Housing and Meals

Alliance programs emphasize cultural immersion, experiential learning opportunities, and extensive interaction with locals in your host context.  Your housing arrangements in Pune are thus an important component of your experience abroad, and we want you to be able to make the most of this opportunity for growth and learning. 

All homestay families and Indian roommates undergo an extensive vetting process with special attention to health, safety, and opportunities for cultural exchange.  You, in turn, will be oriented to culturally-appropriate behavior and be expected to act in a way that not only will enhance and ensure a positive experience for you, but that will also maintain the integrity of the Alliance's reputation in the local community so that we can continue offering these opportunities to future Alliance students. 

The housing preference form that you complete as part of your confirmation process gives us valuable information to help arrange the best housing placements for you, and we may request more extensive information from you if you have indicated interest in a more embedded homestay arrangement.  To the extent possible, please be sure to communicate your preferences in advance to Alliance staff, but also be aware that you will need to approach your housing situation—as with the rest of your study abroad experience—with an attitude of openness, flexibility, and compromise.   Alliance staff will brief you fully on your placement prior to departure, address any questions or concerns you might have, and communicate any specific expectations to you both pre-departure and during orientation.  Open channels of communication with our resident staff are key to helping you to navigate your new relationships with tact and diplomacy.

All housing options are associated with an Indian host.  As indicated on the housing preference form, possible housing placements are as follows:   

Option One:  Student hostel (female students only)

Option Two:  Semi-independent host family arrangement (male or female students)

Option Three:  Embedded homestay (male or female students)

Option One: Student hostel (female students only)

A host family with close connections to the Alliance program owns and manages a ladies’ hostel for female Indian students in Pune.  Its sole purpose is to provide affordable housing for female Indian students who come to Pune to study and the family lives on-site to provide both practical and personal care for all of the students living in their multi-story residences.  Female Alliance students have been allocated a room within each residence and are thus given the opportunity to interact with a host family and female students from all over India in a communal living setting. 

The rooms in the hostel are large and are divided into separate living quarters for four to six students.  The rooms vary in size and layout and you should be prepared to share a room with another Alliance student or an Indian student.  Each room has shared restroom and shower facilities and students eat most dinners together in the building’s communal kitchen/dining hall.  Depending on your tastes and appetite, you can budget roughly $5-$10 a day for food with the communal dinners and with breakfast provided on weekdays at the program center. 

The hostel buildings are strictly single-sex and no co-ed visits are permitted (including male family members).  In addition, you should expect to spend most evenings in your room or within the residence, and if you do go out, to plan to return at a reasonable (read: fairly early) hour.  A 10:00PM curfew is often imposed for all hostel residents and Alliance students are expected to abide by any such policies. 
 
Please note that though this arrangement will introduce you to India's cultural and geographical diversity by exposure to students from other regions, and though these students will know Pune quite well, you should not expect the Indian students in your apartment or in the building to be Pune natives.  Students from Pune tend to live with their families, and though you will have many opportunities to meet local students through the thriving student scene in and around Fergusson College and across Pune, your Indian roommates will likely be from elsewhere in India.

Option Two: Semi-independent host family arrangement

As a university town, Pune has many families who are accustomed to renting out rooms to students, and who, in many cases, have semi-independent apartments or rooms attached to their houses.  This in many ways provides an ideal balance to American students who want the cultural access, warmth, and hospitality an Indian host family would offer, but who also want to maintain the independence and autonomy to which they have become accustomed in the U.S.

Students will still need to be prepared to follow culturally-appropriate forms of behavior, however, and to respect the needs and homes of their hosts.  Some changes to the student's lifestyle may be required, so please enter this arrangement with an attitude of flexibility and openness.  As with any and all student adjustment matters, Alliance staff will be available around the clock after arrival to help smooth your transition into your new life and address any issues or questions that might arise.

In this arrangement, you will no doubt be invited to share some evening meals with the host family, but you will also be taking lunches and probably some evening meals out as well.  Cooking facilities may vary among placements.  Breakfast for all Alliance students is provided at the program center at Fergusson College.  

Option Three: Embedded host family arrangement

This housing placement is only available upon special request and students may be asked to provide additional information.  It is important that students who choose this type of placement understand the changes in lifestyle that will be required, and the more demanding guidelines for appropriate behavior that will be asked of them.  That said, many students find embedded homestays the most rewarding part of their study abroad experience, especially in India where it might also be the most challenging part of their study abroad experience.

In this arrangement, most evening meals would be taken with the family, though lunches on weekdays are eaten out in the proximity of campus, and breakfast provided at the program center.  In addition, you should expect to spend most evenings in with your host family, and if you do go out, to plan to return at a reasonable (read: fairly early) hour.   You may or may not have your own room, and you should not expect the same levels of privacy to which you might be accustomed in the U.S.  That said, you will be welcomed into the family, brought along to religious, cultural, and community activities, and introduced widely among their friends and family.  Please contact our program manager, Traci Chupik, if you would like to discuss this housing option further.

Transportation

In all options, students will be within a short rickshaw ride or an approximately half-hour walk from the program center.  Students placed in semi-independent or embedded host family arrangements are typically clustered in the same neighborhoods so that they can share travel expenses to/from the program center.

Meals

As noted above, arrangements for meals vary among housing placements.  Breakfasts on weekdays are provided at the Alliance program center, and lunches are generally taken in the many student-friendly eateries around Fergusson College.  Expect to spend about $5 per day on meals, or more if you eat in nicer restaurants or eat western-style food. Some students may spend $10 per day if they eat all meals out.  Meal prices can range from cheap ($1 for a quick lunch in a student-frequented eatery) to very expensive ($50 and higher in a fancy hotel). Fresh fruit is available at local markets, and western-style groceries are becoming more and more available in stores around Pune. Vegetarians will find that good food is easily and widely available in India--in fact, it is often easier to find "veg" restaurants than "non-veg" restaurants.  Dairy products are widely served in coffee, tea, and desserts, which are also highly sugared, but in most cases your preferences can be accommodated.  Overall, come prepared to be adventurous and flexible in your eating habits, and you will be richly rewarded!

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