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.