Starting Part 3 of My Travels: SIT Semester Abroad

Puja at the temple for good fortune this semester

This past week or so has been spent settling into the SIT part of my travels. It has been challenging in ways that I didn’t anticipate. I knew I wouldn’t be experiencing the same culture shock that the rest of my new classmates, but it’s still been an adjustment!

If you know me well, I’m a people-person. But having spent the last 2 months, especially the month of August, flying solo allowed (encouraged? forced?) me into a sort of isolation. The day I went to meet the new SIT people, full of English speaking people my own age, I was pretty nervous and intimidated. Everyone has been super lovely, and friendly, but I’ve shocked myself as I’ve found myself craving time alone to reenergize, or seeking out opportunities to do things by myself. Not a good or a bad thing, but an interesting adjustment for me!

View from my home stay rooftop! 

My life has more of a schedule then it has the last few months (the change in my level of  freedom/independence is another big challenge!). I wake up around 5:30 and do some stretching in my room before making an appearance in the family kitchen. Breakfast, shower, a quick Nepali study shesh and I’m out the door to meet Sundal so we can walk to the main road to catch our public bus. We wave down our golden bus and hop on for the 30 minutes commute to the SIT program house. My morning is filled with language class (about 2.5 hours!!!), a lecture and lots of chiya!! An hour lunch break, usually followed by another lecture and then time to “decompress”… running various errands, exploring KTM or completing homework. Back home to study, practice Nepali language with my awesome homestay family and then a delicious dinner cooked by my aamaa (mom). It’s nice to settle into a routine, but I’m still working to find where to carve out time for personal things, like staying updated or going out and taking photos.

Nepali language homework 

Since my last post, I’ve been tossed into SIT’s wonderfully intensive Nepali language course. I’m so excited to see how much I will learn in the coming months, as the last week has given me more proficiency in Nepal than I would likely ever gain here by myself ever. Yesterday we even started learning more of the Devnagari script, which I have surprised myself (again) by really really enjoying. Lots of new discoveries lately!

The classes so far have been really awesome and energizing. I love the topics we are studying and the feed into so many of my interests. Part of the SIT experience will be a month long ISP (“Independent Study Project”), similar to Wooster’s Junior and Senior I.S., so I’ve been brainstorming and looking at all the possible projects I could do. It’s wonderfully exciting, although hugely intimidating, to be at the beginning of visioning a project that will keep my heart singing. I’ve had a great 2 months filled with meaningful observations that have helped to formulate my personal views, and I’m so excited and lucky to continue this type of hands-on, first person learning.