broad abroad

Frequently Asked Questions regarding this trip, and my responses:

1.) Where are you going?

I’ll be traveling to Pune, India, which is located in the Western state of Maharashtra, roughly 150 kilometers (93.2 miles) from Mumbai. Here is the Wikipedia site.

2.) How long will you be there?

Five months — from July 11th through December 8th, 2007

3.) What are you studying?

A large portion of the program is independent study, but I wont know what resources I have until I get there. However, I know I’ll be working towards my Studio Art major, and am interested in the textile art of Batik. Jonathan Evans has some great examples of Batik here. I’ll also be taking courses in Marathi (the language in Pune), Foundations of India, and topics such as Indian Architecture and Indian Film.

4.) Are you living with a family?

Yes, but I wont know who they are until I get there.

5.) Can I write to you?

Absolutely! And I’ll write back! Here’s my address:

Kristin Boehm
ACM India Studies Program
c/o Kalachhaya
270 / D Patrakar Nagar Road
Shivajinagar
Pune 411 016
Maharashtra, INDIA

Mail may take up to two weeks to travel in and out of India

I took my first Typhoid pill today, and am starting the incredibly expensive Malaria vaccine next week. “Better safe than sorry,” I told the clerk, but I’m not sure I meant all $230 of it (after insurance). In return, she flashed me a Midwestern smile along the lines of what overly critical, or cunningly perceptive outsiders refer to as, “Minnesota Nice.”

Through the addictive power of Barnes and Noble, I also stocked up on gifts for my home-stay family. Some Indians I haven’t met yet are soon to be the proud owners of one 2008 Wild and Scenic Minnesota Calendar, a photographic look at Minneapolis/St. Paul, and a picturesque look at Minnesota’s natural landscapes, which to me invokes the American sentiments of endless abundance and Manifest Destiny.

This inevitable detachment from connections in Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Unistar (a state of its own, mostly mental), has sparked a previously unheard of generosity in me. I feel compelled to randomly gift things to not only my host family, but to people here. However, this chord extends only to peripheral friends, not everyday ones. I have thoughts on why, but don’t feel like articulating them into words right now.

I also picked up a new sketchbook and a journal, as well as a couple of comfy bras.

Something great! Shubhang and his family will be in India (for the first time in 14 years) in November visiting their friends and relatives. Jagruti said they’d definitely be seeing me in Pune, because they have friends there. Also, Rose is studying Buddhism all term. In her words: “I’ll be sitting crozz legged wit mah eyes closed all semester in Bodh Gaya, in the Burmese Vihar…and where will YOU be, lovely?” Response: on the other side of the country, but maybe…

Things to do in the next couple of weeks that aren’t ‘Pack’ include: Read Love and Longing in Bombay, by Vikram Chandra, as well as India: From Midnight to the Millenium, by Shashi Tharoorskip (this still hasn’t arrived in the mail, which sketches me out), put together a photo album of my life here to bring there, GET MY BLOOD TYPED! rawr rawr rawrrrr!, send out a mass e-mail collecting addresses and spreading mine, see Water, UNPACK FROM COLLEGE, etc. etc. etc. not gonna think about it.

Yesterday afternoon, I met with the girls from last year’s Pune program over an excellent home-made Maharashtrian dinner. Danielle, Emily, Sam, and Sara shared unique insights on the program, which reinforced the experience as being extremely subjective, depending heavily on host families and social networking. They also taught Tara and I how to squat without toilets, wipe without toilet paper, and eat without silverware. The girls were all great, and talking with them about their experience reminded me that it would be happening to me in just over a month. I’m still struggling to realize that it’s real.

My innoculation appointment is scheduled for this Friday, two days after I come home from finals. This is seriously exacerbating my near-debilitating fear of needles… On the to-inject list are: my Measels, Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Polio Adult Boosters, Hepatitis A, Malaria Prophylactic (chloroquine-resistant strain), Typhoid Fever, Yellow Fever, and Japanese Encephalitis, as well as having my blood typed. Somehow, I’ve managed to slip through the cracks of the American system for the last 20 years without knowing what type of blood is flowing through my veins. Maybe this was by choice… If I’m brutually injured within the next five days, and you’re a universal donor, I’ll need your blood.