One of the greatest perks about studying abroad is the experiences students receive for the first time. Whether it would be your first time eating an apple pie, attending a rock concert, or seeing New York City.  Here at Al Jamiat, we are interested in hearing about your firsts and what they were like!

Manojkumar Mangalchand Shah (Manoj Shah for short) is a student at New Mexico Highland’s University, studying for his MBA in Accounting.  Originally from India, take a look at a couple of Manoj Shah’s first experiences here in the U.S.

My first… canned food product.

I had several adjustments in terms of food. In India, farmers can’t afford pesticides or chemical fertilizers, so the food is organic. I never had canned food at home. I still don’t like it here and find it so ironic that the organic food is much more costly. I have had canned corn, canned cream corn, canned tomatoes, canned peas, and canned green beans. Many of these foods are not available fresh year round, so canned or frozen are the only choices. They just don’t taste as sweet.

My first… experience with American driving.

Traffic in the U.S. is radically different than in India. People don’t honk their horns all the time like they do in India. In fact in India, trucks actually have signs saying “Please Honk.” They even have fancy horn sounds. There we drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, opposite of that here in the states. Traffic is not fast in India like it is here, but there are stray cows, dogs, pigs, monkeys everywhere. Also, scooters, bicyclists and pedestrians mix with the cars and trucks. People move into the lane whenever they feel like it so you have to be constantly on the alert. The interstate between cities here in America are very good and easy, but fast. The rural highways are also easy. The highways/roads here in the U.S. are very smooth; they don’t have pits or gravel like my country.

To read more about Manoj Shah’s first experiences, make sure to check out the fall issue of Al Jamiat, coming out October!

Interested in sharing your first experience?

Email allizon@al-jamiat.com with your story and see how you can contribute to the “My first…” feature!

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