Friday June 14th 2019.
This is officially my 7th day in Bangalore and even though I am experiencing reverse culture sock, I am loving India. Despite the stereotype that India is an unsafe place for women I feel relatively safe in most public spaces. Bangalore brings me a certain level of comfort that I have not experienced in the states. I don’t feel the intense racial tension that inhabits my community nor do I fear the overwhelming threat of gun violence that violates many communities in Texas.
Coming from a small town in South Texas I am adjusting to the hustle and bustle of India! I am also learning how to use Uber, and order food for delivery. Not to mention crossing the insanely busy road without getting run over! India has been an adjustment from Texas but so far I love Bangalore! The culture here has so many parallels to the Mexican American cultural on the South Texas boarder. I am the only Latinx student within my group of international class mates I often find myself educating others about my culture.
Being a minority within this environment has pushed me to carve a new space in the world for Latinx people in my community and share our customs, rituals, and culture with people from all over the world.
Despite the good times I have felt a strong sting of reverse culture sock. There are a handful of students in my program that haven’t quite taken to the culture here in India and even make problematic comments such as “I feel like these Indian people are just trying to rob us”. The reminisce of western superiority within my group has reminded me that many people have been indoctrinated into problematic stereotypes of “non-western” culture. In conversation one day a student even referred to the sexuality of pre-colonial Indigenous people in the US as “lose”.
This comment being completely problematic on so many levels I almost lost my cool but instead of letting my angry emotions completely over rule me I decided to take a moment to educate them about patriarchy and colonialism in the US. Having to stand for my principles has brought me to realize that feminist activism can be found in the small acts we do everyday. I have been able to learn about myself from these moments and learn to live with people who are completely different from me while still creating a space for feminist action.
