Alliance is needy, India is awesome Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Classes were easy, too much overlap and the Indian style of teaching is not conducive to learning the economics teacher and the environmental teacher were far more open to discussion based learning than the other professors, they are the only reason this has 3 stars and not fewer.

On-site administration of your program

The administration had no idea what they were doing. Two weeks before leaving students got an email saying there would be no hostel option and that all students would be with host families. After the week long orientation we were told that classes would infect not be on Fergusson college campus (an awesome campus with colonial influences, and the ability to talk to Indian students), but instead would be in a seemingly abandoned building no where near the area. The building was not an acceptable alternative to the campus. Then one week we had classes on campus but it seemed more like a guerrilla teaching operation where we would be scuttled into a classroom and then kicked out and sent off to go find the next empty classroom. Then for the last 3 or4 weeks of class I guess the neighboring college took pity on us and provided a classroom by a construction site. As I mentioned earlier the classes weren't very informative and already difficult to pay attention to, now add on to that people trying to hammer a building together right next to you. When students asked what was going to be done or why the administration was failing to provide adequate conditions we were treated like we couldn't have understood their explanations or they simply skirted the issue with a non-answer. The administration was also supposed to provide field visits that were in the field. While one visit we actually did manage to find ourselves outside, the administration chose to take student to the most successful agricultural district in Maharashtra (the state) and sugar coat how the average farmed lived and worked. I did not go to a developing country to see what the ideal could be, I went so I could better understand the average person. The next field visit was a three day trip to Mumbai, the financial capital of India, it was about a 2 hour trip by train. Once there we spent six plus hours each day for three days sitting in a basement being lectured at about things one could learn comfortably at home. They did take us out of our dungeon to see two things, the first being the Ghandi Museum, the second being Dharavi. Dharavi is incredible and has so much to show about poverty, the administration continually sugar coated the situation and did not allow for students to see what it was like for most people to live in a slum, instead the continuously talked about how one man made 50,000 rupees a month and still loved there and how great that was, and showed us a group of pottery makers and recyclers. Nice people but they should have shown us the leather working area or provided it as an option for those students interested in it. I mean its a Muslim community process cow skin in the middle of a Hindu slum, and successfully selling their wares. But alas back to the dungeon for us, don't want to miss one word of the riveting textbook discussion. Then at the end of this trip the administration refused to buy people bus tickets back to Pune unless the students traveled with them. So if you wanted to stay in Mumbai and actually learn about daily life or see the city then that would cost you just a little bit extra (I wouldn't complain if students didn't already pay an exorbitant amount for this program(consider other programs if you can, maybe even ones by alliance....maybe)) but this was just one of many things where the administration tried to nickel and dime students out of every dollar they could. To name a few: sending you somewhere that they require and making you pay to get there, making you split up in rickshaws so that you would pay for the ride of one of the workers, and much more. Finally traveling is already a difficult task and in India it's sooo much more, you're not sure if your bus is going to come on time or even come at all. Your driver is not from this town so he is just going to drop you off by the highway (don't let him, just get angry and call his boss and yell at him). On top of these little hiccups if you as a student choose to skip class to travel, then the administration will randomly bring it up at unrelated times and use it as an excuse as to why things aren't working out, such as: the film teacher is demanding one of the classes HE skipped be made up (again, his fault for being cancelled) there are only three days until final projects are due and so the obvious reason for this not working out would be.......... Because at the beginning of the semester students took advantage of a long weekend and skipped a day of class in order to go to the Taj Mahal...... Also the administration did this thing were they would tell us that we needed to be more flexible even. We were pretty flexible, we dealt with the hostel option, we dealt with the campus, we didn't complain but they never recognized any of that. Finally our program head went to the United States for a month when we all started to voice our opinions about how nothing was going the way it was sold to us. While this was prearranged alliance chose not to send someone higher up than her to talk to us but instead utilize the 2 guys who had no power to do anything. It's too bad because India is really awesome and interesting but this program(administration) was a detraction from the experience.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My host mom was incredibly nice, beds in India are very different so you will want to be aware before going, they are much harder. But if I had asked for a host family and not a hostel option I don't think I could have picked a nicer lady. Other families turned out to be controlling and in at least one case racist, be aware of that if you go, but Alliance should have done a better job screening the host families. But they pretty much had to take anybody who would host because they mismanaged the hostel option. So i would give my host mom 5 stars but I didn't want a host I wanted to be in a dorm option where I could meet Indian students my age and immerse myself in my generations culture.

Rotated through 4 or 5 dishes for 3 and a half months. And each host has a different style of cooking depending on the heritage. Mine was vegetarian, and a good cook. You have to provide your own lunches, which can be difficult when your classroom is not by any food source other than dominos which is quite a trek to get to. The week at Fergusson though had easy access to good food.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Alliance did an astoundingly horrible job of getting students to have opportunities to meet Indian students. Would have been easier at a real college, in a hostel, and if the administration didn't smother you into being at your host parents before 8 pm. Few late nights out where people could meet and talk to everyday people. Alliance did a great job attracting 30 open minded and kind American students to the other side of the world though.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

They had a doctor on call and two students caught dengue and didn't die. I'll count that as a win. Prepare to get sick though at least once, the food is very different. Don't let you program scare you out of trying street food. It's really amazing stuff, just ask the non-higher ups of your program what vendors are safe to eat from.

More than likely you will get grabbed if you're a girl, and some students were followed home, I can't recall anyone being in serious danger. Crossing the street is an insane process though.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

It would have been so much cheaper if students had somewhere. To hang out, but the program didn't provide anything like that and because the took away the hostel option you had to go to a cafe if you didn't want to go to your host parents. Things are very cheap in India but they add up.

Select all that apply

• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Americans

• Josh
• My host mother
• The other American students

• Internship
• Administration
• Everything but the Econ teacher and the environment teacher

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