Elephants and Tigers and Lamas, Oh My!

So I don't think I've adequately described India yet.  It's basically a sensory overload... there are so many sounds and sights and smells that I can't even begin to process them sometimes.
 Horns honk 24/7, but they aren't the types of horns we hear in the US.  They all sound more pleasant, and some even have a sort of musical honk going on.  Those horns actually sound out a series of notes.  There are all sorts of animal noises going on outside, too... goats and cows and rats and bats all make their own little sounds as they traverse the city.  It's still a shock for me to see goats and cows strolling along down the street with the cars and people, but it happens all the time here.
 Everything seems to be more colorful here (and not just because of the caffeine).  Some of the buildings are painted bright colors: the one across the street from ACM is a bright yellow with blue trim, and there's a sea green colored building on the trek between our hotel and school.  There are plants and trees that I've never seen before, along with palm trees taller than I could imagine.
And the smells... the air reeks of car exhaust and smoke and body odor and poop.  But in with those bad smells linger the scents of spices and foods and fresh fruit and animals and hundreds of other things. It really does just completely overload the senses.

I've decided to do my independent study project on music... learning traditional/classical indian music.  I'm actually really excited for it.  I'm going to have to find a violin to rent or buy, but I think it's going to be incredibly interesting to learn a completely new way of playing.  It'll give me something to show for my semester here, more than a mythology project would.  I'll be learning how to actually do something, and it's something I can show off and be proud of when I get home.

We found out about our host families today.  I'm very excited to move in with mine.  I'm going to have an aai (mother), a baba (father), an aji (grandmother), and a bahin (sister).  I'm going to have my own bedroom with a balcony overlooking a garden and a swimming pool.  My Aai is apparently really chatty and outgoing, and she called today during the family-briefings to find out if I'd been told yet and what I thought.  It's nice to know that the family is just as excited to have me as I am to stay with them.  My bahin is about 26 and works, and my Baba is retired.  I also have an ACM neighbor, Emily, who lives very nearby.  I think we're going to end up spending a lot of time at each other's houses and doing things with each other's families.  Her family has a cashew farm outside Pune (you have to take a ferry across a stream to get to it!!!) that I'll hopefully get to visit with her.
We move in with our families tomorrow... we have lunch with them at the hotel at noon, and after that we go to their homes and settle in.  It's exciting and nerve-wracking.

I've been reading guidebooks to see what I want to do during my two week break in November.  My two goals are to ride an elephant and to see the Dalai Lama (in that order).  My guidebook talks about Bandhavgarh National Park where you can actually ride an elephant through nature to watch wild tigers.  I'm super excited at the idea of doing that.  I also want to go to Dharamsala where the Dalai Lama is.  Conveniently, that happens to be very close to the place that Lord Elgin (of the Elgin Marbles) is buried.  If I were a boy, I'd pee on his grave.  At some point, I'm pretty sure I'll go to Agra to see the Taj Mahal because that seems like something you just have to do while you're in India.  If anyone has other suggestions, please feel free to tell me about them.  I'm totally open to ideas on cool Indian vacation spots.

Vale,
Anne

P.S.  I think I should mention that the workers at ACM are incredibly awesome and sweet.  It's really fun to try to communicate with them using our small amount of Marathi and a little of their English.  Today, Laura and I showed Tukaram where we're from in the States, and we talked a little about the parts of India. :)