Mysteries of an Indian Jogging Park

Before I begin, I want to offer apologize for the lack of cohesiveness in this post.  This is really just an opportunity to share a bunch of random thoughts and events from the past few weeks.  If this doesn’t tickle your fancy, or if posts with pictures float your boat, feel free to wait for the next post.

Along with several other Northfield outbounds, I recently celebrated my 19^th birthday.  Though it was sad to miss my free half Hogan Bros. sandwich, I got to celebrate with my host family.  Along with my current host family, my second family and several Rotarians joined in the birthday festivities.  We ate pav bhaji, my favorite veg Indian dish, and everyone got to smear cake on my face.  It was just a bundle of fun.

I don’t want to exaggerate, but mangoes are without a doubt the most delicious things of all time.  It’s no big deal or anything.  I have not had any whole mangoes yet as they are not in season until Spring, but nearly everything is available in mango flavor.  Standard ice cream flavors include chocolate, vanilla, and mango.  Mango juice has replaced orange juice as my fruit drink of choice (my family knows how much this one means).  I order a mango lassi or mango shake instead of looking for milkshakes.  Every time I can have some sort of mango treat I jump at the opportunity.  The best part is that mango-flavored delicacies are everywhere!  You can hardly walk 20 feet anywhere in Pune without running into a food stand selling mango ice cream, shakes, or juice.  Apart from the festivals, the widespread availability of mangoes is definitely my favorite thing about India.

I took a trip to a peacock farm a few days ago, which sounds really fun.  This led me to believe that the peacocks were contained, or at least walking around all day.  As I found out, the peacocks roam wild all over the surrounding mountains and usually come to this “peacock farm” early in the morning and late at night.  So of course it made sense to be there from 10 am to 5:30 pm, exactly when the peacocks were not around.  I was not amused, and not allowed to walk around as I was supposed to be patient and wait for the peacocks to come.  We saw only five peacocks the whole day, and the closest one was at least 100 feet away.  The best part of the day was discovering I have an artsy grayscale setting on my camera, so pardon me if I get a little carried away with really profound pictures.

I found out how lucky we are to have use of the good old USPS.  I had heard that maneuvering the Indian mail system is quite an ordeal, but I decided to suck it up and perform my civic duty of mailing my absentee ballot back to Rice County.  It took several hours, but eventually I became frustrated enough to give up.  When I went back the next day with local help, it took a mere five minutes to get my envelope set to mail.  Surprisingly, it cost me a mere Rs. 28 or about 50 cents, nowhere near the $30 Sid Beaumaster had to pay to mail her ballot.  Now if all of us Northfield outbounds can go through the arduous absentee process, all of you back home can spend 15 minutes to fill out your own ballots.  GO VOTE!

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently discovered these interesting places called “jogging parks,” whose mysteries I have only begun to unravel.  Though I was originally led astray by the name, jogging is actually not allowed at these parks.  This strange place goes by many names (jogging park, the gardens, walking track) and was surprisingly busy when I visited with my host mom last weekend.  As it turns out, the park is quite the night scene and everyone who is anyone spends their Saturday nights there (especially if you qualify for the senior discount or crayons and a kids menu at Perkins).  Basically, it is a small track where older adults go to walk a few laps as their daily exercise before sitting down on the many surrounding benches while some younger kids run around the grassy area on the inside of the track.  Though I was disappointed to lose my chance to go running every day, a brisk walk is nearly as good and takes up more of my empty time.  I have enjoyed my daily trips to the jogging park to get a little light exercise, as well as to get out of my apartment and enjoy the grass and trees surrounding the small track. 

Other than that, I have started learning Marathi with my host mother’s help.  Though I already know a few helpful phrases, I decided it would be useful to be able to read and write Marathi as well as speak it.  It is slow going, but I am starting with the alphabet.  This will certainly be a challenge, as there are 12 unique vowel sounds and around 30 consonants, some of which I cannot differentiate.  Though I could get through this year perfectly well speaking exclusively English, it would be a shame to miss out on learning my host language when every other exchange student is forced to become bilingual (or trilingual).  I have no misguided hopes of becoming fluent, but I aim to learn basic conversational skills and how to read and write. 

Without any large plans until Diwali, I don’t expect that I will have a lot to blog about so look forward to one more post later this month.  Until next time!

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.

