Things I want

1. A burger

A class update I know you've all been dying for

Went to another yoga class today. I think I'm going to stick with it. We did a whole bunch of different stuff that didn't cause my knees to rise as one and protest, and it felt fine. I think I'll be alright.

I'm having trouble deciding what to write my big paper on for History 424. The only requirement is that it has to be researchable without much help from libraries (since they're so barren here) and it has to relate to diversity in some way (which isn't difficult to do with Indian topics). I thought about doing the history of Judaism and other minority religions in the country, but given that the small Jewish population still here lives in Bombay and Cochin (a significant distance away from me), that may not be feasible. My other idea was to talk to Indians younger and older than me and see how much globalization had affected different generations. Thoughts?

I'm one of only two people left in the gov class. That should be interesting. The lousy acoustics in the classroom aren't helping that task of understanding our professors. At least the gov profs are the most comprehensible of the bunch.

Oh yes, and Kannada is going fairly swimmingly. I've almost mastered how to say good morning/evening/night! I am just so proud of myself.

I have found my purpose in life

It is to kill every last mosquito that inhabits this country.

That aside, I walked around downtown Mysore for the first time on my own today. I visited the fruit/vegetable/meat/whatever market, which is quite an experience. If you need proof that more than one billion people live in India, visit this market. I'm quite positive that at least a third of them were buying produce today.

Right by the entrance, I saw something not normally seen at ShopRite: a rock band giving a performance next to the banana stalls. Ladies and gentlemen, if this is the future of Indian rock and roll, we may have to worry about them stealing our IT jobs, but we will always be the kings of being cool. For anyone considering forming a band of their own, please bear this in mind: three keyboards, a singer who can't sing, and a drummer does not a band make.

As soon as I wormed my way through that crowd, I was immediately assaulted by every incense/scented oil vendor in Karnataka. Because I'm such a nice guy, I visited some of their stalls. If I remember correclty, my arms and shirt sleeves now smell of some combination of cocoa, sandalwood, citronella, and something called "nine flowers." Hello ladies!

I also had my first trip via autorickshaw. These are three-wheeled contraptions powered by 2-stroke motorcycle engines that act as taxis and as the biggest polluters in the city. Their drivers are absolutely fearless. On my trip back to campus from the market, we missed a head-on collision with a van by about two feet. Once my heart restarted, I appreciated the unique Indian experience I was having.

One thing that I keep forgetting to mention is the wildlife. It's absolutely everywhere. As you might expect, cows have the right of way in all situations, and there are plenty of them, both work animals and wild ones. There is also a pig population of about 18,000, and lots of wild dogs. Because there's so many wild ones that generally scavenge, having a dog for a pet is pretty rare in this country.

We're going to the Park Lane Hotel tonight for dinner, which is apparently popular with fellow travelers. Should be a blast.

run "party.exe"

Here are some words I never thought I'd say or write: Last night I went to a party with a bunch of computer nerds and had a good time.

Translation: Yesterday, a bunch of the girls were out sari shopping and ran into some guys from Infosys who recognized us from when we took the tour. One thing led to another, and they (and the rest of us) wound up invited to a little get-together at a hotel/club called the Roost. Seeing as they're engineers in training, it's easily understandable why they'd jump at the chance to invite ten women to their party.

It felt just like home. Lots of loud music I don't like. Still, it was cool to meet some new people and get a perspective on Infosys that didn't come from the mouth of a tour guide. They all seemed to like living there, but got annoyed at the rules straight out of summer camp (strict separation of male/female halls, 11 PM curfew, etc).

On a side note, I've developed a wonderful cough thanks to (I think) the "pristine" Mysore air and the cigarette smoke constantly wafting from one corner of our group. I hope it doesn't develop into a respiratory infection.

mmmm

Not much to report today except that I never thought that slightly runny French toast would taste so utterly delicious. I plan on walking over to the Green Hotel every weekend now.

I think I'm going to have to forget this whole yoga idea. I woke up this morning almost unable to walk thanks to the pain in my knees. It's fading, but if I'm going to have to go through weeks of this in order to make any progress, it's really not worth it in my mind.

It's annoying, because the first day was great, but once we started doing stuff with our legs my stupid useless knees quit on me. And our architecture teacher is as incomprehensible as ever.

Hooray study abroad!

owie

Maybe yoga isn't for me after all. I'm reconsidering the class after a failed attempt to get into the lotus position resulted in nothing but frustration and horrendously sore knees for the rest of the day. Apparently I have all the flexibility of a steel rod. I knew I should have stuck with gymnastics as a kid.

We had our first dinner tonight that wasn't organized by our trip leaders. I don't know if I'll ever become truly close with the people here, but they all seem like good people. Had a good time at dinner tonight. I'm still looking forward to going to the Green Hotel for an American breakfast this weekend though. Mmmm, pancakes.

IMPORTANT INTERNET UPDATE

AIM works
Facebook works
School email works
Skype will work once I can get my password going

HOORAY TECHNOLOGY

YOGA FIRE

Had my first Yoga class today. I never knew I could be so exhausted after only about 15 minutes of stretching. The sound of 12 backs popping during one of the stretches was...something else.

Ventured out to the supermarket to pick up some supplies. I'm still adjusting to how much things cost here. I was about to get annoyed over an OUTRAGEOUS bill for 300 rupees until I remembered that it's equivalent to about six bucks. You can eat like a king here on a very shoestring budget. Ah, the wonders of Westerners visiting third-world countries.

