Walking from my hotel to the nearby internet cafe just now I felt as though I was making my India debut. I was noting people taking note of me, particularly women, and feeling the harsh sunshine on my face for the first time. I arrived in Gujarat this morning filled with anxiety, a bit of fear and some excitement as well. I had to take long deep breathes as I rode into town from the airport. I tried to remember my first arrival in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 2001. That city also felt intimidating and so very foreign to me. I remember that it seemed anything but beautiful and friendly. Less than two years later that city was a second home, and it came to be my favorite city in Brazil.
Tomorrow I will meet my host family and I am trying my best to be calm about it. I have no idea what to expect, no idea how it will feel, but I am trying to gather all of my charm, patience and humor for what is to come. I am also looking over my notes from last summer's Gujarati course in Madison and hoping that I will be able to make it to the intermediate level tomorrow in my placement exam. I am delighted to see the great progression of my work over the course of the eight weeks of that class.
I can't wait to start taking photographs to include here. There are so many new sites and sounds and smells! I am sharing a room with another Gujarati student and very much enjoying her company. She has come to India many times and was in Gujarat 10 years ago. She does very interesting historical work on cotton and textiles. I am happy to have her to tag along with this first little while.
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