July 9, 2017Only the Beginning (USA to India)

So this is it… We are about to go “live” in India…Just a couple of more days until we land in Bangalore. My name is Anastasia Caulfield – I’ll be one of the students going on the first summer program to India. A group of seven students will embark on a journey for six weeks. This will be an experience/journey of a lifetime. We have our bags, each other, and our hopes… this is going to be “wild”. We all are so excited to see what the near future has in store…

The prep work for this study abroad program lasted one week residing at Ramapo College and has allowed us to begin to absorb the rich differences in culture when compared to our own. We have learned about India as a “state” versus India as a “nation”. We learned that the collective is more important than the individual (a big difference in philosophy). Amid all the learning/absorbing, we get to know each other- and a little about our professors. To top off one of the lessons- we listened to popular music and India’s growing rap scene.

The preparatory week culminated in a fun but enriching experience- visiting an Indian-American community in Jackson Heights, New York. You haven’t lived if you have not tried Indian cuisine- (thanks Ruma and Ben) we all LOVED it! I am happy to say- we have become close in the few days that we have spent together. The sights and sounds transported us to a world that would soon become familiar to us. We are on our way- watch out India!

– Anastasia Caulfield (’18), International Studies major

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