So why India and Nepal? My answer to that question is the same as my answer was to "Why Turkey?" -why not? I'll go to the generic places like England and Australia when I'm old but I want to go to weird and uncomfortable places while I'm young. This has made my whole family, including my mom and grandma especially, quite nervous but surprisingly I think I feel pretty prepared for this experience...but still can't believe I leave TODAY! I thought it may be interesting to write a few things about what I expect/am nervous about for the trip and it might be interesting to compare once I get settled in so here it goes.
Expectations/Cautions for India
I will be in Chennai India staying in a hotel for 6 weeks with four other undergrad engineering students from MSU (one of which is a girl, Morgan) and a Ph.D. student from Iowa State. We'll be researching "Nondestructive Evaluation" stuff which means we want to make sensors that will detect developing cracks in various types of structures. The cool part about this trip is that I'm actually getting paid to go. Through a National Science Foundation grant I got my visa, immunizations, plus a stipend covered which I'm very happy about.
- Safety: of course this comes in many forms - physical, my possessions, monetary. Of course I need to be cautious of my physical safety especially after the news blowing up that story about the rape in Delhi recently and have vowed to never travel alone and only be walking around at night when necessary and in a big group. I've also bought many TSA locks to put on my backpack, have a money belt AND a passport holder, and have taken other precautions to avoid pick-pocketing. I've been told though that the southern part of India is more safe and more conservative so hopefully this will work in my favor.
- Heat: it'll be hot except I still have to stay covered up meaning nothing above the knee, no low shirts, and my neck until my shoulder must be covered. Luckily it's cooler this week and is only in the high 90s...
- People: there's over 1 billion people in India and I'm told that it will be crazy packed with people
- Transportation: I expect to do much rickshaw riding and having to bargain before I even enter the vehicle. Longer weekend trips between cities I'll be taking a train and will hopefully be in the women's only car.
- Food: I'm expecting to poop for a solid two weeks at least. I'm sure this is exaggerating but in this case I'm preparing for the worst because my poor American belly will probably have a difficult time adjusting to rich and not so sterilized food
- Research: I think Morgan and I will be researching how glass composite materials break under tension and the development of damage. The better news is that the lab we'll be in is air conditioned
- Toilets: will probably be worse than Turkey but I took my cousin's advice and now have a handy thing which should make an uncomfortable trip to the bathroom slightly more pleasant.
- Friends: I really hope to meet a few friends throughout the trip.
Expectations/Cautions for Nepal
For my visit in Nepal I will be in the nation's capitol, Kathmandu, for three weeks staying at Kathmandu University and will then be in a village in the Kathmandu Valley for the last week. This is a study abroad experience so the first three weeks we will be learning stuff and then while we're in the villages we will be implementing some sort of sustainable project that the community will need. Today I found out that there will be 17 people in this program and all but four or five are from the US and ALSO I think I counted eight girls on the list.
- Climate: It'll be cooler but will also be monsoon season...I hope my dinky umbrella and a rain coat will do.
- Getting along with all 17 people. Well I'm sure I can get along with people but I hope obvious cliques don't form.
- Tranquility: I imagine Nepal to be a more tranquil place, especially compared to India, but I'm unsure if this is how it'll be in Kathmandu
- Food/culture: A mix between Chinese and Indian
This is all I really can think of right now and I should really get going to double check on my packing...I'm really looking forward to the moment in India when I remember I forgot something...I hope I don't forget my shoes because I've already forgotten them twice...but I'm sure that won't happen.
Talk to you later,
Caroline
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