Documenting the Student Exchange

Safe (and Slightly Unsound)

2008-05-07T09:55:00.002-04:00

I'm back in the USA.
It smells nice, and it's really cold, and people wear wayyy too little amounts of clothing, and there's no crazy horns, and no exchangers chillin' cuz there's no Mocha, and my brother and my friends aren't here.
It's weird.
I got on the plane and ended up sitting next to this Indian guy who asked me if I was Polish because "Polish people are really beautiful and have very sharp features, and your nose is so straight!"
I told him I was American and he shut up, but I did end up helping him work the callbox at the Amsterdam aeroport. It's kind of weird knowing that he's going to work in Seattle, and I only knew him for 8 hours, but I will never see him again. It's these mini-aquaintances that are so odd.. they just pop up and leave.
On the flight to Detroit, I sat next to this 40-year-old German guy, and we accidentally fell asleep on each other. Jumping apart as we both woke up, we appologized haphazardly and then fell back asleep again. I guess if you want to break the ice with someone who thinks you're just another weird American girl, you should fall asleep on him!
I arrived at the airport and the Immigration guy said that my mehendhi was cool, but the first time he saw someone with it, he thought it was a skin disease until he looked closer. I crossed through the doors with my overweight luggage wearing my yellow salwaar pants and matching dupatta, a blue and yellow kurti, about 40 bracelets, both anklets, four beaded necklaces, elephant earrings, weird diaper-like underclothes I bought in Amsterdam, and a sobbing smile on my face. The second I saw my dad I burst into tears, and then my sister popped out of nowhere and gave me this huge hug, and everyone is crying, and my gramma and Busharat Ahmad is there, and there was this huge sign that said "Welcome Home, Lauren!" and I was home.
At home, I unpacked my stuff, showed it off, mom put it in the glass case in the living room, and then I fell asleep in my sister's bed at 6, after calling my brother and my friends.
I woke up at 1, fell back asleep because I forced myself to, then got up at 5. I had a huge smile on my face as I cleaned the kitchen and the living room, did the dishes, and made my sister and mom breakfast. It was weird: I was home, and I was doing housework myself. Hallelujah!
I took my sister to school with mom, then she showed me the new church, then we came back home, I got a call from Heater, Ellie, and David, and now I am cleaning my room, but I felt the need to update this.
I'll be at school either tomorrow or Friday (however long I feel.. I'm just taking things easy.)
To conclude, you know what the weird thing above all is?

I miss India.

Here for One Week

2008-04-28T11:21:00.003-04:00

I appologize for the last post... I could blame it on stress, or sadness for leaving, or even amusing indifference, but I'm going to go with the fact that I was just being meanie.
As you know, I got back from the North Tour about a week ago, and things have been crazy since I am only here for one more week.
In the meantime, I need all the love and prayers I can get. This is the most trying time of my life.
Please take care, sorry for posting so late, and thank you all for your goofy comments.
<3 Lauren

Tumultuous

2008-04-06T12:37:00.003-04:00

Yes, I'm going on strike.
No posts on my blog about the North Tour.
I don't want to go back.
I want to go back.
I'm leaving for the NT tomorrow so take care all, you won't hear from me for a while.
-Lauren

Spare Some Change?

2008-04-04T11:52:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

This is to give you an estimate for the entries at the North trip. You can thus decide how you wish to carry the cash/card/traveler cheques with you.
A rough total of all entry charges at monuments in Rajasthan/Agra/Delhi works out to about : 3,000/-. Camera charges work out to an extra 500/- (again optional)
The major chunk of the amount is 750/- for the Taj entry and 450/- for the elephant ride up the Jaipur fort (which is optional. One can even walk up the fort).
Most of the forts and palaces in Rajasthan charge about 200- 250/- each.
Both Indrajit and myself will be there with you'll for the Sunday morning meeting. In case you have any doubts we'll clarify those then.
Happy packing!

Take care,
Manjiri

Well, it's wonderful that Rotary doesn't tell us that we need another extra $90 just to get into all of the places avec our cameras! Where does the RS 35,000 go? That's an insane amount of money ($875) and we don't get AC rooms, AC buses, or inclusive anything (besides meals, non-ac bus, sleeper trains, and non-ac rooms!) WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO? I DON'T UNDERSTAND!
And I love how RACIST India is. The ticket for an Indian to get into the Taj Mahal is like Rs. 100 ($2.50) but for a "Foreigner" it's Rs. 750 ($18.25). Don't tell me that's NOT racist. It is. I am going to become Indian just to see the looks on the ticket-takers faces when I ask for the cheap ticket and can PROVE it. Grrrrrr!
As you can see, I am not impressed with Indian Rotary. Peekay is the only person who made these trips worth it, and he's not even going on this one. Don't get me wrong, I love Manjiri and all, but where does the money go?

Aundh Fire Department

2008-04-01T11:40:00.004-04:00

I went to the Fire Department to do a little homework for dear ol' Dad today. Here is what I found out:

The fire department is under the City of Pune Jurisdiction (PMC). There are 8 fire departments in Pune. When a person makes a call, it goes to the central fire department in Pune, the caller gives information about the incident, the control officers at the FD make a decision as to which FD will send out people to tend to the call.
There are two rescue vans that tend to disaster, building collapse (during the rainy season), earthquakes, falling rocks, snake bites, gas leakage, electrical faults, and chemical incidents. There is also a boat for floods. There are two hydraulic platforms and 1 ladder at 140ft, 1 ladder at 125ft. There are a total of 75 FD vehicles in Pune. Fire tenders (fire trucks), rescue vans, hydralic platforms, and tankers of 10,000 litres to supply water to fire trucks.
The command line goes like this: CFO (chief fire officer), DCFO (divisional chief fire officer), ADO (additional divisional officer), SDO (station duty officer, AKA the man I was speaking to), SO (sub-officer), Tandel (leader of the 9 firemen on duty), and firemen. Head of the CFO, etc. is the Commissioner and Additional Commissioner, who stay at the main branch. The Commissioner is under control of ALL disasters.
To become a firefighter, one MUST undergo a 6 month training course in Nagpur, Maharashtra. All candidates apply to this academy. All further training also takes place in Nagpur.
Shifts are either 24-hours (SDO), 12 hours (SDO), and other shifts from 7am-2pm, 2pm-9pm, 9pm-7am.
1803- First fire brigade established in India. In Mumbai. Massive fire caused need.
1855- Management of FDs goes to Dept. of Police.
1865- Separate department to manage FD, under PMC (Pune City).
1877- Used horse-drawn fire-engine, operated by hand.
1888- Law of Mumbai City: Management of FDs is given to Mumbai.
1907- First petrol Fire Engine in India.
1913- Fire alarm system installed citywide.

Motto of the Department: Save the life and save the property.

And it was so cute! They gave me roses even though they weren't expecting me. And I'm supposed to give them copies of the pictures I took. I'm really exicted, and they were really happy.

Love y'all,

<3>

The side of the fire truck.

Where they keep flourescent tools.

Hose-top box.

Inside of the driver's part of the fire engine.

Hose box.

Chill-out room, complete with TV and chair.

The men on duty who agreed to pose for the picture. The man in white in the centre was the guy I interviewed.

Me with the firefighters. (It was starting to get dark out!)

It's Almost April...

