For those of you who have been reading my blog, you know that my parents live abroad in New Delhi, India, and that I spent the summer with them and did an internship with the US Embassy. This past summer was one of the best that I’ve had in awhile, and the ABC list I have created will hopefully explain why.

A is for Acha – the Hindi word for “okay”… everyone here says acha at the end of a sentence, no matter WHAT type of sentence it is, even if it is an argument. Acha is the word for “all is well but not really so I will just say this word”.

B is for Bombay – Also known as Mumbai – There were three small IED bombs that exploded on July 13^th in different locations in Mumbai. 24 people died. Thought I’d add this to the trivia since I was there in Delhi when it happened.

C is for Club Soda – which is the drink of choice for foreigners because we know that the bottles can’t be resealed and sold with polluted Indian water (well… most of the time). It is also great if you have Delhi Belhi (stomach bug that can’t be diagnosed) because of the carbonation in it.

D is for Dogs – My street dogs (see my previous blog about my parents moving to Delhi and the dogs) are doing well – Julie has grown into a beautiful dog at 45 (probably less) pounds, Cola is still spunky and looking for hand-outs of chicken jerky, Loli is happier now that she has been spayed, and Jochi is still a doofus. I’ll miss playing with them at the park, or having them walk with me to the Embassy compound in the mornings for my swim. My dog, Paco, is also doing well.

Maggie and I riding on Lakshmi

E is for Elephants – During the summer, my family and another family went on an awesome elephant ride. The place was about 30 minutes away from our house, and was literally off the side of a major highway. The ride was phenomenal! We had two separate elephants, so a family on each one (3 people) and we went around a gughi (make shift housing for squatters and extremely poor families) and their farms. It was a great 2-hour ride through a forest near the train, and a river with lots of plant life. Our elephant guide was a 6 year old boy who was training to take over his father’s job (and he was actually quite good at it). The elephants were so pretty, and loved the attention we were giving them (including the 100s of bananas we brought with us).  I never expected to have an opportunity to hang out on an elephant while in Delhi, so this was a great way to keep the summer going in the right direction. Here is a picture of Maggie and I on our elephant, Lakshmi.

F is for Friends – While here for my internship, there were other interns around my age that I’ve been able to hang out with. I’ve already mentioned Maggie, however there were quite a lot more. Some of the kids were in college, and others were just starting their next chapter after high school, but because of our experience in a professional environment we all got along perfectly.

Aside from the interns, FSOs and their families also became my really good friends. Two Consular officers are alumni of William and Mary (who I worked with last summer), and they became close mentors of mine. Many of the people here are on average five years older than I am, but because we are put in an environment with a small social scene, it’s easy to hang out with them as equals and learn about their experiences in the Foreign Service.

G is for Gurgaon – a neighborhood in Delhi where I took the LSAT. I took the LSAT in July, and it went pretty well. My mom and I had to shoo the pigs out of the parking lot where the test center was, and the building looked like a dump on the outside, but the inside seemed very modern. There were different sized classrooms with LCD monitors, TVs and (thank God!) air conditioning. During the exam, the power only went out TWICE (actually a great accomplishment considering the wires were running through the walls, plain as day) and the staff offered us tea and cake for our break.

H is for Hygiene – the Hygiene protocol is very lax here. Partly because most of the population cannot afford running water, much less a house. People use the streets as their urinal, showering-ground, home, and business. Refer more to the letter S.

I is for Internships! My internship turned out to be a wonderful experience. I moved into the Management Office and worked directly under the Minister Council and Management Officer while their Office Management Specialist and Assistant were both on vacation. I also worked with the Regional Security Office for the Secretary of State’s visit to New Delhi. I was able to work with her security detail for each event she had, and learned more about my (hopeful) future job in Diplomatic Security. I still worked under Human Resources, and dealt with my duties there, as well as the Management Office and RSO duties I had. I liked being busy so the fact that I was able to work and establish a repertoire in different offices was a great experience for me to have!

