Yesterday was another in a long line of unbelievably boring days. I got up at 7, showered (ah, I may or may not have found a button that is the water heater! Please God let it be the water heater. Of course, I was sort of getting used to the cold water, but my legs are hairy! I can’t shave if there are goosebumps. I pressed the button and heard the ( Read more... )

Yesterday Jillian and I walked home from class. I don't know how long the walk is, but that's not the point. As we were crossing a street, I was looking around and I saw this naked little kid squatting on the curb with his butt towards traffic. I thought, "My God, he has a yellow tail! What the..." And then I realized. Jillian has stepped in dog ( Read more... )

Hi Rach! Good to hear from you. Are you still training for the triathalon this summer? No, no monkeys. Kolkata is far too urban. That's actually a downside, because I really like the rural life. I see it on tv. They keep showing on the news how Orissa and Bihar have been flooded. Apparently, the flooding in Kolkata went through the drains that ( Read more... )

Hmm, I guess there's a lot to write, but I generally have so little time that I'm afraid of running out of time. Well, to start with, I found an answer to the shalwar kameez question. Jillian said that the shalwar kameez is associated with Pakistan, and so to wear a sari was like a nationalist statement, while to wear a shalwar was to implicitly ( Read more... )

Let's see, where to begin? This morning. You've never seen water like this. Well, if you watch the news you have. Or live in Iowa. Okay, anyway, I hadn't really seen water like this. Once, last summer in Dhaka, the water was so deep that we had to take a rickshaw to the house from the apartment. Last night it rained the whole night. I didn't notice ( Read more... )

I'm feeling much better today. I woke up at 5 am, then got out of bed at 6 and went on the computer, checking e-mail and IMing a few people. The weather is very cool. Not cold, but strangely cool. I'm very, very surprised by that. The streets ring perpetually with the sound of car horns. Everyone is so impatient and honk at the people walking in ( Read more... )

India is going to suck. I guess it didn't occur to me that it might not be like Bangladesh. That I might not get my own room in an apartment with a bathroom, a computer with internet, a tv with a dvd player, etc. Oh sure, I knew that I had been living in the lap of luxury, but...Instead, I might have to take bucket baths all summer, have no ( Read more... )

Ah, I see the picture did work. It's a converted mansion in Madison. I will live on the second floor, and you can see my big window (facing the street) and the other one to the right is also my window, but that's a closet, strangely enough.

My, it's been a long time since I've posted here. So much has happened at Mount Holyoke, but this livejournal was never about MHC anyway. No, dear readers, it is about exploring the wider world, and this summer's thrilling new installment of "What Karen Ate in What's-it's-Name" takes place in India. Yes, that's right, this summer I am forsaking ( Read more... )

I forgot about my livejournal for a while. Not like I had time to write anything. Right now I feel just sick to my stomach, like I have the past few days. I don't like getting shut out from someone's life. Not at all. I've on this nice little teeter-totter going from anxious to sick over the past two weeks. I've done all I can and the situation isn ( Read more... )