2008-03-31T13:25:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was an excessively boring day. I woke up, worked out for a half-hour, took a rik to Sakalnagar, got my arms waxed and a pedicure (where the woman broke the cheese-grater on my foot and caused blood to flow from my right big toe) for a total of 250 rupees. Then I came home, took lunch and one-hour nap, read 300 pages of The Cider House Rules and began packing to leave. I am getting rid of massive amounts of book and throwing away pounds of clothings. It's rather liberating. After a few phone calls, I went to bed around 2:15am.
Today was nice... I woke up, had breakfast at 11:00am, met Ellie. We bought soap and black nail polish at Food Bazaar, then had coffee at CCD. Then she dropped me at Asif/Navneet/Giri's flat and she went to Rangoli class (which is where you put coloured sand in patterns on the ground.) I hung out with Asif/Navneet/Giri in rotation, as they studied fervently for their exams and took cold showers because it's just too darn hot during the day in Pune.
Then I went home. A lady with a golden retriever talked to me about my trips and college. She turned out to be Shantanu's (a society friend of mine) mother. She's cool.
I had dinner mixture of wet rice flakes, curds, lemon juice, chillies, and fried crunchies. It was really yummy. I did the remaining work for my Poetry class except for the Project and the Final. I changed my ringtone on my cell because I don't wake up for it during the night anymore.. I sleep throug all my phone calls. This may sound weird, but Heather, Ellie, and Asif tend to have some urgent questions such as "Are you going to Esquare tomorrow?" to ask me while I am REMing.
My project for college is going to be awesome. No more hints.
Take care,
<3 Lauren

Chocolate Shakes

2008-03-29T10:52:00.003-04:00

To
IYE Students (2007-08)
RI Dist. 3130
IYE Committee is very happy to note that you have been good students throughout the year. Now you are at the end of your stay in India.
Your behavior has been good & your performance has been excellent, in general & at Dist. Conference in particular.
Now we have planned a couple of visits to local Rotary Clubs, where Rtns. Will like a chance to interact with you, to enjoy your presentation.
This is a practice which promotes IYE program of Rotary International. Your presence & presentation will motivate the Rtns. to send their children to various countries across the world. And as such you become the ambassadors of your country as well as to IYE program. One of your presentation programs is arranged by Rotary Club of Pune Metro with 3 other clubs. The details are as under:
Place: MVM High School on Law College Road, Pune 41 004
Day & Date: Thursday 27 th March 2008
Timing: 7.30 to 8.00 pm Tea/Coffee/Snacks
8.00 to 9.00 pm Meeting, Presentation, Felicitation
You will be escorted back home by Rtns. Afterwards if you want.
Wear your IYE Blazers for the entire felicitation program. Pl. communicate this message to all your colleagues. One of your host family members can also accompany you. Pl. confirm by SMS to the undersigned.
Rtn. Pee Kay (9822434133) Rtn. Anjali (9823024216)

So I went to this little meeting, which ended up starting 1 hour late due to the Thursday power outages, and just as the whole room was bathed in romantic candlelight, BAM! the lights were back on.
Peekay had me give an impromtu speech, which is very bad because I spoke too fast and flailed my arms around while gesturing.
After, I spent the night at Ellies. We teased her host brother. It was fun. Oh yeah, and we got to go get chocolate shakes with Navneet and Asif. That was funner, but we didn't get to have the shakes because the place was closed by the time we got there.
When we got back to Ellies, Sandeep (Ellies 23 year old host brother AKA host parent who allows us to go anywhere because her host parents don't speak English, so I guess he's our translator, too) was waiting for us, and we were gushing "Thanks so much Sandeep! The colour on your face looks great! Can we play Holi with you next time???" And he blushed bright red and it was so funny. We're mean Americans.
Only 7 more days until North Trip woot woot!

<3>

It's Been A Long Time...

2008-03-26T04:05:00.003-04:00

But I'm back. Here's the obstacles I have overcome:

3 days in Jaipur sans WiFi.
1 day in Pune when the internet was turned off.
1 monster virus that I had to get rid of myself (time wasted: 3 hours. Go, girly computer geeks!)

So Jaipur was lovely. The architecture was very beautiful, the colours were vibrant, and the people were nice. We left the house at 12:30 am on Friday, arrived at the airport in Mumbai by around 3:00am, boarded the plane at 6:00am, found out that Papa had used his frequent flyer miles to put Urvi and I in first class (leg room, personal tv screens, personalized meals, and refreshing mint towels... who could ask for more?) and then we arrived in Jaipur at about 8:00am. The hotel was a 5 star, and we all fell asleep and then woke up at 2:00pm. Then, we went sightseeing at this astronomical observatory, then we went to Maharaja's palace and museum, where we got to see the world's largest silver vessel, the worlds oldest leather bag, and other Guiness items. The best part was meeting the professional artists who painted beautiful miniature paintings with a single haired squirrel brush. Because the colours are natural rock colours, they never fade.
This day was the Muslim celebration of some Eid, and it was the day when Mohammad was born. The moon was full. It was serene.
In the evening, we went shopping and Urvi found about 3-4 kurtis. Then we had dinner on the top floor of the hotel, and Urvi and I retired to our room and watched fashion tv and HBO until one of us got up at 3am and shut the darn thing off. Oh, and we talked about girly things lol so now I feel really close to my host sister.
On Saturday, we had breakfast complimentary of the hotel, and then I went to take pictures of the Holi celebrations taking place on the lawn. All these crazy rich foreigner in suits were throwing coloured powder at everyone, and the hotel conceirge was even getting in on the act. Just as I was about to click a snap, one of the hotel dudes comes up to me and smears pink powder all down my face. What could I do but drop my bag and join in? So me and this kid basically had a war, but then he called truce, but then he dumped two handfuls on my head! So I whipped his butt. Heh heh. I won.
That day was Chill Day. We went to McD's for lunch, and then took a walk in the evening.
Sunday was Easter, and I was happy (hey, a three-holiday vacation!) Unfortunately, I didn't get to go to church, but I did bring my Bible with me. We went sightseeing at a fort and an old palace, but it was just too hot. Then we did a little shopping in the evening and I got a deep blue and gold kurti and a blue scarf courtesy of Mama. Urvi got about 3 more kurtis (she must be obsessed lol).
When I came back, I had no money on my phone. Monday was pretty much boring. I did go see race with Mama and Urvi.. that was kind of fun. Unfortunately, the movie was typical Bollywood and you could predict everything, even the excessive plot twists. But yesterday I went to go hang out with Asif, Navneet, and Giri but they are very busy studying for their exams. They had played Holi with Heather, Mallory, Jennifer, and Ellie and the walls are still pink!
I finally scrubbed all of the pink off of my forehead, but it's still in places where the sun doesn't shine. Ugh.
Today, I woke up at 11:00am and updated. I think Ellie and Heather are coming over after they have lunch, but my pool is green so there will be no swimming.
North Tour is in 11 days! But I'm not going to withdraw my spending money until I"m in the north. Apparently, there are a lot of pickpocketers at the train stations.
Okay, I hope this was long enough.
<3 Lauren
BTW, ladoo (it's a sweet that's light brown and shaped in a ball, and it tastes like sugary graham crackers with a dash of aniseed and peanut butter) is God's gift to India.

The world's largest silver vessel. It was used when a Maharaja went to Europe, and insisted on bathing in Ganges water every day, so he had a couple of these babies trucked over by boat.

Urvi and I in front of the Maharaja's palace. If the quater flag is raised, he's home. He was home.

Even the elephant butts were coloured beautifully.

This is what Holi does to a girl.

Best 30 Rupees Ever Spent!

2008-03-19T05:40:00.003-04:00

Today I woke up at 11:00am and went over to Heather's house to meet her and Ellie. We went to McD's for lunch, lamented over how the tray-covering was telling us how to be healthy (in McDonald's? The stupid thing was covered in grease! And Tip #1 was laugh often...) Right now, we are in Urvi's room, enjoying the A/c and taking advantage of my family's wireless.
But the best 30 rupees ever spent was when we found a disc containing the music of about 20 Bollywood movies for only 30 rupees. And guess what? All the tracks work properly!
I will be in Jaipur until the 24th, and we will be staying in hotel rooms. That's right, room(S). Urvi and I get one, and Mama and Papa get the other. Haha.
Well, this is really short so H can use the comp because she barely gets time to. Take care,
<3 Lauren

Jaipur. x2.

2008-03-15T10:46:00.002-04:00

Act1,Scene1
Lauren is sitting in Urvi's room on her computer, minding her own business. She hears Mama calls her name. She answers the call, but no response. She goes back to typing. Finishing three minutes later, she pack up her stuff and leaves to go downstairs. This time, Papa calls her. She enters her host parent's room. What happens next leaves her head spinning.
Mama: Oh, there you are. I called you a couple minutes ago.
Papa: But I told her that you were probably just busy finishing something up. Lauren, we have to talk to you about something.
Lauren gets really nervous and tries to think of something wrong that she has done. Coming up with no plausible answer for this magnitude, she asks
Lauren: So what's up?
Papa: We're leaving for Jaipur on the 20th.
Lauren: That's cool.
She is thinking to herself: "So let me guess, you want to make sure that I don't trash the house or have massive amounts of friends over while you are gone, right?"
Papa: The four of us will be driving to Bombay on midnight of the 20th, and we will take a plane to Jaipur and return on the 23rd in the evening.
Lauren: Sweet.
"Hey, I'm coming, too!"

