven't done that yet, but I might have to start soon.

Coping Method: Not all parts of the city are this intense. To deal with this new environment, I just have to seek out the places that aren't. Also, listening to my ipod while I walk really helps!

Gender Norms

I have never thought about my gender as a part of my identity until coming to India. There are different social norms that apply to women here, and I feel much more aware of my gender orientation.

For example, here is an outfit I would wear to school here in India.

I don't mind doing it, because I feel that I blend in, the clothes are light and comfortable, and they are pretty. However, it also demonstrates how I have to change my habits in India. Women in India don't show their legs or bear their shoulders. So even though it is really hot now and will get even hotter soon, I couldn't wear the tank top and shorts I would normally wear in this type of weather. I also have to wear long pants to the gym, which I normally would not do. These examples might sound a bit trivial, and it isn't like I can't easily adjust to them, but it is these small restrictions and others that make me feel uncomfortable in general about the idea of having any restrictions at all just because of my gender.

Also, in almost all of my classes we discuss how gender plays a role in Indian society in some way or the other. Usually, it is hard to stomach. In Public Health, we discuss "The Missing Girls in India", which happens because female fetuses are being aborted, women are being neglected during pregnancy if they are thought to be pregnant with a girl, and infant girls are also being neglected as far as their overall health and education--all because male children are culturally preferred. Currently, India is the most dangerous place to be born for a baby girl. These and other stories we hear regarding the discrimnation of women, despite the advancements India has made as a country, are really hard to hear.

Coping Method: With these situations, it is really necessary to apply a cultural lense. I come from a society where women don't face as many restrictions on their daily habits and interactions, but this is a different place. Saying "these poor women" won't help, because I don't even really know how they feel about having to dress very modestly all the time, for example. Saying "poor me" won't help either, because I am here to learn about and appreciate this culture, and that means some adapting is necessary. As for the discrimination issues, it helps to identify with those issues as a woman myself and use those stories as motivation to change something rather than just get angry or saddened by it.

Begging

I am used to seeing beggars on the street in many different places, but the forcefulness of the Indian begging population can bother me still despite my prior experience. They are very physical in the sense that they will touch you, tap you, pull on your shirt, push their way between two people in a crowd, and get in your face.

This woman is a type of beggar that carries around a tin of yellow and red powder. She will get in your face and try to touch your head, which you should never let her do. She tries to give you a blessing, and if she succeeds, she feels that she has the right to demand money. If you give her money, she will demand more.

What is worse are the child beggars. I don't have a picture of any situation, by they are particularly forceful, especially more so with us because we are so obviously foreign. It is hard to ignore them, push past them, or yell at them because they are just kids.

Coping Method: The best thing is just to remember that giving a beggar money won't really help the situation overall, especially with the kids who are often working for some higher up and won't get the money anyway. Sometimes people say it is best to give food, but often here the beggars won't accept it or will throw it back in the giver's face. It takes time to work a level of desensitization, which is unfortunate but really our only option on day-to-day basis.

Indian Academics

I know this goes against the intention of this blog, but this post won't actually have any pictures with it. I tried thinking of how I could show it, but given the nature of the topic, I don't think it is possible. It is a very important one, though, because it has to do with our classes as students studying abroad. Basically, Indian classrooms are not structured like United States classrooms in regards to the teacher student relationship. In the United States, classes are normally very discussion-based, require critical thinking and participation and insights from the students. In order for it to be a successful environment, anyway. In India, it is almost the opposite. A well-presented class will be one where the teacher enters, lectures, and then leaves. Perhaps the professor will hang after for one-on-one interactions, but largely Indian professors are not used to leaving time for discussion during class.

Our program staff has worked very hard in training the professors who teach our classes to adapt to the style we are used to. To be fair, the effort is definitely there and in some professors I find their efforts to be very successful. However, other professors don't quite get it right all the time. Because we have to cover a semester's worth of material in 8 weeks, our classes are anywhere between 1.5-2 hours long. If the teacher is lecturing the whole time, which happens unfortunately kind of often, it becomes very hard to pay attention. Any college student reading this will understand this feeling--everyone's had a class like this before. The problem is that while in the States that teaching style would be considered bad, here it is normal. Therefore, the professor doesn't realize when we get frustrated and disengage or why. Many times, the professors won't wait for us to finish our thoughts when they do open up for questions or comments. They try to interpret what we are saying before we are done saying it, and then things become miscontrued. Also, our accents are difficult for the professors to understand, which doesn't help. And when I say the professors don't always realize it, I mean it. After what possibly was the worst class as far as the frustration/disengagment level goes, the professor of that class told our program director that we were the best bunch of students he has had yet.

This is a different academic culture, and this and the rest of this weeks situations are meant to shed light on those differences, not overly criticize or complain about them. This won't be the "Why India sucks" week. So for every post, I am going to offer a coping method either I or other students have used for that given situation.

