Academic Affairs

Integrating back into life in Bloomington, IL, has been interesting. The plane ride back to the US was long but I was able to sleep a few hours and watched many movies. Jeanne was on the same flight and waited with me in Chicago until Dave arrived at O’Hare. After a two hour ride home and my first latte in two weeks, I unloaded my luggage and showed Dave all of the gifts. He immediately placed his carved Saraswati on the fireplace mantle along with the three carved elephants that I purchased. The dog hovered around me and leaned up against me several times to get some pets. What an easy life Chase has compared to many people in India! I enjoyed the refreshing shower and brushing my teeth with running water!

We went to Biaggi’s for a nice pasta lunch and a fresh salad. We are so fortunate in the US to have confidence in the food we eat at restaurants and also from the grocery. I was initially horrified to listen to the server describe a “delicious” steak salad after being in a country in which eating beef is taboo. That was my first encounter with problems in re-entry. I enjoyed being in a country that vegetarians are the norm. I spent the afternoon and evening resting and showing Dave all my pictures of the trip.

After a wonderful night of sleep we woke up to over an inch of snow. Another re-entry shock! I miss the warmth and colorful flowers of India. I’m glad to be home but also sad to have the experience end. Tomorrow will bring another re-entry shock with my first day back to work.

This is my last entry for my India trip. Everyone should experience India. It is truly an incredible place.

Today we met at the Fulbright House for a debriefing and our last interaction with Adam Grosky, Executive Director USIEF, and Sudha Rao, our program coordinator. We gave useful feedback to Adam and Sudha and then had a tour of the USIEF facilities including the library of resources for Indian students who are interested in attending US institutions of higher education. I found IWU on the map of Midwest four year colleges and universities (see photo)! Admissions may be interested in becoming a USIEF member to disseminate information about our institution to potential Indian students.

Beth, Adam Grosky, and Sudha Rao at the Fulbright House

Beth pointing to IWU on the map of four year colleges in the Midwest at the Fulbright House

After our morning at the Fulbright House, most of us went to the Central Cottage Industries shop and bought some last minute gifts. We spent only one hour at this shop but could have spent much more time! We then went to the Imperial Hotel for tea. Jeanne and I decided to skip tea (after seeing the beautiful restaurant at the Imperial) and make our way to the State Emporium shops. We asked for directions and ended up diverted to another shop. Although we were disappointed that we didn’t get to the State Emporium shops, we did buy some gifts at the shop we were diverted to. We then headed to Mittal’s tea shop via auto rickshaw (see photo of me in the auto rickshaw). It was a great ride through New Delhi! The tea shop was fabulous! Too bad we don’t have anything like this tea shop in Bloomington.

Beth in auto rickshaw traveling to Mittal Tea House in Lodi Market, New Delhi

We freshened up at the hotel, checked out, and met up with Jeanne’s colleague Mark who is spending part of this academic year in Delhi. Funke joined us and we went to Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi for a bicycle rickshaw ride. This is truly the real Delhi where Indians go shopping, etc. We went past the silk market and saw many colorful saris. We went past the silver market with lots of jewelry shops. We wanted to go past the spice market but the police had closed the road to traffic. We also went past the area that cooking vessels are made. The sights, sounds, and smells were incredible! It seemed like we were the only Westerners in Old Delhi. We went down many narrow lanes that our bicycle rickshaw could barely get through. It was interesting to see all the electrical wires in jumbles. Jeanne stopped at a sweet shop to buy some candy to bring back to her colleagues. One popular candy is made of cashews ground very finely and resembles something like half way between fudge and brittle. The top is often decorated with silver foil. It is quite yummy! Then we went back to the hotel for a quick bite to eat before going to the airport.

Narrow street in Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi

Beth, Funke, and bicycle rickshaw driver in Old Delhi

Street in Old Delhi

Jumble of wires in Old Delhi

This was an incredible trip. I would recommend India to anyone who wants to experience a vibrant, colorful, historic, complex developing nation. The people are very friendly and very curious about Americans. India has a wide diversity of climate, language, customs, history, and food that makes it a fascinating place to visit. I felt that I just barely scratched the surface in understanding India, its people, and higher education. I want to visit India again and see some of the same places and many different places.

Today we went to the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, both in Agra which is near Delhi. It was an amazing day. The Taj is incredible. My experience seeing the Taj is much like the first time I saw the Grand Canyon. It is such a beautiful building - a true wonder of the world - and is breath taking. The story of the Taj Mahal is very romantic and the white marble has a sheen to it that makes it very romantic looking, too. The Taj was built in memory of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. She is buried in the Taj as well as Shah Jahan. Mumtaz Mahal died at the age of 39 giving birth to their 14th child. She made several last requests including that the Shah build a memorial for her. The Shah kept all of the promises he made to his wife as she was dying. This was one experience that I wish I could have shared in person with my husband, Dave. The Taj Mahal is the resulting memorial that Shah Jahan built. Later in life, Shah Jahan was imprisoned in Agra Fort for eight years. He could look lovingly (and longingly) at the Taj Mahal from his window (see picture below). He died on the balcony that overlooks the Taj. Both the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort have beautiful pietra dura which is stone inlay in white marble. Agra Fort is an amazing complex and housed several Mughal emperors, their wives, concubines, and servants. The Fort also has many monkeys running round the entry way.

The Taj Mahal.

View of Taj Mahal from Agra Fort.

Gate into Agra Fort.

On our way back to Delhi we stopped at a restaurant for dinner and also posed in front of an elephant. Some of the group also took a short camel ride!

Beth with elephant on way back to Delhi from Agra.

The ride to Agra took about 5 hours. The ride back was about 6 hours. The traffic always amazes me.

Tomorrow is my last day in India. So, this may very well be my last entry before I get back to the US.