Namaste
Sarah here,
My last two weeks in India have been jam packed, adventurous and exhilarating. I will try to remember all i have done.
After what felt like an age trying to get my visa, it finally came on the Monday so i got on the first flight to Heathrow then to Mumbai. I planned to catch up on my sleep on the plane, but the temptation of watching the new Hobbit film was too great, also i wanted to stay up for the plane food of which the English breakfast included a curry dish, well my national dish is chicken tika masala.
I was met at Mumbai International airport by my British second year Mali and a Jamaican co year Carissa. We had a 6 hour jeep journey from the airport to the college where we talked, took in the new culture and slept....being very tired from travelling. I started noticing the big culture difference in this time as the drivers didn't stick to the left side of the road and if you think England has too many pot holes in the road you will not like India. Many people use motor bikes and i caught a whole family of three children and two adults on a two person bike.
When i arrived on Tuesday evening, i was led to my Wada (block) and to my room (Wada 4 house 8 room R) by my second year roomie from Nepal Shaibyaa. The room is very basic and resembled a hospital without anything in it, a trip to Pune the local city was needed more of which to come later. My other room mates, Patricia from Portugal and Jyoti from a local rural village who cam through the Askshara programme, were all very welcoming and made it feel homely.
On Wednesday we started orientation, which first meant many meetings with staff and students. We had our first advisor meeting, which is a small group of first years from your Wada and second year buddies, who come to be a group where you can share your worries, happiness and make food at advisor dinners. I had a advisor dinner last night, we made pizza from scratch and ate them like at the teacher advisors house.
Also on Wednesday i had a maths assessment and the finally of the day, the second year show. Their show showed all the variety of cultures, talent and enthusiasm students have and have gained here. We were treated to acrobatics, dance singing, music and funny theatre sketches.
We were introduced to Satat on Thursday. This translates from Marathi, the local language spoken here, to sustainability, more spesifically to water sustainability. We took a campus tour down to the water and electricity buildings for college. The water is pumped up from the river, which uses a large pressure system. We need to leave enough water for villages further down the river, because of this, a focus this year is on water conservation. Therefore the college re-uses a lot of water for example on its bio-reserve. We are also given targets that encourage students and the whole college to be as sustainable as possible, which it does so in too many ways i can't explain.
Friday was an especially enlightening day for me. I was introduced to the akshara programme. It aims to educate those less fortunate and it started with the local community working on girls education. Its base is at the college and so gives us the chance to go to on home stays in the local villages. I attended the furthest village Badhass, which was a two hour hike away. I went with Numaya a friend from Bangladesh and Amelia a lovely second year from Malaysia. Out of mutual respect, we had to be culturally sensitive, covering our shoulders, chest and knees and speaking some Hindi and Marathi.
When we got there we met Shilpa our 14 year old host and her friends. One thing i loved about the people was that they had so little yet were more hospitable and happy than most well off families i know. They took us up the mountain where we played traditional games among the beautiful scenery. Then the girls insisted on dressing us in sari's, giving us henna then feeding us a very spicy but filling meal. After which we prepared to sleep, which was surprisingly comfortable for being their kitchen floor. Others were less fortunate but gained a experience by sleeping in the same room as the cows. In the morning we said our good byes as Shilpa went off to school. I hope i get to visit the family again to offer my help and learn more about their life.
On Sunday we had the day off, which the first years spent preparing for the first year show. I took part in the nation anthem opening performance, where i sung the sex pistols version of God save the Queen. I also took part in a Latin, Bollywood, Greek, mash-up dances and my favorite was the Brit girls going a spice girls dance performance, which i will upload to this post.
We were surprised on Monday morning at 5 am by the second years dragging us to the playing filed where the ultimate in cold mud games took place.
That same morning we started academic orientation. Classes start at 7:30,each being 40 minutes, then we have a 20 minute break for breakfast, after which is two more lessons. At 10:30 we have double block where we have assigned extra lessons, work and People's, Nation's and Cultures sessions, which is our Theory Of Knowledge. At 12:05 we have two more lessons, with the last one being a long block, followed by lunch.
