“That smells so weird….” “Eww, why are the paper towels yellow?!” “Ria’s eating Oprah!!” “What is that smell??!?” In fourth grade, my mom packed me one of my favorite dishes for lunch: bhindi (a.k.a. okra, hence the Oprah joke) roti rolls. I never realized that my lunch could draw so much unwanted attention, or that […]
CASI Student Programs Blog
Since 2007, the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI) at the University of Pennsylvania has supported nearly 200 students! Welcome to the home base for CASI students and alumni to share their thoughts, reflections, and ongoing learnings about their internships, research projects, and travels in India and beyond.
If you had asked me six months ago where I would be this summer, I would have smiled and told you that only God knows, but that I was thinking New York or D.C. I would have told you that I was submitting applications on the West Coast too, and a couple in the Midwest, […]
“Malayalam?” I asked the clothing store employee across the counter. She shook her head no. Disappointed and slightly frustrated, I switched back over to English to continue our conversation. From the moment we landed at Madurai International Airport, I heard the familiar sounds of mothers scolding their children for trying to run around and tired […]
It’s a few hours before my flight. I am feeling nervous as I pack in preparation for India- my new home for the next two months. I am anxious of the long flight ahead, nervous of the heat that I am about to experience and nervous of being the only black woman in many of […]
Indeed, time flies! It has already been 2 weeks since I arrived. Some parts of Delhi (just my house and the workplace) now feel familiar and safe. I am starting to get used to the extreme heat. The food is an absolute delight. I have eaten paneer, my favorite food, 5 times in 2 weeks,as compared to once in a […]
Here I sit in the kitchen of my home for the next month in Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh, India. I am listening to the variety of noises streaming in through the open doors and windows of our second floor perch. Roosters crowing, birds chirping, children yelling and laughing, music playing. Today’s headlines in the newspapers […]
As my second week of Shahi begins, I find myself excited yet nervous to see what lies ahead. The first week was filled with factory visits, meetings with department heads, and delicious lunches at the canteen, and I learned more about the garment industry in one week than most people do in a lifetime. I […]
