Yes, The One With The Elephant Head

Here we go with catch-up part two.  To recap, I left you all after my return from Kolhapur and my first day with the other exchange students going to the Pune Festival inaugural ceremony.  The next two days we woke up bright and early to beat the traffic out of Pune on day trips.  Though Pune was our town, the places we visited were as new to us as to the students from Aurangabad.  We visited several hill stations, went boating on a lake, and spent countless hours bonding on the bus.  These two days were some of the most fun that I had experienced in India; traveling outside my known city with eight other kids my age who can all relate to the crazy things I have experienced in my two months here.  We all enjoyed discussing cultural differences and bonding over some of the more humorous experiences we have encountered.

There were many beautiful sights and cool temples and hill stations, but I will forever remember this trip for the company.  Well, that and the bus.  We rode in a short bus that could carry around 20 people, and it was not in the best condition.  In fact, on the journey home on day two, we were all alarmed to hear (and feel) a small explosion as the rear wheel popped.  Luckily, we stopped right next to some store located 20 minutes from the nearest town, which at least provided us with shade in which to sit while our driver installed the spare.  In 45 minutes we were back on the bus and driving toward home again.  However, a mere two hours later there was a large bang as we punctured yet another tire.  As we exited the bus for a second time, we noticed that not only had we completely shredded another tire, but the spare was also leaking air.  Three tires destroyed in as many hours, and our confidence in this bus was lost.

After a quick drink at the store nearby, we were packed into two vans (eight people in what should have been a five-seat car) and carried 20 minutes to the bus station, where we traveled another 15 minutes into town.  It was more excitement that we had hoped for after a long day, and we were all tired.  We decided to extend the stay of the exchange students through the end of the Ganpati celebrations on the 29^th, which was fine by us.  The more exchange students, the merrier!

The next day we met for breakfast to discuss the plan for our remaining days together.  Trent’s host mother graciously offered us her family’s bungalow in Mahableshwar, a city a few hours from Pune with fantastic views of the surrounding mountains, and we decided to take her up on it.  The morning of the 26^th, we took the long bus ride from Pune to Mahableshwar, passing the time listening to music and catching up on sleep.  When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to find a gorgeous, well-furnished home with plenty of bedrooms to fit the 10 of us and Pee Kay, the accompanying Rotarian.  This house was one of the highlights of the two and a half day trip and we had a lot of fun dancing along to American music videos and playing some rather intense hide and seek.

During the days, we crammed inside several taxis which rushed us to all the best local areas for taking touristy photos.  I got a few (hundred) pictures of the beautiful mountains and the surrounding rivers, as well as some of the wildlife and temples.  I even took one of a cliff that looks like an elephant head (above)!  In fact, everywhere I turned there was another majestic view that merited photographic record.  I may have gotten a little carried away.  On the 28^th we made the bus trip back into Pune and had a short meeting outlining the plans for the following day’s procession.  The 29^th was the last day of the Ganpati festival (you know, the one for Ganesh, the god with an elephant head), and the largest celebrations.  The city essentially shut down as roads closed and people filled the streets to watch the drum groups and processions.  As exchange students, Rotary had a special place for us in the festivities.  

Three proud Americans.  Can you pick out the German?

The 10 of us from Pune and Aurangabad were joined by the 25 exchange students from Mumbai to march in the procession.  Dressed head to toe in traditional Indian festival clothing, all 35 of us proudly carried our country’s flags, posing for thousands of pictures.   Now, I have never been outwardly patriotic, but since coming to India I have gained a new level of appreciation for my home and all the public services and standard of living we take for granted.  This procession brought out all of these feelings and as I walked with other exchange students from all over the world, I held up my flag with extreme pride showing tens of thousands of people that I am from the United States of America and I am proud of my country! 

After several hours of processing, our parade came to an end and we had a quick lunch with all of the exchange students before the Mumbaikers had to leave for home.  It was so fun to meet all of them and even though we only spent four hours together, we were sad to see them leave.  I sincerely hope we have an opportunity to see them again this year. 

Keeping up an obscene level of enthusiasm for that long really wore me out so after making an appearance at some neighborhood celebrations and posing for some pictures I went home.  It didn’t really hit me until the following morning but no time had been left in my schedule for playing with my dhol group.  So after the many hours of practice, I ended up missing the grand performance.  I was truly too exhausted to care.  As I walked back home, I realized that I had been too absorbed in enjoying the procession to take any pictures and thought of how many great pictures of me were taken that day that I would never see, belonging to any one of the thousands of people in the crowds that day.  Regardless, through the marvel of Facebook, I am able to “borrow” some of the pictures the other students took. 

A pretty sunset I captured one night

The festival was still going strong when I woke up the next morning at 8, but my part in the celebration was over.  This week and a half were by far the highlight of my time here so far, and only a small taste of Indian festivals and Rotary trips.  It only makes me look forward to November more, which will bring Diwali (the Indian festival of lights, celebrated with the magnitude of an American Christmas) and my 17-day tour of South India with the nine other exchange students from Pune and Aurangabad.  Until then, I am back on my daily routine of going to school, attempting yoga, and blogging.  I am also happy to say that I discovered a jogging park near my house where I can get some much-needed exercise.  By this I do not suggest that I am putting on the exchange student pounds (well, kilograms here), I only mean that I crave some outlet for physical exertion that is a little more intense than yoga.  Additionally, it supplies me with another positive use of time which is never a bad thing.  I will do my best not to let this massive pile-up of blogging happen again, but it seems inevitable in the case of the long Rotary trips.  Bear with me!  Until next time.