10 January 2016

Learning really never stops, does it? It also doesn’t make things less awkward when you all end up in a classroom with a group you’re kinda cool with but also pretty unfamiliar with (The person I am in class is not the same type of person I am outside of it.) Today we really got the chance to learn together from our two professors.

It was tricky to say the least. Sometimes that first few days awkwardness is really hard to ignore and it proved to be even more difficult with this day of class. Yes we all got along well the day before but classrooms can be completely different environments. It was really interesting to observe how the other students paid attention to our professors. I also really appreciated seeing some of the videos they showed (the news coverage was great but also that super catchy Northeast India song is still stuck in my head like it’s nobody’s business.) Learning from other people’s perspectives was absolutely fascinating and seeing the attempt for us to combine what we know so that the others could learn was an experience I can’t really forget.

As much as we liked trying to learn more about each other’s cultures and knowledge, we got back to our usual thing of traveling from place to place to actually take in the culture we were now surrounded in. It was nice to get back into that bus and all of us just got to know each other and bonded even more.

Much to our teachers’ displeasure, we all had found a common ground in some songs to sing in the bus. (Now for the entire trip, my group of friends and I were CONSTANTLY singing in the back of the bus and now there were even more of us to make it louder.) It was funny to see our faces when some of the Holy Cross Students would reference songs that we knew from a couple years ago. It was just like a slow comprehension but then we would just join in and have a good time.

The Holy Cross Students even played a small joke on us. We were all extremely polite and tried not to be rude, so when our new friends offered us some sort of mint when we got to the museum, we didn’t think anything of it. It was not the common winterfresh mint we had assumed, it had a very strong taste that had us not too pleased. They thought it was funny and so did we, we just were caught off guard by the taste. Going around that museum was fun because we learned a lot (like I realized how many people in this part of India looked pretty similar to Filipinos, like some of these elaborate portraits of past royalty looked like they could be my cousins.) but then we got outside and just goofed off like the bunch of young people we were. Many selfies were taken, stares happened, but you know what? We all had so much fun with these new friends.

I think my absolute favorite part of this trip with these other students is how much they take care of us. It honestly felt like we’ve known these girls a lot longer than a day. They would make sure we were okay, there were always snacks they provided and they always stood by us. It just felt like hanging out with any other group of friends. I’m so happy I made this trip out here because this is what life should be about – making connections, friendships and memories that matter. We’ve got one more day with our new friends and that makes me pretty sad, but I know it’ll be a great time.

Til next time.