I felt I'd adjusted to Kolkata when the auto-rickshaw driver told me my ride cost 50 rupees, and I knew to only give a ten and hang on until I got my change back. (If you hadn't tried that with me, I'd have let you keep the change.)
A unique part of the CLS Program is the language policy, which forbids the students from using English (except during an emergency). The language policy has been in effect since Monday. Only on a few occasions, I have spoken a full, grammatically sound Bangla sentence without help. I've been speaking Banglish, really, an odd mixture of mostly Bangla nouns and English verbs, or Bangla adjectives with English nouns and no verbs. (Verbs are still most difficult for me to conjugate.) Still, I was amazed to see Bangla flowing out of my pen at roughly 10-12 WPM (up from 2 WPM in week one).
Being in this program feels a lot like being a toddler. My sweet host grandma even called me a baby, because I am constantly drinking from a blue water bottle. I'm learning to express my thoughts and ask for what I need. Bacha indeed.
The lows can get pretty low. I've experienced food poisoning, compounded by dehydration and a fever that lasted two days. Almost worse than my physical discomfort was my homesickness.
Similarly, the highs bring me so high. (Highs include: drinking mango lassi, buying comfy Kurtas, and learning Bangla cuss words with new friends). I can order food, make small talk and find my way home from almost anywhere in the neighborhood on foot. Learning to cross the street in India is perhaps my proudest achievement.
There are less than six weeks until this experience ends. I will try to keep up with documenting what it's like being a bideshini in Kolkata.
A unique part of the CLS Program is the language policy, which forbids the students from using English (except during an emergency). The language policy has been in effect since Monday. Only on a few occasions, I have spoken a full, grammatically sound Bangla sentence without help. I've been speaking Banglish, really, an odd mixture of mostly Bangla nouns and English verbs, or Bangla adjectives with English nouns and no verbs. (Verbs are still most difficult for me to conjugate.) Still, I was amazed to see Bangla flowing out of my pen at roughly 10-12 WPM (up from 2 WPM in week one).
Being in this program feels a lot like being a toddler. My sweet host grandma even called me a baby, because I am constantly drinking from a blue water bottle. I'm learning to express my thoughts and ask for what I need. Bacha indeed.
The lows can get pretty low. I've experienced food poisoning, compounded by dehydration and a fever that lasted two days. Almost worse than my physical discomfort was my homesickness.
Similarly, the highs bring me so high. (Highs include: drinking mango lassi, buying comfy Kurtas, and learning Bangla cuss words with new friends). I can order food, make small talk and find my way home from almost anywhere in the neighborhood on foot. Learning to cross the street in India is perhaps my proudest achievement.
There are less than six weeks until this experience ends. I will try to keep up with documenting what it's like being a bideshini in Kolkata.
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