New Celebrity in Kolhapur

Well it appears I have fallen behind in my blogging and the task at hand is more than a little daunting.  This and my overwhelming laziness at the moment, which I will attribute to being sick for the last few days, have kept me from attempting to recall the countless blog-worthy experiences of the last week and a half.  However, I fully realize that it must be done and that no better time will arise, so here I am. 

I left you anticipating my trip to Kolhapur to stay with my host uncle’s family for the beginning of the Ganpati festival.  I do not remember exactly where I picked up my belief that Kolhapur was in some way more rural than Pune, but this is utterly false.  It may have been the phrases “small town” and “mainly agricultural” that put this idea in my head, but in reality, Kolhapur is a city of over half a million with little more green space than Pune.  Regardless, I was lucky enough to get several hours of nature on the long drive.  When we finally arrived, it was good to see the familiar faces of my host grandparents welcoming me into my temporary home and asking how I had been. 

The Ganpati festival involves each family having their own shrine and praying at it several times each day.  This short ceremony involves a lot of chanting, clapping, and a spin.  Needless to say I could not follow the chanting (not in English) but I am an expert clapper/spinner so I rocked those parts as well as I could.  Each night, we traveled to another relative’s house to perform the ceremony. 

On the 20^th, we took a short trip to a small village outside Kolhapur to visit more relatives.  The village was surrounded by sugar cane fields the way much of Southern Minnesota is covered in corn fields.  This realization made me feel a little more at home.  After breakfast, I was given a small tour of the average house in this village.  I was surprised when, after walking out the back door, I found myself face to face with a cow.  Everyone was anxious to take my picture with the cow and I got a chance to make up for missing one of my annual Minnesota State Fair rituals.

After seeing a few more houses and some small shops, I was led to a small procession of mini dhols parading around the town.  The next moment my forehead was covered with a yellow powder and the traditional vertical red line, a drum slung around my neck, and I was enthusiastically leading the procession through the streets with a huge smile on my face.  My excitement almost matched that of the townspeople taking pictures of me. 

After a few minutes of fun, I took off the drum and headed over to a place that was serving lunch for a bunch of men.  Somebody whipped up a turban and put it on my head and then I posed for about 100 pictures of everybody handing me a coconut.  Apparently this is a great sign of respect.  Plus, everyone loves getting their photo taken by or with the foreigner, regardless of whether or not they will ever actually see the picture.  Again I was given a small drum and asked to beat a simple rhythm to death for their entertainment.  Their enthusiasm made the event very fun, and I have been told they are putting my picture on the city posters for some large event.  I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the attention.

The next day we headed home so I could participate in the Rotary program for the next several days with Pune’s exchange students and the additional four staying with us for a week.  Unfortunately, I arrived an hour too late to host one of the boys in my apartment, but it was really exciting to meet some other exchange students.  The newcomers were French and German with a boy and a girl belonging to both countries.  Upon my arrival, we were immediately herded onto a small bus and brought to the inaugural ceremony for the Pune Festival.  This festival coincides with the Ganpati celebrations, and shows off the variety of cultural activity in Pune.  We were all be-turbaned (by this I mean we wore turbans) and got special foreigner’s seating.  After several hours of waiting, the show finally began.  It consisted of several cultural dances dedicated to Ganesh followed by an obscenely long bit of speaking in Marathi recognizing a bunch of important people in attendance.  That part was boring. 

After it was over, we all went out for Chinese food and I ordered some familiar sweet and sour chicken.  This turned out to be more of a chicken and vegetable soup with a sweet-and-sour-sauce broth, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.  It was good to get to know the other exchange students a little better over dinner and we had some interesting conversation about which things India and Europe have in common versus Europe and the United States.   

Though I’m still a week and a half behind and have a ton left to say, I think I’ll cut it off here.  My apologies for putting this post off for so long.  Be assured, the next one will cover more of my adventures with all the exchange students and will come much quicker than this one.  Because there is no easy break in the stories of these two posts, I will leave you with a To Be Continued…soon, I promise.

Preparing for Ganpati

It has been a while since I last blogged because I have been waiting for the right mix of inspiration and motivation, but I've given up and am forcing myself to write something before I go to bed tonight.  Very little of interest has happened in the past week that would be of interest to readers back home as I continue to expand my geographical knowledge of Pune.  Most importantly I have a few updates about the near future and about upcoming trips.  

