Luisa

Dear readers and friends,

My name is Luisa, I’m 17 years old and I’m from Eislingen, near Stuttgart. I graduated from high school this year and absolutely love making music. I play the piano and double bass and am part of the German National Youth Orchestra, which has given me the opportunity to meet lots of new people and visit many new places. I am the youngest of three sisters, and I will be leaving on 2 October for my stay in Kannur, Kerala, India – and I’m already very excited!

I had known for a while that I wanted to spend an extended period abroad after high school and before university, but for a long time I wasn’t sure how to go about it, which organisation to use, or where to go. Then one day Leon Held came to my school and talked about his time abroad in Jordan with Ems. This was relatively close to the application deadline. After thinking it over a bit more, I submitted my application to travel to India just before the deadline. Now, after about 10 months, 12 seminar days and many new friends, I can hardly wait to visit my placement at the Bethania Students Home.

Of course I have a lot of respect for travelling alone for such a long time to a faraway country with a fundamentally different culture, but my excitement about meeting new people, experiencing different mindsets and discovering cultural differences far outweighs any reservations. I plan to start practising yoga and learning Malayalam, the language spoken in Kerala, during my time there. I’m also really looking forward to meeting the local women. Most of all, I’m excited to meet girls my age, discover what we have in common, and see how we differ.

This is sure to be a time when I’ll get to know myself better and broaden my horizons through all the new perspectives and experiences. I’m very grateful that Bethania Students Home is welcoming me and allowing me to share these precious experiences with them.

Through my blog, I hope to share my experiences in India with you. However, I want to emphasise that everything I write is my subjective perception and should not be taken as universally true.

I’m already excited, and I’d love it if you joined me on my journey!

Atuvare,

Luisa 🙂