So yeah, I'm going to be going on my first ever trip with my host family. What really sucks though is that I have to miss Holi in Pune (but Jaipur's Holi is apparently the 3rd largest party in the world, according to Heater) and Easter. This sucks, because I was looking forward to going with all my friends to church for the FIRST TIME SINCE I"VE BEEN IN PUNE!
Maybe there's churches in Jaipur???
Today, we turned in money for the north trip. The new and improved price is now Rs 35,000 AKA $910. So, mumsy and dad.. I kind of need more cash. Sorry.
Other than that, tonight we are going out to dinner, and I have to leave very soon.
Love y'all!
<3 Lauren

Oh. My. Gosh.

2008-03-09T10:16:00.003-04:00

Well, it's Sunday again.
Papa's mother is staying here at the house for three (now two) days. She's really fun to talk to, but some of her stories are a bit insane. For instance, she was telling me about how Muslims were going to take over the world, but then this Brahman baby would be born and then he would kill all the Muslims and peace would be restored on Earth. Kinda scary, huh? I guess everyone has their own freedom when it comes to things you choose to believe...
I left the house early to do some shopping at Central Mall (yes, it's payday!) I still need to get a few things:

Firefighting penpal for dad
Salwaar Kameeze for Shelby
India Cricket jersey for dad
SOMETHING for mumsy (she hasn't really given me an idea, other than "rocks")
Little trinkets for my friends.

All of these but 1 and 3 can be bought on my North Tour, which I am extremely excited for. But I realized something very, very creepy today: I have exactly 8 weeks (that's 56 days) until I leave for Michigan. I have exactly 2 weeks on the North Tour, so that leaves exactly 6 weeks left of living in Pune AKA city. But I really do miss how clean the country is.
Basically, I'm feeding off of info from mumsy and Beaner, and I want them to call me every second. I have dreams about the US EVERY NIGHT (but they mostly involve being trapped in an endless, carnival-type maze somewhere between WalMart and Chuck-E-Cheese.) SO I guess they're nightmares, not really dreams.
I don't want to leave.I do want to leave.
BADBADBAD.
I will definitely be coming back to Pune within the next 4 years. My work here isn't done.
Other than that, Ellie, Heater, Mallory, and Jenn got back from Mahableshwar today, I hung out with my college friends, and I'm not quite sure what's in store for tomorrow. Until next time,

signing off,

<3>

North Tour Schedule

2008-03-04T09:56:00.002-05:00

7th of April: Pune to Jodhpur (The Blue City)
Leave from Pune for Mumbai and board the train to Jodhpur.
8th of April: Jodhpur
Arrival in Jodhpur. Arrival and transfer to hotel. Local sightseeing. Places like Meherangarh Fort, Umad Bhavan Palace. Overnight in Jodhpur.
9th of April: Jodhpur
At Jodhpur. Local sightseeing. Places like Jaswant Thada, Clock Tower, and COLOURFUL MARKETS! Overnight in Jodhpur.
10th of April: Jodhpur to Jaisalmer (The Gold City)
Leave from Jodhpur for Jaisalmer by train. After arriving in Jaisalmer, go for local sightseeing. Havelis like Patwon-ki-haveli, sakim singh-ki-haveli, etc. and Gadi Sagar Lake. Overnight in hotel in Jaisalmer.
11th of April: Jaisalmer
Local sightseeing. We will go to Sam Sand Dunes, Fossil National Park near Pakistan Border, Camel Safaris and watch local folk dances. Overnight stay in Jaisalmer.
12th of April: Jaisalmer
Morning free for SHOPPING! Post-lunch, leave for Jaipur. Overnight on train.
13th of April: Jaipur
Arrival in Jaipur. Transfer to the hotel and local sightseeing. P:laces like Hawa Hahal, Jaigarh Fort, and Nahargarh. Overnight in Jaipur.
14th of April: Jaipur
At Jaipur. Visit Amber Fort on elephant back in the morning and in the evening, visit COLOURFUL BAZAARS and enjoy SHOPPING of ethnic silver jewelry, handicrafts, Mojaris, etc. Overnight in Jaipur.
15th of April: Agra
Leave for Agra by road. Enroute visit. Fatehpur Sikhri. Overnight in Agra.
16th of April: Agra
In Agra. Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Akbar's Mausoleum. Leave for Delhi by road. OVernight at Delhi.
17th of April: Delhi
Local sightseeing including India Gate, Red Fort or Lal Quila, Lotus Temple, Jama Masjid, etc. Also drive past the Rashtrapathi Bhawan and Government Secretariat buildings. Overnight in Delhi.
18th of April: Rishikesh
Leave for Rishikesh. Visit Haridwar, Har-ki-pauri, Chamunda Devi Temple by ropoeway entroute. Evening at leisure on the sand bars of the Ganga. OVernight at Rishikesh.
19th of April: Rishikesh
Spend the whole day rafting on the Ganga (Ganges). Evening at Lakshman Jhula and attend the puja of the holy Ganga in the evening. Overnight at Rishikesh.
20th of April: Rishikesh
Morning departure for white water rafting on the Ganga. Arrival at the campsite for lunch. Evening at leisure, campfire/barbeque! Overnight at Rishikesh.
21st of April: Delhi to Pune
Early morning departure for Delhi and board the train to Pune.
22nd of April: Pune
Arrival in Pune.

That's all, folks.
Btw, Heather took almost all of those pictures in the last blog entry (again). Thanks, Heaterpati.
<3 Lauren

South Trip, Part the Second

2008-03-01T12:33:00.003-05:00

4-2-08
After our train arrived 20 minutes late, we boarded and David and I found two strange, sleepy men in our bunks. Thankfully, they didn't give us any problems, and I found myself settle down for shut-eye in no time.
We arrived in Kanyakumari yesterday morning, and a sight of pure beauty was beheld: an air-conditioned bus. I swear, most of us almost cried because we didn't know such a thing existed in India. And guess what? It's coming all the way to Cochin with us!!!
We were greeted at the hotel by forehead paint and seashell garlands. THey are really quite extravagant, and prove to be excellent souveneir material. Pre-shower, we broke fast. Post-shower, we went to the Rock Memorials, which were very crowded, and we took pictures with our country flags while trying to ward off Eager Indian Amature Photographers (EIAPs).
In the evening, I swam and had dinner (this hotel seems to have an obsessive fixation with custard,) then went up to the roof with Josh, David, Heater, and Ellie. The view was very pretty, except we kept running over cords and air-conditioners... not the safest thing to do in the dark.
Today, we were blessed with the grace of sleeping in until 9:30 and breaking fast at 10:00. Nightly total: 11.5 soothing, lovely hours of non-stop sleep!
We went to the coolest temple I have been to, ever. It has such insane features, like pillars that make musical sounds, priestly drummer dudes, and just about every colourful idol you could think of, including a monkey (Hanuman) that has water coming out of its behind, and you are supposed to walk through it to recieve the blessing. It's so odd. Oh, and the best thing is, this temple was nicknamed the Topless Temple (please, read on...) because every man had to take off his shirt before entering. For once, it was Indian women staring at our exchanger boys instead of creepy Indian dudes staring at the girls.
After that, we saw Gandhi Memorial. It as okay, but pretty much boring. After swimming again, I fell asleep. We'll wake up next morning and leave for Kovalum Beach... hello paradise!
6-2-08
Yesterday, we got at the resort in the morning via AIR-CONDITIONED BUS AKA HEAVEN! The resort is paradise + one thousand steps. Lugging bags up and down is the only detour from complete relaxation. It's modeled like and ashram or a commune or something, and our room is very earthy, complete with front porch, lawn, stone interior, and incense sticks. The restaurant is just outside. There's a gorgeous view of the ocean, and everyone is going to climb the rocks to watch the sunset tonight.
Basically, all day I did nothing but play in the waves, eat Keralan food off of banana leaves, burn a bit, and get a full-body Ayervedic massage. Let me describe this massage: while the exchangers were separated into our bamboo-walled rooms, we were calling to each other "Are we supposed to take all of our clothes off?" Apparently, the answer was yes, but the massage people were professional and the massage was very relaxing.
Today, we woke up early, had a compete breakfast, and then went to Trivandrum to a palace museum, where the tour guide actually spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.
We then went to lunch and I had a club sandwich and banana pancakes, which were more like banana crepes. But there were INCREDIBLE. When I came back, I got into the waves ASAP and burned a bit more (sorry mum.)
Now after banana pancakes round two avec Heater and phone calls (round one after recharge), I am chilliung in my room with Eleanor, Heater, and Josh and Anna and Laura are taking a shower together in our bathroom while singing "Yellow Submarine" in German. There's the exchangers for ya...
9-2-08
Well, I relaxed at the resort, got sunburned, went out to eat in the afternoon, went to bed, had breakfast the next morning. Then we got on our lovely AC bus and rode 3 hours to get to Cochin. Our hotel is like a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom flat. Yesterday, we went shopping, went to Jew Street (I stayed sick on the bus for that... I swear it's the heat), and then saw a Katakali dance in the evening.
Today, we saw elephants washed, diamonds cut, Chinese fishing nets, and good shopping. I made a quick-list of all the cities we went to:
Ooty:-Creepy undercurrents.-Predominently Muslim/Hindu.-Grows tea, kind of displaced from civilization.-Cold because it's in the mountains.-People generally keep to themselves.-Rural, no WIFI, traditional dress, some Western -25 years.
Kanyakumari:-Huge presence of Maoist/Communist groups.-Predominantly Hindu.-Coastal community, tries to be like Goa.-People are still curious of foreigners.
Kovalum Beach:-Foreigners everywhere, Indians see them as money-machines.-Even larger Maoist/Communist presence.-Very modern, very humid.-Widespread Christianity.
Cochin:-Bible Belt, plus large amounts of Jews.-Very touristy, tourists are viewed as profit-givers.-People are used to tourists.-Very humid, somewhat modernized.
Basically, I'm pretty much homesick for Pune. I'll sum this darn thing up later.
11-2-08
Bus ride. Yay. Dirty train ride. Ew. Cold chicken n' rice, breakfast lunch dinner. Sick. Arrive dirty near Lonavala. Yeh? Bus ride. Yay windows open nice breeze hey wait im the second to get off on Baner road, it's late, shower, fill mama and papa in, eat, bed. Back to daily routine.
Okay, I'll post info on the north trip tomorrow evening. Thanks for waiting.
Love,
लौरेन