At the moment i take English litiratrue and language, Global Politics, Philosophy and Dance higher lever, and Maths studies, Biology, Spanish standard level. Although we are still in trial period.
In the evenings we have Treveni's which are our CAS, they start this week. I plan to do Sahdana Friends as my off campus, in which we visit a home for metally challaged adults, we play games and educate them whilst educating our selves in doing so. I look to do acrobatics, hip hop, flash mob as my actions. For my campus service i want to do Fire Service. This is very useful as in the summer fires happen a lot and we will be trained physically and mentally to prepare for them. I was reminded of how important this Treveni is when we visited Paud the local town on Friday, where i eat some more spicy food, and a fire broke out at a electrical store. This was devastating for the community and those who lost there lively hood business.
I also plan to join Gensex which is a group who discuss issues surrounding gender and sex in a very relaxed environment.
On Saturday i went with friends to Pune a big city a few hours away from campus. The was my first time going round and seeing for myself the different lives people lead in India. We went to a market place via a rickshaw where i bought things for my room such as bed sheets, pillows, shelves and a rug for super cheap prices. I also bought Nutella and fruit from a food stall. We went to a cafe where i had the nicest sandwich ever!! the cafe food at the college is good but there is only so much curry, masala and chipati's i can take in one go.
When we arrived home my roomies and i rearranged the room about 10 times before coming to the best way for all of us.
Yesterday i had a lie in till 10 and went for brunch, possible the best meal ever here on campus. After i went for a run up and down the hill campus in situated on. The gym is right behind my room, and although basic, has rowing machines which i have come to love here.
I skyped Jake our friend at UWC USA and although the connection was bad it was cool comparing our timme at uwc's so farr.
That is a summerised update of what i have been doing here, but feel free to ask me about anything else.
Love
Sarah
Sarah here,
My last two weeks in India have been jam packed, adventurous and exhilarating. I will try to remember all i have done.
After what felt like an age trying to get my visa, it finally came on the Monday so i got on the first flight to Heathrow then to Mumbai. I planned to catch up on my sleep on the plane, but the temptation of watching the new Hobbit film was too great, also i wanted to stay up for the plane food of which the English breakfast included a curry dish, well my national dish is chicken tika masala.
I was met at Mumbai International airport by my British second year Mali and a Jamaican co year Carissa. We had a 6 hour jeep journey from the airport to the college where we talked, took in the new culture and slept....being very tired from travelling. I started noticing the big culture difference in this time as the drivers didn't stick to the left side of the road and if you think England has too many pot holes in the road you will not like India. Many people use motor bikes and i caught a whole family of three children and two adults on a two person bike.
When i arrived on Tuesday evening, i was led to my Wada (block) and to my room (Wada 4 house 8 room R) by my second year roomie from Nepal Shaibyaa. The room is very basic and resembled a hospital without anything in it, a trip to Pune the local city was needed more of which to come later. My other room mates, Patricia from Portugal and Jyoti from a local rural village who cam through the Askshara programme, were all very welcoming and made it feel homely.
On Wednesday we started orientation, which first meant many meetings with staff and students. We had our first advisor meeting, which is a small group of first years from your Wada and second year buddies, who come to be a group where you can share your worries, happiness and make food at advisor dinners. I had a advisor dinner last night, we made pizza from scratch and ate them like at the teacher advisors house.
Also on Wednesday i had a maths assessment and the finally of the day, the second year show. Their show showed all the variety of cultures, talent and enthusiasm students have and have gained here. We were treated to acrobatics, dance singing, music and funny theatre sketches.
We were introduced to Satat on Thursday. This translates from Marathi, the local language spoken here, to sustainability, more spesifically to water sustainability. We took a campus tour down to the water and electricity buildings for college. The water is pumped up from the river, which uses a large pressure system. We need to leave enough water for villages further down the river, because of this, a focus this year is on water conservation. Therefore the college re-uses a lot of water for example on its bio-reserve. We are also given targets that encourage students and the whole college to be as sustainable as possible, which it does so in too many ways i can't explain.
