Flying to India

I have been in D.C. the last two days attending a mandatory orientation for Critical Langauge Scholars. Everyone who is studying and Indian language is here with me, as the Arabic group left as we came in, and the Farsi group is arriving just as we're leaving. The hotel is beautiful and I have had a comfortable stay here.

Posh beds.

Coffee bar in the cabinet!

The students in the Indic language program are fascinating. There are about fifty of us in total. Only eleven of these student will be studying Punjabi. Everyone I have met so far speaks at least two languages and almost all have traveled abroad. My colleagues include Ph.D. students, college sophomores and everything in between. There is certainly an air of intellect and cultural understanding, and I breathe in this air so happily.

The orientation, itself, was very dry. We were introduced to State Department officials, CLS Alumni coordinators, and program directors. They discussed logistics of the trip and future opportunities for CLS scholars. I was also able to meet an alum from the Punjabi program. We got along like a house on fire, as she told me all the ins and outs of being a foreigner in Chandigarh.

Updates: I leave for Chicago at noon. Once there, I have a direct flight to New Delhi. Yes, my first flight to India is today. I guess I am just a pile of nerves.