2018 - 2019

2018 - 2019

MARCO POLO FUND Study / Traineeship report

This form needs to be completed by every student who has received a scholarship from the Marco Polo Fund.

Last name

ALONSO TOUCIDO First name

IRENE

RUG registration number (S) S3539628

Please enclose a 2 page report on your experiences abroad, using the following headings:

1. Your study programme or your internship programme 2. Language

3. Finance and other conditions

4. Preparation and contacts with the faculty before, during and after your stay 5. Housing

6. Culture 7. Free time 8. Travelling 9. Other

I hereby give permission to the International Office to publish my report on Study Info to inform future students

X Yes No Future students may contact me for additional

information

X Yes No

Signature Participant IRENE.A

………

Date: 8/05/2019

1. Study program

My exchange of six months in India was the reason I received a Marco Polo fund. The master I was doing, called Euroculture, in which every semester I had to move to a different European country, offered also the opportunity to have a research track outside of Europe. Among those options was the public university of Pune, in the state of Maharashtra, India.

The study program was taking place in the department of sociology and consisted of different sections. Firstly, I took two intensive weeks of classes on different topics of India in order to familiarized with the country and the academic style. Besides, I also participated in a course in the university called “sociology of India” where I got to mingle with local students.

Apart from that, as the main reason of my exchange in India was to do research, I therefore had to choose a topic while being there and produce an academic paper.

Specifically, I investigated on the topic of environment and gender. This was because the gender inequalities and the climate state were some of the main things that call my attention while living in India. Thus, my paper was related to how the climate change provoked by big corporations in India, which were abusing of resources such water, was affecting especially women.

2. Language

The language in which I was communicating was English. However, India is an extremely diverse country and English is a colonial language, spoken, mostly, by the privilege class. As I was in a public university, in many occasions during my classes the teachers were translating or directly talking in Hindi or Marathi, being really difficult for me to follow track.

Besides, I do recommend learning some words in one of the local languages as, if not, can be really difficult to understand people while buying food or having a chai. In my personal case, I learn basic words in Hindi, specially numbers, something that was extremely effective in order to avoid scams.

3. Finance and other conditions

Compare to European standards, India is a cheap country, although that is also dependent on the lifestyle one has there. In my personal case, I was spending an amount of about 400€ a month. Therefore, the Marco Polo grant covered at least completely the first month of my stay.

4. Preparation and contacts with the faculty before, during and after your stay

In doing an exchange in India, it is really necessary of being aware of the cultural differences in order to not stress. In my personal case, I encounter those different mechanisms of working before arriving there.

Although I knew 5 months before my arrival that I was going to India, my first contact with the members of the faculty was 15 days before. This was not because of a lack of interest by my side, but because that is how they work. In general, they do not have the standards and transparency Europeans are used to. Therefore, the students must adapt to the uncertainty and have faith for everything to end up working.

When I arrived in the country, I did not have a schedule nor an email was sent by the department mentioning when my classes were supposed to start. I remember I showed up one day in the faculty in which, by coincidence, happened to be the welcoming day. During my stay, I had to adapt to a way of working which was extremely spontaneous and made right away, on the spot.

After my stay, the contact with the faculty has been quite limited. For instance, I am writing this report in May as I just received my grades, after 5 months of having finished my exchange.

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5. Housing

India is a country of extreme inequalities; the economic differences are felt in all senses. As a European student, I had access to facilities that were rare even for the teachers of the sociology department where I was.

I was living in a private neighborhood, sharing a flat with three other girls. We had, each of us, a private bedroom, and we shared a big living room, two bathrooms and a kitchen. Although this might seem as a normal arrangement for any shared flat in Europe, in India having private facilities is quite exceptional for the biggest part of the population.

We were paying, each of us, a sum of 125€ including water and electricity, whereas the Wi-Fi connection was apart. We got the flat thanks to the recommendation of other year students.

6. Culture

I would definitely need the two pages of this report in order to give a fair picture of the culture in India. It is a welcoming country, in especial with the foreigners. They have a way of doing things which is extremely collective and communitarian. They share everything and do not understand much of the individualistic rituals we are used to as Europeans. I had the feeling that they were always extremely happy and loving

As a woman there, the exposure to the culture was different as well. It was not well seen that I would talk with men, go out at night or wear specific outfits. Being a foreigner, I will always be an outsider on that country.

7. Free time

The university was quite controlling at the beginning. They were really scared of our independence and forced us to spend long hours in the department.

At the same time, India or at least Pune, is a place in which there was always something happening, therefore, I was not specifically conscious about my free time.

I cannot say that in my free time I was going to the cinema or for a walk as those were activities inexistent there. Mostly, when I was not in the university I was doing yoga or learning how to cook Indian food.

8. Travelling

I think this is one of the parts I most enjoyed during my exchange. I travelled throughout the semester to places such as Goa, Mumbai or Kolkata.

When my semester ended I travelled alone across India for a month and it was an incredible experience.

In travelling there, one must have a lot of time and patience and being prepared for the unexpected. I had situations where I had to wait for more than 6 hours for a train.

Once, a monkey stole my food and that became an issue as it is really risky to eat all types of food in India. Another time, someone decided to take my shoes while I was inside of a temple in Jaipur and I ended walking barefoot until my hostel.

9. Other

The challenges I encounter in the university or as part of the cultural shock I suffered while being in India are just anecdotes in comparison to what that country has taught me. I learned to be more human, more aware of my privileges, to empathize more with the people surrounding me. Although it seems a cliché, my exchange there was a life changing experience.

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