As I have already mentioned, the Ganpati festival is just around the corner and preparation has begun.  It is obvious that this celebration is a big deal, because every neighborhood currently has an enormous shrine under construction that looks like a big stage and will house the Ganesh idols for the 10 days of the festival.  Judging from the size of the shrines, these statues are enormous and I am in for a surprise.  I'll make sure to take plenty of pictures!

The festival starts on the 19th, and my family and I will be celebrating with my host uncle's family in Kolhapur which is about 60 miles south of here.  We leave the morning of the 19th and return the evening of the 21st.  I am really excited to see the celebration, meet new extended family, reconnect with my host grandparents again, and to get out of town for a few days.  Don't get me wrong, I love Pune, but I need to not be surrounded by three million other people every once in a while.  

I mentioned I am playing dhol in the festival and will also walk in the parade with the other exchange students, but I learned at the Rotary orientation (last night, when we have all been here a month) that several exchange students from a neighboring district will be there as well.  Because the festival is so big in Pune, these students are visiting my awesome town to take it all in and will be staying with our host families.  It has been confirmed that it is only the five of us in Pune this year, so I really look forward to meeting these other exchange students and having one stay with me for a few days.  Later in the year they will return the favor and we will stay with them for another Rotary event.  

Well, it's gotten pretty late and I have run out of things to say, but I will try to blog again soon.  I will cover my short trip to Kolhapur and the beginning of Ganpati, and hopefully I will have some good pictures to share as well.  

A Taste of Home

I just had a great last two days.  Yesterday I woke up and went to school as usual, and found one or two classes canceled (also quite common).  When it came time for lunch, all the exchange students decided we wanted a change of pace.  Trent lives near the Hotel Marriot, one of the best-known hotels in Pune with, coincidentally, five stars.   He occasionally walks to Symbiosis, so we agreed to follow him with promises of milkshakes and cupcakes.  We were not disappointed.  The hotel was extravagant and so was the service.  We were waited on almost excessively, but it was not unwelcomed.  A taste of American dessert did us all good.  While Colby went for some red velvet, I craved a good old-fashioned strawberry malt and Axel went for a baguette (or two).  It was fantastic.  While I truly enjoy my new Indian diet, food is one of the things I miss most from home and as it turned out, it was my lucky day (but more on that later).  After an hour at a nearby mall, we split up and agreed to meet for dinner. 

Axel, living on the outskirts of the town, came back to my apartment to hang out for a few hours before we met up with the other exchange students.  When we arrived, I found a package waiting for me.  It was a collection of some of my favorite foods from the US (including skittles which sadly have yet to make the import list here) from the best family ever!  Love you all!  Words cannot express how excited I was to open my box and find an amazing feast of delicious American food.  After a few hours of light, giddy snacking it was time to meet up with Aishwarya and the other exchange students for dinner.

We went out for “sizzlers”, a term describing foods that make a sizzling sound when served much like fajitas at Mexican restaurants in the US.  And the best part (brace yourselves for this): BEEF!  Sizzlers are one of few dishes in Pune that serve beef and steak, and nothing has tasted so good ever in my life.  It has been six weeks since cow has been a part of my diet, and I had no idea how much I would miss it.  For those of you who, like me, love the show How I Met Your Mother, the feeling at eating my first steak in six weeks can be summed up by Marshal’s speech in “The Best Burger in New York”. For everyone else, let’s just say that it was absolutely amazing.  The sizzler I ordered was pretty much a pile of various meats with steamed vegetables and French fries.  The ideal meal to end the ideal food day. 

Afterwards, I had another (less enjoyable) “first” experience during my time here.  Axel, Colby, and I shared a rickshaw back to SP College near my apartment and we unfortunately chose the wrong driver.  Word of wisdom for anyone traveling to India: do not trust rickshaw drivers.  Not only do they take too much fare from Indian travelers to Pune, they really enjoy messing with foreigners and WILL take advantage of them.  It cost us Rs 60 to get to the restaurant, and the rickshaw driver asked for 170.  I’m proud that were not stupid enough to accept this outrageous initial price, but we didn’t do much better when we accidentally settled on 120.  Now, don’t ask me why all rickshaw drivers don’t just use the toll counter deal that tells you how much to pay, because I honestly have no idea.  All rickshaws have them, but it seems the drivers enjoy taking advantage of the occasional foreigner. 

