The Countdown Begins

I've been quite busy lately getting things in order to go; the visa application is sent off, the flight deposit had been paid, my first vaccine appointment was completed, and I now know my flight routing. The next step is to attend the pre-departure meeting on April 9 and after that it's a waiting game.

The problem is managing all of this at the same time as trying to finish up my last semester at Mt. A. It's proving a little difficult, but manageable. I'm also worrying about if I'll have enough money to go away with so I've been talking to my employer from last summer, and it looks like they're willing to hire me back for the 6 weeks before I head off. But before all that I've got final papers and exams to worry about.

The vaccine appointment was interesting, I can say that. It ended up costing me $425 to get vaccinated for Japanese Encephalitis, Polio, and Hepatitis A. I have to go back again in April to get another Japanese Encephalitis vaccine, and two others. The Japanese Encephalitis vaccine is the most expensive; $270 each, and you need 2 of them 28 days apart. Malaria medication is going to be expensive too, I was quoted over $300 for a 9 week supply. But it's one of those things you can't go without.

The flight routing was emailed to us from Robin Walker, Mt. A's international studies coordinator, and after a quick search through some online flight booking sites I was able to see the whole itinerary of my departing flight. I might not be entirely correct, but this gives me a realistic idea of what to expect on May 27:

Depart Halifax 4:35pm to arrive New York 6:15pm
(duration 2hr 40min)

Depart New York 11:50pm to arrive Doha, Qatar 7:10pm + 1 day
(duration 12hr 20min)

Depart Doha, Qatar 8:15pm to arrive Bangalore, India 3:05am + 1 day
(duration 4hr 20min)

Total duration 19hr 20min (26hr with connections!)

It will be the longest flight I have ever taken as an adult but I'm not too worried, I deal fairly well with long travel and I really love traveling by air - call me crazy. Today is Wednesday, March 30 and I leave Friday, May 27 ...in 58 days!

Why India?

When explaining to friends and family the reason I'm deciding to take part in this program it's easy to pick the practical reasons:

• I get to travel internationally with a safety-net of peers and faculty members
• I get to finish my degree in less time
• I get to do both of these things for less money than it would cost to do both separately

But it's also important to consider the less-practical reasons, and specifically why I would choose to go to India. On first mention of the idea of travelling to India my mother, step-father, father, and boyfriend were floored. Why in the world would I want to go somewhere like India? I think their reactions are related to a number of things, but mostly I think there are a lot of misconceptions that people have of the subcontinent and that would be the source of much of their concern.

My father's a military man, and has been deployed on many occasions to places like Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Iraq. He's fairly knowledgeable about international travel and has been my source of information on vaccines, travel insurance, and safe travel practices. His concerns don't go unfounded; the Canadian government website voyages.gc.ca posts travel advisories for Canadian citizens and warns against unnecessary travel in Northern India due to the ongoing conflict along the Pakistan border. I won't be in northern India for this trip, we're sticking to the southern state of Karnataka, and mostly in Mysore - the same website says to "excercise a high degree of caution" when travelling in southern India - but I would argue that's no different than travelling to any other country halfway across the world.

My mother, step-father, and boyfriend are all from small towns, and don't have much contact with Indian culture as a whole so it's their concerns that worry me because they're largely based on misconceptions or mistaking Indian culture for something entirely different. They aren't alone. I've had people ask me if I have to wear a burka or hijab while I'm there, or how I'm going to get along because I don't speak 'Indian.' I try to be polite in correcting those errors, because it really is just about educating people. Some don't know enough world history to know that many Indians are fluent in English because of the history of British colonial rule. Others confuse India for other middle eastern states and states that are currently experiencing violent conflicts. Someone asked me if the conflict in Libya will affect my time in India, again that's about education - Libya is in North Africa, and India is in the Asian subcontinent - the two are separated by the Arabian peninsula. If you look at the map above you can see that Libya borders Egypt to the West.

But socially there have been some misconceptions related to the status of women in India - some thinking that Indian women are oppressed and not respected, when in reality it's a lot more complex. I'm taking a course on gender and change while I'm there so I'll be more able to explain the whole picture, but the status of women in India can't be entirely negative; 11% of the seats in national parliament are held by women and India has had a female Prime Minister. Indira Ghandi held office from 1980 to 1984 - that's better than Canada's only female Prime Minister Kim Campbell who held office in Canada for a mere four and a half months in 1993.

Just for fun here are some World Databank numbers on India:

• Population (2009): 1,155,347,678
• GDP per capita ($US): 1134
• GDP growth (Annual): 8%
• Trade: 46% GDP
• Life Expectancy, at birth: 64
• International Tourism, number of arrivals (2008): 5,367,000

And to compare with Canada:

• Population (2009): 33,739,900
• GDP per capital($US): 39,599
• GDP growth (Annual): -2%
• Trade: 59% GDP
• Life Expectancy, at birth: 81
• International Tourism, number of arrivals (2008): 17,142,000

But the numbers don't tell the whole story. There's a vast disparity of wealth in India where dhobi wallahs struggle to make ends meet by washing laundry and tech gurus carry smart phones for business. The streets are shared by cows, auto-rickshaws, taxis, and luxury cars and the country is growing rapidly in some sectors while struggling to pull the others along with them. I think that will be the most interesting part of studying India - seeing the social stratification and all the old mixed with new. It all connects with my history studies at Mt. A, right now I'm working on papers for two classes discussing Indian history in terms of European and British history - it'll be great to learn it from the Indian perspective and contrast it with modern development in India. Wish me luck!

