It took me a while to adjust because I was really sick the first week but now I am feeling really excited to be here. My Hindi has all ready started to improve drastically. Now, I’ve settled into Jaipur quite nicely and am enjoying the AIIS Hindi program. The other students all come from very unique backgrounds so it’s neat getting to know everyone. It’s pretty intense and at times I feel maxed out on Hindi but the classes are varied enough to keep things interesting. The teachers have fun personalities and are more than willing to cater to our individual needs. I am living with a Sindhi host family. My living situation is great – I am staying with three other students (Mariel, Elizabeth, and Chelsea) and our family has hosted AIIS students for the past eight years so they give us a lot of privacy while also welcoming us to come upstairs and hang out with them whenever we like. By chance I happened to choose to live in a Sindhi colony which works out wonderfully for my final research project. I’m planning on learning more about the perception/usage of Hindi amongst the Sindhi population in Jaipur and living in a Sindhi residential and commercial area gives me wonderful access to the community. In the nearby bazaar, the shopkeepers speak in Sindhi all over the place.
