So, since I got here, there's been a dry spell in Monsoon Season. It's sprinkled a few times... It even rained lightly for four days straight. But there's never been any serious raining going on. We've all gotten kind of lax about carrying raincoats and umbrellas.
Today, it rained. I left ACM for my violin lesson and it was bright and sunny, so I didn't even consider the need for a raincoat. My lesson was an hour long, but even when I left my lesson for my thirty minute walk home, the sky was only little overcast with a light mist. And then it started actually raining. And then I stepped in cow poop. And then I fell in a mud puddle. And rickshaw drivers are having some sort of strike, so very few were out... and those who were out didn't want to go to Paud Road. However, after crossing a street to ask a rickshaw-walla if he would take me to Paud Road, a motorcycle drove through a huge puddle next to me and sprayed muddy gross water all over me.
So I walked... thirty minutes... through a monsoon... without any rain gear. Bad life decision. I look like a drowned, muddy rat right now.
Also, my school bag is not waterproof. Thankfully, my notebooks full of classwork and my important documents and my money soaked up all water before my computer got wet, though. Be grateful for the small things.
I actually wouldn't have minded the rain if I hadn't been carrying a bag full of electronics. I've been kind of paranoid about that ever since the incidents in Turkey when it was pointed out to me ever so forcefully exactly how much electricity and water dislike each other. But if it hadn't been for that, I'd have been okay with getting drenched and muddy. It's been a while since I've gotten to play in the rain and jump in mud puddles. At least a week...
We've been here almost four weeks. We just have about 2 and a half months left, and 2 weeks of that is going to be spent on our break and not in classes. That's kind of a cool thought, because I'm about a fourth of the way through my India experience. And in a month and a half, I'll be leaving for travels around southern India. However, on the downside of that, in less than a month and a half, I'll be presenting my independent study project by playing a recital of Hindustani music... that's quite daunting considering the fact that I can currently barely play more than scales.
Today was our first day of our elective class. I'm in the class on Indian literature, and I'm quite certain that it's going to be a very interesting course. Our teacher is an openly gay Indian author who seems very liberal. Homosexuality is currently illegal in this state of India, so he calls himself a criminal. In class today, he told us that he believes heterosexual people seem to have a “naive belief in monogamy.” He also told us that he thinks that students in India are “too respectful of their teachers.” Also, we have to find and read two books by next Wednesday, and a five page paper on those books will be due after next Thursday's class. Monmouth's low standards have not prepared me for such things. On the plus side, books are dirt cheap here if you can find them. That's a rather big “if,” though.
Today for dinner: pav bhaji. pav bhaji is basically a mushed vegetable stew served with bread. I ate two full bowls of pav bhaji with two dinner rolls. I then had a bowl full of dal with a cup or two of rice. And I had about half a stuffed eggplant. Also, there were two or three chapatis involved. I didn't really realize it until yesterday, but some of the other people on this trip are getting lectures about how they need to eat more, Indians don't waste food, and they should never leave anything on their plates. Do I ever get that talk? Noooo. I get the talks that say, “you know... if you don't like it, you really don't have to eat it,” and “you can tell us if you don't like the food; our feelings won't be hurt if you don't eat every single thing we give you.” Basically, my family is shocked at precisely how much the American girl can fit in her belly, and they expected me to hate their food.
And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh. ~Nietzsche
Duct tape is like the Force. It has a dark side, it has a light side, and it holds the Universe together. -- Carl Zwanig Let's just say that if complete and utter chaos were lightning, then he'd be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor and shouting "All gods are bastards." –Rincewind
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