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Published: August 12th 2006
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Gandhi's City
Another Rotary Exchange Student, Katie, and in Wardha. Wardha is also known as Gandhi's City. I feel like I've finally settled in a bit more here in Amravati. Since my last update a lot has happened, so I'll do my best to fill you in.
My host family threw me a surprise birthday party here, which was a lot of fun. There were so many girls over at the house! Many of my friends from school and some of my host sister Ketki's friends were there. It was a night filled with cake smearing, presents, amazing food, dancing, and birthday bumps! 😊 I think there were more than twenty girls who attended. I received way too many gifts and ate a lot of great food. (I wish you all could try it!)
It's the monsoon season here in India which brings about a lot of rain. It is so interesting to watch the weather. One minute it will be very sunny and calm and the next it will be just pouring like you wouldn't believe.
On Monday I went to Nagpur for the Orientation for all of the Rotary Exchange Students in the area. Ketki and I travelled by train and what an experience that was! We first were in general class because we did not have reserved tickets. It was wet, dirty, and stunk to high heavens. 😊 We got off the train at Wardha and went to her cousins home. Katie, also from the US is staying there. It was so great to talk to her. We then travelled by car to Nagpur. We stopped at the river were Ghandi's body was burned, and it really was a very interesting place. The orientation at Nagpur was really a lot of fun to attend. In all, there are six girls from the United States and two boys from Germany. Of those, there are five in Nagpur, one in Wardha, and two in Amravati. (myself included.) The other student in Amravati is Micha from Germany. It was really a lot of fun to meet all of the other students. I was so glad to finally talk to Johanna!!! She seemed to be doing well and she looked very nice. I am really hoping that I will be able to go on a 22-day tour of Southern India in October. It really would be amazing to do some traveling.
After the orientation we stayed in Wardha with Ketki's cousins. The next morning I had mehendi (henna) applied on my palms and my arms... so that was a lot of fun. It took something like two full hours with one person on each hand! crazy. Ketki's Grandmother fell very ill that morning, so we stayed in Wardha. The whole family came to the house to visit.
That night I became very sick. I had the fever, stomach ache, chills, weakness, leg and joint pains, etc. I was feeling just awful! The next morning, my host mother took me back to Amravati by train. I saw a doctor and had blood tests done, but I think I'm doing fine. I'm really feeling a lot better now.
School is going pretty well for me. Mainly, I enjoy just seeing my friends. I still feel very lost in my studies. More than anything I would just like to start some sort of class or activity afterschool. I really just go to school and come home for the rest of the night. I actually have to start some sort of performance-related class like dance or tablar because we have a performance for the District in a month or two.
The best days for me are the ones where I'm allowed to go places. Whether it means my host mother will let me go over to a friend's home or just going out to a store, it really makes me happy. I guess a lot of times I feel like I just never leave the house, and it kind of bothers me. I'm hoping that things will kick into gear once things settle down a bit more. Ketki leaves on the 23rd so they are very busy preparing for her to leave. I am really really going to miss having her around.
So, I had better close, but I just want all of you to know just how wonderful this experience is for me. Although my health is not the best and I miss you all, I really do find so very much that I love here. I find things that i absolutely love each and every day. I hope you know how much I miss you all! I'll update again soon... hopefully with pictures! I can't seem to get it to work.
Love,
Kaia
ps. A few days ago I tied a rakhi on my brother Raju. in return, I got a box of chocolates! yum!
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Beth
non-member comment
im so jealous
Kaia! I don't even know if you remember me. Im Knutson's friend. Wow, you are having so many adventures already! I am sorry that you are sick, I'll pray for your health. But I am so glad to hear you have friends and your b-day party sounds better than anything I've ever had! And I have to say I am very jealous that you've gotten henna all over! I was just saying yesterday (no kidding) that I want to do that!! I guess I will have to make the trek to India someday! Blessings Kaia! Beth