As mad as we were at the driver for cheating us, our ride was not even close to over.  After about half an hour of driving, it became apparent that the driver had no idea where he was going and we seemed to make a ridiculous number of U-turns as we meandered through shady-looking neighborhoods.  We were more than a little freaked out, a story of another conniving driver we had heard at a Rotary orientation meeting came to mind.  Fortunately, with the help of a friendly roadside store owner our driver eventually found his way to the college.  After begrudgingly paying the driver the Rs 120 agreed upon, we were appalled that he asked for even more.  A few choice phrases came to mind, but we settled on a firm “absolutely not, get the heck out of here”.  I talked to my host family about the experience afterward, and they gave me some helpful advice for next time.  I suppose it is good that I experienced this early on, and with two friends along.  We are certainly now better equipped for dealing with drivers in this city and will not make the same mistake again.

Today was uneventful and relaxing, as I began the day with yoga and then spent a few hours with Colby while he shared a few good tv shows to fill some of my free time.  The rest of my day has consisted of watching quality American tv while doing some snacking from my box from home.  It was perfect.

The Almighty Dhol

This will be a long one, so sit back, relax, and try to take in all the information I am about to throw at you.  I woke up at 6:45 this morning in order to be ready for yoga at 7:30, and it was by far the most difficult thing I did today.  My sleeping habits here have been to go to bed around midnight and wake up around 9 for school at 11 or 11:30, so this sudden shift really threw me off.  Once I was awake enough to function adequately, I went over to Colby’s house and walked with him and his host mom over to yoga.  I had a lot of preconceived notions about yoga, but this was quite different from anything I expected.  The “yoga studio” I anticipated was a small room located on the top floor of what appeared to be a small apartment building, and as we entered we each grabbed a mat which was more like a large rug.  The yoga itself I expected to consist almost entirely of holding different stretches with names like ‘downward-facing dog’ for minutes at a time.  I was surprised, then, when I was asked to hold each position for only a few seconds before moving on to the next.  There was also a portion dedicated to more of an aerobic activity as well as a few minutes of meditation (yes we did chant om).  This I found quite relaxing and it was really nice to just take a few minutes to breathe deeply and calm my mind.  I thoroughly enjoyed the experience I am sure yoga will become a highlight of my week as I continue my time here. 

On to dhol and the Ganpati festival.  I’ll start with the mythology and history of the festival.  Ganpati is a celebration of the Hindu god Ganesh (the one with the elephant head).  There are many different beliefs about Ganesh’s origin, but the most widely accepted is that he is the son of Parvati and Shiva.  One version of the story holds that Shiva came home after an extended time away and demanded to enter his house.  Ganesh did not allow his father in because he was a stranger to him.  Furious, Shiva cut off Ganesh’s head.  Upon realizing his grievous error, Shiva went out into the woods to find his son a new head and cut off the head of the first animal he saw – an elephant.  Ganesh is considered one of the most important gods in all of Hinduism.

The Ganpati festival began as a secret meeting for Indian revolutionaries under British rule, but continues still today because people liked it and Indians really enjoy a good festival.  This celebration is also called Ganesh Chaturthi, and is most popular in Maharashtra.  The festival lasts 10 days and centers on idols of Ganesh.  Families bring in small statues of the god, and many idols much larger take up residence around the city.  Some are even 20 feet tall!  The celebration concludes with a bang and several days of parades through the streets as the idols are carried through town and accompanied by large bands of drums.  Millions of people fill the streets to watch and the atmosphere is supposed to be absolute madness.  I cannot wait!  At the end of the 10 days, the idols are sent off in the nearest body of water.  I’m sure I will have a lot more to say about this festival once I have experienced it.

I am extremely excited to not only watch the celebration, but to participate in one of the bands.  These bands consist of two kinds of drums in addition to the chime: dhol and tasha.  The tasha is a small drum much like a snare, and the dhol is the Indian equivalent of a bass drum.  The rhythms played in this festival are simple and repetitive, but groups play for hours at a time and it is physically taxing.  Picture a large, metal trash with a drum head on each side, tying this around your waist with rope, and beating it with all your energy for several hours.  This is what I have been practicing for a month and what I will experience fully later this month.  The dhol is played using your left hand to beat one head like you would to play an African drum, and holding a wooden mallet called a tipru in your right hand to beat the right head.  The dhol creates a truly powerful sound, and the effect of almost 50 people playing together is a bass vibration that you can feel through your whole body (it surpasses even the sub woofer on a pair of Beats headphones!).  My group is called Swaraj and they meet every day for three hours.  I have not attended every practice because the rhythms came easily to me, and I am an exchange student so I cannot commit myself completely to one activity in order to experience as much culture as possible.  However, with the festival coming up quickly, I should probably play as often as possible.  I am unbelievably excited to participate in this festival and to see such an important celebration.  This is my first huge festival in India and I cannot wait to see India in full celebration mode.  Sorry this post has gone really long, but there is a lot to say.  I will make sure to take a lot of pictures so you can see just how awesome it all is!  Until next time.

