After preparing for a couple days before all the students arrived, the South Asian students presented on their cultures for the international students. You can read more here, and see a few student interviews here, beginning with Olga!
Monica
Mohammad
Rohini
Kultwisiso
Shilpi
Today, while I was walking through the market of Pudomandapam I became a little separated from the group. A woman came up to me and very quickly put a flower necklace around my neck. She then told me to pay her 50 rupees. I refused and tried to take if off because I didn’t want it, but I couldn’t figure it out. I also didn’t want to break it because then I’d be obligated to pay. I continued to refuse and told her over and over again to take the necklace off me. She was resilient and only asked for money. In the end, I had to eventually pay her the money because I couldn’t figure out how To take the necklace off myself. This event angered me, and it also helped me realize and reminded me to stay alert at all times, especially in India.
On August 2nd, temple in Madurai called the Meenakshi Amman Temple. It is built for Hindu’s to worship their gods. The temple is very exciting to see. The craftsmanship of the stone pillars, statues, and shrines, are truly memorable. You must go in the temple barefoot, which is exciting because you’re literally standing on history. The temple is very important to me because I want to be an archeologist. To visit a site like that is one small step for my peers, but one huge leap for my career.
While recording Carnatic dancing for a project that a couple of the other students and I were conducting, we decided to speak with the younger students. Immediately, a little girl warmed up to me and decided to sit in my lap. Then, again and again other girls piled into my lap as well. They were incredibly inquisitive and wanted to absolutely every single detail about me. Where are you from? What’s your name? Each of the girls took a turn sitting in my lap, giggling after each other. It warmed my heart to see how such a simple thing such as being with a foreigner brought a sense of happiness and joy. Their eyes were bright with a sense of newness that I brought into their lives at that very moment. It just goes to show how you can make such a difference and impact in someone’s life, without doing much. You can touch their heart with simply just being there.