J is for Jewelry. During the Secretary of State’s visit, my family and I took the security detail out to Silver Line, a jewelry store run by Mukesh (rich Jewelry man who has such pretty jewelry). They not only bought out the store, but they bought such priceless things! Mukesh recently received three shipments of stones: emeralds, rubies, and sapphires; and obviously at a reasonable price, the detail bought as much as they could for themselves and their family.

K is for Kunal, my driver! Kunal literally is the savior of my family in India. He knows every in-and-out in Delhi and can get us to any random street known to man. He has worked with foreign diplomats as a driver for many years. Kunal speaks English well and works well with the family. Even Paco, my 100 lb. Doberman likes him! I don’t know what my family would do with out him (probably hide in the house and never venture out).

L is for Lunches – Every Thursday, the group of 10 interns would go to a State-House restaurant (state houses are like the different provinces ‘consulates’ that have a dining hall) to try out their own type of Indian food. It was a great way to learn about the different states in India without leaving Delhi and to learn more about the other interns at the Embassy. Fridays (also known as Chicken Tika Day at the Embassy cafeteria) were the intern Brown Bag lunches, which were brought on by a junior Officer in the Consular section. In addition to that, there are many awesome places for food like Yum Yum Tree (a sushi place), Side wok (Asian fusion), Fez (Mediterranean), Mothi Mahal (Indian), the Big Chill (American/Italian/western), and the vendors in Dilli Haat, to name a few.

M is Monsoon! No need to elaborate – the students at the College know what major rains are but Delhi has them 20x over.

N is for Nimbu Pani (fresh lime soda) – Fresh lime soda is India’s greatest invention. Its club soda, fresh lime juice, and sugar all mixed into one. Indians swear by its stomach-helping capabilities, and I love it for the hot weather.

O is for Oh no you didn’t! Many of the Indian men are very ‘grabby’ and sexually deprived and they think foreign women are a mysterious prize for them to have. Many women experience what is called “Eve Teasing” which is sexual harassment light. A light brush of your arm, a quick grab of the buttocks, or even a full on boob-grab is very common for foreign and Indian women to deal with. I have (knock on wood) yet to deal with this type of harassment, and my father has made sure I know how to deal with it in the event that it happens, but many of my female friends and Indian women who work at the Embassy have dealt with this in the crowds of Delhi.

P is for Parathas – Parathas are the oily and better version of Na’an bread that you can get at any Indian place here. They’re great with Dal and Masalas.

Q is for Questionable Products – whether you ordered chicken or beef, what you get might not be the meat you requested. BUT, as long as it’s cooked thoroughly and tastes good it shouldn’t matter anyway!

R is for roundabouts – Roundabouts are circular versions of stop lights, where it directs traffic in a way to keep everyone flowing and stop crashes. It actually makes a lot more sense than stop lights do because it keeps everyone moving rather than stopped at a light. They are everywhere in the city of Delhi.

S is for Statistics about India – In India, 700 million people have mobile phones but only 360 million people have toilets! With India’s population of a bit over a billion people, this makes about 35% of the population of India. 65% of the population do not have a toilet and go out to do ‘their business’ outside. In rural areas this percentage is even more. There, only up to 26% people use toilets.

All of my friends that I hung out with while in Delhi; At Underdogs

T is for Tailors – Getting clothing tailored is a wonderful part of life in India. I was able to have dresses, skirts, and suits made while I was here for 60% of what I’d pay in the USA. And we saw the whole process as well.

U is for Underdoggs – the BEST sports bar in Delhi. Every Thursday they had Ladies Night and some of my favorite women and I went out to relax from the week of work. It is hard finding places that are foreign-friendly and cheaper then the hotels around Delhi, and here we realized that Underdoggs was a gold mine!

Me with the Hillary Rodham Clinton

V is for VIP! Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to visit Delhi for three days to speak with Sonya Gandhi and the Prime Minister of India. It was a pretty smooth event, and the Embassy was happy to have her. Her suite in the Taj Palace Hotel was AMAZING – 7,500 sq. ft with a tub the size of my dining room table!

