Random Thoughts and Low-Key weekends

woah....I just looked at my watch to see the date and had to check twice thinking my watch was wrong...then checked my cell phone to make sure that I hadnt set my watch wrong....Yup...its already Feb! I cannot believe it! Ive been here for over 2 weeks now and still so shell-shocked that I forget the date! As I was in the car today driving to school all I could think about is how surreal it feels to be here. I don't feel like Im in India...I just feel like I'min some city in the U.S.--India sounds to exotic...too impossible! The internet has been down since my bday so my apologies that it seems like FOREVER thatyou've heard from me! Im sure your just as anxious to hear from me, as I am from you! Well the past couple of days since my bday have been sort of uneventfulbut when I say uneventful its only because I've gotten used to it here...I no longer see everything with brand new eyes, and dismiss small details that I nowfind unimportant, but I know y'all would love to hear. So this blog is dedicated to the small details that I no longer think about after being here for 2weeks (Im going to have to think really hard about these since I don't think about them)....Ok so for example everyday when I go walking...either to Andrewsor the grocery, or to MG I always make a very important descion that could invariable effect the rest of my life; a descion I have never been faced with athome...whether to walk on the sidewalk or the street. You see at home we just walk on the sidewalk not a second thought in our minds right? Well here in India, its just as dangerous (if not more so) to walk on the sidewalk as it is to walk on the crowded traffic-jammed street where you risk getting hit at anymoment. So your probablly asking "why is the sidewalk not an automatic?" well honestly if given the choice I have found that 90% of the time I will choose towalk in the street. This is because the sidewalks are poorly made here....They are built overtop of the sewers and several of them collapse over time...I think I now know how the childrens game of "don't step on the crack or you'll break your mothers back" started. My theory is that it started in India...if a child falls through the cracks of the sidewalks perhaps their mothers next step onto that same fragile sidewalk resulted in a concaving of the sidewalk inwhich the mother fell through to break her back. Just a theory but I might be willing to bet on it. Its just crazy that something so simple like a sidewalkwe take for granted everyday! Its funny how when you come to a completly new place you start to see everything back home with new eyes, and a new appreciation. Another example is the quite....I never really liked the quite back home, always finding myself blaring music to sound out the overwhelmingsilence, but here....well I forget what that quite sounds like. And its not India, its just Bangalore. It is one of the 3 largest cities in India, so itsunfair for me to make assumptions of ALL of India based on just this one city...it would be like a foreigner coming to NYC and thinking the whole country wasloud and obnoxious. So Im excited to travel outside the city to see how the rest of India is! Im sorry that Im just seemingly rambling...I will share with you what has happening in my life since my last blog (which was a little vague...my apologies!) So my birthday Fri was very relaxing and low-key. It was nice to just shop all day, enjoy American food, and spend my night enjoying the company of new friends. Saturday I slept in until 10am (which is WAY sleeping in for me since I've been here in India...its hard to sleep past 8am because of all the loud rickshaws!) I went over to Andrews for lunch and laid out for a while, and aroudn 2:30p Gopal picked me up and took me to a seperate part of town to take a city tour. Andrew didn't accompany because he was still recouperating from a stomach virus. Gopal dropped me off with some random strangers--to takea 6 mile walking tour of the city. I have to say, I wasn't thrilled about it--a historic tour of the city in mid-day with no one I knew, but it ended up being a very fun experience! Its a group that holds these tours once a month, and a lot of the people there were regulars. There were about 30 of us (sometourists, some history junkies, and some excersize gurus) and it was at a slow enough pace that people just jostled around the group meeting new people andconversing for a while. I met several people but only exchanged phone numbers with a few--the first lady that I spent most of my time with was an elder Irishlady, named Vanessa, whose husband is currently working in Bangalore. They have been here for 2 years and she said I remind her of herself when she was younger...she loved to travel (but for years at a time) and has been pretty much everywhere between India and Ireland. SHe left the tour early, but gave me her phone number and suggested we catch tea sometime. I think we are going to try and meet up on THur. for tea. She is currently doing service work on the other side of town, but said that she would ask around about service work on this side of town for me. Networking seems to be the best way of getting the things you want here in India. After she left I met two girls from South Africa who are here on scholarship as students of journalism. They asked me a few questions for their paper and I exchanged phone numbers with one of them. They both were funny, and texted me later that night saying they were glad to have met me, and that we should hang out soon! It still amazes me how easy it has been for me to make friends. The walk itself was fun, but the main thing I got out of it was some more friends. I took lots of pictures though because I felt safe being in a large group of people. I havn't taken as many pictures becausethe Indian people don't recieve it very well--so I try to retain my compulsion to take a million pictures always. We started out at one of the first movie theatres in India (the sign outside still reads 'talkies') which was interesting, being a student of media and all. We got to tour the theatre and see the film reels (which are the original ones from the early 1900's.) We then moved to a small gym that has been functioning also since the early 1900's. After that we went through a market, and visited a mosque, and went to a square, and we ended up a a huge cathedral which was gorgeous. After my tour of the city I came back exhausted and took a small nap. I told the hostel girls that I would go to one of their European parties (it was a girlnamed Maria's birday) which was fun, I taught them 'Never have I ever' game and felt like the life of the party cracking jokes and being talkative. I got to meet kids from all over the world (they're all a part of an orginization called ISAC--its an intern orginization) which was fun to meet more people. Sunday, I woke up with a sour stomach and felt that if I went to church with Agusta I might have diareah and didn't think that would be pleasent, so I had to rain-check with Augusta. The rest of the day Stefan, Andrew and I sat outside on Andrew's roof just talking, relaxing and hanging out in the beautiful weather. All in all it was a very relaxing and low-key weekend. Today I had class (dancing, yoga, and literature) and have found myself doing loads of reading and hwthat I've been assigned! Its crazy how much reading I have! I went to the grocery and due to my extreme thirst I bought 4 different kinds of juices--guava, mango, pomegrant/lime, and papya. I walked to another NGO that I had researched which is very close to my house, but unfortunatly I didn't get to talk to anyone. Its called St. Joesephs home for abandoned babies. I tried calling them several times but for some reason the number is not working. So I will prob.try to walk there again tomorow to see if there is any volunteer oppourtunity there--so please pray for that! Im starting to get frustrated with it all, anda little anxious to start! ANyways I miss you all soooo much! I can't wait to talk to you! WIth lots of love, Rebecca Ann

ps. two finals thoughts: Im watching VH1 right now adn they are showing a Destiny's Child music video right now "Bills Bills Bills'--haven't heard this since I was in 6th grade! Crazy! Also my apologies for the long time since you all have heard from me, the internet has been down and it doesnt help that Ive been really busy!