Coping Method: Our program director is absolutely wonderful. This week, we had a very timely group meeting to make sure everything was going alright. A "re-orientation" of sorts. The staff must know this is the time where culture shock makes things difficult. We discussed our frustrations about the classes with our director. She is going to have a discussion with some of the professors about our comments. In the classroom, we haven't given up. Or at least I haven't. I appreciate that the professors are taking time to teach us because they are so distinguished in their fields. With some patience and cooperation, I think this cultural hiccup can soon pass.

Theme 2: Culture Shock

This week I am going to write about culture shock. It will be a hard theme to demonstrate through photos, though I will try my best. Nonetheless, I feel it is a particularly important theme right at this time because now that the initial excitment of the settling-in phase has passed, we have all started feeling the effects of living in such a different culture. I have had a lot of discussions recently with my program-mates during lunch, after class, or at the center about our reactions to a few topics I will be touching on this week.

Things to Get Used To

Making a home for myself here involves having to adjust to some things. Like:

Bucket showers. Actually not bad, as we do have hot water. It is definitely more environment friendly. And makes for time-saving showers on particularly brisk mornings.

The beds. From people not native to India but who have experienced them, I have heard them called floor boards, board beds, and just boards. I agree with all of those terms. If anything has been hard to adjust too, it has been sleeping on these beds, which are basically flat boards with a thin mattress on top.

Barefeet! In India, you take your shoes off before entering many buildings, and definitely before entering someone's home. Feet are considered to be dirty, and therefore it is viewed as very rude to wear shoes indoors or touch someone with your feet. Personally, I love it. 

Other things to get used to:

Not being able to speak the language. Many people in India, and especially Pune, do speak English. It is a different accent, however, which sometimes makes even English difficult. So you can forget the native languages. Did you know that every state of India has its own official language? Trying to direct rickshaw drivers, order food, or ask for directions when you don't speak Marathi, Pune's local language, is a bit of a challenge.

The Indian head bob. Nodding is side-to-side, and not up and down. It is already rubbing off!

Tea times. This is another one that I love. Small cups of chai tea, often accompanied by sweet wheat biscuits, are offered throughout the day by our program center staff, my host mother, someone else's host mother if I am visiting a friend, you name it. If you are just coming in, you will get tea. 

Having no sense of direction. Obviously in a new place it takes time to learn the area. There are hardly any street signs though, and normally rickshaws know landmarks and areas of the city, not necessarily street names. It happens all too often where I tell the rickshaw driver to take me home, and he will drive for a while and then stop and tell me we are there in somewhere very different than where I live. 

Cultural norms. I think I will devote a whole week to this topic, but there are definitely very different cultural and gender norms here in India that force me to alter my dress, social habits, and comfort level. More to come on that later though!

Not knowing the base ingredients in my food. Even if I ask, there are many times I have never even heard of the vegetable or spice used. I never have any clue what to order off of a menu, but picking randomly has been pretty fun and usually very delicious. 

City Life

Pune City is home to 3.5 million Indians. It is a major intellectual hub of India and is considered to be very prosperous and more progressive than most other cities. There are many places to shop, eat, see movies, get coffee, and just hang out. I live in the heart of it all. Our apartment is right off the main shopping strip, called Laxmi Road, where they sell everything from blankets to watches to clothes to expensive jewelry. If we need anything, there is always a place nearby, which is nice. What isn't that nice is the constant noise and traffic. Some of the other students live in more residential areas that are much quieter. And my poor host brothers (6 and 2) don't really have anywhere to play. But my friends are always coming to Laxmi Road to shop or walk around, and it is really convenient to be able to walk right home afterward. And we live close enough to walk to school too. Saving money on rickshaws!

Many people assume because I am in the "third world" that there is poverty everywhere. To some extent, that is definitely not true. Many parts of the city are very well-developed. For example, Fergusson College campus, where I attend classes, is absolutely beautiful. 

One thing I really love about this city is all of the trees and greenery. I have never seen a city with so many trees integrated into its main streets. I feel like I am walking beneath a forest canopy a lot of the time despite the cars, motorcycles, and strip malls.

Unfortunately, there is some validity to the assumptions people make about India and the prevalence of poverty. Currently, 40% of the population of Pune live in slums (only slightly better than the 50% that live in slums in Mumbai). It is really hard to swallow this figure, although I am not exposed to the majority of it. At least not yet, I haven't been. There are plenty of beggars always and people sleeping on the streets, and over 40,000 stray dogs, but the big slums are in a different part of the city that I don't encounter normally. However, there is some that I see every day on my walk to and from school. There is a small slum next to the bridge I cross. Sometimes the smell is unbearable passing by. Seeing how the people have to bathe, use the bathroom, dress, and live so exposed and out in the open is truly heart-breaking. It humbles me every day to see these terrible conditions that other human beings are living in. We will be visiting bigger slums in Pune and in Mumbai very soon, which will, unfortunately, be much much worse.

Overall, Pune is a very vibrant, dynamic city that is already teaching me so much about Indian culture, globalization, wealth and poverty, government policy, the environment, and all sorts of other things, even after just two weeks living here. The idea of spending a semester getting to know this beautiful city leaves me feeling more excited every day!