On a side note, the supermarket is directly across Temple Avenue from a brand spanking new Pizza Hut. Next step: sampling Indian-made pizza.

Classes and other exciting things

Just about two days of classes down. I decided to take Kannada, since I don't know how much I'll be studying India after I leave and I'd like to be able to talk to people while I'm here. Some of the words are a bit tricky to pronounce, but the grammar seems simple enough.

The architecture course looks like a nightmare, and unfortunately it's required. The trips will be interesting, but I was struggling to stay awake/understand our professor's accent. I've never found architecture very interesting at all. Hopefully I'll be able to work with a classmate.

Government is very cool. We have two very enthusiastic professors who are easy to understand.

Last night we had dinner at a place called the Hunt Club, which used to be part of the Maharajah's palace. Another tasty meal outside, and I managed not to get devoured by mosquitos this time.

I'm getting a bit annoyed with these computer problems though. My anti-virus protection has expired and the connection here won't let me log into any secure sites. We keep getting told the tech guys are coming soon, but no sign of them yet. I'd like to be able to log into things, buy things, use Skype, use my school email, and other things. This is on top of some other issues as well. I'm not sure why it decided to do this once I was far away from reliable tech support.

Let's start the list of "things I should have known before I came"

The American Way of Purchasing a Cell Phone

1. Go to store, choose cell phone
2. Choose a plan
3. Pay money, begin using cell phone without much delay

The Indian Way of Purchasing a Cell Phone

1. Have cell phone sales guy come to guest house, choose cheapest model of cell phone available
2. Choose between two (2) plans
3. Pay money for actual cell phone
4. Wait two days
5. Pay money for SIM card that will let you use the cell phone
6. Fill out three forms, take four photographs, make three copies of passport and visa, sign everything
7. Bring it to government office
8. Wait an indeterminate amount of time

That's as far as I've gotten. We're hoping to have the stupid phones tomorrow. Hooray bureaucracy!

UPDATE: I now have a cell phone. Will wonders never cease?

On a side note, if you're reading this and you're not my parents, please leave a comment. I got one from someone I didn't know, and it's cool to have an actual audience.

First day of classes!

I have my first Kannada class in about 40 minutes. Kannada is the language of Karnataka, the state where Mysore is located. After this week I have to choose between Kannada and Hindi, which is spoken almost everywhere BUT Karnataka.

I decided to skip the 7 AM dance class. If the noises coming from above my room are any indication though, it's going to serve as an excellent alarm clock.

Last night was a very...interesting experience. We met the Swamiji, the leader of the Lingyat sect of Hinduism, which runs JSS. We had to bow down and touch his feet, naturally showing that we are lower than the dirtiest part of his body. He seemed like a nice man, and offered to meet with us anytime for discussion. I'm not exactly sure what I'd discuss with the guy, but we'll see how that goes.

After one of the worst meals we've had here so far, we got to meet the Swamiji's elephants. No real words to describe that experience.

Off to finish breakfast now.

Observations on 60 hours in India

That 60 hour figure may be a bit off, since my body still isn't entirely sure what day it is.

1. I could never live in a large Indian city if they're anything like Bangalore. I had never before encountered air pollution you can see. My eyes and throat were bothering me from the moment I walked out of the hotel.

2. The food is indeed as spicy as advertised. I think I'm slowly getting used to it though. We had breakfast at Dr. Raju's house this morning, and while it didn't contain anything I might think of as breakfast, I could eat that dosa all day every day.

3. Indian drivers are certifiably insane.

Today we visited the training campus of Infosys, one of the biggest Indian tech companies. Young people (mostly men, as you might imagine) come here after being hired by Infosys to recieve additional training. They live here for 14 weeks, and it's basically a city within a city. I've never seen anything like it. They live in what look like nice hotel rooms, and have everything they need within the walls of the facility. If this is how Indian companies treat their engineers-in-training, I can see why there's getting to be so many of them.

It's about 3:30 PM right now. We're going to the Golf Club (get it?) for dinner tonight. Apparently the girls on the trip have to find something that covers their ankles for this dinner.

For anyone who's reading this that cares, I can't get on AIM because the internet connection here is a bit strange. I can't access a number of sites, like MLB.com, Facebook, my Conn email, and AIM. The tech guys should be back on Monday; hopefully they'll be able to fix it then.

Well I made it here safely. After some problems trying to get the laptop working, we've finally got it going until a power surge sets my computer on fire.

We've got pretty nice living conditions here. The rooms are bigger than Conn dorms, and I finally have a single.

It's still pretty surreal that I finally made it here. Now to collapse into bed.

Pre-boarding

Well it's 1:20 AM the night before I leave.

I said my goodbyes to everyone at work today. Tomorrow morning I get to do some last-minute shopping for my first aid kit, throw my carryon together, and pack up my best friend the laptop. Of course, this is a Dell laptop whose battery has been recalled because it stands a slight chance of catching on fire. I find that the best way to deal with these things is trying not to think about it.

Hard to believe that it's snuck up on me like this. I hope this blog is valuable to somebody somewhere. 18 hours until I'm (hopefully) in the air!

FIRST POST

If you read this blog, you can follow the fantastic adventures of me during my semester abroad in Mysore, India. To be updated when I actually get there.