This is the hotel that May I and I stayed at in South Goa for the first of our three night adventure. It was a very charming little place that was quiet and relaxing. We stayed in a private bungalow that was very nice with an attached bathroom. Not all hotels have private baths so this was a nice little perk. The food was delicious and the ambiance was very enjoyable. The Goan cuisine has a lot of fish in it, so May and I took advantage of this and ate quite a bit of local caught fish such as Kingfish and Pomfret - all very tasty. The beach was also nice a relaxing. To get to the beach you had to take a canoe powered by a man and a stick. It sort of reminded me of gondolas in Venice or at least what I've seen in movies and things. The water was very polluted up by the small village but on the beach where we were it wasn't too bad. The level of pollution in India is staggering I've found. There aren't trashcans anywhere, people just litter left and right, which gets pr
etty bad in places. After a night in South Goa, we moved to the more touristy North. We again had a quiet little bungalow but this time with a shared bathroom. We got lucky with the hotel because a lot of the places we looked at were very run down and dirty. The place we stayed was run by a French woman who was very nice and kept the place in very good condition, clean, and well kept. In North Goa we did a bit of shopping but I learned that I don't like haggling prices. I'm no good at it and I always convert back to USD and then everything seems like a good deal even if I could have gotten it cheaper. On the plus side I've learned to not be too impulsive because it is amazing how quickly your rupees go when you start buying everything that is a good deal.
Oh and on a side note - I've developed an alter ego to deal with pushy shop owners and overly aggressive men. I am now Emily from Canada (just south of Toronto) and I have friends in Bombay which explains my visiting India, and I'm always leaving tomorrow so I can't meet up later.
Over all we had a wonderful time and enjoyed ourselves completely. The only downside was missing one day of classes and the bus rides down and back (13 hours without a bathroom on board!) But that just made the experience even more exciting.
*miss the States*
I'll be in Goa for the next four days. I hope everyone has wonderful weekends - I will be back on Tuesday and will respond to email/comments then. *Happy Republic Day tomorrow*
Classes are picking up pace with tutorial assignments and presentations. There really isn't any homework exactly rather in class tutorial assignments. Granted you can't finish the assignments unless you've already worked on them prior to coming to class - so it is sorta like homework. Oddly enough I'm glad for them b/c it means that I have something structured to work on. I was starting to get nervous that I hadn't been doing much for the past three weeks and when mid semester exams come around, I was going to be in trouble. This at least makes me feel like I'm doing something productive. I also have a presentation to give on superconductivity which I'm excited about. I don't know what level of detail I should go but either way its a subject that I enjoy. I hope it goes well.Interesting development on campus though... they are shutting our internet off between the hours of 11pm until I believe 11am - or there abouts. The administration has decided this LAN ban will help with student depression, isolation of students, and a problem of students sleeping in class. The internet (specifically gaming) has been blamed for adding to much of a distraction to students and thus will not be permitted during those hours. Seems like total rubbish to me... How can I not be depressed now that I can't talk to home for half of the day, not to mention I'm already 12.5 hours in time difference. There is also a download restriction being put in place - I forget the exact amount to limit the obscene piracy that goes on. I understand that one, but restricting web access sounds a lot like censorship to me in many aspects. I'm not sure what exactly one does about something like this but the students are 'protesting' and signing petitions and such things. The other exchange students are upset as well and we are all trying to utilize whatever weight we have (which is basically zero) to convince the administration to change their mind. So in light of these new events I may be even slower to get back to emails and things. Ban starts Friday...
This is Powai Lake which our campus borders. The people in the picture are myself, Jeannie, and Yi Zsa. Note the beautiful looking sunset... it is mostly air pollution but it does look good!
So first things first, my laptop is still not working much to my dismay. I've got to really do something about it because I'm starting to think it is serious and I don't want to spend tons of money - but then again I'll do what I have to do.
Classes have been okay so far, there really isn't much homework unlike Purdue. This means I don't feel as though I have a lot going on so I have a lot of free time. It really isn't that way because I need to be doing some self-teaching, getting myself up to speed and such on topics I haven't covered yet. I'll manage though, the professors seem like good people and willing to help if needed.
I went out again last weekend with some of the same people I met the prior weekend. I had a good time and met even more people which is always fun. I'm trying to make friends of course and now I have non-IITian friends!! Things are fun for sure. May and I hang out a lot and have fun. We talk boys and home and class and over all just enjoy our time. We are thinking about doing a weekend trip away from Mumbai over a long holiday that we have coming up. No news yet, still in the planning stages.
We attended a dramatics performance on campus a few days ago. That proved to be entertaining. All the plays were in Hindi with only a few lines in English. Based upon those few lines plus the expressions of the actors I could follow the story lines, but I never understood the jokes. All of a sudden the audience would erupt in laughter at something a character said but I didn't know what it was because it was in Hindi. It was still fun to go and watch. Two of the exchange students we extras in one of the plays, so May and I also went to be supportive of them.
Not much else is new, just shopping, class, friends, and planning excursions out and about. Learning random Hindi words too of course - mind you I never remember the words after hearing them but it is still fun to try.