W is for Water – Water, like Hygiene, is a rare commodity. Most people have limited resources to gain access to clean water, let alone dirty water. It’s hard to comprehend since in America it is so easy to just drink out of the tap, keep your mouth open in the shower, or use tap water for brushing your teeth; here I am lucky enough to have a distiller that purifies the water completely so there is nothing in it.

X is for pedestrian’s X-ing – Cows are more sacred than anything (duh) and so it is worse to hit a cow with your car than a person. Intersections and roundabouts have billions of people around them walking to their jobs, walking to their houses, or just walking aimlessly that cars and mopeds have to dodge. All traffic stops though when a cow walks by, because you would be stoned or beaten if your car was the one to hit it in a traffic accident.

Y is for “Yes Madam” – When people don’t have the answer to a question, most of the time they just answer with Yes Madam. Once, my friend was in a cab and she asked the taxi driver “should we go left or right to get to Khan Market”. He replied “yes madam”. Friend, “But should we go left or right?” Him, “yes madam”. Friend, “Okay let’s go left”. Him, “Yes madam, but right would be better”…

Me and my Father before the hike up the mountain for our zip line down!

Z is for Zip lining! In the last two weeks of the summer, seven of us friends decided to go on a Zip Lining excursion through Neemrana, Rajasthan in India. It was a two-hour drive from Delhi – Kunal knew exactly where to go! When we got there, the European guides and zip-lining experts gave us a thorough security check and run through of all the equipment we had on. After, we hiked up the mountain we were going to zip line down, which was about a kilometer and 20 minutes of steep hiking. Once we got to the top, the view of Neemrana was beautiful. Here is my Father and me at the Fort before zip lining up!

I hope you enjoyed your ABC’s – next time won’t you play with me? What did you all do over the summer? Could you fill up the ABCs? Let me know!

Take care and Go Tribe!

Brianna

So I just finished my first week of my full time internship at the US Embassy here in Delhi, India and all I can say is that I’m glad its FRIDAY!!!!! I am one of three interns in the Human Resources office (all I can picture is Pam from Archer at the moment) and working here at the office is nothing close to easy. My two bosses had me jump into work right away after the HR Secretary became ill on Tuesday night with some type of virus (most viruses just get the normal name Delhi Belhi [pronounced belly] because everything has the same symptoms) and I was given the task to take her place on Wednesday until today, because we both have the same level clearance.

Without any training on the HR and government databases, how to transfer calls (which is a lot harder than it seems) and sending emails to important people at the Embassy as the ‘rep’ of HR, I was sent straight into the deep end of the pool and given a “good luck!” rather than a floaty of some sort. With that said, I am doing a LOT better than on Wednesday when I had to transfer my calls to FSNs (Foreign Service Nationals – Indian nationals who work for us) in order to get answers.

Today, we had a training exercise that went from 12:30-4:30 which ended up being an excellent lunch of Side Wok (phenomenal asian place with the BEST hakka noodles EVER) and a normal ‘getting to know you’ game – which reminded me of Orientation as a freshman. Then my boss passed out superlative certificates to everyone, which was funny because I had only been there since Monday so I expected the generic “cool” superlative. I instead got “Most Energetic and Most Adaptable to Hard Situations”. It made me feel appreciated since I have only been here for a week and barely remember peoples names.

My boss from last summer in the Consular Section also came up to visit and told me he asked my boss if I could work in his office as well, which is perfect because I miss working Consular Affairs, specifically in Fraud Prevention.

It’s nice getting back into a routine of living in India – the same friends, the same bosses, the same families, the same bad service from the ACSA restaurant (American something…. I don’t know what it stands for – basically an American Center) and the same street dogs outside my house. The only difference is I’m a year older and now know my way around the area.

We haven’t gone on any trips as a family yet, so I have no cool photos to put up (nor have I figured out how to put photos up) so once we do awesome Indian things, I will let you all know.

