Lived Experience - Puerto Rico

The final edition of the International Lived Experience Series (for now...)



Puerto Rico was el Gato, el gato manana!  This is the limitation of my spanish.

Lived Experiences - Czech Republic

During my time in Kenya, I was highly encouraged to attend a conference called "EuroCo" during midterms in October. This 7 day conference is reserved for Local Committee President's, and led by highly engaged AIESEC country presidents. Rather than just squeeze in for the 7 day conference, I went for 13 days, and attended the AIESEC Prague (praha) local committee induction conference.

 No midterm could provide as valuable a learning experience, ever.

 

(again, if the video says error, youtube fail, just adjust the resolution)

 I swear I didn't just drink beer and dance the whole time I was in Czech. Though it was very common.

Lived Experience - Kenya

International Congress: 9 days, 20 hours sleep, 100 countries, 600 students. Your brain and body's capacity to keep up with the environment is challenged, and on top of that, Africa Challenged.


I would like to point out that "Maple Syrup Antics" were endorsed strongly, perhaps even Africa Challenged.

Lived Experience - Oman

After finishing up the India adventure, I found myself drawn to stop over in Oman. If India is a speedboat, Oman was a canoe, the lifestyle was very relaxed.
 (if the video shows an error, try in a 480 p rather than 360 p)

 6 months before landing in Oman, I honestly knew "I will probably never go to Oman". Have you ever doubted a country before?

 Life lesson: There are two paths, what you plan and what you do.

Lived Experiences - India

There is so much more to travelling than getting from point A to point B. There is so much more to working abroad than the 9 - 5 (or 8-2). India was an adventure, here are some of the little moments that made it unforgettable.



For all those heading to India, particularly Sarah Hummel and Chungsoon Haw, I wish you the best adventure you can find.

The Shirt

Here is my first attempt at sharing valuable insights to a Global Network.

How was International Congress?

International Congress in Kenya!

I am now about an hour away from boarding the plane for Kenya. To give you a snap shot of the experience about happen, consider these numbers:

63rd Annual AIESEC International Congress.
10 days at the MMU Hotel and Conference Centre, metres from Nairobi National Park.
Up to 50 000 virtual participants.  tune in Live starting August 20th
111 countries with delegates in attendance

This is when we get to see who is in our network, what we have done this year, which direction we are going, and why AIESEC is relevant to the world we live in.

Pretty stoked. http://www.ic2011kenya.org/

What's the Difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut?

Two weeks.  And being in Oman. I have two awesome haircut experiences on my trip so far.  

1. I wanted to get a haircut for 10 rupees (20 cents) under a mango tree (UMT) in Chandigarh, but the girls at my trainee house were very strongly opinionated about the risks (diseases...).  As an alternative, they offered to cut my hair for free on the balcony, which was beside a Guava tree (BGT), so I accepted.  Now, when you get offered a free haircut, you lose all ability to provide insight to the style and quality.  Lets just say two sets of safety kitchen scissors takes a damn long time to get a trim, and you end up with racing stripes on one side of your head.

2. I wanted to visit a 'Turkish Barber'.  For 2.5 OR (Omani Rials) you can get one of the most precise haircuts known to man.  They are artists, not barbers.  The second part of this epic hair cut was the straight razor shave.  I purposely held off on shaving for a few days just to get the full value out of the experience.  I quite literally did not see stubble for 3 days afterwards.  I suspect lasers were used.  A complete face and head massage were included and the experience turned me into a better man.

The Middle East During Ramadan

This is a unique experience that is completely different from anything I have ever witnessed.  As Oman is a devout Muslim country, the rules are followed closely and I am amazed.

1. No eating or drinking during the day.  If you are caught eating in public, I was told that you could be fined and put in jail (for a little while) to learn your lesson.  All those times when out of habit you would just stop by the water fountain or grab a bottle of water are when this rule becomes most apparent.

2. Everything is closed during the day.  Stores were open earlier in the morning and then close from about 10 am until 7 pm.  The night is filled with feasting and socializing.

