Kuch Photos... with labels!

Okay, I have finally negotiated the Internet connection here, so I can tell you a bit more about these pictures. I hope to be posting more regularly now, as we're doing cooler and cooler stuff. :)
These pictures are from the first day...

This is our home base, where we can access the Internet and we eat breakfast every morning. It's not air conditioned, but now that we're more used to the climate we don't really mind. The rooms are small and it was a little less formal than I expected... but they have normal toilets (which is a big deal!).

This artwork on the sidewalk is prominent in a lot of places. It's called something like rasgulli (but I'm probably pronouncing it wrong), and it's hand-drawn sand art that, traditionally, the women make in front of their homes every day. It's absolutely beautiful.

Closeup

While we were waiting for the afternoon's religious procession, Kaitlin, Cam and I went exploring down the main road, FC Road (for Fergusson College). We ran into a lot of people preparing for the procession and temples playing music. Here we are in front of one of them (note the art on the ground again).

We all met up again to watch the procession, which is called the Palki. It's a celebration unique to Maharashtra where hundreds of pilgrims converge on certain holy cites at some time during June. We had to wait for a while, but once it got going...

it was a real crowd! Here are one of the palanquins they were carrying.

And here is the crowd of people behind it! The best part about the whole procession is that pilgrims kept looking up at US on the balcony and pointing... even though we were there to watch them. One girl took a picture of me with her camera!

Here is the most elaborate palanquin that carries and impression of the footsteps of one of their saints. People rushed up from the sides to touch the inside or leave gifts.

It passed just below us.

I got to my room the first day and was kind of surprised about the accommodations... so I tried to personalize as fast as possible. Here's the headboard of my bed... already full of great people and great memories!

Panning view of my room

And the other side

Omg. One week and I'm still not over the thickness of this mattress. It is like sleeping on a board.

These are the girls who live in the hostel with me. From the right, you have Hyun, Coleen, Mallory, Jessie (my suitemate), Kaitlin and Carolyn. Everyone is wearing their new kurtas from Fab India, so we are all very brightly colored. :)

This is Rebekah and I at Aga Khan palace, one of the places that the British imprisoned Gandhi before Independence. We went there on Friday. Despite it being a former prison, we really liked it! The architecture is something I don't recognize from any US buildings... I would live in a house like this.

The front yard

Add several stories

Me and the sideyard

The whole group! On the far right you have Shashank (red shirt) and Preston (brown shirt) and my friend Sasha (orange shirt). We are in front of a very old banyan tree.

We took a rickshaw to the other side of town to see the Osho Ashram, a meditative community, over the weekend. The difference in air quality is striking... all the greenery makes the air feel noticeably fresher and cleaner than the smoggy stuff we unknowingly breathe in the busier areas. There were also some awesome houses... this is Preston in front of his dream home.

A look down the street... so green!

After the trek (I walked quite a ways home because I was disenchanted with rickshaw riding) we went to my hostel mother's apartment to cook. She (Swapna) did most of the actual cooking but we helped for some things. She's cutting cucumbers with this great knife contraption. She sits on the wooden board, then just presses the vegetables up against the knife to cut. It's surprisingly efficient.

Here's the cooks!

This was yesterday. After dinner, we saw our Indian roommates playing on a seesaw... and yea. Irresistible.

Wow. Actually have to go to class now. More later!