top of page

TERM 1

So, here I am.Term 1 is over, a fourth of my time at MUWCI has already passed. It’s been four months since I set off on this adventure, moved to India and started this new chapter of my life. It’s been emotional... Four months filled with ups and downs, adventures, new experiences, remarkable people and friends, and extremely special memories. I’ve been staring at this screen for what feels like hours, and am still puzzled. Putting four months at a UWC into a reflection of only a few pages seems like a completely impossible task.

It feels like yesterday, the day I first set foot in this country, the day I arrived in Mumbai, my heart filled with excitement, impatience, and nervousness. Despite all the reading I had done, I felt like I knew nothing about this country which I was now supposed to call my home.

Upon arriving back home at christmas, every second question I got was “How is India?” I never know how to answer. Large, I guess...

UWC Day
Uttarakhand
Ganesh Celebrations

India is the home to 1.2 billion people and therefore is the country with the second largest population in the world. A country so diverse with over 200 languages, 28 states (which could all be their own country because of their diverse cultures, languages, and history). A country which stretches from white sand beaches to wild jungles, urban cities and snow covered peaks.

India is not necessarily a spiritual place, despite being associated with it, nor is it particularly beautiful or incredible on the surface. But what India is, is different, scary and exciting; an adventure. India is not an easy place, probably not a place that will enchant you immediately. It requires time, patience, and an open mind.

 

Although I dislike the stereotype of the westerner going to India and ‘finding himself ’, I have to admit, India does make you reflect. It is so fantastically different from what I have known and experienced in Germany, Thailand, Japan or France.

There is such a lack of order that the banalest things get blown out of proportion, make you laugh or (more commonly) make you shake your head in frustration. From the people to the colors, the sounds, the smells, or the culture, India is a country that hits you full force, both in a positive and negative way.

 

I have been lucky enough to travel India a little bit which has helped in attempting to gain a greater understanding of this country.

 

A few weeks into first term, we had what we, at MUWCI, call ‘Travel Week’ or ‘Experience India Week’. On the contrary of other project weeks, we have our Project Week in February. Logically, the school wants us 

to learn more about India before we go work on a project of our own.

 

I was assigned to the travel week going to the Himalayas. Ten days of traveling through India. 36 hours in an Indian train, 10 hours in an Indian bus, 8 hours of waiting at the Delhi train station. A total of 130 hours of traveling through India. 5 days of hiking in the Himalayas. 13km and 1,000m of elevation per day, to reach the camp of 4,500m on the third day. Everything on this trip was an experience. I am so grateful to have experienced such a trip, to have stood on a peak in the Himalayas and have seen the breathtaking view of the endless mountain chains.To have had conversations about the culture and the people of northern India with our local guide.To have spent the most fun 36 hours in an Indian train, talking to local travelers, buying countless cups of chai masala.To have fallen asleep on the Delhi train station platform, due to pure exhaustion on our travels back...

 

I was also able to spend a long weekend in Mumbai, experiencing the India that is far more often talked about abroad.The city has an incredibly raw and pulsing energy. Mumbai was such an assault on the senses, an uproar of sounds and smells, and strikingly vibrant and bold colors.The emanating scents of the different curries, herbs, and other foods tickles every single one of your taste buds, whilst your heart aches from seeing infants almost starving on the streets.Your eyes widen at the sight of the sensationally beautiful women.With their long black curls, their glowing tanned skin, their gracile faces, and the dazzling colors of their silk sarees.

 

But this is not really the India that I have lived in. MUWCI is located on a 175-acre conservation park and biodiversity reserve overlooking the Mulshi and Kolvan valleys, 50km outside of a city called Pune.The India that I know is far more rural, and mainly consists of adventures and interactions with the local villages.We celebrate big Indian holidays with the locals, work with them for our CAS projects, go down for a swim on the weekend, or cycle to the village for some cold coffee and Wada Pav on Saturday afternoons. I also went on a homestay at the beginning of the year.Another MUWCI student and I were both hosted by a girl and her mother for one night. - A truly humbling and gratifying experience.

 

Uttarakhand
Homestays
Travel Week

I enjoy my crazy life in rural India, on this isolated hilltop in the Western Ghats.This very intense bubble also known as MUWCI.

 

We tend to be very preoccupied with the very eventful life here and forget about anything that goes on beyond the campus and its surroundings, creating a very intense and tight community of Students, Faculty and Staff.
To quote my Canadian co-year who put it so 
beautifully,“MUWCI sweeps you off our feet and throws you into a sea of insecurity. All of us are drowning in an ocean, but we jumped in holding hands.”

 

I arrived here not really knowing what to expect and ended up thrown into an entangled collection of surprises, experiences, adventures and loose emotions.

 

Academically, I have been more challenged than ever before. I mainly enrolled in classes I had never taken before. This in combination with a new school system and style of learning/teaching has made the last four months rather difficult. I have, however, greatly enjoyed the challenge. Being pushed towards thinking critically regarding all aspect of learning, I have learned so many new things, both in subjects as well as about myself.

