India So Far

They said we'd have time to work on our thesis, lots of time to do our work-study assignments, but so far, it hasn't been like that at all. Blank spots in our schedule quickly become tours, tests and cultural performances. I like these things, though I notice we aren't really going out on our own anymore. Nighttime doesn't welcome women. A girl in our group went out with one of the guys, and it was jeering and open hostility. No drinking, smoking or meat-eating within the premises, and curfew is 10 pm. This might have bothered me or other people in our group more if the program had been this restraining at the beginning, but I'm kind of getting used to it. I have a lot to keep me busy. I wake up at 5:45 for yoga, then class, then errands and schoolwork and maybe bellydancing or playing cards or something indoor. Three square meals a day, provided. I won't even have Dehli Belly because we eat from the same clean kitchen all the time, with minimal spice. It's delicious and all, I don't mean to sound whiny if I do. I guess I was just hoping to be more involved in India itself. There's almost no motivation to leave the safety of the compound. The town center is far away and confusing. I doubt anything will happen here that I will find story-worthy, even though I'm in one of the most complex and facinating countries in the world.

This is Nagini the bull, vehicle of Shiva the destroyer


I was amazed they would load this much hay, and that it didn't fall off on the highway


We're wearing our saris for the inaugural ball