Predeparture thoughts

So this blog is basically meant to document my experiences for the next ten weeks in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, a state in northwest India. I'll be studying Hindi through the American Institute for Indian Studies in hopes to gain some degree of conversational ability by the end of the summer. I'm leaving in almost exactly a week, on June 10th, for a ten-week intensive immersion program. Should hopefully be back by August 22nd.

Feelings:
Ok, first off, I'm unsure of how to feel at this point. On one hand, I'm really excited to actually learn Hindi (and not rely on what Bollywood movie subtitles teach). It's a language that I always thought sounded cool/would be nice to know, so it's great to finally get this opportunity. I'm also pretty psyched about my first trip to India without my parents. I wonder how this summer will affect/change my views towards the motherland. And it's great that my first experience by myself can be somewhere like Jaipur, which is often said to be
On the other hand, leaving home is always rough. There's something to be said for having my mom's cooking, playing video games with my brother, or just relaxing and hanging out with friends till 4/5 in the morning. I guess my family/friends are pretty cool.

Comparisons to last summer:
I'm also curious as to how this trip will be different from last summer, when I studied Japanese in Hakodate, Japan through the Richard U. Light Fellowship. I think it might be different for a few reasons:
1) Simple duration. This program is 2 weeks longer than the HIF program was. Might not seem like much now, but I know that after the 8 weeks in Hokkaido, I was really grateful for the few weeks I got to spend with my friends before heading back to school. Because this program is longer, I'm probably only going to have a few days back home before the start of next semester.
2) People. Since the program last year was through the Light Fellowship, there were a good amount of Yale students on the trip. Plus I was already friends with a few of them, which made me at least confident that I could talk to someone. This time, there are 5 other Yale students going: 3 grad students and 2 freshmen. I don't really know any of them too well, though.
3) Connections. Obviously, I'm a lot more connected to India than I am to Japan. I'm a little nervous about how much I'll like this trip as a result: last summer, I wasn't too concerned with how I ended up viewing Japan. This time, I'm a little worried - what if I don't enjoy being in India?

On a less serious note, preparations (or lack thereof):
Man. I'm so lazy about this entire process. I haven't really thought about packing/going out to buy stuff I need yet. Clothing, toiletries, books, and money? Is that all I need? Oh, also - I don't really know how the living arrangement is working. We may or may not have host families? So maybe I should bring a gift for my host family? Any ideas for gifts/stuff I should bring would be appreciated. Also, I may not have submitted all my forms for the program. Also, I may not have a place to stay for the night before the program starts.
Yeeeeeah procrastination!