 

It is truly incredible to sit in a classroom with people from all over the world, and discussing matters such as global conflicts, sustainability and global warming, history, literature and language, and talking with people who all add their own perspective to these topics. Being surrounded by people who have experienced things I never will, and getting as close as I possibly can to understanding their situation is so unique to UWCs. I am not a Syrian refugee, I have not experienced the horrors and atrocities of war, have not been forced to flee my home twice, fearing for my life. I will never be an Armenian fighting for the recognition of the genocide. I can only try understanding what it is like to be Venezuelan and having to worry about getting enough food in a day. But being friends with people with such stories, having conversations with them on a daily basis is as close as I’ll ever get to understanding the conflicts and their situations.

 

I have joined different CAS activities, some which I have become very, very passionate about. One of them being Kriya: Empowerment Through Action. An outdoor initiative, aiming towards empowering participants through challenges in the outdoors.As capstone adventure, we take several girls on a month long trek in the Himalayas, that culminates with an attempt to summit Stok Kangri (6,150m). In order to prepare the girls, we conduct weekly training sessions for a larger group of women from the villages surrounding the college campus. Given the context, we try to break gender stereotypes and societal barriers by building confidence and competence. I have worked with the same girl since the beginning of the year, and the connection we have formed is truly special.

 

Towards the end of the term, something really exciting happened. MUWCI has a student organization/ decision-making body called CA (college assembly).Three student representatives from each Wada (our residential houses) form the CA.We are divided into committees, and try addressing concerns or issues with the school. CA exists in order to give students a voice and ensure our involvement in decisions and changes that affect the entire college. After long thoughts, I decided to apply and ended up being elected by my Wada. I’m so thankful and excited to be a part of this, and this is one of the reasons I can’t wait for second term!

 

Despite the amazing times, the UWC experience of course also includes difficult times. In the midst of academic despair, emotional stress and overall frustration, it’s sometimes difficult to keep your head clear and remember why one came here in the first place. Being surrounded by such a supportive community has made these times a million times easier, however. Through talking with teachers or friends over a good cup of tea whilst watching the sun set over the Mulshi valley, everything ends up being put pack into perspective and, as they say, “In the end, all will be good”.

Internet Hill
Internet Hill

On a day to day basis, I have formed such special memories. Memories that have made first term so special.

 

When I think of the past four months, I think of our beautiful campus, the western Ghats and the breathtaking view I see whilst walking to school every day.The amazing hikes I have done in the surroundings of campus. An incredible environment I am so lucky to live in.

 

I remember the wonderful adventures in the Himalayas or Mumbai, the fun, and frustration of being a traveling foreigner in India.

 

I think of the India I have experienced. Celebrating Ganesh down in the village, going on homestays, interacting with the fruit vendors in Paud.

 

I think of Saturday afternoons in Paud (the local village), cycling down to eat Wada Pav, drink cold coffee and buy fruits to bring back to campus. Cycling amidst the beautiful valley, greeting local villagers on the way. I think of going for a swim and jumping into the river on the way back to campus.

 

I think of my subjects and classes. All the things I have learned in such a short amount to time. I think of my Global Politics class when we discuss the Israeli/Palestinian conflict with an Israeli teacher and Palestinian, Israeli and Syrian students.All of them trying to give the least biased summary of the conflict, while as an ‘outsider’, you can observe their individual reactions to what the other just said.A shrug by the Israeli in response to what the Palestinian said, and a slight smile by the Syrian, but both not saying anything knowing that whatever they add would be biased.

 

I think of all the star-gazing on the roofs of our houses (which we have arranged with blankets and pillows), cooking pasta late at night, watching the sun from Internet Hill, and seeing the orange-red light illuminate the Mulshi Valley.

I think of my CAS activities. I think of working for Kriya, seeing and working with Priyanka every week. Her passion, her energy, her smile, her motivation and her perseverance that have motivated me anew every week.

South Indian Dosa
Kriyā Meetings
W5B5
OC

I think of the incredibly amazing conversations I have had with so many special people on this campus. Conversations about philosophy, politics, culture, privilege and anything else you can think of.

 

I think of all the submissions, the deadlines, the stress and the despair. I think of the more challenging, more difficult, and more frustrating times.The tougher side of UWC, which is not talked about that much.

 

I think of college meetings and college-wide discussions. Sitting on the college steps having very heated discussions about traditions on campus, scholarship funds, privilege, traveling in India or Trump being elected.

 

I think of the funniest, saddest, craziest or most random memories, that would only make sense to the people that lived them with me.All these memories which make me smile when looking back at this term, which I will cherish forever!

 

But above all this, I think of everyone I got to share all these memories with. I think of the incredible people that have become so important to me, each in their own different way.The amazing friends I have made, whom I’m excited to spend next term with.

First term has been an intense learning experience in every aspect of life, and I am so incredibly grateful for having found such a supporting, loving, and challenging community at MUWCI.

 

UWC has been the most incredible opportunity of my life, and it is beyond me to put in words how thankful I am for everything that has happened so far, and everything that is to come.

- It’s been thrilling, exhausting, and beautiful.

W5B5
Pune
Monsoon Hikes
Library Lawn
Ganesh
Pune
MUWCI
bottom of page