When I checked my luggage in the airport, the woman working at the counter said, "India is a place I'll never go." She surprised me with the comment and I asked for an explanation. "It's too dirty. If the Taj Mahal were somewhere else, I'd go--but not India." This blog is here to prove her wrong, to show that even though parts of India may be thought of as dirty, there's so much more to this incredible country.
After more than 26 hours of traveling, I finally arrived in India late Thursday night. The heat was sweltering and I was quickly reminded that I in no way speak Hindi as I attempted to use the restroom and couldn't converse with the attendant. The next day we took a four hour bus ride south from Mumbai to Pune, formerly known as Poona. The bus ride was a nice way to see me some India, one girl saw monkeys playing on the side of the road. I saw some skinny cows, but of course I wanted monkeys. I'm still in pursuit of them. Friday night we hit the ice breakers hard and began some elementary exploration of Pune. We know now Pune pretty much shuts down by midnight.
I think I'm really lucky to have this great group. There are 21 of us I think and we're 90% third years. With only one second year, it's nice to be surrounded by people with direction who know their major and seem decided on a life path. It's also really exciting to me that everyone seems so experienced internationally--people went to Alexandria or Peru or Israel for the summer. And a couple are studying abroad in winter quarter as well.
Yesterday I was walking down the street to lunch and a tiny adorable girl came up to me. She must have been just over two feet tall and she had a small plastic bowl in her hand. She clearly wanted money but I didn't want to reach into my purse and pull out my money belts, start rummaging, etc. I've also yet to accumulate any rupee coins. Anyways, I guarantee you that this girl was one of the cutest (we're talking top five here) children I've seen in my life. And I've been to a lot of playgrounds. So then she proceeds to follow me and make a motion taking her hand to her lips--indicating the act of eating. I don't know how to emphasize this enough, but it broke my heart. I went into lunch feeling so sad.
On a brighter note, tonight brought Pune's own Flo Rida concert. It was quite the event, I'll be posting pictures and video soon. At one point he gave out his cell phone number and threw a couple items of his clothing into the audience. The concert really felt like a club with a main act, even with only girls being allowed into the VIP section (lame!). I really enjoyed the ambiance
Off to bed for now, classes start tomorrow morning. And by that I mean not only my academic classes but also Yoga and Dance classes. I'm pretty excited for those.
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