Living Americana

As a student abroad, one tends to feel longing for familiarity and comfort. Now, five weeks into the program I have begun to miss trivial luxuries like bagels with cream cheese and lox, warm baths, or feeling safe walking around at night. While I have adapted pretty well to India and I love living here, I miss having an American life. Yesterday, however, I felt as if I was living an American life relocated in India. I had a test in school in the morning, checked my email and posted pictures in the program center. After school, despite my two hour interlude hectically buying train tickets at the Jaipur railway station, I went to Central Park with friends, played cards and ultimate frisbee. At 7 o'clock we walked to a mall, bought sodas and journeyed over to my friend Sam's house for a birthday party. Sam and Hily were both celebrating birthdays, 20 and 21 respectively. We had the party on the rooftop terrace, a popular venue in India, listened to music, drank cold beers, and ate pizza. Even though we were surrounded by the Birla Mandir (Lakshmi Temple), the Queen's hilltop palace, and wedding fireworks, our environment felt strangely American--a feeling I had sincerely missed. Dancing and shouting song lyrics with friends while eating familiar food transplanted me back to my college life. We weren't harassed or prodded for looking American, sounding American, or acting American, but existed within a small rooftop bubble, safe from the dangers of uncertainty. Those moments of comfort are rewarding, but in the end I really like feeling disjointed and challenged in a new environment. Swaying in the strange flow of Indian life is much better than static life. I like being thrown out of place, but ever so often a little rooftop party makes all the chaos worth it.