To Be or Not to Be a Tourist

Four days ago was 16 April. I landed in Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on 16 January. Which means that I have been in India for officially 3 months. In addition to that, I will leave India on 14 July, a little less than three months ago. Which means that I have reached the halfway point in my Indian adventure. Finally, my thesis and therefore my official internship time, according to MSU, is over. Which means that I will be starting work with GSC and helping out the other 5 MSU students who will be doing summer internships starting at the end of May. Put all of that together, and I know now that I’m not a tourist anymore. I never considered myself one to begin with, but now it’s for sure. I live here.

Which also means that there’s not much to write about. The purpose of writing on this blog is to share cultural learning and societal differences that I experience here. But after three months, there’s not much that surprises me. Even if I do come across a cultural facet that is a little bit interesting and noteworthy, it makes perfect sense in the context of Palampur culture, and it’s not that surprising to me. Because of that, I rarely feel that I should write down my days experience in the blog anymore, because by this point, it’s all business as usual. So, apologies to those who got used to reading something new from me every day (Hi Mom!).

Is that a bad thing? I’m not sure. On one hand, I’ve been here long enough to fit into at least some parts of the culture and I’ve become more comfortable. On the other hand, I’m getting lazy about living here and finding something exciting about everyday life. I was asked if I wanted to go to Amritsar and see the Golden Temple, a beautiful religious monument in Punjab. To be honest, I’m not interested at all. It’s just a temple. If you’ve seen one, you haven’t seen them all, but you might get tired of seeing them. I’d much rather go to Punjab to check out a different cuisine and eat something new and different. That’s my idea of a good trip. Besides, my whole thesis was about gleaning a bit of culture out of local food, and that’s much more fun than a trip to a centuries-old temple.

But fear not, I do have something interesting to write about. Principal Ramdev’s family has opted for an interesting living arrangement. His 16-year-old daughter wants to be an aerospace engineer. The only university in the area to offer a degree in those studies is in Chandigarh. The only way that she will be admitted to that university is if she completes her high school studies from a high school (10+, in the Indian education system) in the same area. As a result, his family decided that his wife and two daughters would move to Chandigarh while he would stay in Palampur and work. For two years. I am very impressed that he and his family would be willing to make such sacrifices so that his daughter can get quality education. In the meantime, I’ve extended a permanent invitation to him to have dinner at the mud hut when he wants. Maybe I will be able to keep his spirits up with a constant supply of American desserts. Heck, it works for me.