*hope all is well back in the States*
These are two of my classmates (Jeet and Sudhanshu) who took myself, Jeannie, May, and Yi Zsa out for an afternoon in Mumbai. I had such a great time taking the train (again) having lunch, walking around and just chatting. We had lunch at this fun restraunt in an upscale mall. Sudhanshu ordered for everyone because we still don't know what anything is. It was delicious but SOO much food. I couldn't hardly move after such a feast. We had fun trying new dishes and they laughed at us and our attempts to pronounce Hindi words. Jeet and I had a lot of conversations about Indian culture and the differences between them and US culture. We sure did a lot of laughing and had a good time overall. We then left the mall and headed to downtown Mumbai which was nice at night. A few more of our classmates joined us and walked around a bit and chatted. We then went our separate ways after they made sure we got on the train back okay. It's great to have friends to do things with who know the area better than we do.
Week two of classes is okay so far, a little difficult to catch up to speed and find out what material I haven't covered yet but I think it will be okay.
*still smiling*
Wow... what a weekend! Crazy, fun, scary, thrilling, all rolled into one activity packed two days. My Singaporean friends and I experienced some of Mumbai's night life which was a lot of fun. The clubs don't get busy until around 1 - 2am so the nights are pretty late around here. We registered at the Foreign Regional Registration Office on Saturday so the government knows that we are here for an extended period. In doing so I had my first Mumbai train experience which was crazy. The journey to downtown Mumbai was no problem at all, but on the way back... oh my goodness. I've never had so many people pressed up against me so close for so long. You couldn't move and you were being shoved this way and that and you're hanging out the doors trying to climb onto the train. This mind you was just the women's compartment. The men's cabin was worse with people smashed up against the walls, hanging even farther out the doors. The sheer number of people is staggering.
More tidbits:
* I had my first motorcycle ride which was lots of fun
* I got bullied by three or for beggar kids who felt it funny to shove me around
* I saw and ALMOST purchased chocolate opium cake
Computer is still struggling but hopefully I get it fixed soon.
My computer is having some troubles so I may be slow to post or respond to email/comments. Sorry in advance and trust me, I really want to read your email/comments so continue to send them.
Miss everyone so much!
Yes, there are cows in India, and yes they simply roam around. This picture is on the main road that goes through campus. Yes, we have cows roaming through campus.
As my days progress I think of funny little thing that have happened to me so here is a brief list of silly things I'd like to share:
* My towel turns my hands blue and doesn't actually dry me off
* A dog sat through my Kinetics and Mass Transfer II classes today
* I encountered two monkeys, one of which I scared simply by looking at it
* When I purchased my cell phone, I was informed that I was in India as if I had forgotten
* We eat four meals a day here my favorite being tiffin
* I can buy a cup of coffee for Rs 9 ~= 25 cents
As I think of more random tidbits I will post them. I'm having a great time so far - and class will be interesting. Day 1 it's a bit hard to judge style or material, but I think I'll manage.
*smiling*
Day two of shopping in and around Mumbai took us to Linking Road where there were stalls upon stalls of shoes and sandals. A few places selling shirts and skirts much like yesterday but the specialty here were shoes. It was also very crowded perhaps due to the holiday and everyone being off work, or perhaps this is always how it is. I bought a shirt but the merchant gave me the wrong size without my noticing. So I now have a wonderfully small shirt that no one seems to be able to fit into! LOL good thing I only paid $2.
We took a bus today to get to Linking Road which was an experience. It was quite crowded, as in standing room only and even then it was two sometimes three people in the aisle between seats. I've come to realize how nice most Indians are. We didn't exactly know what stop was ours but the first person we asked said "no problem, in about 20 minutes or so will be your stop - I'll tell you when we're close" and sure enough a stop before she told us to move to the front so we can hop off. Turns out she was getting off there too so she showed us where to get the return bus. Such a nice lady.
Today also brought the first real encounter with beggars. They weren't too numerous but they were sad to see. The little children come up to you and put their fingers to their mouths in a feeding gesture and say something in Hindi. It is sad and you want to help, but I found it is much easier to just not look at them, they quickly go on their way. There was one boy who had what I assume to be his little brother with him. His brother had no clothes whatsoever and they were so dirty. It was sad, but really what can you do because you can't give them money and you really can't give them food. *sigh* all part of the culture shock I suppose.
*Happy New Year!*
This is the hotel that May I and I stayed at in South Goa for the first of our three night adventure. It was a very charming little place that was quiet and relaxing. We stayed in a private bungalow that was very nice with an attached bathroom. Not all hotels have private baths so this was a nice little perk. The food was delicious and the ambiance was very enjoyable. The Goan cuisine has a lot of fish in it, so May and I took advantage of this and ate quite a bit of local caught fish such as Kingfish and Pomfret - all very tasty. The beach was also nice a relaxing. To get to the beach you had to take a canoe powered by a man and a stick. It sort of reminded me of gondolas in Venice or at least what I've seen in movies and things. The water was very polluted up by the small village but on the beach where we were it wasn't too bad. The level of pollution in India is staggering I've found. There aren't trashcans anywhere, people just litter left and right, which gets pr
etty bad in places. After a night in South Goa, we moved to the more touristy North. We again had a quiet little bungalow but this time with a shared bathroom. We got lucky with the hotel because a lot of the places we looked at were very run down and dirty. The place we stayed was run by a French woman who was very nice and kept the place in very good condition, clean, and well kept. In North Goa we did a bit of shopping but I learned that I don't like haggling prices. I'm no good at it and I always convert back to USD and then everything seems like a good deal even if I could have gotten it cheaper. On the plus side I've learned to not be too impulsive because it is amazing how quickly your rupees go when you start buying everything that is a good deal. 