Reading and Yoga

Well it’s been almost a week since I last blogged and there is some cool stuff I need to share. I had several days of nice downtime which I will discuss in a minute, but I’m going to start with Saturday because it was full of new and fun experiences. I began the day with every intention of attending my classes (the majority at least). However, on the rickshaw to Symbiosis, Colby mentioned that he had plans to go with some friends to a traditional dance. Because I am on a cultural exchange and not a stay-in-school-and-miss-exciting-adventures exchange, I deemed this was a worthwhile substitute and left school. As it turned out, getting there would be another first: riding the bus. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about this trip, but I will say two things. First, it is ridiculously cheap. Like 5-10 rupees (9-18 cents). However, for some reason nobody asked for my money so I’m pretty sure I rode the bus for free. Really glad I saved all that money! Second, I now truly appreciate the standard to which the United States holds all public transport.

When we finally arrived at MIT (no idea what it stands for, but it certainly does not involve Massachusetts and likely is not quite as selective) I was pleasantly surprised. From what I have seen of colleges here, they are nothing like the beautiful, sprawling campuses we picture for higher education. For those of you who have not considered this, India’s population is over four times that of the United States, but all those people live in less than one third the space. The density is overwhelming, and more so in an urban city as large as Pune. Let’s just say space is a scarce resource here. That tangent considered, it is understandable that most colleges consolidate and use as few buildings as possible. After so much cramping, it was refreshing to find myself on a campus as large as MIT’s where we actually needed directions to find the recital hall.

The recital was a collection of kids about my age all doing different classical Indian dances decked out in full Indian garb. It was really cool to watch and definitely worth missing class. I stayed from 11 to 3 which gave me plenty of time to take in all the culture. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but opted for the familiar rickshaw ride home during which I saw two more camels. I don’t know if I will ever get used to that.

Sunday turned out to be the first meeting for all of the exchange students so it was good to see a bunch of familiar faces and talk outside of school. We also received our monthly allowance! I get Rs 2000 per month from rotary (about $36), which may not seem like much in comparison to the $80 Northfield inbounds receive, but everything here is much cheaper as I have mentioned before. I got my allowance for September, August, and the few days I was here in July earned me half a month’s allowance. All this money is burning a hole in my wallet and I’m really tempted to go crazy and buy a bunch of stuff right now. However, I will make the responsible choice and save it for a rainy day (which means pretty much any day here during the monsoon season). Back on topic, I found out there will likely be seven exchange students in Pune once we all arrive. I do not remember who I have talked about already, but here is a list of all the exchange students with Rotary already here: Colby and I–Minnesota, Trent–New York, Axel–Sweden, and Ana–Brazil. Everyone is really nice and we all get along well since we all attend Symbiosis and spend a lot of time together. We are waiting on a girl from Canada and one from Mexico, both of whom were having trouble with visas. Hopefully this all gets figured out soon and they can join the rest of us and begin their year!

In the quieter portion of my time since my last blog post, I have done a lot of reading. Since Tuesday, I finished Kite Runner and The Lost Symbol, as well as reading A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes) and starting Dracula (one of my favorites) on my iPod touch. This is more reading in one week than I have probably ever done voluntarily and I have enjoyed it a lot. It is good for me to do something useful with my down time and I may need to use some of my monthly allowance to fuel my newfound literary needs. I also begin yoga tomorrow! This promises to be quite enjoyable and valuable both as a good source of exercise and as insight into the importance of yoga in Indian culture, regardless of the fact that it is taught exclusively in Marathi.  We'll see how it goes!  Colby and I attend a class Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings bright and early – great way to start my day!

I guess I lied about this blog post when I said it would talk about my dhol playing and the Ganpati festival, but I promise I will get to it.  Also, today marks my brother’s 17th birthday and last day of summer before starting his junior year. Happy birthday Nathan! Sorry for jumping around here, but I am guessing that blogging will become less daily and more of a weekly activity as I exhaust the daily cultural differences. I have to get up early in the morning, so I’ll wrap this up and come up with another post soon.