Everyday I have to answer numerous questions, including "Where from?", "What is your father?", and "What are you doing?" But these days most people don't get beyond the first question because they respond with some version this entry's title. It gives me a huge thrill, every time. So please excuse me while I rejoice for a little bit: WE DID IT! The morning after election day in the states, I biked through a deserted Madurai at five in the morning to join others at our program house in order to get the results as they came in. Getting up so early [View Full Entry]

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Hi all, this is just to share a few more photos, and also mention that I added a few to the last entry - although for some reason, they're not all showing up when I click 'View Full Entry.' But if you click on the photos in the blog homepage, you'll see them. (Me and my new nose bling included!) Also, just to clarify - after my classes end this week, my group is taking a week-long tour of a few sites in South India. Then, we return to Madurai for our month-long Independent Study Project, where we all choose a [View Full Entry]

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That’s last night’s tally alone, of course, but it was my first decisive victory in the ongoing war, so I thought I’d brag a little. This war would have been practically a suicide mission had I not possessed a magic weapon - what we call the Kocu Bat. (“Kocu” - koh-soo - is Tamil for “mosquito.”) The Kocu Bat is a rather ingenious piece of equipment which comes to Tamil Nad via China, according to my host father. It looks more or less like a tennis racket, except the strings are wires that, when you press a button, send an electric [View Full Entry]

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Well. I have been thrown out into the sea of Foreigner-in-India Sickness, thrashed around, caught in the undertow, slammed against the rocks, swept ashore, pulled back in again, and at last have straggled onto dry land, weak but, finally, healthy. It began with a slight stomach problem. This escalated very rapidly into a full-out fever, although I couldn't quite get a precise temperature because, after feeling my neck and forearm (not the forehead!), my family announced the presence of fever, and resisted my attempts to ascertain just how bad it was. That was clearly an unnecessary step. (By t [View Full Entry]

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Hi all, trying to upload photos. Sorry if you all got an annoying subscription email, and then no photos. I think it's supposed to be really easy, but this computer is doing some funky things, and there's a bunch of Indian men watching over my shoulder right now so I might quit before they all get uploaded. *apologetic head bob* [View Full Entry]

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Not too much to say about that, it just cracked me up. It's the title of the DVD that I won for most accurately pinning the (demon) tail on Malinowski, the founder of modern anthropology (and, of course, a rather racist Imperialist too). I tried to convince my sisters that we should watch it instead of Mummy 3 the other day, but I failed. I guess Lindy Jones just didn't sound exciting enough. Not that it mattered anyway, since the power went out the moment we started watching. More on that later. So, things are good! I've been shamed into writing [View Full Entry]

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Vanakkam everyone! I am finally in Madurai! After a very grueling three days of travel (minus the time change, but still a very long time) we arrived in Thanjavore where we stayed at a hotel and had a weeklong orientation. It was very nice there. Lots of mildly spicy food, and a nice breeze which came off the river (a river infested with sinkholes, crocodiles, and toxic chemicals, I might add). I like everyone on my group, we get along very well, and everyone seems very committed to cultural integration and awareness. We have been in Madurai for a few days [View Full Entry]

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