Friday was an especially enlightening day for me. I was introduced to the akshara programme. It aims to educate those less fortunate and it started with the local community working on girls education. Its base is at the college and so gives us the chance to go to on home stays in the local villages. I attended the furthest village Badhass, which was a two hour hike away. I went with Numaya a friend from Bangladesh and Amelia a lovely second year from Malaysia. Out of mutual respect, we had to be culturally sensitive, covering our shoulders, chest and knees and speaking some Hindi and Marathi.
When we got there we met Shilpa our 14 year old host and her friends. One thing i loved about the people was that they had so little yet were more hospitable and happy than most well off families i know. They took us up the mountain where we played traditional games among the beautiful scenery. Then the girls insisted on dressing us in sari's, giving us henna then feeding us a very spicy but filling meal. After which we prepared to sleep, which was surprisingly comfortable for being their kitchen floor. Others were less fortunate but gained a experience by sleeping in the same room as the cows. In the morning we said our good byes as Shilpa went off to school. I hope i get to visit the family again to offer my help and learn more about their life.
On Sunday we had the day off, which the first years spent preparing for the first year show. I took part in the nation anthem opening performance, where i sung the sex pistols version of God save the Queen. I also took part in a Latin, Bollywood, Greek, mash-up dances and my favorite was the Brit girls going a spice girls dance performance, which i will upload to this post.
We were surprised on Monday morning at 5 am by the second years dragging us to the playing filed where the ultimate in cold mud games took place.
That same morning we started academic orientation. Classes start at 7:30,each being 40 minutes, then we have a 20 minute break for breakfast, after which is two more lessons. At 10:30 we have double block where we have assigned extra lessons, work and People's, Nation's and Cultures sessions, which is our Theory Of Knowledge. At 12:05 we have two more lessons, with the last one being a long block, followed by lunch.
At the moment i take English litiratrue and language, Global Politics, Philosophy and Dance higher lever, and Maths studies, Biology, Spanish standard level. Although we are still in trial period.
In the evenings we have Treveni's which are our CAS, they start this week. I plan to do Sahdana Friends as my off campus, in which we visit a home for metally challaged adults, we play games and educate them whilst educating our selves in doing so. I look to do acrobatics, hip hop, flash mob as my actions. For my campus service i want to do Fire Service. This is very useful as in the summer fires happen a lot and we will be trained physically and mentally to prepare for them. I was reminded of how important this Treveni is when we visited Paud the local town on Friday, where i eat some more spicy food, and a fire broke out at a electrical store. This was devastating for the community and those who lost there lively hood business.
I also plan to join Gensex which is a group who discuss issues surrounding gender and sex in a very relaxed environment.
On Saturday i went with friends to Pune a big city a few hours away from campus. The was my first time going round and seeing for myself the different lives people lead in India. We went to a market place via a rickshaw where i bought things for my room such as bed sheets, pillows, shelves and a rug for super cheap prices. I also bought Nutella and fruit from a food stall. We went to a cafe where i had the nicest sandwich ever!! the cafe food at the college is good but there is only so much curry, masala and chipati's i can take in one go.
When we arrived home my roomies and i rearranged the room about 10 times before coming to the best way for all of us.
Yesterday i had a lie in till 10 and went for brunch, possible the best meal ever here on campus. After i went for a run up and down the hill campus in situated on. The gym is right behind my room, and although basic, has rowing machines which i have come to love here.
I skyped Jake our friend at UWC USA and although the connection was bad it was cool comparing our timme at uwc's so farr.
That is a summerised update of what i have been doing here, but feel free to ask me about anything else.
Love
Sarah
College on the hill
First college meeting
Dance practice
Brit Spice Girls dance performance
Rickshaw ride
And just for Mum
More pictures to come....
This is epic saz xxx miss you a lot :'(
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