Saturday, September 10th

So yesterday, I read a book. And today, I read another one. In all honesty, that's not all that strange for me; however, neither of them had anything to do with Classics, so it's pretty impressive. Except for one or two chapters in one of them... but that's not important.

The book yesterday was Train to Pakistan for my literature class. It kind of had an Of Mice and Men feel to it. The only characters you really like and sympathize with end up dying some horrific death that they don't even understand the meaning of at the end. It was kind of a downer, but a really good book... totally worth the $2.00 we each paid to photocopy it (copyright laws here are kind of fuzzy and books are hard to come by).

The book kind of talks about the idea of mob mentality and the sheep-like tendencies of people. It also shows how a person can twist religion into something evil and use it to guide the simple pious to do awful things in the name of a god.

The second book that I read today is basically a book on Indian music. It was much more cheerful and upbeat. It had a really interesting section on how the Indians view Alexander the Great and his attempt to conquer the world. It also talks about the Romans and their spice trade in Kerala (which is where I'm going in November... I'm even more excited about it knowing that it has some Roman history to it). But beyond the classics stuff in the music book, it had lots of helpful information on the history and structure of Indian music.

We had a meeting about independent study projects yesterday. We're slowly realizing that the answer to anything is always “yes” at ACM. The question of “how long does the paper need to be” is replied with “yes. You should write a paper.” When you ask “when should I do this,” the answer is “yes, you should.” It's not very helpful.

For some reason, my phone is not charging me right for my phone calls. I'm supposed to be paying 5 rupees a minute for international calls and texts. So far, I've called home for 20 minutes, texted Jolie and called her on her birthday for five or ten minutes, texted Yemna, and I've made some local calls here... and I've been charged 40 rupees. I'm not going to complain because I'm definitely getting the better deal in this case, but it's kind of weird. If anyone wants it, my number is (91)9552760453.

Friday, Sarah and her host-sister showed up at my gate in the afternoon, so I went with them up into the Pune foothills. It's kind of surreal to be up in the foothills of the mountains, looking out over the city. Pune is huge. And, apparently, I live within walking distance of the city limits. Just a short five minute walk and we were outside the city, up in the foothills of the mountains. I think by now I'm kind of resigned to the fact that no matter where I live, it's going to be in the boonies. Also, they have roadside corn stands here where they fire-roast corn and then rub it with lime and masala. It's really good. I'm not really a fan of corn, but I'll eat just about anything when it's lime flavored, and corn with lime is quite tasty.

Sunday, September 12th

Last night I went to a musical performance in honor of Ganesh at the community center. A lot of the ladies from the complex dressed in nice sari's and sang. There was a drummer and a lady was playing an instrument similar to an accordion. It's not covered in my handy dandy guide to music, so I have no clue what it was. It sounded cool, though.

Today, for breakfast, I had oatmeal and something that reminded me very firmly of bird suet. It was kind of like a popcorn ball, only instead of popcorn, all kinds of seeds and grains were rolled into it. It tasted good, though, and that's all that really matters, I guess.

I need a haircut. My hair is getting close to chin length. Another girl cut her hair into a pixie before she came to India, too, and she's constantly lamenting the loss of her hair and wishing it would grow out faster. My hair's already long enough that I have to pin it back every day, and I can't stand it. Today, I actually french braided my bangs back to keep them out of my face. That hasn't been possible in nine months.

Tonight, I'm supposed to go watch a Ganesh play in the community center. I wish we were learning Marathi more quickly, because I rarely have any idea what's going on in things like this. I mean, I know how to say “I want some food,” and “how much does it cost,” but anything beyond that is so far beyond us.

For lunch today, we had chole (chickpeas). As a side, we had curd... I'm not a fan of curd. There are very few things that I've had so far that I've disliked, and I'm pretty sure 95% of the few I have disliked have been some form of dairy product. Like buffalo milk yogurt. I'm all for trying new things. I tried it. I even tried it twice to make sure. I just really really dislike the stuff. Curds are also something I just can't do here. And I guess I shouldn't be that surprised because I'm pretty picky about what types of dairy things I eat in the US, too.

Things I miss from the US:

1. 
   
   Vinegar – I think I average a bottle a month in the US. It's been a month. I'm about 16 fl.oz. behind.
2. 
   
   Cold water – it's all room temperature here because warm water is good for you.
3. 
   
   My car - it's very frustrating to have to rely on rickshaws to get me where I'm going. I basically can't be out past 7 because I can't get home after that unless I want to walk three miles in the dark.
4. 
   
   Latin – so, technically, I still have Latin here in the form of a grammar book and the first six books of the Aeneid. But it's different to sit and read it on your own time than it is to read it on your own and then sit in class for a couple hours every week and get feedback on the convolution of your grammar.
5. 
   
   Internet – I get it weekdays from about 8:45am til I leave ACM at about 2. Sounds fine? That very inconveniently coincides with when I have classes from 9 til 1:30.
6. 
   
   Toilet paper – if it's not in your purse, you're out of luck.
7. 
   
   Knowing where I am when I wake up in the morning – there's always a moment when I'm really just not sure where I am and why it smells like incense. It's a very disconcerting moment.
8. 
   
   Cooking – I love the food here, but I haven't gone this long without cooking for myself since I was eleven and I went veg.

Program tonight: first of all, Hindu equivalent of Halloween. Little kids dressed up as things like pumpkins and vegetable vendors and fairies. Not cool: they sang the Barney song.

Then there was a play that my aai was in, but they only spoke Marathi, so I have no idea what was going on.

Daily words of wisdom from Einstein!!

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones - Albert Einstein

Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy. --Albert Einstein

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. --Albert Einstein

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. –Albert Einstein