And this is Pune

Just arrived in Pune—can’t say it’s what I expected! Can’t say the weather is too much better here in Pune than it is in Bombay, but maybe after the rains start. The city is much wider and less grungy than Bombay, but our “classroom” (as well as all the other universities) are just tiny little houses. It feels more like we’re at summer camp than a real college! The classrooms are very small… let’s hope I won’t go mad sitting in a lecture for hours in such a small room.

Met up with the other students in the program last night. Sasha came to the hotel first—she’s from Illinois and her dad was with her. It was actually nice meeting her dad because he reminded me very strongly of my Uncle Mike… tall, kind of loud, and very gregarious… very Midwest! He and Sasha have been traveling up North to visit a temple that her dad goes to, so they got to see Delhi and the Taj Mahal.

Everyone else arrived later on in the night after their flight got in, including Rebekah! Finally I had someone to watch Indian MTV with into the night! She is very excited about shopping, so I guess I’ll have to spend more rupees to buy more clothes/jewelry/shoes. Oh yes, and we made a vow to pick up some Bollywood moves in some of the local clubs in Pune. It’s an obligation.

Anyways, drove through the Ghats (mountain range) to get to Pune, which was very beautiful to watch out the window. Used my first Indian toilet at the restaurant (all the flats I visited in Bombay had normal ones)… I will have to get a picture. Let’s just say I’m glad I brought toilet paper.

Internet will be difficult to come by here. The center only has plug in internet and I'm doubtful the hostel will have anyway. But I will try hard to keep writing things down! Just in these first 20 minutes it's been a bit of a shock arriving here and realizing it will be so different from school/life in the US and at Princeton. The apartments that I stayed at in Bombay were basically regular apartments with an Indian flavor and stores looked sketchy on the outside, but were basically what you'd expect in New York on the inside. So far, I see little of that here... especially in the "school" where I'm going to be spending a lot of time. That said, I really like all the other students here on the trip-- they seem very optimistic, open-minded and fun. Some of them were more vocal about being worried about adjusting to the trip, which makes me feel better-- I'm not alone in having my doubts. And I think that, of the group, I'm one of the better-adjusted people who's ready to go out and explore more on my own. I mean, I've done the rickshaw thing now and I feel like that was an important step. :)

We have a schedule for the whole 2 months planned out for us... and I'm reading it over and seeing how I can alter it for maximum fun. Mwahaha.