Livin' the dream

I am in love with this city. From the moment the airplane from Delhi began its descent and I saw the green hills, sun and bright blue sky, I started to cry because I realized how much I missed Pune. And because I would no longer have to deal with smog that limited my vision to within a 10 foot radius of my body. But mostly because I missed Pune. :)

Yesterday and today have been huge successes in every sense of the word. In terms of research, I had a great interview with the director of the World Institute for Sustainable Energy all about Maharashtrian wind and solar yesterday, and have my final interview schedule for tomorrow. In terms of shopping... well, put it this way, I nearly completed my Christmas shopping, doubled my earrings collection, and will need to speak to Mom about my bank account. :)

In terms of people, as soon as I landed I met up with my friend Satya, who is the captain of Pune's foremost cricket team. We went out with the entire team to eat at this Southeast Asian restaurant, which undoubtedly served the best mushroom kabobs I have ever had (and I hate mushrooms!). Met my fellow Summer '09 student Preston at my favorite restaurant, Roopali, today and caught up on his adventures in Delhi (his with the visa office) and work here in Pune with our study abroad program. Then, I just got back from having dinner at one of my professor's houses... we talked for a total of about 3 hours! Knowing all these people and suddenly (after the Delhi doldrums) having a whir of social activities after being away for so long is just amazing-- it's like I had established my own life here and I get the opportunity to relive it for a couple of precious days.

But it's the place itself that has really what has struck me the most. The familiar shops, billboards, trees, etc. make it feel like I must have lived here for a year instead of only three months. I made the rickshaw ride out to my professor's house this evening, which in the same neighborhood I used to stay, and all along the ride it felt so eerie and wonderful to be retracing my steps, riding that same path I had ridden my bike along every day for 8 weeks... there was, like, music from some inspirational soundtrack playing in the back of my head as we sped along the familiar roads and watched (probably) the same people walking by about their daily activities... it really feels like home, in a strange way.

More on Divali decorations, shopping for saris, and riding on the back of scooters/motorcycles (YESSS) as soon as I have more time. <3 src="http://s3pr.freecause.com/Causes_script.js">