Part two!
Sorry for posting again so quickly. There was supposed to be a break. But internet is spotty and you take what you can get.
The next morning, I slept through my alarm but ended up waking at 8 am. I headed down to breakfast, still very freaked out and apprehensive since I had heard nothing about when we were supposed to be meeting or what was going on. I saw some UChicago folk, which was comforting, and had my first Indian breakfast. There were some western options, like “toast” (untoasted Wonder bread sans crust), eggs (an omlette like thing with peppers and onions in it), and cornflakes. But there is also this weird grainy thing, I think it’s called Poona, and a chicken sausage on a toasted hot-dog bun (very odd but tasty). Got to chat with a couple groups, heard that we’d probably be leaving at 12, and joined a group going out to explore Mumbai. We saw a newborn kitten in a bad state on the sidewalk, and made our way over to the Gateway to India, an Arc de Triumph type thing commemorating the King and Queen’s visit to India, and ironically also the place where the last British soldiers departed from. I wasn’t as impressed as I probably should have been, because I was still totally freaking out about actually being in India and nearly getting killed every time we had to cross the street.
Then we went to the lobby of the hotel that the terrorists hijacked last year. Very swanky place. And they have tight security now, metal detectors and bag scanners. Probably the safest place to stay in India now, though I’m sure that their business hasn’t exactly been booming.
After that, we just walked around a bit, through a park that people were playing cricket in, looked at cool buildings, drank sugar cane water. Headed back to the hotel, checked out, gathered in the lobby, where Arvind finally showed up and had us put our luggage in a room and head downstairs for lunch. Decent food, but a nasty ass dessert. I have generally found that India has great cuisine, but can’t make a good dessert for the life of them.
By this point, we were starting to bond and learn each others names. We loaded ourselves onto the bus to Pune, and off we went. The traffic getting out of Mumbai was absurd. They don’t seem to have very good highway systems. But once we were out, the scenery was really beautiful. We were driving through the mountains, saw villages in the valleys, waterfalls in the distance, monkeys on the side of the road. Really fantastic. Halfway through we had a pit-stop. This was my first experience in a restroom sans toilet paper. Luckily, I was expecting it and had brought my own supply. Then I had my first Indian chai. Oh. My. GOD. SOOOO GOOD. It was like humid and 100 degrees out, and the chai was absurdly hot and burnt my tongue, but it might have been the greatest beverage experience of my life. We got back on the bus, I fell asleep for about an hour, and woke up as we were entering Pune. Right away, I could tell that I liked it. The drivers are more reasonable and follow lanes and traffic lights much more readily. As we were stopped once, some adorable little kids started jumping, and waving, and hugging, and play fighting. ADORABLE. Then some government official came on the bus and seemed to demand our passports or something. I don’t really know what went down, since the program leaders seem generally deficient in communicating effectively. Or at all.
Anyway, we kept driving and made it to the hotel. We got off the bus, and as we entered, we got a welcoming/blessing ceremony. It was soooo nice. Two beautiful women in saris were there. The first put a bindi on our forehead, threw flower petals on our hair, and had a little oil lamp giving off pleasant heat and smell. Then we got a marigold garland put around our neck by the second. It was so wonderful and welcoming.
We got assigned our rooms and roommates. My roommate’s name is Nana, and she seems pretty cool. We seem to get along well, which is always good.
Anyway, we just unpacked, had a brief orientation meeting, went on a kinda liquor run (I didn’t get anything). (Note: crossing streets in the dark is even more terrifying than usual).
Nothing real eventful has happened since. Just lots of walking around Pune, meeting Arshia, who is intense but AMAZING. (I am much more likely to do the ridiculous amounts of homework a teacher expects of me if they seem like they will actually be engaging and awesome. And she certainly seems like it. Plus she’s a Marxist Feminist. Which is awesome in itself.)
I got a cell phone today. It was the cheapest model they had ($35) and one of the pre-loaded ringtones is Dard-e Disco. From Om Shanti Om. FUCK YEAH. It’s not yet activated, which sucks, but soon I’ll be making super cheap international calls and texts (yay Twitter updates!).
We had lunch at a tasty Indo-Persian restaurant on the other side of town, which meant MEAT. There was good conversation and tasty food (though we ordered too few dishes and had to do a second order. *facepalm*). After returning to the hotel, I out with a group of girls as we tried to set up travel plans (the agency was closed) and find pants for Stephanie. We wandered around a lot, but made our way to an Indian clothing store where I got a salwar kameez! For like $25! It’s gorgeous! *twirls* I think I’ll get one more salwar kameez, two or three kurtas, and a sari while I’m here.
Now I’ve got to finish some homework, drink some sub par tea, and chill. I’ll be trying to keep you guys updated, but internet here is super spotty.
