Liz's European Adventures: Study Trip to India

I went on a study trip to Delhi, India for the first 10 days of April with students from my study program. It was mainly first year students - my roommate Christina and I were the only second year students to go on the trip.

A majority of the time was spent in Delhi - and this is where we visited companies also (Bestseller, which is a Danish clothing company; the Danish embassy; Inito Technologies). We also took a couple day side trip, and completed the 'Golden Triangle' tour - we went to neighboring cities of Agra and Jaipur, where we saw many monuments and forts, as well as the....Taj Mahal!

I must say, India was tough for me. I truly did not realize that people live like this - in such poverty. The hotel we stayed in, in Delhi was a bit dirty, with salamanders crawling on the walls and dirty sheets and towels. The realization that I have a certain comfort level and standard of living began at the hotel. But i felt bad for complaining, because then I took a step back and realized that hotel truly was luxury for the Indians, and that made me feel bad that I was unhappy staying there. We would take a step out of the front door, and dodge cows and bulls and steaming cow piles, as well as puddles of stray dog pee. Immediately you were dirty from the dirt roads. It was truly culture shock for me.

It was amazing seeing how other people lived. One morning, we were on a bus early to start heading to our destination for the day, and I witnessed the morning routines of many locals. A child was being bathed naked on the sidewalk. Someone was brushing their teeth; men were peeing against the walls everywhere. Someone was washing their hair crouched next to the sidewalk. People literally sleep in the street or the sidewalks - that is their home.

People basically attacked us and begged everywhere - to the point that it was semi-uncomfortable. People would grab our hands and touch us. One Indian woman asked one of the Danish girls to hold her baby, and they took a picture. Apparently being photographed with a white person is a sign of good luck and future riches. Everywhere we went, we stuck out like sore thumbs. They stared at us, took pictures of us. We did the same of them, but ours were out of respect, curiousity and possibly admiration. Often times, they were making fun of us. Although we could not understand the language and what they were saying, it was obvious they were making fun of us. Body language speaks volumes.

I also managed to get sick somehow, although I am not sure how. I was very aware and tried not to do anything that would make me sick, but I managed to catch something, some sort of stomach bug while in India, which resulted in an overnight stay in Denmark upon arrival home.

This was the biggest culture shock of my life. In normal city areas, I managed to see monkeys hanging out, an elephant walking down the street, cows and camels too. When driving through the country, there were dried dung pieces everywhere. Kids were running around with no pants on. Home consisted of army cots and simple tarps overhead, if they were lucky enough to have shelter. Very, very different. I am so happy I went to India, but I don't have any major desire to go back anytime soon.

I think the pictures and videos below are the best way to highlight the trip.