I said my journey started on 27th July but it actually started from 1st of April!!!!
Every girl has a dream. It’s a dream to rise to the top. It’s a dream to live a life crafted by themselves. It’s a dream to make their parents proud!
But I didn’t want cell phones, iPod, two wheelers and materialistic things… I dreamt of something more than that👇!
When I was in 8th I decided that I would go out of India without parents to Become Independent. Maybe not that very year but in the next two three years. Me, mom and dad attended seminars about when to go… and where to go…
I started making up my mind of how to stay without parents. We came to a conclusion that if I scored a good percentage of more than 90% in 10th (ICSE) without coaching classes, I could go to wherever I wanted!
My 10th boards’ last paper was on 26th of March… not waiting for the results, my mom started searching of where could I go because she knew my hard work would pay off😅😅. She then found about Rotary Youth Exchange! That very day I, mom and dad went to ask about it!
On 1st April was my interview for which rank do I get to go to the RYE Program. Last two years I had been thinking of it and that was the day to show how keen I was to go and explore the outer beautiful world!!
I came 1st in the group interview and 4th in all. I got choices of 10 different countries. Since all the stories I heard were of Brasil and all of the rotex students (ones who already have done RYE program) told me to select a non-English speaking country ,only Brasil flashed in my mind and there….my journey to Brasil was confirmed!!!!
I was told that I would learn a lot of things in my exchange year in Brasil!
I started surfing about Brasil and its culture but more than that…
I started learning different things about India. About India because I was gonna be asked a lot of questions for which I had to be prepared.
I learnt a lot about Indian culture and the significance of all the celebrations and rituals! Including nose piercing, bindi, why we use turmeric powder (haldi) during marriage ceremonies, also why mehendi is put on our hands during big occasions and about many festivals… Reading this don’t you get curios to know about why is all of this done!? There are very interesting reasons to all of these and explaining this to the Brazilians was all together a mind blowing experience! One most interesting fact about India was almost all religions had many different Gods and each God had a different story and a different significance!
I started learning “Yoga for teachers” and while learning I contributed 100 Suryanamaskars in Yoga Marathon on the International Yoga Day.
I started learning to draw henna..mehendi.. after knowing that foreigners are crazy for Indian tatttoos✌️. Since I was a beginner I never tried it on my hand because sometimes it wouldn’t look beautiful and I didn’t want to take a chance 😛😛. I always made it on others hand for practicing… But now I can make them very well so don’t be scared to tell me to make one on your hand!!
I started learning cooking since Brasil had a majority of non-vegetarians and I am a pure vegetarian! One day when my parents were out for work since morning, I tried to give a small surprise to them… when they arrived home I offered them Poha(flavored flaked rice, for the Brazilians to understand) which I had cooked. They were feeling out of the world eating that delicious dish made by me😅😋.This made me realize that parents don’t always get happy when we achieve big things, but these small moments of happiness also matter a lot to them😉🤗.
These small moments with my parents were going to be remembered for the rest of my life… Let it be when my dad came for shopping with me for the first time!! Or deciding what gift I should buy for my host families jwellery, Indian dresses, key-chains, bindis, mehendi cones, and what not!! Every time I went shopping with my mom whether I shop or not I ate Pani Puri without fail😬🤭… because I knew I would not get it for the next one year!!
It was a bit surprising to me that all of my friends are going on trips and having fun whatsapping and instagramming and here I was learning life lessons which I had never even thought of…
Those few moments (three months) 😅passed so quickly. I had never imagined of learning so many new things. Some of which I had been using since the last 16 years and I didn’t know they had a meaning to it.
During these preparations there were scary thoughts which entered in my mind… Even though I was confident about myself, I had questions in my head running…
“Will I be able to live without my parents for the whole long year!?“
” Will my host parents accept me as I am!?“
“ Will I be able to adapt to the Brazilian culture!?“
With all these thoughts twisting and turning my mind I used to get calm by having big discussions with friends and family about how they would miss me a lot and I wouldn’t miss them because I would have many things to learn their😛😛😅..
Also a great news had boosted my self confidence which was me scoring 93% in my board exams!!
It was an great achievement for me since I kept up to my parents’ expectations and could enjoy every moment in Brasil.
After all of these preparations I did reach Brasil successfully…
Waiting for my first text I send to my Indian parents… That would come in my next blog… So do come back to read it on the next Wednesday!!!!
🖐🤙
See you soon!👀
If you still haven,t read my first blog 👇 https://indiatobrazil.travel.blog/
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Exchange Year Diaries 