First Meeting Minutes

Last night we met up with the International Affairs Coordinator at Mount Allison University, Robin Walker. It was the first chance for us to meet who will be coming along with us while we all filled out our visa applications. We also found out the finalized dates and got to ask some much needed questions.

In total there should be 14 people departing for India on May 27th. Dr. Helen Pridmore is the Mt. Allison faculty member joining us, and along with her partner and one student who went last year, Caroline Whidden, she'll be trying to keep us all relaxed and enjoying the ride... and keeping an eye on us as well.

That leaves eleven, and only two are men! The poor boys are outnumbered on this one, that's for sure, but that's not uncommon at Mt. Allison where the female to male ratio is close to 3:1. Three of the girls are actually from universities in Halifax, NS: two from King's and one from Dalhousie. This all depends on if everyone's visa applications go through without a hitch. One of the boys is from Pakistan, and it's very unusual for India to grant visas to Pakistan's citizens... *fingers crossed*

Our departure date is set for May 27th and we should be returning by July 28th. The flights aren't finalized yet so I'm not sure where we'll be stopping over - that's not going to be figured out for a few weeks at least, though Caroline says that her flights stopped in Frankfurt.

I have to drive 2.5 hours to Fredericton, NB on Monday morning to pick up my passport to be able to send off my Visa application that's getting sent out on Monday. Tuesday I have a vaccination appointment and Friday my flight deposit of $2500 is due. This is all on top of the week I'm finalizing all my papers for my full course load as all the deadlines have been stacked for the end of semester. It's going to be a hectic week.

The next meeting is set for April 9, but I'll likely update before then.

The question of money

Simply put, international travel is expensive. So is post-secondary education. Often times, combining the two can create astronomical costs. Last year I was trying to find study abroad programs in Italy that would allow me to gain university credit studying Renaissance history and Italian language and culture, but the program costs themselves would total over $10,000! That's not taking into account travel, accommodation, excursions, and variable expenses; the dream quickly faded and I realized it was completely unfeasible. I can buy a car for $10,000, I can remodel our kitchen for $10,000, I could pay off a fair portion of my student loans with $10,000... just think of the possibilities!

This India program is unique in several ways. I'm gaining almost a full semester of credits and an incredible cultural experience for a reasonable price. The total cost of the program is between $6000 and $6500 (the final figures aren't out yet) and includes flight, accommodation, 2 meals a day, and all excursions and tuition fees. In an average semester I need about $5000 of student loans to make it through, so doing something this amazing for only $1000 to $1500 more is a definite deal plus the fact that it's done in half the time. Mind you there are other outside costs that I'm going to need to find a way to manage, like vaccines, travel insurance, and passport fees that are going to add up, but I consider those minor in comparison to the cost of the program. Not to mention once I get to India things should be considerably cheaper when you take into account that one Indian rupee converts to about 0.02 Canadian dollars and you can get a meal for as little as 40 and up to 250 rupees... so $0.80-$5.00. Pretty reasonable if you ask me.

So, how am I financing this trip? Frankly, that question is the most stressful of all - it worries me. I'm pinching my pennies in every possible manner. I'm saving anything extra from this winter semester's student loans, using this year's tax return toward the trip, working for 6 weeks before I depart and taking student loans to cover the remainder of the balance. I'm also asking family members for as much help as they can, knowing I can pay them back when I resume working after the program. It's going to be a challenge, but I think it makes it that much more worthwhile in the end.

Have you ever had to scrimp and save to have a large sum of money for something? How much did it cost and how long did it take you? What was it for and was it worth it?

Thanks for reading and please comment below!

Starting out in Moncton: 11 weeks to go!

My name is Meghan Brown, and I'm a university student at Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB. I live outside Moncton, NB and I commute to classes every day - a 20 minute drive, morning and afternoon. I live with my boyfriend of 3 years PJ, our greyhound Clark, and our tabbycat Charlie.

I was accepted to a study abroad program through my university that consists of 8 weeks of study in Mysore, India and awards 12 credits upon completion. It starts in June and ends in July, consists of 4 courses valued at 3 credits each, and includes language classes in Hindi, and historical and social courses related to ancient and modern Indian history and classes on sustainable development in the subcontinent. More information is available at www.mta.ca/india. After this program I will be a prospective graduate of my university, I won't need to take any more classes and I'll be graduating in October 2011, it's an exciting way to finish up!

This blog is a way for me to track the weeks leading up to my departure, and the experiences I have while I'm away. There's a lot to get in order before leaving and a whole lot more to go through while I'm there; I'll try to be as consistent as possible in my update. Thanks for joining me on this journey, and please feel free to leave comments and advice you have about travel, India, studying abroad and anything else related.