Note: this post is copied here from one of my early blogs, and recounts parts of my trip to study abroad in India in 2007!

It’s Wednesday at 5am. The thing about having no clock or watch or cell phone, is that I never know what time to wake up. Plus, there are many lights on campus so it stays well-lit, and one is right outside my window, so I always think it is morning before it really is. So this morning at 4:00 I woke up, thinking it was light out, or at least about to get light out, and went for a run. When I got outside, it was completely dark, with no hint of dawn any time soon. I went anyway, though, since getting back into bed and disturbing my roomie would cause too much noise. The run was actually really nice. The campus was dead quiet. (Even the guards were asleep!) I was a bit scared until I heard footsteps behind me and realized that one of the stray dogs that hangs around us came along for the ride. She kept me company the whole way and made it a lot less scary. (Nighttime can be scary in India). It was good to go at night, too, because 4am is hot in India, but the rest of the day is sweltering…

So, in the past two days, I went to the city at night both days, went to the beach, walked around town, gotten a salwaar chamees (pants-and-tunic-y outfit) and had my sari top tailored, registered, started classes, ridden the bus again, etc. The classes I picked are Ecotourism, Management of Ecosystems, Statistical Ecology and Computation, Environmental Monitoring, and Spoken Tamil. I went to two of them yesterday, and they were a bit rocky for me, considering the professor’s were difficult for me to understand and the style is so different. I think it will just take some getting used to though.

So when we walked to the beach yesterday, we went right when the town children get out of school. This was so fun because they all are obsessed with getting their picture taken and then seeing it on the camera, so we spent lots of time making some little friends and taking pics. Then at night we went to the city. It is an excellent place to be at night. It was even busier than the day, surprisingly, and the streets are crazy and every single shop is open. Vendors are out and you can see every sort of person to be found. On the way home last night we got on a bus that had a women-only section in the back, and it was so much nicer than being squished all together with all the men. I mean, we were still incredible squished, (think Tarzan tactics to hang from the overhead railings), but all the women were so nice and friendly and much more talkative than when mixed with the men. An old lady said something to me in Tamil which I can guess, from her expression and the laughter of the others, was along the lines of, “Put your hair back, it looks ridiculous!” (Everyone wears a bun or braid there… it is way too hot to keep long hair down. I’m learning though…) There seems to be a certain social etiquette on the bus. Everyone who manages to get a seat will gladly hold the things you carry on their lap, whether its a shopping bag, watermelon, or baby. (I haven’t seen this but I’m assuming it happens). You need both arms to hang on in some way if you’re standing. If a seat opens up, you can hop in it when its free, or someone else will direct you into it. You can touch just about anyone, just about anywhere, if it means keeping your balance a little better. The bus really is nuts, but it’s very fun, and a good arm workout, and it’s only 3 rupees (about $.07), whereas an autorickshaw is about Rs. 150 ($3.50). Since money goes so far here, it’s becomes completely wasteful to spend even $3.50 on transportation every day. In case you’re interested, here are some other things I bought, and their prices, to give you an idea of money here… Coke- Rs. 7/$.16, Sari- Rs. 500/$11.60, Having a sari top sewn at the tailors- Rs. 70/$1.63, Coconut off the street to drink- Rs. 10/$.23. All of these prices are the maximum, too. I haven’t really gotten into bargaining yet, although you can do it for every single thing purchased.

Well, it’s 5:30 now, so I think I have time to go back to sleep for a little bit. Adios amigos!