July 18, 2017The Adventure Begins (Bangalore, India)

…and here we are. After a grueling 24 hour trip we landed in a brave new world of sights and sounds destined to forever change us, and after short and vaguely terrifying car ride, we reached our new home. Despite our week of preparation, I think I’m not alone in saying that nothing could have prepared us for how truly gorgeous this place is. Living at the Fireflies Intercultural Centre feels like living in a magical forest. It roots us here and makes it so rather than being tourists looking at a strange land, we’re visitors living inside of it. The staff here, and frankly everyone in India, is so kind and friendly. The people wave and smile, and sit there like saints as we stumble through our nascent Kannada (the local language), doing the best they can to help us. Upon our arrival, the staff at Fireflies threw us a welcome ceremony where we were introduced to the staff and the Fireflies way of life. We all worked together to create a beautiful mandala made of flowers (see photo). The food is incredible. Personally, I might be eating healthy for the first time in my life. Our fears of homesickness have been replaced by new ones of ever having to leave.

Our days here are full to bursting with new experiences, more than I have space to enumerate here. A quick highlight reel: we’ve planted trees and shopped at bazaars and clothing shops. We’ve learned about caste and tribal rights in forests. We’ve been taught some basic Kannada and had our world graced with the presence of an alternative Nobel prize winner who brought a few of us to tears. We’ve pet cows, played badminton and watched Bollywood films with our den mother Ruma (one of our Ramapo College Professors). One of us even had an impromptu naming ceremony. All while trying to absorb the constant stimulation of the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.

I’ll end with a piece of advice I was given before I left: you’ll get out of this experience what you put in. Every great moment thus far has come from following that mantra. As scary as it can be, if you can engage with the world around you, the world will return the favor in kind.

– Kathrine Kisor (’20),International Studies major

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