Before Bangalore, she was a blonde from Darien, who dined on chicken and loved to dance. After Bangalore, Kristen Chmielewski returned to Darien as a brunette vegetarian longing to dance.

From rickshaws to (matar) mutter, Chmielewski savored her excursion to India. Clad in long skirts and pashminas, she strolled through streets leading to Thippasandra Market. Her sole disappointment was the recent ban on dancing and the clubs, which closed at 11:30 p.m.

“I enjoyed everything, from working in the MiD DAY (newspaper) office and going on interviews to walking through the streets of Bangalore,” Chmielewski said.

Chmielewski, 23, a 2007 graduate of Vanderbilt University, worked as a journalism intern for the MiD DAY in Bangalore. From Feb. 16 to March 16, Chmielewski’s byline graced news stories and features appearing in the publication. Her volunteer service was arranged by i-to-i, an agency that provides meaningful travel experiences abroad.

“‘I’m sorry. Can you repeat that?’ quickly became the most prevalent phrase in my vocabulary during the first few days of my internship,” she said. “Yet, once I accustomed myself to the subtleties of the Indian-American accent, I found my colleagues exceptionally helpful with sharing advice, welcoming my ideas and showing genuine interest in my experience and travels in India.”

By dyeing her blonde tresses brown, Chmielewski hoped that she would not attract attention and better blend with the Bangalore population.

“I’ve participated in a lot of different service activities at Vanderbilt, but the longest lasted only a week,” she said. “Since I got a lot out of those experiences, I wanted the opportunity to do more service for as long as a month before I start law school.”

Originally, Chmielewski was set to do a program in El Salvador and Brazil, but she wanted to do something different.

“I found i-to-i on the Internet. It allowed me to utilize special skills I had acquired in journalism. I worked for four years on the Vanderbilt Hustler, where I was assistant news editor during my senior year,” she said. “Basically, using my journalistic skills and visiting a new land seemed more appealing. It catered more to my interests and combined service and learning.”

Living accommodations for Chmielewski and 11 other journalism interns were arranged through i-to-i.

“Six of us stayed with a woman named Shirley and her husband,” she said. “Shirley’s guest house was very clean. There were no mosquitoes, and we had lukewarm showers. The food was really great.”

Chmielewski became a vegetarian after hearing reports that the bird flu virus had surfaced in India. Despite all of her precautions, she became ill during her stay.

“I did get food poisoning, believe it or not, from a TGI Friday’s. I went to lunch with a friend and ordered vegetable quesadillas,” Chmielewski said. “Later that day, I had a fever and severe dehydration. The next morning, Shirley took me to a doctor and made soup for me. She was very kind to me.”

Chmielewski discovered significant differences in technology between Darien and Bangalore.

“Accustomed to blindingly fast connection speeds, I developed the pesky habit of twirling my hair and biting my nails while desired Web sites lingered into existence in India,” she said. “Navigating my way around the city for interviews, coping with sporadic G-mail brownouts and deciphering the process for ordering interstate phone calls initially posed minor frustrations during my tenure at MiD DAY.

“My nerves calmed after a week on the job. Upon reading my stories in print, I experienced disproportionate satisfaction for stepping outside my established frontiers and sharing my experiences with, quite literally, the other side of the world,” Chmielewski said.