Culture Shock 2.0

Hello all,

I'm sorry to everyone who has seemed a little worried about me since I reached Dehradun. I have been experiencing my first real culture shock since returning to India. Is it possible to have culture shock if you're expecting the new culture? The answer is: yes. Rather than spinning around as I did when I got to Jaipur four years ago, I've found myself saying: "You knew this would happen, just experience it and get through it." For example, I've been trying to register at the Police Station as a foreign researcher. Putting my Indian paperwork together and additionally complying with the US Embassy's specific demands took the better part of a day. Not to mention that it has caused considerable stress that Monday is Krishna's birthday, therefore I can't go to the police station. I think my adviser had a heart attack when he remembered that. This is a process that has no official list of requirements and officials in each city can determine what they want that particular day.

I wouldn't care about getting registered so much if it weren't for the fact that I'm impatient to get up to the Landour Language School and begin my Hindi lessons. Fortunately, Indians are as understanding of their bureaucracy as much as I am unprepared for it. As a result, the Principle of the school has been very understanding regarding my hold up. Did I expect all of this? Yes. But is it still shocking? Definitely!

I also found out where I'll be living. I keep on saying that it is embarrassingly nice. It is the home of a professor at the Wildlife Institute who is in Nepal for the next three years. I can't get over that I will be living there when I was previously living in an apartment that was so old that squirrels consistently chewed through the walls in the cabinets. Fortunately, it seems that another Fulbright grantee will be sharing the place with me, so I won't be lonely when I'm there.

The biggest culture shock came when I went into Dehradun yesterday. The city has grown a great deal since it became the capital of Uttarakhand (which is only about 10-years-old.) There are far wider streets than most of India. This is probably because it is a relatively newer city. But even those streets are packed with cars, motorcycles and people. Everyone says that the infrastructure has not grown as fast as the city and they are completely right. I was totally overwhelmed in every way. A lot of people to watch out for, a lot of smells, and horns honking all of the time.

The good part is that this is not really a tourist place. There were a couple of tourists in the city, but really not nearly as many as in Jaipur. Also people are much calmer here than in Jaipur. There was less shoving and yelling. I also wasn't cat called or groped once! This is a big deal for me! Rajasthan was really awful that way, it is probably the reason that it took me so long to come back to India. I don't know what I would have done if I had been harassed, because I was completely emotionally and psychologically exhausted when I got back to the guest house. I think I also had heat exhaustion, because I started dry heaving a little bit. But that also could have been from stress. I really thought that the immersion wouldn't be that bad this time. But I guess that even the Reading Terminal Market on a Saturday afternoon didn't prepare me for the over stimulation that is India.

Through all of this, I had an amazing guide. There is a PhD student at the Institute who has been a facilitator during my first few days. She helped me get a phone, internet, all my paperwork together, and she took me into the city to get things for the house. I needed pots, pans, dishes, and sheets, because it is almost completely empty. She keeps on saying that I am "Princess Erica," because the house is so nice. I keep telling her that I am not used to this, but it is hard for me to explain West Philly to someone who has never been to an American city. Not that West Philly isn't nice, but I don't know her well enough to explain how American students often live on their own in less-than-suburban neighborhoods. I am seriously embarrassed over how much money the Fulbright gives us. But when I mentioned this to the Director of the Indian branch, he told me that I would be in no way living in such a nice place if I weren't living in Dehradun. I have to remember that people living in Chennai and Pune has the same budget that I have. I believe they are much more stressed about finances. Most importantly, I should remember how much debt I will be going into as a Med student and that I should just enjoy my palace before I have to do battle with squirrels again.

Thank you to all for reading. Don't worry too much about my culture shock. I had a pretty bad panic yesterday when I was crying for about an hour, but I think that's healthy. I ended up sleeping for about ten hours after that, which was about the same as I slept the past three days put together. I'll try to keep everyone updated, especially as I transition to Mussorrie and begin my language classes.