The next morning, I slept through my alarm but ended up waking at 8 am. I headed down to breakfast, still very freaked out and apprehensive since I had heard nothing about when we were supposed to be meeting or what was going on. I saw some UChicago folk, which was comforting, and had my first Indian breakfast. There were some western options, like “toast” (untoasted Wonder bread sans crust), eggs (an omlette like thing with peppers and onions in it), and cornflakes. But there is also this weird grainy thing, I think it’s called Poona, and a chicken sausage on a toasted hot-dog bun (very odd but tasty). Got to chat with a couple groups, heard that we’d probably be leaving at 12, and joined a group going out to explore Mumbai. We saw a newborn kitten in a bad state on the sidewalk, and made our way over to the Gateway to India, an Arc de Triumph type thing commemorating the King and Queen’s visit to India, and ironically also the place where the last British soldiers departed from. I wasn’t as impressed as I probably should have been, because I was still totally freaking out about actually being in India and nearly getting killed every time we had to cross the street.
Then we went to the lobby of the hotel that the terrorists hijacked last year. Very swanky place. And they have tight security now, metal detectors and bag scanners. Probably the safest place to stay in India now, though I’m sure that their business hasn’t exactly been booming.
After that, we just walked around a bit, through a park that people were playing cricket in, looked at cool buildings, drank sugar cane water. Headed back to the hotel, checked out, gathered in the lobby, where Arvind finally showed up and had us put our luggage in a room and head downstairs for lunch. Decent food, but a nasty ass dessert. I have generally found that India has great cuisine, but can’t make a good dessert for the life of them.
By this point, we were starting to bond and learn each others names. We loaded ourselves onto the bus to Pune, and off we went. The traffic getting out of Mumbai was absurd. They don’t seem to have very good highway systems. But once we were out, the scenery was really beautiful. We were driving through the mountains, saw villages in the valleys, waterfalls in the distance, monkeys on the side of the road. Really fantastic. Halfway through we had a pit-stop. This was my first experience in a restroom sans toilet paper. Luckily, I was expecting it and had brought my own supply. Then I had my first Indian chai. Oh. My. GOD. SOOOO GOOD. It was like humid and 100 degrees out, and the chai was absurdly hot and burnt my tongue, but it might have been the greatest beverage experience of my life. We got back on the bus, I fell asleep for about an hour, and woke up as we were entering Pune. Right away, I could tell that I liked it. The drivers are more reasonable and follow lanes and traffic lights much more readily. As we were stopped once, some adorable little kids started jumping, and waving, and hugging, and play fighting. ADORABLE. Then some government official came on the bus and seemed to demand our passports or something. I don’t really know what went down, since the program leaders seem generally deficient in communicating effectively. Or at all.
Anyway, we kept driving and made it to the hotel. We got off the bus, and as we entered, we got a welcoming/blessing ceremony. It was soooo nice. Two beautiful women in saris were there. The first put a bindi on our forehead, threw flower petals on our hair, and had a little oil lamp giving off pleasant heat and smell. Then we got a marigold garland put around our neck by the second. It was so wonderful and welcoming.
We got assigned our rooms and roommates. My roommate’s name is Nana, and she seems pretty cool. We seem to get along well, which is always good.
Anyway, we just unpacked, had a brief orientation meeting, went on a kinda liquor run (I didn’t get anything). (Note: crossing streets in the dark is even more terrifying than usual).
Nothing real eventful has happened since. Just lots of walking around Pune, meeting Arshia, who is intense but AMAZING. (I am much more likely to do the ridiculous amounts of homework a teacher expects of me if they seem like they will actually be engaging and awesome. And she certainly seems like it. Plus she’s a Marxist Feminist. Which is awesome in itself.)
I got a cell phone today. It was the cheapest model they had ($35) and one of the pre-loaded ringtones is Dard-e Disco. From Om Shanti Om. FUCK YEAH. It’s not yet activated, which sucks, but soon I’ll be making super cheap international calls and texts (yay Twitter updates!).
We had lunch at a tasty Indo-Persian restaurant on the other side of town, which meant MEAT. There was good conversation and tasty food (though we ordered too few dishes and had to do a second order. *facepalm*). After returning to the hotel, I out with a group of girls as we tried to set up travel plans (the agency was closed) and find pants for Stephanie. We wandered around a lot, but made our way to an Indian clothing store where I got a salwar kameez! For like $25! It’s gorgeous! *twirls* I think I’ll get one more salwar kameez, two or three kurtas, and a sari while I’m here.
Now I’ve got to finish some homework, drink some sub par tea, and chill. I’ll be trying to keep you guys updated, but internet here is super spotty.