The ceiling in a palace of the Maharajas.. each ceiling was carved in a different way.

Me, Ellie, and Heather re-enacting a Rajastani Dance scene from Rang De Basanti. Eyeliner=mine.

A traditional Katakali dancer with the creepy staring drummer dude in the background.

The entry to the Maharaja's Palace.

Washing of the elephants! Okay, so they helped themselves some.

All of us posing with flags in front of the Rock Memorials.

Elephant washing, part the second.

The Americans posing with our mini-American flag.

Chinese fishing nets.

The topless temple (the white thing in the background is painted with crushed sea shells and took over 100 years to create.)

Thought of the Day:

2008-02-26T10:14:00.001-05:00

You know your grammy's cool when she comments on your blog and uses the acronym "LOL" in her post.
I have finished all of my online homework, thus, I am "caught up."
Unfortunately, my Midterm is due on Friday.
Thus, I will post the second half of my south trip (though late) on Saturday or Sunday and I will post all of the information on my north trip on Sunday or Monday.
Thank you for your patience.
<3 Lauren

helllllllp. burble

2008-02-23T10:45:00.000-05:00

swamped
with
homework.
must
not
update.

must
finish
online
class.

*gasp*

need
more
time.

*burble*

<3
Lauren

Riots, Rumors, and Rotary

2008-02-15T11:04:00.013-05:00

"Thanks to Heater, the Camera Queen, for her generous picture taking abilities. Most of the pictures featured here are hers."
The riots are calmed down quite a bit since the main leader has been arrested, but that hasn't stopped the mass exodus of north Indians back to their homeland. ये किया है? मुजे मालूम नही। (that's probably badly spelled..) By the way, I have almost completed learning the Hindi alphabet. I'm quite proud of myself.
The weird, non-Westernization activists have deemed Valentine's Day as "Traditional Day". Let's just say that didn't really fly with the youth of Pune, and chocolates, cards, and roses were abundant and price-hikes.
I have also decided that my South Tour is just too much to fit into one post, so I will break it up a bit. Dun dun dun daaaa! Now presenting: Part ONE!
24-1-08 Spent all last night cleaning my room and ironing/folding my mountain of laundry. I burned spots in my salwaar kameeze. Got out of bed at 8:15, showered, packed, and then ran into Mama. It was quite the awkward goodbye. Navneet helped me carry my luggage from the house to the rikshaw, and the rikshaw to Heather's. The lift was broken, so I lugged the lovely 20kgs up the stairs, only to realize I would descend in 5 minutes, max. Heather's host mommy took us to the train station, where I soon found out that there are beggars on the trains, in the station, and on the tracks. Oh, and guess where all the waste goes from the train cars? That's right; the tracks are oh-so-shiny...On the train, we played Uno, and I won the first round. Whoever wrapped a leather band around their suitcase should be congratulated, as it served as a neat little deck-holder for the spare cards. This first train is non-AC, second class. Second class in India = unspeakable in US. Lets just say the bunks were sticky and the blankets were musty. I wanted to choke the conductor with the dirt underneath my fingernails by the time we arrived in Hyderabad. Pretty mental image, huh?
26-1-08 We completed our dance yesterday, and it was perfect. Not a single person messed up. Unfortunately, most of the Rotarians had left the conference hall, so nly around 150 were watching us. I took 3 hours to get ready, and then waited around in the dressing room for another 2. I was really impressed by the dressing room... it had real curtains and lights surrounding the mirrors, just like the private ones in those classic black-and-white films.After the dance, we went to a dinner outside in Ramoji Film City (where the entire conference takes place). There was grass! It was the first time I'd seen grass in about six months! Eleanor, David, and I kicked off our shoes and ran around in the grass barefoot. I never thought I would consider such a thing beautiful, but India is doing wonders for the things I took for granted. The next day, we took a tour of Ramoji Film City. We rode rides and drove bumper cars, and th whole day I felt like a child in an Indianized, multi-cultural, Disney-World knockoff. A favourite among the exchangers was what we dubbed the "Crotch-Buster," a caged bus that spun in 360 degrees, but tended to slow down at the top, so guess what part of your body all of the weight was thrust upon? There were also themed areas of the park, such as The Wild, Wild West and Bazaars. We went to the Golconda Fort in Hyderabad. It's lovely. I couldn't get enough of the Islamic architecture. There was a sound and lights show there on the history of Hyderabad. It was okay, sans some over-talkative exchangers. In the evening, we got to the hotel, which was much, much lovelier than the Shantidoot. Our room became known as the Icebox, because we kept the temperature at a solid 7 degrees Celsius; so cold that when you put your hand to the door, you could feel a chill.
27-1-08 Hyderabad is equal parts Islamic and Hindu, which is incredibly refreshing when compared to Pune's mono-religion environment. I have even spotted a church or two. This is the first place in India where I have felt that Hindus and Muslims coexist as a peaceful majority, though I am fully aware that the minority is always lurking somewhere. The city is much less westernized than Pune, and it has a larger elderly population (as it isn't a college city.) Everyone's fashion sense seems to be stuck somewhere mid-80s, and there are very few cinemas and computer cafes. Regardless, mosques and temples are abundant. The state language seems to be Telugu, which basically looks like a mix of Hindi, Arabic, Mario World, and crack cocaine. It's really the creepiest script I have ever come across. People in Andra Pradesh (this state) don't really like speaking Hindi. I've even been told that you will be ignored here if you ask questions in Hindi, and the residents will insist on speaking Telugu, even if you don't understand. Also, Telugu television shows are so risque! They are more mellowdramatic than Marathi shows, feature less clothing than Hindi shows, and deal with more sexual topics than American shows! And I'm talking about the music videos as well. We went to the world's largest private museum owned by a single man, Sau Jung III. There were pictures of him everywhere... I suppose he was a bit narcissistic. Ellie and I went to the canteen and snacked on junk food, then we finally left the museum and some strange Indian guy ran his hands through Josh's hair (because he's black? Maybe the guy wanted to know what a black guy's hair felt like?) Anyway, we were all thoroughly freaked out after that. After, we went to a car museum that had hand-made, fully-operable creations including the Soccer Ball Car, the 100kph Dune Buggy, the Suitcase Car, and the ever-popular Condom Car (a tribute to World AIDS Day.) We got to meet the artist who was responsible for creating each of the vehicles, and he showed us his new Elephant Car creation, complete with remote-controlled trunk. It was rather... surreal. The highlight of the day was SNOW WORLD!!! We got snow (which was rather like an icebox room with icy slush and ice flakes as opposed to snowflakes.) Even though the snow was shaved ice, we still had tons of fun. I got snow shoved down my shirt, up my nose, an din my ears by David and Josh. But fear not, they had their fair share of frozen body parts as well. We eventually made it to the laser light show, which happened to be at the place that was bombed in August in Hyderabad. There were three sections of security to get through, including a place where you had to take a picture with your camera to prove that it wasn't just a hollow shell containing explosives. The laser show was okay, but I was exhausted. Upon reaching the hotel, we had dinner and I made a couple phone calls. Dinner wasn't filling enough, so David, Ellie, Heather, and I ordered pizza. I went to bed with a stuffed stomach and a killer headache.
30-1-08 We took a long train ride through the night to Bangalore, completed a round of brush-and-flush, then took a 3-hour bus ride to Mysore. Bangalore (or the tiny bit I saw of it while half-asleep) is filled with lots of exhaust and less people than the other cities. It's dirty. That's about all. Mysore is farmland, permeated by Catholicism. The South is the Bible Belt of India, as is the case in the United States. On the first day, we visited the Palace of Mysore, which was quite possible the most exquisite piece of architecture I have ever encountered. The entire thing was built in the early 1900s for only USD$150,000. Today, a single painting found in the palace wouldn't even be sold for that amount. I became very ill will a bad combo of asthma, allergies, and a headache, so I got special permission to go back tot he hotel and stay there for the evening. The rest of the exchangers went to some gardens (apparently there was a 7 ft. tall man there that was charging Rs10 per picture.) Today I was 80% better, and I woke up at 6:45 to get a shower then have breakfast. We went to a bird/crocodile sanctuary, and we rode around in canoes. Then we went to the Mysore Zoo. It was alright, but after witnessing a bunch of shoeless Indians running sticks around the bars of the tiny white tiger cell, Heather, Ellie, and I were a bit disgusted and hot, so we sat at the drink stand outside of the gorilla exhibit. The most exciting part of the zoo was when I yelled "Look! A baby giraffe and its mom!" Suddenly, the "mom" proceeded to mount the "baby". The Germans got a kick of of the indecent exposure a-la-giraffe. We went to a temple where I got my second prayer string tied on my right wrist. It was Ellie's first. Cost? Rs5 each. Kind of sad when you have to pay for a prayer :( We visited a huge stone bull, which was, well... a huge stone bull. 'Nuff said. We took a sleepy bus ride back to the hotel, where we had dinner and the rest of the night to ourselves. The end.
2-2-08 We ended up taking a bus to Ooty from Mysore, and soon discovered just how high up in the mountains Ooty is. The hotel had a lovely view, and we were on the third floor, but hte whole place had a really creepy tinge to it. We went to the Tea Factory, and I bough to packages of tea for Asif's (the tea connoiseur) birthday present. Ooty, though small, is quite cold and thus quite pleasant. Unfotunately, the hotel food is quite the opposite. After lunch, we visited the wax museum, which was a trashy tourist-trap version of Madame Tussaud's. We shopped a little that evening, and I bought some cedarwood oil and a navy blue dupatta. I was looking around for some sandalwood oil, so I figured that cedarwood was the next best thing. It smells like a man! I don't even know how I will be able to oil my hair with it without smelling like the man from the Gillette commercials... The next day we woke up early and went to a botanical garden. This was followed by a thread garden (the entrie place was made of thread flowers, see the pictures below), and capped off by a bit of mountain sight-seeing. At night, Heather, Ellie, and I danced be-turbaned into Mallory's room to the tune of "Rang de Basante". Oh, and one of the girls got violently sick and puked in OUR bathroom. But that's okay; we're getting used to our bathroom being the stinky one (ask Heather about this...) The girl stayed sick into the morning as well, and we left her to rest at the hotel while we took an hour to drive to a 20 minute boat ride that cost Rs.400 per boat. It was okay, but much to expensive. We ended up going to the Turkish Market, where I bought a wooden box for Shelby, another dupatta (scarf craze!!!), and some chocolate for myself. We did some sightseeing in the hills today and we saw another tea plantation yesterday. Now I'm at the train station waiting for the toy train that will take us to a bus that will take us to another train station that will take us to another train that will go through the night and take us to Kanyakumari.
(Pictures: in NO particular order...)