I wouldn't say that I followed all the rules, but I respected them and followed the routine.  We wouldn't eat all day and then all gather for a dinner, and then a post dinner dinner again around midnight.  Any sightseeing we did during the day made sightseeing in India look crazy.  It was like going through ghost towns, there were no cars on the road, no people at the beaches.  Ramadan, very interesting experience.

Landed in Oman! Hello Raf, Luxury Cars and the MC Villa!

O MAN

I never thought that I would be writing from the Sultanate of Oman to the good people following the blog.  It is so cool to go to a country you know absolutely nothing about.

Oman is located immediately beside United Arab Emirates and is one of two Absolute Monarchy's in the world.  The country is fairly wealthy, clean and peaceful.  The climate is desert hot with a nice sea breeze coming of the ocean and the water is warm and highly swim-able.

First noticeable difference I made: it is not India.

The pace of life in Oman is like going in reverse compared to India.  For the first time in recent memory, I am just chilling.  This country is like a desert beach where everyone has a car, air conditioning and not much to do during the day.  The people are relatively laid back, and there are relatively few of them.  Only 3 million people in Oman.

I was greeted by my friend Rafael, who was the AIESEC Laurier national coach from AIESEC Canada last year and advised us on all sorts of obstacles.  His team of 4 people on the AIESEC Oman national team live in a 3 story villa in what would be the suburbs of Muscat (the Capital).  A couple interns also live in the villa and add a nice spice to the place.

I noticed about Oman was that luxury cars are quite prevalent, the people are quite humble and friendly, and Shawarma, Sheesha and Fruit Juice is incredible, accessible and cheap.

Bargaining - How to get ripped off and learn from it!

While travelling, you will likely come across some items that catch your eye. Once a vendor sees you have some money in your wallet or a credit card, you are in their playing field. Now, before making any purchases, there are a couple rules you should follow:

Question yourself

What would a similar item cost back home if you bought it at a normal store?  If you don't know, then don't buy it.  You are likely going to get caught in a rationalization that "well I would never be able to get it back home." Fact: we live in a globalized world, you can get anything anywhere.  If you can't, then it probably isn't legal.

Is this the only place in town that sells these sorts of things? It almost 100% isn't.  If you act disinterested and start walking out to look elsewhere, you now have the power.  I have seen merchants, who with complete conviction of their selling price 5 minutes prior, cut their price three quarters as you walk out the door.  As said earlier, this is their wonderland, you are no different than every other silly tourist that walks through their shop.

Did I plan on buying this when I set out today? If not, then you will most likely get caught walking away with something you don't need.  Gifts are always nice, and when a good one comes along it that seems perfect, walk away.  The vendors can smell 'the giving spirit' and will butter you up like a grilled cheese sandwich.  If it was a perfect gift, then it will be the first thing you go looking for at the beginning of your next day.  Sleep on it.

Bring a Local
“Don’t shop anything inside or outside the Taj, they might be very expensive, in the evening I will personally go with you so they can keep the price low”.  This is what a friend of mine warned before venturing out into the tourist world.  What did I do? Well I rationalized buying a marble picture frame because I had a perfect picture to put in it.  What was I told when I returned, that it was worth 1/10 the price I paid for it.  Locals know the reality best, and if they don't, well then they are at least good at bargaining in the local language.

Everybody is Getting Paid

Classic trap: When you hire a guide to show you the Amber Fort, the Taj Mahal, the Golden Temple or any other point of interest, you will wonder an hour later why you are standing in a Textile store, a spice shop, a marble shop, a Restaurant or Hotel even though you didn't ask to be.  This is because the guides get a small percentage of whatever your gross purchase is.  What does this also mean, well it means that they have no interest in you getting a "great deal".  On the way to the store, they will tell you about the high quality and that the place is fixed price.  When you arrive, you will likely get a sit down chat about the creation process and given some tea or juice to get comfortable.  This is the best trap because they have you convinced that their is nothing else like the store, and that now is the only time to get such quality goods.  Ever wonder how many stores exist in a country with over a billion people? Tons!  

