Have you ever thought about traveling and staying in a foreign developing country for more than 2 months? How does the unknown affect you? Do you obtain more anxiety or refreshing excitement? In this article, I’ll give you some reasons why you should try to travel in an early stage, why I choose India rather than other countries, and what the key takeaways I obtain after this trip.
Takeaway 1: Grab your chance and insist on it!
When I heard about AIESEC (an international student club) volunteering program for India in 2014 in my sophomore, some keywords came to my minds, such as exotic, adventrous, out of confort zone, and altruistic… I was determined to apply for it right away. Then what kind of barriers are in front of me at that moment?
- Financial Resource: The total spendings for 2 months could be around EUR 1,700. Thanks to my university’s subsidy which encouraged students to have international experiences, I successfully obtained EUR 560 to cover half of my flight ticket costs. Regarding the rest of the costs, I covered them by my family’s support and my part-time job.
- Family Communication: for me, this is the most time and energy consuming part! If you have conservative parents, it’s truly hard to persuade them to give you the green light to travel in a foreign country, isn’t it? The following tips are for you:
- (a) Please zip your mouth and be a proactive listener. Give some why-type questions, and list down all their concerns.
- (b) Do your research on each aspect and nicely prepare the reasons.
- (c) Build up comfortable settings before you raise this tough topic.
- (d) Ensure that your communication responds to all their concerns, and you could highlight how you may grow during this exciting journey.
Takeaway 2: Taste cultural shocks with your senses!
- Bargaining Culture: no matter when you buy a souvenir or take a rickshaw, you have to bargain. In my experience, you could start with 50% of the proposed price, and adjust it afterwards.
- Kind People: the local indian train didn’t have english sign, which showed the current stop. In case of missing my stop, I made friends with my neighbor passengers with some simple hindi and informed them my destination. When I almost arrived, my neighbor woke me up. I felt so thankful to them.
- Crazy Traffic: For places outside the city center, you could find different animals which shared the streets with you, such as goats, cows and chickens, but may not find traffic lights! You’ll surely learn how to safely cross the most busiest roads after your Inidian trip.
- Marvelous Cultural heritage: You may walk by elaborated hindu temples, and learnt about some stories from Hindu mythology. The Pink city (Jaipur), the white city (Udaipur), the Mini Taj Mahal at Pune … all these destinations are worth of having a visit!
Takeaway 3: Human connections with the world!
- Kids’ Smiles: Via the matching from AIESEC, I’ve volunteered for Blue Bird Foundation in Baroda (Vadodara (gujarâtî : વડોદરા – hindi : बड़ौदा) ). In the project, 4 people in a team, we went to 3 local elementary schools to promote the importance of keeping hygiene and hopes with songs or handicraft activities. You may be surprised that the students are smiley and willing to interact with you even if they know that you’re foreigners.
- Cow Festival: On my way of heading to Goa, I met a guy in the street at Daulatabad, which is known for Daulatabad Fort. He’s a 24 year old engineer student. Somehow, I trusted him so much and accepted his invitation of visiting his place on the next day. As promised, he came and picked me up with his motor. The farther we were from the city center, the bigger fears I had at the moment.
When we arrived his home, greeted all his neighbors, and had the most authentic Indian dinner with his family sitting on the floor, I finally felt relieved and had no doubts on this nice guy in front of me. When the sky turned dark, he brought me to an open space where all the residents gathered. Locals started to drink, sing, dance to celebrate and worship the cows. This was one of the most precious and unforgettable moment in my life.