In the mountains of Ooty with Mallory and Peekay.

Me with my sister's gnomie!

A building in the Ramoji Film City.

Showing off our dirty dancing feet.

All the kathak dancers unite!

On a spiral staircase in the mountains of Ooty.

Self explanatory... hehe...

Heather and I conquer India!

The Ramoji Tower in the Film City.

Our trio at the Rotary conference.

Thread flowers (see below pics for more info.)

Hangin' off the train.

Ah, the joy of finding those quirky Indian spelling errors...

My incredibly amazing Arabic Sprite can (complete with pull-tab!)

Ellie and Heather found amusement in taking nocturnal photographs.

Goofing off with Heater at the dance programme.

Thread flowers.. each is completely handmade from only thread and cloth.

Ellie and I showing off our awesome red boots at Snow World

The ever-beautiful Charminar in Hyderabad.

Cultural coctails of Hyderabad.

Posing with the Elephant Car.

Yet another self-explanatory picture...

Gandhi a-la-wax.

Freezing next to Johnny outside Ooty's tea factory.

The "mommy" giraffe.

A bird in the bird-n-croc sanctuary.

The weird, druggy language of Tamil(?)

A Massive Amount of Data

2008-02-12T09:34:00.000-05:00

I'm baaaaack!
I understand you all are going through withdrawls due to my abscence, but you will have to wait a little longer due to the massive amount of data and pictures I intend on posting. So, I promise you will have the complete story by the end of the week.
Right now, I'm under house arrest due to a curfew installed in Pune. There were riots pretty much all around town at one time or another today. It's all political, and I can't post much on them until I know the facts.
So, I will update soon with everything, and I still need to take time out to work on my college classes, so that's why it will be at the end of this week.
I miss you all,
-Lauren

Just A Quick One...

2008-01-24T00:10:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone.. it's the day I leave (obviously) so you won't hear from me for three weeks (obviously). So I just want y'all to know that everything is great, all of my bags are packed, Navneet came over to help get my stuff to the train station because Mama and Papa are gone, and Heather's mom is taking me to the station. So it's all good.
I took pictures of Pune yesterday, but unfortunately, I don't have time to post them. They will be tacked onto this post when I get back, I promise.
Take care, love you all, looking forward to going on the tour but looking forward to being back as well.
<3 Lauren

The Second-to-Last Post Before I Go!

2008-01-19T11:42:00.000-05:00

I am listening to this amazing song called Shimmy, Shimmy, Quarter-Turn by Hellogoodbye. It's very sweet.
TODAY WAS WONDERFUL!
I got up early and went to hang out with Asif... I am learning to read and write the Hindi alphabet AKA Devangari script. And then I went to my dance classes at 2:00 (I fell asleep in the rikshaw on the way there.. for some reason I only fall asleep in the rikshaws to dance... maybe in preparation of "exerting" myself?) and then I took a total of three hours getting ready for hour dance recital for the Rotarians. I got pancake-makeup for stage-makeup, a really pretty *but orange... ew?* skirt, top, and dupatta, along with earrings, a necklace, and bracelets, a tikka (the dangly forehead thing) and a bindi. Then, they did my hair. Unfortunately, it's India, thus, they don't have any blonde hairpieces. So I got a black pin-curl hair net tacked onto my lovely golden tresses lol. It was quite tacky, but hey (in the words of Eleanor) "it's a fashion statement! a blatant fashion statement!" I got home at around 8:30, and I was freaking out because I thought I was late, but it turns out that the family isn't going out to dinner because Urvi is getting home late. So I get a bunch of extra time to upload the PICTURES that I took today. Btw, I got a phone call from mum and dad, and we talked for 40 minutes but it seemed like 15.
I love Pune. I have so many friends here, I am finally used to my routine, and I'm very happy with the city and the stuff there is to do. Even if it's not the US, it still has some qualities and aspects that the US will likely never have. It's just the aura... I don't know.
Navneet came back from Uttar Pradesh today. I was so happy. He even took the rikshaw back home with me on the way from dance, because it was dark and I don't like riding rikshaws alone at night. Anyway, I am hanging out with him and Asif tomorrow and we will probably go to dinner in the evening to celebrate Navneet's return.
I leave for my South Tour on the 24th, in case you didn't read that in the last, what, seven entries? Lol and I will be back on February 11th. Then I go on my North Tour in March.
Okay, well enjoy the pictures and I will post once more before I leave :)
<3>Edit: the internet is not allowing me to upload photos? what is THIS???? THey will be up tomorrow, as soon as I get online. I promise and I'm so sorry! :(

Edit: Here we go!

