The barracks and a rickshaw adventure

A couple days in and the weather is certainly cooling off. Otherwise, I'm kind of heating up over our living arrangements. The room is a good size, but it is very dusty... a fact not helped the construction going on in the room while I'm at school. We eat dinner with the other Indian girls in the hostel at 9pm at night, but we basically only have cooked vegetables and bread. It's good, but I feel like I'm going to die if I don't get some eggs/fruits/vegetables/something other than carbs! The other Indian girls seems nice, but they are reserved and would rather talk in their own room to each other than to us. That could change... but it's not very welcoming. I still have to wander around our area to buy some necessities, like detergent and a dustpan... god knows WHERE.
Our rickshaw adventure, though, was what really scared me. We had just finished shopping at Fabindia and caught a rickshaw ride to where we thought was back to the college. However, after the driver stopped on the side of the road, got himself a drink (we made him get back in), drove slowly, the car broke down, we haggled over an (unfair) price and found ourselves in the middle of nowhere totally lost and without phones... not so much fun anymore. It took us two more rickshaws and too much money to get home, and by that time it was dark and v. sketchy. So frustrating! I told one of my professors today that we needed a little more direction on going places since apparently the rickshaw drivers are out to rob us/get us mugged. Awesome.
Today we did visit a cool place, Aga Khan Palace, where Gandhi was imprisioned by the British for a while. It was hard to concentrate and admire the palace because I'm so worried about how I'm going to get home and take care of the basics. Felt better after I talked to my professor a bit, and took some cool pictures, which I will post soon. Like I said, Internet is impossible here and laptops are heavy to carry around.
My professor is Sunila, who is an academic but very young and also very US. She was going over the founding stages of the Indian state today, one of my favorite topics from class last semester. I think I was a little too excited... let's just say I was the most vocal participant today by far. :) She thought it was okay though-- I mean, there are plenty of other topics that I don't know a lot about, so I'll be quiet for those.
Coolest part of today, though, was talking to one of the women who runs Gandhi's memorial foundation for rural women. She took part in the freedom struggle back in the 1940s, and actually met Gandhi. She had wanted to join her friends and go to jail for the cause, but Gandhi wrote her back and told her that it was more important for her to take care of her father-in-law and young child. Later on, she brought her baby daughter to see Gandhi (against her family's wishes) and Gandhi praised her for being fearless and blessed the baby. What a great story from a real person!
Rains should be starting soon... we'll have to see how that affects our weekend plans. Sasha and I plan to visit Sunila's gym and work out a membership. Apparently the facilities are great. They have a small pool, weights, treadmills, and (best of all) BOLLYWOOD DANCE CLASSES. Very psyched about that. I think the sooner I start working out, the better I will feel and the quicker I will adjust to this new setting.
Even if it is gritty and full of wicked drivers.