Take care, Tribe and have a good Friday since mine just ended!

Congrats Class of 2011! Welcome to the real world (or to another few years of school!). I am really glad Graduation day wasn’t rainy and that everyone looked pretty/handsome (from the photos I can see on Facebook!).

I actually am leaving Williamsburg in less than 24 hours (my parents keep counting down the hours). I will have a 15 hour flight to Delhi, India – where my Dad works at the US Embassy there. It will be hot, crazy, but so much fun! The last time I was in Delhi was over winter break and although not as hot (it was about 60 degrees during the day), it was still as awesome as it was over last summer. I will start my job at the Embassy the Monday coming up, and will hopefully be making tons of cash for the Fall semester.

I also realize I haven’t been blogging for a while – and I apologize. I have been sick (as usual) and still can’t get rid of my cold. Plus exams didn’t help. But nothing seriously new has happened in the last few months (except Graduation for all my senior friends).

Once I get to India I’ll write more detailed blogs, especially since the amount of stuff that I see and have going on is extreme! I hope to keep everyone who reads these entertained. And I’ll learn how to put pictures up (at some point!).

Take care, Tribe! and Congrats 2011. Class of 2012 – we are on top now, lets take this coming year by storm!

1) Finally take a class in Wren
2) Living off campus (As a freshman I could never see myself living off campus or having time to cook for myself, but it works out very well)
3) Living in Gooch (freshman dorm) – the set up was great. My roommate and I were very good together, and our room was placed quite well in the back so there was minimal noise from those 2nd upper and 3 upper boys
4) Getting a job at the Sadler Center (still the UC to me) – I absolutely love working at the SC. I don’t think I would know half the information about the College that I do, if it weren’t for working at the information desk
5) Not studying abroad – my parents live in exotic countries every 2-3 years, so I get my ‘study abroad’ experience without the classes, EVERY big break that we have
6) Changing my major – I haven’t changed what my life plan is, or what job I want to have when I get out of college and into the real world, yet my major has. I can be what I want and have more fun as a History major, with more reading yet nicer professors and a better schedule

That is it so far – I still have another year to go to fulfill the William and Mary bucket list of things to do before you graduate. I’m glad people are responding to my blogs. It’s nice seeing students who applied to the College check out the other students who go here and make an effort to connect with the school. For those who are still waiting to hear from the Tribe – good luck!

Take care Tribe!

I know that I should have started off my blog with this kind of story, but its a rainy Monday and nothing really awesome happened over the weekend (other than me studying for the LSATs) so I figured I’d fill this week’s blog with a fun story about how I chose to be at William and Mary.

When I was probably seven, my family decided to take me to Colonial Williamsburg to see the pretty sights. The biggest things I remember were that Confusion Corner was a LOT more confusing to me at that age, and that my Dad’s co-worker’s daughter was going to go to William and Mary soon. After walking around CW and seeing the cool animals, talking to TJ and George Washington, my family walked passed Merchant Square back onto the College’s campus.

As we went passed Lord Botetourt, a bride and groom walked out of the Wren building, down the steps, and into the front grass to take photos with their bridal party. I got really excited because the bride’s dress was beautiful, and her husband was quite handsome. I decided at that exact moment that I wanted to get married in the Wren chapel. So I told my Mom, and she responded with “The only way you can get married in the chapel is if you are a graduate from W&M or your husband is.” Right then and there, a seven year old me made the biggest decision of my life – going to William and Mary.

Although I love the College for more than the chapel now, it is still something I want to do. Economically it’s a smart decision (if you live in the area), because you can only invite a certain amount of people into the chapel (sorry second cousins I don’t know), decorations are limited, and you have plenty of two-for-one deals if you have the reception in the Alumni House. Literally the only exception to my chapel choice is if I can get married in the Naval Chapel in Annapolis, MD (because that place is even more beautiful).

