I first came to India in 2008 and yes, I came to India to study the Bible. Sometimes I think people wonder why I would come all the way to India to study the Bible and people often ask what made me choose India in the first place. I always tell them the same, honest answer: It was the cheapest place to do the school. I did not really feel "called" to India. I didn't even really like Indian food. I hated calling customer service and getting an Indian person because I could not understand their accent at all.
I was really naive when I first came to India. For some reason I thought that there were a lot of white people here. For some reason I did not believe they really ate rice for every meal. I thought it would be a lot like the U.S. for some reason. I was incredibly wrong on all accounts. I was one of five white people in the whole city. I have already eaten enough rice to last five lifetimes. India is the complete opposite of the U.S. in every single way possible. It's no wonder I hated this place when I first arrived.
During the first nine months of my stay in India I made some amazing friends. Lifelong friends from India and outside. When you study the Bible with 16 other people for nine months straight you get really close to them. You grow with them. You laugh with them. You cry with them. You argue with them.
Two days ago one of my classmates from that time called me. When I answered the phone he asked, "Is this Sarah?" I said, "yes, this is Sarah." He then told me who he was and I was pretty excited. I hadn't heard from him in quite some time and he was always one of my favorite people in India. As we were talking he asked, "is this really Sarah? You do not sound anything like Sarah." and I assured him that I was in fact the same Sarah who studied with him for nine months. He couldn't believe it. He told me that I sounded like I was Indian and I sounded nothing like that Sarah back in 2008/2009.
It has been a slow change, and honestly I did not and still don't realize it, but I speak completely different than I did four years ago. I speak in simple English. I do know that I have an accent that I use when I teach and when I talk to most other Indian people here so that they can understand me better. But I never realized to what extent this accent has overtaken my language. I guess you wouldn't understand that until you go home and speak with people you haven't seen in years and they think you're Indian.
All this to say, I look forward to going home at some point in 2014 and seeing my friends' reactions to my new accent. I look forward to saying things in horrible, terrible English without even thinking. I look forward to wobbling my head from side to side to answer people's questions and have them stare at me like I'm some kind of alien. I will be. There's no other way to describe how it feels to go back to the culture you've grown up in, back to the language you used to use every day, and yet you are no longer a part of it. It is no longer the way you always think, speak, and act. It is foreign to me now. I truly am an alien in every sense of the word, except my citizenship is still there.
I have never really had those melt downs that people describe after coming "home" from India. You know the ones, where they are standing in some aisle in the grocery store and they just cannot handle how many different ketchups there are or how much food is in that one place. That never happens to me. I freak out when I go to the bank and the teller is overly friendly and asks me what I'm doing for fun that day. I freak out when I see how huge the green peppers are in the produce section. I cannot sleep because it's too quiet or the bed is too soft. I freak out when I see those tweenie boppers wearing jean shorts that are actually underpants because there is no way they would actually make shorts that short, right?? RIGHT?? And how is it that literally everyone in the United States has an iPad? And as much as I am always more than ready to leave the craziness of India, I always feel most at ease when I see Indian people out in public at home. I feel like they are my family. They are the people I want to spend my time with in the U.S.
I've been thinking a lot lately about going home. We will most probably be going to good ol' Minnesota in February or March and I just cannot wait. I am so excited. But this time it won't be a two month visa run, it will be indefinite and I am not sure if I'm ready for that. I think I'm ready, but am I really ready?
I was really naive when I first came to India. For some reason I thought that there were a lot of white people here. For some reason I did not believe they really ate rice for every meal. I thought it would be a lot like the U.S. for some reason. I was incredibly wrong on all accounts. I was one of five white people in the whole city. I have already eaten enough rice to last five lifetimes. India is the complete opposite of the U.S. in every single way possible. It's no wonder I hated this place when I first arrived.
During the first nine months of my stay in India I made some amazing friends. Lifelong friends from India and outside. When you study the Bible with 16 other people for nine months straight you get really close to them. You grow with them. You laugh with them. You cry with them. You argue with them.
Two days ago one of my classmates from that time called me. When I answered the phone he asked, "Is this Sarah?" I said, "yes, this is Sarah." He then told me who he was and I was pretty excited. I hadn't heard from him in quite some time and he was always one of my favorite people in India. As we were talking he asked, "is this really Sarah? You do not sound anything like Sarah." and I assured him that I was in fact the same Sarah who studied with him for nine months. He couldn't believe it. He told me that I sounded like I was Indian and I sounded nothing like that Sarah back in 2008/2009.
It has been a slow change, and honestly I did not and still don't realize it, but I speak completely different than I did four years ago. I speak in simple English. I do know that I have an accent that I use when I teach and when I talk to most other Indian people here so that they can understand me better. But I never realized to what extent this accent has overtaken my language. I guess you wouldn't understand that until you go home and speak with people you haven't seen in years and they think you're Indian.
All this to say, I look forward to going home at some point in 2014 and seeing my friends' reactions to my new accent. I look forward to saying things in horrible, terrible English without even thinking. I look forward to wobbling my head from side to side to answer people's questions and have them stare at me like I'm some kind of alien. I will be. There's no other way to describe how it feels to go back to the culture you've grown up in, back to the language you used to use every day, and yet you are no longer a part of it. It is no longer the way you always think, speak, and act. It is foreign to me now. I truly am an alien in every sense of the word, except my citizenship is still there.
I have never really had those melt downs that people describe after coming "home" from India. You know the ones, where they are standing in some aisle in the grocery store and they just cannot handle how many different ketchups there are or how much food is in that one place. That never happens to me. I freak out when I go to the bank and the teller is overly friendly and asks me what I'm doing for fun that day. I freak out when I see how huge the green peppers are in the produce section. I cannot sleep because it's too quiet or the bed is too soft. I freak out when I see those tweenie boppers wearing jean shorts that are actually underpants because there is no way they would actually make shorts that short, right?? RIGHT?? And how is it that literally everyone in the United States has an iPad? And as much as I am always more than ready to leave the craziness of India, I always feel most at ease when I see Indian people out in public at home. I feel like they are my family. They are the people I want to spend my time with in the U.S.
I've been thinking a lot lately about going home. We will most probably be going to good ol' Minnesota in February or March and I just cannot wait. I am so excited. But this time it won't be a two month visa run, it will be indefinite and I am not sure if I'm ready for that. I think I'm ready, but am I really ready?
