in the south

So i figured it might be time to write something about Bangalore, since this is now my new home..

Bangalore is a city in the southern indian state of Karnataka. the population is reported to be about 10 million, though i really can't even imagine how they estimate the population of any city in india...so i'm not quite sure about that. but there ARE a lot of people. the first thing I noticed as the plane was landing was how RED the earth is here. while the north was very dry and beige-colored all the time, the south has red earth and real trees..amazing. =) but just like in all of the other places we have visited the roads are packed with cars and noise, the city is quite polluted, and i still can't orient myself to be able to recognize any landmarks outside of my neighborhood really... but Bangalore is most unique because it the most westernized of the cities we have visited..here you can find malls that are actually full of stores and full of people (some "malls" we saw in the north were pretty much entirely empty). rickshaw drivers here have meters on their cars to use (though hardly any of them do). so many people speak English it's beautiful..we can actually ask almost anyone on the street a question and they would be able to reply (i remember the hotel we stayed at in Haridwar where no one at the reception spoke english when we were trying to check in) there are definitely a lot of conveniences here...like actual stores that you walk into, fresh and good-looking fruits and vegetables, all sorts of agencies for anything you need, cinemas, bookstores, and doctors, pharmacies, banks, post offices, everything! one of the most important things too is the education here...i've heard that about 60% of people in Bangalore have had schooling, even in higher education. that's a pretty impressive figure..in the north i can't imagine it's more than 10% in some places.. it makes sense that USAC would send students here..

In terms of school, i am enrolled in Christ University (it used to be Christ College), a Catholic school in Bangalore. I can't say i am very happy about the fact that it is a catholic school, but there isn't much i can do about that. it's a nice campus, though quite small (much smaller than UNR), but it is interesting to see the different styles in teaching. school here is a very formal affair..you have to wear "appropriate" clothing and address your professors in certain ways (they are more lax on us with these rules since we are American, but for the Indians, school is a strict affair). professors rarely seem to smile at their students or vice versa, it's like they have taken on these roles as "professor-student" and that is it, there can't be friendly discourse between them. when i think about Cristina, my italian composition teacher who became one of my favorite people in italy just because i could speak with her openly as a friend instead of an instructor, i realize just how different the two can be..

I am enrolled in only one class because this is just summerschool..the class is called "Indian Culture and Traditions". I heard some pretty bad reviews about the professor before the class began so i was a little nervous about what it might be like, but the professor, a Father, is not bad and we are actually learning everything i wanted to learn about india in this class. we have discussed the Indus Valley civilizations, the Vedic age in india when the Vedas were written, and then also up through the Gupta dynasty. We have talked about Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity, and Islam in India and have talked about the caste system. we will also be discussing indian music, literature, art, etc...everything. and the neat thing is that our professor isn't always the one that lectures..many times he invites in guest professors who can lecture on the field of their specialization. it's a neat idea because we don't tire of the same person, and we are taught instead by people who actually know the subjects more thoroughly since that is their personal area of interest. and our most regular professor seems to be pretty knowledgeable as well, so it is turning out quite well so far.




i am currently living in a place called National Games Village. i guess it used to be housing for athletes that were training for the Olympics some time back, but now there are just regular families that live there. it's actually a huge apartment complex, and really quite nice. i was impressed...the apartments are large and spacious, we have 2 balconies, and they are nicely furnished for us students with kitchen supplies, a washing machine, fans, and even a tv! it's been pleasant having a home again instead of being on the move constantly. my roommates are pretty neat too...i live with 4 other girls, Becca, Ana, Bonnie, and Amanda. Becca is a girl from Chicago who is studying in California. this is her third time in india but she has also traveled to many other places too. lately she has been doing humanitarian work near Chennai (another city in India, on the east coast), which sounds pretty neat. Ana is a girl from Bilbao, Spain. She has the warmest eyes and the lightest laughter, it really is a pleasure speaking with her just to be hearing what she has to say. she is very sweet. It turns out that Bonnie is actually a UNR student, so i will have a connection when i go back to the states. she is very friendly and talkative, but sometimes i can't even believe how quickly she speaks..and jumps from topic to topic! Ha..she has a fast mind for sure. and then Amanda is the one who is most quiet of us, a lot of the time she tends to make sarcastic comments, but she is always joking, it's all good-humored fun. we all get along, so it makes it quite nice. somehow i ended up with a room all alone too, which makes it even more fun..i have quiet space in our lovely apartment =)

that's a little bit on the roommates, but the rest of the USAC kids are really neat too...a lot from the east coast, but some from the west too. we get together almost every night and always have fun. my two favorites i think are tharyn and nia. Tharyn is a boy very interested in indian culture and religion, so we have had some good talks with him on those topics. he is very quiet but also a very calm and centered person, i can't imagine him ever getting angry. he definitely has a balance within himself that is just amazing, very respectable. today happens to be his birthday, i think we are all going out to celebrate somwhere tonight. and Nia is like a sister in the arts...she is the other dreadie here, and she plays with hoops. yesterday we went to this little park area in our apartment complex and she played with hoops while i played with poi. then we laid on blankets and stared at the purple clouds against a night blue background as tiny drops of rain came down on our faces. she is very easy to talk to, and someone who just makes you want to be around them..she attracts people to her for sure, but she should, she has turned out to be a wonderful person indeed.

Yesterday i went to a 7am yoga class with Nia and my roommates, and it felt good but was also really quite hard..the yoga we went to wasn't based around calm, meditative breathing and long stretches like many in the states are..here it can actually be quite aerobic. we were running through sun salutations, jumping around at the beginning of the class, and breathing in styles that almost made me light-headed they were so fast. no one wanted to go with me again today except for Nia, so we went and Tharyn joined us too. it turned out being even faster and harder today, and as i sit here and write i can just feel the soreness all throughout my body. it feels good, but at the same time i am feeling the fatigue a little more now..


there's not much else to say for the moment though. i actually have class in 20 minutes so i need to make it to campus now, but i hope this gives you all a slightly better idea of the place i find myself in now, of this new home.

until next time,
namaste~

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