So, when you walk out and are reassured by your driver and guide that you made an awesome purchase with complete sincerity, you probably got ripped off.  The conflict of interest is designed into the system.  

Summary

I will never know for sure how much of a 'tourist premium' I paid for various trinkets, gifts and personal items, but I can assure you that every time I went shopping, the same pattern existed.  As a Canadian, I haven't been trained to low ball prices and threaten to walk out of stores or leave something I wanted to buy behind.  I now know, through experience (and a couple hundred dollars of being over-charged at least), that when I shop in a bargaining country, I will:

1. Question my Purchases before even thinking about getting out the wallet or credit card (maybe even leave the cash/credit at the hotel)

2. Bring a Local, or at the very least a Ukrainian (they are insane bargainers from what I witnessed)

3. Know that the same convincing routine is rinsed and repeated over and over, and that there is a conflict of interest between you and your guide/driver.

Get a Suit Tailored in Chandigarh!

For about $375 Canadian, you can find yourself in a tailored suit, tailored shirt, nice tie, new shoes and matching belt.  How did such a miracle come about? Iqbal Sons Tailors, that is how.

The whole process begins with buying your fabric for the suit and shirt.  Wool suits are the norm and the is a full range of fabrics from 4000 Rupees and up.  There are textile shops all over, but I went with the recommendation of Raymond Fabrics.  This is a fabric chain and charges a little more, but the quality, service and selection are all well above average.  Once you choose your suit fabric, shirt fabric and the matching tie, you get to visit the Sons.

At Iqbal Sons, located in sector 17 shopping area (near a Sony Erikson showroom), you will get completely measured and asked what kind of style, cut, number of buttons etc.  It's a cool experience.  They take about a week to finish an order and charge about 3000 rupees ($60) to do a suit ($5) for a shirt, but they do a cracking job.

Matching shoes and belt to round off the equation, and now you can dress like you own that suit. 

Blogging Blitz

For the first time in weeks I have a few hours to catch up on my blogs.  I'm not going for quantity over quality, just trying to say everything on my mind before life gets ahead of me again.  You may notice a lack of pictures.  They exist and are quite possibly my favorite collection to date, but the upload speeds are questionable, so I will put them in the posts retroactively.

Now this isn't a season of prison break, so pace yourselves.  I'll be without Internet from now until September 1st, so I'm trying to pre-compensate.

Enjoy

Living in Suite Sixteen: Hand wash your Laundry!

Just a heads up to any interns arriving in India.  You have to get your hands dirty to get your clothes (almost) clean!

I had a nice little post ready about my flawless step by step system to hand washing clothing.  One learned through trial and error, over soaping and under soaping, with full body rashes and smelling like french fries, with a hilarious sun burn and a nearly a week in commando mode.

But instead, I will just let you know that there aren't washing machines in the trainee houses in Chandigarh, at least not in Suite Sixteen Panchkula, so prepare to be humbled folks.  Its a cool experience, unless you are coming from somewhere where there are no washing machines, then its a normal experience.  

Agra and the Taj Mahal

For those of you following the blog closely, you remember the plans to visit the Taj Mahal under the moonlight?

Well, of all the days in the year that I could be in Agra (2/365) and all the days that are a full moon (4/30), I also managed to coincide with Ramadan (1/12).  During Ramadan (called Ramzan for India), night entry to the Taj Mahal is not allowed.  I explored the possibilities of getting a view (helicopter, cannon, large trampoline) but each guide, driver, and local assured me this was not possible.  That said, anything is possible in India.

While we were visiting the Agra Fort during the day, I saw a small crack in a wall along the highway about 2 km from the Taj.  Through this opening, you could shimmy up on to some construction material and get a long distance snap of the Taj.  Now, I will be honest, the picture was crap, but under the influence and under the intent of seeing the Taj at night, I got my satisfaction.

Seeing the Taj Mahal from both the site itself (incredible) and from the distance of Agra fort (maybe five minutes drive away), we caught some beautiful sights and a powerful sense of something greater than any one individual.

Honest opinion, the outside of the Taj was incredible, but the inside creeped me out, as it was a tomb, there was a scary undertone that I can't quite explain.

