Incredible India

It is hard to believe that a year ago I travelled 18 hours to India, and what a trip it was! For those of you who don't know (or haven't see the bulletin board in Baker), I took a "Doing Business in India" course at Bradley and as a part of it, we spent 10 days in India stopping in New Delhi, Pune, and Mumbai. There were 10 of us in the class: 4 guys and 6 girls, so the pairings were perfect. We got to know each other a little bit in class before the trip, but I think it is safe to say we knew each other well after that 18 hour trip I mentioned earlier.

India is a wonderful place and I don't think one can truly understand what I mean until they go there. The culture is much different than here in the US and I was so thankful to witness that. While there we went to a cookie manufacturing company, a university, a movie studio, Elephanta Caves, Jama Masjid, and the famous, Taj Mahal. I enjoyed that the trip had a good mixture of business and tourism, it kept us very busy and allowed us to appreciate the many sides of India.

I went through culture shock when we first got there because I couldn't believe how populated New Delhi truly was. We talked about the mass amounts of people there would be, but I never knew it would be as crowded as it was. Another thing that many of us didn't know how to take in was the fact that we could look out our bus window and see people bending over taking a dump. It was all a big change for us at first, but I think once we got over that, we learned to appreciate the people for what they were. One thing we found funny was how idolized Americans were. We would have little school children run after us to take pictures and we had people at the Taj Mahal line up to shake our hands. I didn't know if I felt like a movie star or endangered animal.

I think what I miss most about India is the delicious food! Every meal I had, from breakfast to dinner, was very appetizing. I couldn't really tell you what all I ate while there, but whatever it all was, I recommend it! =) One meal I do remember was when 6 of us went to a seafood restaurant. Keegan and I both got crab masala and let me tell you, it was one of the best meals of my life!! My drink of choice while there was the watermelon juice. In class, our professor would tell us how "divine" it was and it truly was divine.

At the university visit in Pune, we were welcomed with roses by the students and faculty. We were honored and definitely blushing most of the day. We toured the school and campus, sat in on a class, had lunch, and interacted with the students. This was probably my favorite part of the trip because it was interesting to see how their school system worked and I met a lot of great people that I still am in contact with today. We met up with the students that night and had a blast, memories for a lifetime.

Overall, aside from not being able to drink the water (cough Hunter and Ivan… cough) and being out of my comfort zone for moments, the trip was amazing and I am very glad I went on it. I made some great friends both in the class and over in India, I saw so many beautiful people, sites, and objects, and I had a few found admiration for the Indian culture. To anyone at Bradley who can take the India or China courses, I highly suggest it. It is worth every penny of the costs. To anyone who is considering going but are too nervous, do your research and try it out!

Namaste.