It has been more than three weeks since I am in India for the internship at Oakridge International School. Incredible India! I must agree! I am speechless and in the same time feel like every day spent here writes its own chapter. Every day is a box of surprises, we tend to say. It’s me and my Mexican friend who has become my closest friend here. We arrived at about the same time, realized how much common we have and now are sharing the room and have more or less settled down. Yes, it was only yesterday when I finally moved into a certain place (after moving from one temporary room to another) and could pack out my stuff.
I am not really willing to tell you how everything happened from the beginning till now as I think it’s quite impossible to put in words everything I have felt, noticed, experienced and seen in the past days. However, be patient! By time, these tiny details of every day life will come out as nice stories. Here are some highlights I would like to share as the first impressions of my first days in India.
Arrival in Hyderabad
I arrived at Delhi airport at night and had some hours to wait till my plane to Hyderabad. I was trying to sleep on my luggage and in the same time capturing the new, undiscovered, excited and noisy world around me. Once the time came, I checked in for my flight to Hyderabad. „I wish you a pleasant stay here!” said a random Indian guy (currently living in America) who sat next to me in the plane. And actually only now the real excitement started. Hyderabad, the city where I was going to spend at least half a year, was in my arms now.
I wasn’t picked up at the airport, nor I was picked up on time in the bus stop where I was asked to get off from the airport bus. I could have started to get worried and become angry and blame the local committee, but somehow I realized it’s the way I chose: unorganized, surprising, unexpected and so much intriguing. I rather asked for the help to some local people to call the local AIESEC committee responsible and after that was done, I could finally meet my pick-up person and be put in a rickshaw (for the first time) to go to my residency. I was enjoying the rickshaw ride as some kid trying a strange vehicle in amusement park. Indeed, if amusement park is about to surprise you and give extraordinary emotions, that is how I would describe the traffic in Hyderabad. Full of spirit, surprises, beggars asking for money, dogs, people sleeping or peeing on streets. You can find there anything and let your emotional carousel go up and down.
‘Pleasant’ chaos
Once we reached our residency, I was excited to meet other interns and slowly start settling down. You wish! Confusion about where to stay as the room that was offered to us was really dirty, double beds while we are put two people in one bed (male and female), no electricity, no internet, no hot water, general confusion about who is staying where (as there were a few interns arriving at this time), no understanding of the situation. That’s what we found in our welcome package. My laptop breaking down. Though it might sound like a full container of complains, I am saying it just because of reporting. Actually, because we were around four of us in the same situation, plus there were interns who were already living in the building (just in different flats), the general mood was not that pessimistic as it might sound. We lived hour by hour, minute by minute and enjoyed getting to know each other, taking the rickshaws and going to the city centre and having our first dinner in McDonald’s. It was four of us – two Tunisian guys, Mexican girl and me.Movies and parties
And that is why I love India. As deep as it might drown you, as high it can lift you up. Extreme feelings is the regular lifestyle here. It’s something you can and cannot get used to in the same time. Already on my first arrival day after some exploration of the city centre, we went off to a party with other interns. It was supposedly Ladies night and we enjoyed disco rhythms at a full spirit.
While the other interns had to go to work next days, we were still resting and waiting for information about our schools and works. Unexpectedly, an opportunity for earning money came to us. One message and we as foreigners were invited to take part in a movie shooting. The shooting took place at the Hyderabad airport and we were picked up from our residency and brought there. It started with Indian breakfast when the whole crew was eating Indian food. I couldn’t eat anything as it didn’t look attractive at all. Afterwards, me and a polish girl had to go and change our clothes. We were wearing blue uniforms to act as flight attendants from British Airways and they even fixed our hair accordingly. There was nothing much we had to do except for walking with suitcases on a background while main heroes were engaging in dialogues. However, we were not forgotten in neither of scenes shot that day (around 5-6). The so called „feeling like celebrity” work finished at around six when we were taken back to our residency with 1200 rupees (12 ls) for each in our pockets. Nice job! It was Saturday, so another party to put on your dance shoes and forget about things you are still lacking....maybe it’s all about feelings and day to day situations which you just take as they come...
