wowowoooooo.

i'm so exhausted i can't form sentences. thats a very good thing. my days are full and i'm taking in everything i can. so here is an update in a list.

lately i've been:

- making really good friends with this girl named vaneja who works at the blind school with me. she is amazing, i wish i could even explain what she has dealt with, she makes me realize a lot of things about myself and india and life that i'm not going to talk about online. she has been taking dana and i out to see the town, eat, shop, its been a serious blast.

- trying on saris and rajasthani outfits. hilarious. the women at the school love dressing up dana and me.

- swimming. oh yes, my breast stroke is getting pretty impressive, and dana's teaching me to fly. hehehe.

- visiting an orphanage, where i had to choke back tears hard. there was a drop box outside with a bell on it that rings when a baby is left there, which averages about once every month. and they are almost all girls, because they are considered to be a burden on a family. a lot of the girls were mentally disabled. i talked to girls that had lived there their whole life. i've never been so thankful for my family. i love you. i've always thought i would adopt, and now i am almost positive i will.

- drinking so much sugar cane juice, freshly squeezed right in front of my eyes. and eating way too much rasgulla and gulab jamun.

- playing holi:

- going to temple with vaneja, learning a lot about hinduism.

- sweating. all the time. its 90 degrees at all times in dana and my bedroom, and even hotter everywhere else.

- visiting a school exclusively for deaf students, it is run by an NGO, it was interesting to compare it to the blind school i've been working at, which is privately run (with government funding, and is provided completely free for all of its students, of which there are about 225). It is crazy the difficulties i hadn't considered, and the differences blind and deaf students face, and how they live in a culture that is very handicap inaccessible both physically and socially.

- missing you guys. i can't believe there is less than a month left of my program... and a month of travels that i couldn't be more pumped about. life is so good. i want to tell you everything, but soon enough i'll be able to.

trying to learn hindi.



our field visit to a local hamlet, on the outskirts of a village.



day 8, we lose our minds and have a beach party in fort gravis.



speaking at womens day.

hahaha, sorry the pictures are so small. guess you will just have to come visit me when i get back to the US to see the real thing.

Jodhpur.

So things have gotten so much better since the last time I wrote. Today was probably one of my favorite days in India thus far. First of all I have moved into the city into a guest house with Tracy and Kostya, two students from my program. We each have our own rooms and bathroom, our own living room, and best of all – kitchen. Woo. The family who is hosting us is amazing. They have this amazing library of musical instruments, puppets, brooms, all sorts of things from around India with a recording studio where traditional musicians come to lay down the beats. Hehe. So today I got in touch with Sushila Ji, the Chairperson of a school for blind students here in Jodhpur. We went and it was absolutely amazing. I sat in on a math class and a music class for blind students, and then an integrated class for deaf students. They have a computer lab with a program called JAWS that says everything the mouse scrolls over and the letters while you are typing. They also have a program that scans in books and then turns it into text format so it can be edited and, more importantly, converted to Braille and printed on a special printer. I met a girl today named Sunita, she is about my age and when she was young she had an accident and fell down the stairs, which damaged her optic nerve leaving her completely blind. She spoke amazing English we spent all afternoon talking about everything. She is leaving for a week or so to go back to her hometown of Bikaner (where I took that safari), for Holi, a huge festival in India. Two staff members sat and talked with us for an hour or so as well, and I can’t wait to go back and learn more from them. The students I met were so sweet, even though working at a school wasn’t what I had planned on doing, I think I will learn a lot working there.
So as I said Holi is this weekend, and I’m super pumped. All the kids that live around here are going to “play colors” with us, where you put on old white clothes, get these guns that shoot color powder, and go play in the streets. All my comrades from Fort Gravis are coming back in to play with us, and hopefully hit up another delicious meal at this restaurant called Midtown. Best thali ever. And the lassis. Oh the lassis.
So my days are much more productive since I’ve moved to the city, last night I went and watched how craftsmen make the bangles here, from melting the gold to casting the intricate designs. We went and picked up some saris that tracy had made, I love how vibrant Indian shopping districts are at night. I’ve been working on my Hindi, reading more books, knitting, having crazy talks with my roommates, I’m really happy. I think I’m going to head to the market and pick up some veggies and make some pasta for dinner. Eggplant maybe? Mmm. I’m trying to learn how to cook now that I have a kitchen and tons of spare time. It is proving slightly difficult though due to lack of supplies and lack of nearby grocery store, I just buy my veggies from street vendors. All part of the experience though.

ok quick update

so sorry this is going to be short but i'm paying for internet and don't have much time. I've been living in a hut in the middle of the Thar Desert for the past week and a half, but with no project and little to do. But thanks to my program coordinator it looks like I'll be moving into Jodhpur and working for a woman who runs an NGO based around training and giving financial services to women around the Jodhpur district, and she also runs a school for the blind that i will be working at. I am hopefully moving in on Monday and everything will be squared away. I was really going through a "low phase" for a bit there, but things are looking pretty good now, i'm excited to be working and interacting and everything. I'll update more soon.

7 weeks.

at officially half way through the program, its finally struck. my stomach is doing tricks i didn't think it knew how to do. but i went to the pharmacy and got some rehydration packets and some other meds, after almost passing out today in class (while giving a presentation, so i scared everyone pretty thoroughly). ugh. but really i've been tempting fate for a long time with the egregious amounts of street food i've been taking in, so i guess i deserve it. those samosas were completely worth it. hopefully this all clears up before the what could be a horrible all day drive to jodhpur on wednesday. but i'm a trooper, don't worry, can't break this spirit. i've been pumping myself up all week for my internship, and i'm crazy excited about this unknown adventure. at first i was worried about internet access/telephone service/bathrooms/where i'll be sleeping, but thats all quickly fading away. i had a nice talk with mom last night, and she's right, too much energy is wasted worrying. i declare march worry free month. all you can do is live every moment and make the absolute best of it, because you only get that second to live one time. i just finished reading 'special topics in calamity physics' and it talks a few times in there about how you should be leading your life keeping your autobiography in mind. is it worth reading, even if its just by you? i've been so fortunate my whole life with great friends, family, loves, days, weeks, years, and opportunities. being here makes me realize that i can really do anything. what a great feeling.

oh also, i found free wireless internet in the mall courtyard about 25 seconds from my house. hahaha. so many wasted rupees.

tomorrow is the big hindi test. let's practice:

"ap kaise ho?" how are you
"mai thik hu." i'm good
"meri parivar me pauch log hai. mera ma-bap, meri choti behen, mera chota bhai, aur me." my family has 5 members. My parents, my younger sister, my younger brother, and me.

and the useful phrases:

bas! bas! - stop! stop! (for rickshaw drivers, it takes them a little longer to stop when you yell in english)

bahut zyada hai! - it is very expensive! (and then you walk away from whoever you are talking to, and they will yell lower prices at you until you turn around. i heart baraining.)

malum nahi - i don't know/understand. haha.


ok, enough of that. i'm talking to katie and steph online, they are both in spain this semester. i miss my girls. its so weird to think that the people i love the most are spread so much over the globe right now.