Sandeep Panta
Graduate student
Computer engineering
Daily Lobo: Where are you from?
Sandeep Panta: The south of India.
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DL: What do you think about New
Mexico?
SP: New Mexico is good only because I have a lot of friends here. I haven't gone to a lot of places in New Mexico. Other people always tell me that Albuquerque is not such a fun place to be. I've made a lot of friends at this University, so I just hang out at house parties and stuff. There is really not a lot of stuff to do here.
DL: When did you learn to speak English?
SP: In India, the medium of communication was in English since school days, but we never got a chance to speak. The good thing about being in India was just before I came here, I was working for this company where I was in the customer service department, and I was taking calls from all over the United States. And so actually, I had to fake an American accent while I was on a call.
DL: How is your American accent?
SP: There are a lot of differences in the accent. You don't last as long as we do. We actually took training in American accents, and my fake name was Alex.
DL: You had a fake name?
SP: Yeah. A fake American name, and that is all because the U.S. customers didn't know they were calling to India. So, that is why we had to have the fake American accent, because we made you feel more comfortable by
doing so.
DL: What do you think about America?
SP: There is more freedom compared to Indian culture. There is a lot more freedom in what you do, because (in India) up until the age of 24 to 25, you're staying with your parents at your parents' house. There are a lot of restrictions. Here, you can earn your living. That is something that we can't do in India. There is too much population. We can't do that in India. Life is secure over here so there is more freedom. You can lead a rich life.
DL: How long are you going to be here?
SP: I'm still in the state of transition. I've been here only eight or nine months. Indian culture is still so far from American culture. It takes a long time to get into. I'm going to be here for a long time. I don't want to go back.
~ Xochitl Campos