Ellie and I goofing off pre-hair/pre-makeup.

The lovely "punkin'" dress.

Ellie, Heater AKA Heather, and Pia chilling on the couch.

Yi-xia getting her hair done.

The ugly black hairnet :S

Ellie looking loverly.

Heater holding a UFO... lipstick?

So Yi-xia pretty much looked like she was made for her outfit.

My goofy dark makeup!

Suddenly I See...

2008-01-14T10:35:00.000-05:00

This week has been very strange.
1. I saw a dead puppy in the middle of the road leading to my society. It's head had been hit by a car and a crow was participating in the "Circle of Life" with it.
2. I found out my friend Stephanie is engaged to this boy named Jeremy (he went with us to Africa) and they are getting married on August 19th.
3. My two close Indian friends, Navneet and Giri, went to Uttar Pradesh. Navneet is gone for 10 days, Giri is gone for a month. This sucks.
4. I got in a tennis accident (trying to dive for a far-served ball) and split open my right elbow very badly. It's now healing.
5. Dance classes have been upped from 3x a week to every day. The woman is trying to kill us. "We must out-dance them all at conference!!!"
6. I kind of wish that I could just take all of my exchange student and Indian friends back to Michigan with me when I go home.
7. I am definitely looking forward to my South Tour, which starts on the 24th.
8. I watched Rang De Basanti (Colour of Patriotism) at Heather's house today. It's about a British girl who comes to India to investigate her past, and the friends she makes there. It's very true-to-life.. especially her initial Indian experiences.
9. I went to Crosswords and bought three books today: Vogue, Enter Through Back Door Only: Defining the Attributes of Indian-English, and A Beginner's Guide to Arabic.
10. I have grown very fond of Indian food. I must get the recipes in English measurements.
Mama and Papa have left to bring Urvi back to college, so I have the whole house to myself. I was going to buy Duracell batteries from Venus today, but then I realized that they had a pink bunny on them. Why is this a problem? Well, first of all, DURACELL ISN'T ADVERTISED BY A PINK BUNNY... That's energizer. So the batteries are obviously fakes (which is what has been my problem since the beginning... I've bought a ton of batteries, but none of them work in my camera because they are fake, fake, FAKE!)
I hope my package gets here soon.
Love y'all,
<3 Lauren

G to the REAT News!

2008-01-09T10:41:00.000-05:00

So, I have great news.
I got my paper from Symbi that confirms I have attended the first semester of classes regularly, and have passed my midterms and exams. Also, since I am going to be gone from school for a month and a half in Jan-March, they don't really want me to attend the second semester. Of course, I will still show up, but I don't have to take second semester midterms/exams as I will be on my trips. But the point is, I got first semester credit for all seven of my classes, which means 3.5 credits. Since I only needed 3 credits to graduate, I am OFFICIALLY GRADUATED!
Second good news is our dance costumes for the Hyderabad presentation were fitted today. The fabric is sari material, but we will be getting skirts, camis, and dupattas made from them.
Third good news is a have a huge load of spending money for my south trip (thanks mum and dad!)
Fourth good news is I used up all my of Christmas money, and in the process, I shopped for the FIRST TIME WITHOUT LOOKING AT PRICE TAGS. I got these really cool black leather boots and some slim jeans from Pepe, and a grey-blue henley and a black jacket. I was so happy. Price? RS 4,500. I'm not telling you that in dollars lol.
Fifth good news is that our South Trip date is all set for the 24th, our dance is set, and I am enjoying it.
Yeah.
Things are pretty good. Please pray that I get to come home on the 5th of May. Rotary might want me here longer, but I NEED to be home my 10th May latest.
Love y'all... pictures will be up as soon as I find Indian batteries that actually work in my camera.. the ones that I bought (both times) DO NOT WORK.
<3 Lauren
OH YEAH AND MY WEST TRIP ONCE I GET BACK TO THE US WILL ROCK! HECK YES, MUMSY, BEANER, AND E-DIZZLE!

My Bad

2008-01-07T10:33:00.000-05:00

So, I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in around a week. But seriously, things have been so boring. I don't even really know what to put down. I went to dance classes today, and the dance is coming along nicely. Then I went over to Navneet's house and hung out until around 8:00 and then I went home. Great life, huh?
Not gonna lie, I'm really excited to start my online college classes. And then we have our South Tour on the 25th, so that will be nice.
I have to go to Symbiosis tomorrow with Heather and get my papers that say I completed the first term.
The weirdest thing happened today though... I was walking out of my society and then all of a sudden, I saw this cat writhing on the ground in a weird, spinny kind of motion. At first, I thought it was just mentally handicapped. But then I saw a puddle of water beneath it, so I thought maybe it was just upset that it got sprayed by a forceful hose or something. As I got closer, I realized that the water was actually blood, and the whole left side of the cat's face was torn off. It was writhing in pain, but I guess part of it's brain was gone, so it wasn't making any noise, just spinning and spinning and getting the ground all bloody.
What made the scenario even worse, though, was that I really liked this cat. I could look out my window in the mornings and see it hunting for mice, and find it sunbathing as I walked down the path at noon. It was cute and white with splotches of brown.
Now it's just a stain on the cement. I don't want to sound morbid or anything, but that was the most eventful part of my day :(
We got our pocket money on Sunday, and a full itinerary of the South Tour, which i will be posting on my next post. I'm really tired. And bored. Yeah.
Sorry this was so pointless, but I felt the compulsion to update.
<3 Lauren

Wonderful New Years!

2008-01-01T10:17:00.000-05:00

(I figured I'd put something a little more creative than "Happy New Years!")

On Thursday, I bought a dress from this shop called Babe on MG Road. It's black, fits great, and has an asymmetrical hemline. The only problem way, the cut went literally below my chest. To fix this, I spent two nights hacking apart my black binkini top, sewing it on the inside, and stitching sequinces on it to glam it up a bit. Result? A new year's dress that I was both proud of and happy with. I'll add close-ups of my DIY dress in the next entry or so.
Anyway, yesterday I decided to spend New Years with a mix of my Indian friends and exchange students. Unfortunately, my Indian friends aren't apt on detailed planning, so it was around 6:00pm, and we had no passes for any clubs. Navneet got on his bike and checked out Scream, but it was sold out. He then went to Area 51, but the passes there were 9,000RS ($225) apiece. Finally, he found someone to give him passes to this club called the Palazzo, at only 3,000RS apiece.
Nikhil and Giri took me to Central to get some shoes to go with my dress. I have this amazing ability to shop like a man, ie. go in, find it, try it, buy it (in under a half-hour). While I had to shove them aside in order to be able to pay with my own money, they insisted that they pay for my pass to the club. It's not even funny... I was literally yelling at them that it was way to much for them to cover, but my shouts fell upon deaf ears.
At 8:00, I was asked to call up my female friends so we could have more people for couple entry, which is slightly cheaper. As I scrolled through my phonebook, here were the results:

Anna- Going to a friend's farmhouse to celebrate.

Chelsea- In Canada.

Chelsea's Mom- Too old.

Chloe- In Nagpur.

Councellor Pushpa- Way too old.

Deepa- See Councellor Pushpa.

Eleanor- At Mallory's.

Heather- In Nagpur.

Heather's Mom- See Chelsea's Mom.

Jen- At Mallory's.

Laura- See Anna.

Mama- See Chelsea's Mom.

Marilia- In Goa.

Munmun- Party hopping with friends.

Pauline- I don't get along with her at all.

Ritika- With Urvi.

Rosie- In Nashik.

Stephanie- Won't pick up her phone.

Urvi- At Scream with her friends.

Valentine- In Aurangabad.

Vinaya- Not allowed out past 9pm.

Yixia- See Anna.

