Hello All!
So, this is my first post to my new (and first) blog. Why am I starting a blog? On August 24 I leave for a roughly 3 1/2 month trip to New Delhi, India. I am studying abroad through the SIT (School for International Training) program, India: Arts & Culture. It is going to involve Hindi lessons every morning and afternoons full of seminars on various aspects of, um, art and culture. Theater, music, painting, religion, textiles, pottery, architecture--lots of things. I will be staying in a mix of places, from home stays to dorms to hostels. I am not taking my laptop, but will have access to school computers and numerous Internet cafes. While I make no promises, I hope to be able to post often enough to keep everyone updated on what's going on. Lots of people have asked for email updates, but I think this will be a lot easier.
I don't leave for about a month yet, but I wanted to get this started now--the things to do are already piling up and I didn't want to have to worry about setting this up right before leaving. Plus the prep for the trip is a pretty big part of it too. I probably won't post too regularly just yet, but keep checking if you have any interest.
I'm currently working my way through several books about Delhi & India in an attempt to know as much as I can before leaving. I have memorized almost all of the Devanagari script in my first steps to learning Hindi. It is a beautiful alphabet. Tomorrow I will be sending in my visa application. Monday I head to a travel clinic for typhoid and flu shots. We already picked up my Malaria pills!
Packing has only just started. I'm only taking a few small bags, so this is rather stressful. I don't mind not taking a lot of clothes, but it just feels like there won't be enough space. I'd like to avoid suitcases and just have a large backpack and a small duffel carry-on, but I'm not sure how that will work. Luckily I can buy a lot of things over there.
Time to go. I'll post again when something interesting and India-related comes up!