Anyway, this is my 14 year old story about William and Mary and how I chose to be here. I appreciate the College a lot more now that I am here, especially for the beautiful brick buildings, the awesome student body, and the faculty and staff who I have come to know and love. If it wasn’t for my childlike decision to get married in the Chapel, I may have applied to other schools, and decided to go somewhere else like (gasp) UVA. Good thing the College said yes to my application…

So over all it isn’t that bad in Williamsburg over break. A major perk (besides making money while working at the creepily quiet Sadler Center) is that Parking Services is letting me park ANYWHERE I want! The reason they are allowing day students park in faculty & staff (aka 15 ft closer to the SC doors) is because they are cleaning up the day student spots. Even though I get a spot in Zable through the week (luckily), it’s nice knowing that Parking Services isn’t all that bad. Yes, the price of those dumb tags is ridiculously high, and they don’t accommodate all the students who have passes with actual parking spots, but its nice to know that during breaks they will cut some slack.

One thing I do feel bad about is that the dining halls are closed – which means my friends who are still here (for work, or to stay away from family) have to pay for meals by either going out, getting groceries, or walking to Wawa and getting a flatbread. Luckily for those with a meal plan, the dining halls open on Sunday night!

Another bonus is that the SC (and other campus offices) still need student employees to man their stations (like A/V techs at the SC) — so I was able to go bowling (WOOHOO) with a few friends from work, then go to the Leafe with another friend who lives close by, AND visit another friend who lives in the area. Although there really isn’t much to do in Williamsburg (bowling + delis = most exciting adventure yet this break) it’s nice having people to have fun with.

Alright, back to doing reading (oh yeah, I’m thankful for getting 80% of my reading done too) and getting ready for my LSAT classes that start on Tuesday!

Take care Tribe!

I decided that for spring break I’m staying in Williamsburg, in order to work 40 hours the week everyone is gone, and make huge amounts of cheddar before summer gets here in 8 weeks. That’s right folks, we have 8 weeks until exams (I guess 7 if you don’t include spring break). So that means each week will be closer to a) my birthday b) the senior’s graduation and c) my trip back to India where my parents live. I’m excited because I haven’t seen my parents since winter break, and I will be starting my job at the US Embassy right when I get back. I’m not sure what office I’ll be assigned to, but last year I was in Consular Affairs and learned so much about working with the Foreign Service. It was a great experience, and made me definitely want to take the Foreign Service test my senior year. But right now, I’m really just excited about getting back to my family and my dog, Paco.

Apparently I missed a lot since winter break as well. We have this gang of dogs that live on our street (which is actually a crescent of houses – crescent letter F so therefore the local street name is F-U) and they are the best dogs in the world. There are a few of them who are owned by other people on the street named Jochi, Kalu, and Lexi. Then there are the legit street dogs, including Lolly – the mom of Cola and puppy Julie. Cola is the leader of the pack, and plays rough with Jochi (male) and Kalu (male). Paco, a new comer since last summer, was welcomed to the pack (probably because he is 60 lbs bigger than all of them) and is left alone to play fetch with me or my parents. It’s funny because he doesn’t even notice the other dogs around him, and the other dogs realize he is only there to play fetch and not steal territory or eat food.

My Dad called recently about being able to catch Lolly (who doesn’t like people very much unless you are giving her food) and Julie (easy snatch since she is only a puppy) and got them to the animal shelter to have them spayed. Who else gets to do this in the US? Here, that would totally be illegal and left for the professionals to handle.

I guess you can say I’m nostalgic for India and my family. I love the atmosphere – the crazy, random, eventful days where you can literally see almost anything you want like camels and elephants in the streets. It’s definitely a stark change from Williamsburg, which is why I’m okay with staying here for spring break. Hopefully I won’t regret staying once I realize that no one will be on campus!

Take care Tribe!