As you can see, I didn't quite get my female friends to come with, so guess who had to work her butt off dancing with not one, not two, but THREE guys lol. No, it was really a lot of fun, and I learned the Indian way of dance. But it was so great, because before the party, when I was hanging out with Navneet and all, they begged me to show them "the American way of dance." If you know my tendencies to carry out self-initiated projects at WalMart, you would know that this plea reminded me a lot of my Sophomore days when I would go with my friends, videorecorder in hand, begging strangers (in a fake Turkish accent) to teach me the American way of dance! Yes, I was a loser.
Anyway, we got our passes and got to the club. Everything was on the house, so we had chicken and paneer for starters and I got this goofy-looking blue mocktail (tasted like pineapple and sprite) and we danced! I love dancing, but the DJ wasn't that amazing.. he didn't seem to know the concept of a fade-out. Also, he played Who Let the Dogs Out? Can you say "middle school?"
Around 1:30/2:00, the police came, which surprised me greatly. I had read in the papers the night before that all clubs would be allowed to stay open until 5am due to the new year. I guess these police didn't get the memo. They came with funny batons that looked like ruler sticks, and they yelled "Chalo! Chalo! Everyone out!" I was very happy to be with my Indian friends, because they knew exactly what to do, and we left the club, and everything was fine. I got home around 3 and went to sleep at 6. I woke up at 12.
Today, I had an interview with a person from the Times of India, but he backed out when I was at the coffee shop where we were supposed to meet. I was a bit upset, but I brightened the situation by calling up my friends for group coffee. Then, I went to Venus Traders and FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY got turpentine and linseed oil. Upon my return home, I found a package from Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Jim with a pretty little "peace stone" in it, along with a letter and a picture. It was very nice (thank you guys!) Now, I can't wait to paint, so once this entry is done (approx. in two seconds) I will do so.

Take care,

<3 Lauren

This is the cake that my friends bought me to celebrate Christmas. Unfortunately, if you look closely, the little stick says "Happy Birthday" lol. They covered up the mistake by saying it was a happy birthday cake for Jesus. That pretty much made my life :D

Me and Nikhil. Yes, I am a loser AND this is a bad photo of me.

Fast the Posts

2007-12-30T11:57:00.000-05:00

Darling readers,
I get a break until after January 1st.
AKA the day after tomorrow.
Think of it as Christmas Break.
Lurve,
Lauren

I'd Buy Your LOOOOOOOVE!

2007-12-27T11:54:00.000-05:00

So, the results of last week's poll have pleased me greatly: 5 people would wish to buy my love if they had 1,000,000 dollars.
Thank God there are so few millionaires in this world :P
The past couple of days, I have just been chillin' with my Indian college friends. My Hindi has improved greatly... they teach me Hindi, I teach them card games. It's a great trade. And their cook is AMAZING, even if it is only veg.
So, I don't know if I mentioned, but the church was closed when I tried to go to Mass on Christmas. Instead, I got on my knees at my friend's house and prayed. I guess I'm really not afraid of praying in front of people. I got to explain it all to my Hindu friends. It was cool.
Did I mention that Urvi went to mass on Christmas eve while I went to a Puja? Talk about hilarious...
And I thought it was really cool that today I was sitting in a room with a Hindu friend and a Muslim friend, just chatting and passing the time. Proof that "Holy Wars" need not exist!!!
Today, I bought a New-Year's dress from Wonderland in Camp. It's black, comes to the knee, has a scoop neck sorta thing going on and halter tie. I will wear it when I go out dancing with my friends on New Years. Urvi got a dress as well, and hers looks very cute on her... it's black and white.
Right now, I am having serious issues trying to upload my mum and dad's Christmas Present AKA a photo story on my trip to India up 'til present. It's 4GB. What do I do? There seems to be no upload sites big enought to host it :( and I don't want to send it in the mail unless that's my last resort. So my poor parents have to wait, because their daughter's amazing, 20 minute, 4GB movie is too big to send in an email or upload online. PLEASE HELP!
Tonight after dinner, Mama, Papa, Urvi, and I went to BASSSSSSSSSSSKINNNNN ROBINNNSSS! And now I am all sugar-buzzed, so I am typing like a maniac!
And I better go soon because I have so much to do and so little time.
I still need to get my lazy butt to the store and buy some AA batteries to put in my camera so ya'lls can have some loverly pix to check out.
Miss and love youuuuuuuuu,
<3 Lauren

Due to a 12-Hour Time Difference...

2007-12-24T14:59:00.000-05:00

I have the pleasure of wishing you all a "Merry Christmas" due to the fact that it's 1:30am, December 25th, while all you goofy Mid-Westerners are still stuck on Christmas Eve! Haha! I have lived longer than you all... experienced hours you have yet to see! Okay.. I'm ending this maniacle egotistical mad-scientist mode :)
Yesterday, I got up around 9am to go to Symbi to get my "bonafide certification" that I attended my first semester. The vice principal had it, but she unfortunately decided to take Christmas Eve off... along with my bonafide certificate. Thus, I am still unsure if I will ever see proof that I survived 16 "lovely" weeks of Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce.
After waiting around for a bit (and finally realizing that lack of students was due to mass bouts of pre-Christmas bunking) I rickshawed around the city for the heck of it, until one of my school friends called me up and invited me to go to a puja held by his uncle. The puja was very nice, and I got blessed by a holy man, who tied a red and yellow string around my right wrist. I'm supposed to let the string fall off, and when it does, I have to let it float away in the river. Explicit instructions for a blessing, eh? The really funny (and happy ending to this) part of the story is that these same friends invited me to go to church with them for Christmas tomorrow. So, Indian puja one day; Catholic mass the next!
After the puja I hung out at Nikhil's (my school-friend's) house until 6, and then I went back home to get ready for the Christmas party. The party was very nice, but got over a bit later than expected, so I made sure to keep Mama informed, and I got home at 1. The weird thing was that the guards at my gate stopped me and made me sign THE Book. The book that only strangers have to sign. I guess the guard was new, and he was making signs to his phone like he wanted me to call my house, but when it's that late at night, and they already know that I'm coming home, what's the point in calling and making them come all the way downstairs to confirm my identity? So I showed the guy my house keys and he let me through. Then, I guess as a precaution, I heard the phone ring ten minutes after I got through the door, and a very sleepy Papa trudged downstairs to answer it. Oh, I wish I spoke fluent Hindi!
On Sunday, I had a Rotary meeting, which (for once) didn't result in massive dispute between the Rotarians and the Exchange Students. We had yummy cheese sandwiches and yummy chai, and we handed over the rest of the Rs35,000, and almost everyone was happy. I hung out with my friends for the day and then went home to be bombarded by calls and texts galore.
This evening, I recieved a plethora of texts pertaining to events this week. Here are a few samples:
1. I wish you a merry chrismas and an happy new year 2008 and all you dream be complet by see you!
2. Happy nondenominational winter solstice, y'all!
3. Merry Christmas to everyone and have a happy holiday!
4. Merry Christmas!
5. Merry Christmas.. Have a blast on this fun-filled day!
6. Merry X-mas to you all. I hope You enjoy it even if you arent with your families. Instaed you are with us. I love you all.
Okay, well.. it's getting late and I'm really hungry for some reason but I will wait 'til morning.. ya never know, maybe the fat man visits lil' foreign kids in India as well.
Take care,
<3 Lauren

Midnight Mass and "Marry Christmas"

2007-12-22T15:54:00.000-05:00

So I guess that Indians just spell "merry" a bit differently than us Americans. Whatev.
I got my Christmas packages from mom and dad from the post office with no delay or setbacks on Thursday. I must be the only 17 year-old girl who gets Acetaminephane and hand sanitizer in her yuletime boxes. But I also got some pretty cool stuff, such as snowmen that sing, The Good Guy by Dean Koontz, this amazing book of poetry where Shelby marked all the good ones, and a CD of (dies of joy) hymns performed by the London Orchestra. Yes, I did open my gifts early, but we don't really celebrate Christmas so much in the Palvankar household. I needed a bit of holiday cheer :P
On Friday, I went to Sheesha with David and Heather. Then we went back to Heather's place and made a Christmas tree. Or rather, I made the tree. It was cut out of green wrapping paper, had a star made from a yellow Orbit gum wrapper, and the bark was cut from a PhotoFast package. Pictures will come soon. I spent the night at Heather's that night.
Today (or rather.. Saturday. It is 2:43 in the morning right now!) I went to the opening of Papa John's Pizza (Heather is soo right.. our lives revolve around Pizza in Pune) and then (gag me) Sheesha's again. Then we went to the American Dollar Store because we found...
ROOT BEER.
ROOT BEER?
ROOT BEER!!!
Yes, my first can of that amazing sassafrass brew since I've been to India. Honestly, who knew one could get so excited over 32 grams of carbs and 130 calories? Yeah, sick.. it's like sugar water, but amazing. And I've also learned it's an aquired taste for people of other countries.. we gave some to David and he said it tasted like toothpaste, and then we gave to some to Pratik and he said it smelled like Bengay. Yeah. Heather and I told them that they haven't tasted rootbeer until they put vanilla ice cream in it. David looked at us like we just told him his dog died...
I got home at 5, fell asleep, woke up at 7:30, got ready, went out to this amazing place (the Glass Window) at 9:15, came home at 11:30, and now it's 2:50 and I'm forcing myself to write this blog entry. But the best part is, I'm cutting it off right now and I will continue on ASAP.
Hope this kept you happy, mumsy :P
<3 Always,
Lauren

If It Makes An Impact...

