First Impressions-A Student's Perspective

Guest Blogger: Darick Hendrix, 2nd-year MSW student

Wow! Today has been exceptional, and I'm not actually sure I know where to start, given the time difference! Easy for you to say, "start at the beginning", but for me that was June 30th, and today is July 2nd--my first day!

My name is Darick Hendrix, the only male student on this Global Immersion trip, and I'm loving it!

I arrived at Mumbai airport at 11:30pm. Once outside, I was hit with the most intense feelings of gratitude, curiosity and excitement. Then I was hit with the HUMIDITY, HEAT and a CROWD!! I was immediately greeted and waved down by professors Gokul Mandayam and Heather Halperin; what a welcome and relief that was! Once we arrived (approx 5:30am) we went to the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and were shown our rooms, which are quite convenient and comfortable with TV and computers.

I slept for about five hours and woke up ready for the day. I was the first person up, so I decided to walk around a bit. The night masked what was on the other side of the campus- "slums" in which many call home. Walking around, I slowly got accustomed to the smells and sounds that surrounded me as I began to take it all in. At one point i saw a family of monkeys playing on an over head tarp on campus.

We were offered our first meal of the day for lunch around 1p.m. It was exceptional. Wanting to see more, a group of us went on our own exploration of the area. I have to tell you, walking around with six young ladies does a man proud. The fact that there were not many women walking around anyway gave way to the greater curiosity to those that watched the parade of American strangers in their city. We watched flower makers at work and decided that we had walked enough and caused enough of a stir, so we returned for tea time on campus.

After tea we hung out with Pawan, one of the workers here on campus.He's one of the most beautiful people I've had the pleasure of meeting thus far on this trip. Pawan gave us a short tour of the campus and invited us to his home where he lives with his aunt, cousin and her baby boy. We were greeted with open arms and were offered tea in his home-a humble and modest house on campus.

Dinner was served and although I have no idea what I've been eating I have to say I have not been disappointed. After dinner we decided to go see a Bollywood film! Pawan had arranged to take all 15 of us to the mall to watch a movie. Only he and Professor Mandayam could understand the language, but it was still fun! We all took our first rickshaw rides (3 per car). These 3 wheeled go-carts are fast and furious just like the drivers! The entrance into the mall where the movie was playing was interesting. Men went through one door while the women the other. There were metal detectors at each door and guards to search our belongings. It was too late to get a rickshaw on our way home, so Professor Mandayam led us on our first bus ride in India, which was another great experience!

I've traveled before, but this was something I felt drawn to in a different way, and for that I am humbled. I know, a lot to write for day 1, but as you can see A LOT happened! I can only imagine how the rest of these weeks will be. Stay tuned!

Namaste.