Let's see, a lot of new experiences have been had since my last post:

1. Holi happened to me, as you can see. Holi is India's festival of colors, as they ring in the spring season by throwing liquid color, chalk-like color, and the color that never fades, oil-like color (or should I say dye). Holi was all in all a fun experience, but I do enjoy my own space, and that boundary was crossed many many times during the festival on campus; whether it was a hand in the mouth, an ear full of disgusting water, a tomato or two smashed on a head, an egg thrown at you from a distance, or your t-shirt being savagely ripped off, the saying of the day was something along the lines of "we can do whatever we want to whoever we want, because it's holi!"

2.Evan and I have finally started going to the Hyderabad Hash House Harrier's weekly runs on Sundays. This group is made up of mostly expats who run (and walk) crazy trails all around Hyderabad every Sunday, followed by junk food and a moderate amount of beer drinking. Hash running, which is supposedly very popular in most large cities in the United States, consists of following a trail of "Hash marks" left earlier by the Hare of the run (simply put, someone is in charge of the running route so they leave trail markers with flour). Yesterday's run was hosted by the Germans, so we were all gifted with enormous fanny packs with a German flag printed on them (oh, and free dinner!) On our way to the run last night Evan and I casually hopped on the back of a construction truck and hitched a ride to the front gate, which saved us two miles of walking.

3.I took my first ever Indian motorbike ride a few weeks ago, but I did it the Indian way and rode with not one, not two, not three, but four other people, and I sat in front of the driver, which is the traditional place for an Indian infant or child to sit with his or her family.

4. Hampi was hot, boring, breathtakingly beautiful, and dingy, all at the same time. We took a 12 hour train ride to get to this little city full of 13th century ruins. Besides ruins being everywhere we turned, monkeys were a hot commodity in Hampi as well. There is a 570 step hike to the top of a temple called "Monkey Temple" which I was unable to climb, not because of the number of steps, but because of my fear of the many many monkeys that were swinging, climbing, and fighting all around me.
Besides visiting the temples and ruins, we went on long hot walks through banana plantations and rice paddy fields, which was a wonderful sight to see. We stayed in Shanti Guesthouse, which was about as basic as they come, with just a bed and a mosquito net in the tin roof rooms. But for six dollars a night, can you really expect anything more than that? The train ride home was a breeze since we got on at 10:30 pm and fell right to sleep, though I woke up to a fun little surprise on my arm...the bed bugs had found me, even in my own cocoon sheet. I'm currently itching like crazy but being a good girl and not scratching at all.

5.Am I in school here or what? Classes are continuing to be canceled left and right, tests being pushed back over and over again, and I still have several presentations I have had prepared for over a month now, just waiting to be given.

namaste! I hope everyone is doing well!