Rickshaws and Ruckus

DISCLAIMER: This program is incredibly fun, but really is what you make it. I went in the Spring semester and it was a great experience but I think you must be willing to adapt to the culture.

It's so easy to travel throughout India which was the most fabulous part of this class. I would never NEVER travel alone because it's incredibly easy for natives to recognize that you are foreign, but traveling on trains and tour buses are great options. If traveling on an overnight train, always opt for the higher class air conditioned sleepers.

I also really enjoyed the program's planned travel. I went on the South Indian tour at the beginning of the spring semester and it was totally worth the money. The resident director in the program introduces you to Indian life in a gentle way while you still feel like a tourist and begins to help you live independently in India. If I had traveled with other students at the beginning without him, I wouldn't have known where to go or what foods to choose or where to stay. He handles it really well and explains why he decides certain things for us that way you can travel by yourself later in the program. We got to see the beautiful countryside and meet Indians that the Resident Director new and try a lot of incredible foods and get tours of interesting places.

DAILY LIFE:
Just a quick blurb about what daily life looks like- you walk about 40 minutes to school each day or you can take a 10 minute rickshaw ride to school which costs from 50 cents to $1. The school has authentic Indian food in its cafeteria and people are friendly, but in a curious way. You have to endure a lot of staring and women sometimes need to combat feisty, pushy men. You will feel like a novelty. As long as the USAC program keeps its current housing, there is a Domino's pizza and a Pizza Hut around the corner. There's also a great restaurant called Kevin's Kitchen from which you can order-in authentic Indian food at night. There's also a grocery about 5 minutes walking away and you live close to a pretty well-known bus stop so it's not hard to direct a rickshaw driver to your home. You'll be constantly tired from being bombarded by new sights, sounds, and people, but the experience is great.