Thursday, February 21, 2008

Dani's Views on the GSE Trip

My views of the trip to India were the flip side of the coin. Yes, we all had comfort zones that we were all forced to break through. I encourage breaking through personel barriers that we all have, I never did overcome my fear of the "squatter toilets" though. The memories that I have of India will not be of the toilets, the traffic or the food but of all the wonderful friends and people I met over there that I hope to stay in contact with for a very long time. I had the privledge of having some real heart to heart, no holds barred discussions and breaking down of cultural barriers with several Indians that I befriended. We truly were treated as dignitaries, if we ever merely asked about something, they would go out of their way to obtain it for us.
The family relationships in India are phenomenal, most people that I know would never want to live with their parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, inlaws. etc. but most people in India have very extended families that they reside with.
We all had difficulties, mine included a high stress breakfast ending with tears running down my face. Having a "type A personality" the Indian carefree ways regarding time was difficult at first, I was fortunately able to let go of this a little and hope to continue to let go now that I am back at home.
A needed survival tactic to travel to India is to have a very open mind, forget about all that you know in the United Stated and just "become Indian".

Thank you to Gib, Clyde and the rest of the Fort Dodge Rotary. Thanks to all the folks at Fort Dodge Foods that survived the month without me. Thank you to Tom, Molly, Kathy and Susan for playing a role in making this trip wonderful. Thank you to my Dad and Jan for making it possible to get away for a month. Thank you everyone for giving me the chance to have a great experience!

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