So my father finally caved in on getting me a subscription to Hulu Plus for a project that I’m working on at the College. In my American Rhetorical Discourse class in the Speech Department, my final paper is based solely off the parodies of past/present/potential Presidents from the awesome show Saturday Night Live. The least expensive way to watch the SNL parodies starting with Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford to Tina Fey as Sarah Palin is using Hulu Plus: the 7.99/month version of www.hulu.com which has every season of almost all the shows they currently broadcast on their normal free website. I was looking up different prices for ordering all 36 seasons and realized it would cost about $30 for each season (from the NBC website). So instead of waiting about a month for Amazon.com to get every single season into my off-campus house, I went to Hulu Plus to see how many seasons they had. Luckily with my lack of reading this weekend (thank you professors!), I was able to find all 36 seasons of SNL, which equals up to 695 full episodes!

Now that I had found a great source for my paper, I just had to figure out the best way to pay for it. I pay for groceries (I don’t have a meal plan), I pay for gas, and miscellaneous stuff that girls like to have like clothing and manicures. What I didn’t want to pay for, was Hulu Plus. If I wanted to pay for it, I would have already since I do have two jobs at the College and limited things to spend money on other than Wawa. But, since it was somewhat school related I was able to convince my father (thanks Dad!) and have him pay for it until I was done with the class (the end of the semester). Now some of you are probably thinking, ‘Wow that’s a sweet deal you have going on’ and yes, you are right. But the funny thing is that I don’t actually need Hulu Plus for normal TV shows, since the shows I watch are already on www.hulu.com and stay on for about three weeks after they are uploaded (depending on the show/network). I literally needed Hulu Plus for this project, which will probably take me all of six days to do.

But the fact that the school gives us an opportunity to do projects we are interested in, no matter what the topic or the source, makes being here at W&M a better experience. I doubt that many other students have an opportunity to watch SNL for a class and more importantly is that I can do it for $7.99 a month.

So I’m sick. Again. It’s been probably three weeks since the last time I was sick and it just keeps coming back. Luckily I got my tonsils taken out a year ago so it won’t ever be tonsillitis again. Everyone says that freshmen get sick because of the close quarters, the shared bathroom for 16 people, etc but that isn’t true. My housemate had the flu over a week ago – and although I am not blaming her – I would definitely like to think that the shared kitchen, bathroom (for three girls) and just using the same doorknobs led to my sickness. So despite the fact that I feel gross, stuffed up, and just want to pass out, I’m going to give you my own remedy for getting better:

1)     OJ – not Simpson, the juice.  Literally drink it like it is the last thing on Earth

2)     Airborne – yes I just said to drink OJ, BUT, sometimes it leaves a bad taste in your mouth and so you might want to switch it up

3)     Vitamin D tablets – my doctor told me about this saying that his ENT doctor recommended it, because it keeps colds from coming on (it kept this one away for a week after my housemate got sick)

4)     Dayquil and Nyquil – best drugs for colds ever

5)     Water – no explanation needed

6)     Vicks – best smelly cough stuff for before you go to bed EVER

7)     Listerine before bed – it will clear your throat and make it feel tingly and clean. This can also be done with whiskey, if you are 21+.

Well that’s pretty much my way of getting better. It takes me about two days to get rid of the cold, and then another day of just clearing it all out of my system. Hopefully this will be gone soon because I have 23 hours of work scheduled this week.

Take care Tribe!

So this being my first blog ever, I’d like to say hello to all those who read my posts. I never thought of myself as a ‘blogger’ until I read some of my friends’ posts whom also blog for the Tribe, and thought that it was a fun way to pass the time productively while giving insight on their personal college experience here at W&M. I hope you get enjoyment out of the posts I have in the next year and a half and that my life becomes as funny to you as it is to my family and me. There will be jokes (crude and dumb alike), serious thoughts, rants about my classes (mostly about the amount of reading) and normal life stuff that defines most undergraduate students. If anyone has comments or just wants to say hi, feel free to do so, because I’d love the feedback! I’ll make my next post more personal, promise.

Before I end my first post, here is a little about me! I’m a junior History major at the College. I’ve lived in many different countries including Niger, Singapore, Colombia, Greece, India. Right now I work at the information desk at the Sadler Center and am the Oral Communication Consultant for the Speech Department!

Take care folks!