Staying in Agra - M House Hotel is 5 minutes walk from the Taj

On our recent trip to see the Taj Mahal, we checked into a great hotel in Agra.  A fellow AIESEC member and his family are the owners of 'M House Hotel', only a five minute walk from the Taj Mahal and a 5 minute taxi ride from the Agra Fort.

The rooms were 1200 Rupees per night, which we were able to put either 2 or 3 people into comfortable.  For what worked out to about $6 per person, this was an excellent value.

Amar and his Mom

On the ground floor of the Hotel is the Qaisar Bagh Restaurant, I tried the Butter Chicken and was quite pleased.  The hotel and restaurant were clean and comfortable, affordable and friendly.  I would strongly recommend this stay to anyone, AIESECer or not.

Call M House - +91-0562-3242800 (www.hotelmhouse.com)

Ever considered 3 months in India?

To be honest, about 2 years ago I had decided I wouldn't travel to Asia because it was too far out of my comfort zone.   Even if you had asked me 12 months ago where I would be now, I don’t think I would have described the following:

I was an intern at an 850 student public school in a town adjacent to Chandigarh, India in the Punjab / Haryana state. My daily routine included arriving to St. Soldier’s Divine Public School around 7:55 am, where I was given my schedule for the day.

Each day I started out with 1 hour of an interest activity. This included coaching Basketball and Field Hockey. From 10 am to 2:30 pm, I rotated around classes from 2nd Grade to 11th grade, where I shared global perspectives, taught effective public speaking skills, and strived to learn universal similarities of youth (and some Hindi too). 

School ran from Monday to Saturday, but allowed me the flexibility to travel on my weekends. In 10 weeks, I  travelled to Jaipur, Shimla, Amritsar, Kausali, Agra and Rishikesh.  I hiked through the Himalayas, did yoga with Gurus, visited ancient forts, and saw the Taj Mahal.  A monthly stipend covered my accommodation (a short 5 minute walk from the school), along with basic food costs. I lived with 15 interns from 9 other countries who worked at a variety of school’s and NGO’s. 

Sure, it may not revolve around the professional development or money making endeavours you would expect from a summer job, but I now have 10 weeks of developing as an open minded, global minded youth with a wallet full of photo’s, business cards (AIESEC helps with the professional side...) and memories to take home.

So, when I stated at the end of August last year that I would “get a summer’s experience working in India”, I may not have envisioned the description above, but I am proud to have done exactly that.

If you have a few months free and no plan this year, I know a school that might be of interest to you.

Living in Suite Sixteen: Hot Feast!

An awesome Take-Out and Dine in spot in Sector 16 Panchkula (5 minute walk from the Suite Sixteen Intern House) is 'Hot Feast'. +919815100028

They have a good variety of Indian and Chinese snacks and meals.  Recommendations include:

• Honey Chilli Potatoes
• Tandoori Chicken
• Chicken Fried Rice
• Szechuan Chicken
• Sweet and Hot Soup

For under 200 Rupees per person, you can get well enough food to go around.  The delivery is pretty fast too.  They know us by name and have always been friendly.

Here is the Menu:

Physiotherapy, Accu-pressure and the 50 Rupee Massage

For all of those with aches, pains and sore muscles, I have come across a physiotherapy/accupressure/message spot that will fit even a student's budget.

One of the teachers at my school is an apprentice at a doctor's home office, and from 5 pm to 8 pm Monday to Friday, you can go for any sort of muscle therapy.  If you have any inquiries, please contact Mr. Fakhru Deen at +919988665330.

Now this is not a luxury spa, more of a small ground floor residence with a couple rooms, a half dozen patients, soothing yoga music, and a friendly doctor and his apprentices.  But for 50 to 100 Rupees per session (I've had my wrist treated for a soft-tissue injury, and a couple full body 20 minute massages) you can't help but feel good.  The treatment is for the ordinary Jane and Joe, sort of a social work initiative.

The home office is in sector 20-B, 1037 in Chandigarh.  It is about 5 minutes walk from the main market.