2007-12-19T10:44:00.000-05:00

Then share it! Here's an email that I got from Heather, and it pretty much puts me in a patriotic mood:

DEFENDING AMERICA'S HONOR
Here are a few military comebacks... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building' by George Bush.
He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.
It became very quiet in the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then there was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break one of the French engineers came back into the room saying 'Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?'
A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck.. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?' Once again, dead silence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, 'whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'
You could have heard a pin drop ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE………
A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour. Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. 'You have been to France before, monsieur?' the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. 'Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.'
The American said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it.'
'Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France!'
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained. 'Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in '44 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find any Frenchmen to show it to.'

Well, the day before yesterday, Heather, David, David's brothers Pranav, and I went to David's farmhouse for the afternoon. This place is beautiful: it's situated up in the hills and looks over the entire city of Pune. It has 90 servants to tend to it, a swimming pool, golf course, badminton court, ping-pong table, cricket area, and a nice little bungalow. Basically, I was active for a straight five hours and I got sunburned! Which means I got darker! Which means I blend in a little better now :D
Yesterday, Heather, David, Pranav and I went to go see Air Buddies. IT. WAS. NOT. MY. IDEA. They practically dragged me into the theatre, and I refused to watch the movie, but then they offered to pay for my ticket. And hey, who can turn down a free ticket? Unfortunately, I wasn't smart enough to do so. On a scale of one to five, that movie got a negative two. Ugh. There is a reason why I stopped watching children's movies at the age of nine: my intelligence outgrew them. That thing was pure torture.
To make up for it, we went to ABC Farms in Koregaon Park and had dinner. It is in this place called Sheesha, and it's styled like an open-air jazz area, complete with all the classics streaming in through a massive speaker system. It pretty much cancelled out the horror from Air Buddies. And we all agreed never to let David pick the movie again.
Today, I had dance lessons and I loved them. I always do, even though some of the Indian dance moves are the goofiest things ever! And then on the way home, I had a conversation with a girl in Hindi. It was very short, but I understood when she asked me my name, and I replied and she thanked me and it was COOL. I was very proud of myself.. those Hindi lessons are SOO worth it.
Tomorrow I will have a Rotary thingy.. more on that soon.
Take care :)
Missing you all!
<3 Lauren

Updated List for Mum

2007-12-16T13:30:00.000-05:00

January 20th-22nd
Aurangabad Trip. Cost = 2750 Rupees AKA $70.50

January 25th-February 4th
South India Tour. Cost = 33500 Rupees AKA $859.00

February 20th?-March 2nd?
North India Tour. Cost = 30000 Rupees? AKA $770.00?

Prices and dates for the North India Tour are tentative.

Not much has gone on in the past few days. Symbiosis is now out of session until mid-January. I have been hanging out with Heather and David mostly. Christmas isn't that big of a thing in India, and Heather and I have just recently talked to our parents/siblings and are experiencing serious cases of homesickness. Yeah. And I just got this printed out paper in the mail from our local Domino's Pizza, and it says "Marry Christmas". Ha.
I am going to go with Heather to David's farmhouse tomorrow. His host family is super-rich... the farmhouse has 90 servants, a golf course, a swimming pool, and they will cook whatever food you want!
Well, I'm going to try to get batteries ASAP for my camera so I can post a blog entry about the other side of Pune. And I can take those pictures that Shelby wants.
Tonight was so much fun though.. after Urvi and I had supper, one of her friends took us for ice cream in this really nice sports care with leather interior and all. Then we went for a short drive and listened to Hindi music and just generally hung out. It was very nice.
Okay, I need to go to bed soon. Take care,
<3 Lauren

Chuck Day in India!

2007-12-12T03:19:00.000-05:00

I've been taking it easy the past couple of days.

Yesterday, I went over to Heather's house early in the morning and we printed off pictures, got pedicures, ate chicken wraps from Faaso's, bought a pen, and generally loitered around until we went to school to take our Psychology exams at 2pm. The exams were a cinch, and 45 minutes laters (of the allotted 3 hours) we were out the door and headed off to meet Mallory back at H's. We made a quick stop at Pulse (the grocery store) to buy junk (popcorn of the Butter Lovers' and Kettlecorn varieties, three kinds of chocolate, cookies, juice, and pop) and then we had a Chuck Day.

Now, let me explain the term "Chuck Day". In India, a recent movie entitled Chak De India! or Let's Go, India! has become a megahit. Unintentionally, when Heather and I stopped at the movie store, we chose two movies with very similar names: I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and Good Luck, Chuck. Jokingly, Heather retorted: "I guess we're having a Chuck Day in India!" And the name stuck. Yesterday was a Chuck Day, with two Chuck movies, junk food which later included Pizza, and a sleepover with Mallory at Heather's house.

Oh, and the tandoori chicken.
I usually have a soft spot for tandoori chicken, but this stuff was like pouring gasoline down one's throat and alighting it with a Zippo. I kid you not, my voice was gone until I brushed my teeth, chewed two pieces of gum, and drank around 30oz of water.

Because Heather only has one bed, and she likes to kick, Mallory and I decided to play it safe and make two makeshift beds in H's room. One was the mattress on the floor that I usually sleep on. The other was created by pushing three cushy chairs together and making Mallory wake up every few hours in the night to push them back together so she didn't fall down the holes. I liked my mattress :)

I woke up this morning to a text from Peekers (AKA Peekay) that said our Aurangabad trip was rescheduled for January. I also found out that my South Tour is going to be Rs33,500 (approximately USD$837.50) and I need to pay for that by the 14th. So yeah... I hate money.

After putting on clothes from the night before and wrapping a scarf around my neck (it's starting to get cold in the morning.. only 70F.. MY GOSH! I'M GOING TO DIE WHEN I GET BACK TO MICHIGAN! MY BLOOD IS THINNER THAN WATER!) I came back home, showered, and now I've been online for about two hours. I just have to finish the last essay for my college application, get Dad to put in his credit card number so the $40 fee is paid :P and then send it on it's merry little way and hope for the best. Here's what I have planned for my 4-year college future:

1. Either go to U of M for four years to get my Bachelors in either Computer Science or Foreign Language.

2. Or go to Schoolcraft Community College for two year to get my Associates, then go to U of NY for the other two years to get my Bachelors in ditto above.

And I also found out that one of my favourite aunts died. So please keep my entire family in your prayers.

Oh, and by the way, I'm including some random pictures that y'all can enjoy, because I feel bad for not posting so much.

Even though I posted two days ago.

Still, I don't have anything better to do.

<3>

Chloe and I pretending to be one of the white models

at Pyramid's. Circa two months ago.

Heather's living room, circa five months ago.

Pretty sari fabrics at a shop.

The little village boy in Nashik who had never

saw an iPod or camera before. He was afraid of

me and my sunglasses, but I finally got him to

wear them and sit still for the picture.

After the Long, Emotional Interlude...

2007-12-10T09:50:00.000-05:00

Hi.
On Friday, Chelsea told Heather, David, and I that she was leaving Sunday morning at 1:30. Unfortunately, she was only allowed to bring one person in the car with her to the Mumbai airport. We celebrated her going-away at this Sizzler joint, and all at once, David and Heather and I busted out into excuses on why she should stay. I don't know if she really expected us to let her go without a fight. But honestly, if you would have experienced some of the things that she did concerning her host family, I don't blame her. Regardless, she was past the point of no return, and nothing the three of us could say would be able to make her stay.
That night, I spent the night at Heather's. Heather and I made it over to Chelsea's the next morning and then we helped her pack up her bags and I'm pretty sure we all went out for a movie but didn't end up seeing one or something like that. I'm not quite sure.. it was kind of a blur.
Saturday evening, Chelsea let me know that I was the one she had chosen to take to Mumbai with her. I'm not going to lie, it was an honour and I was extremely flattered. We all stood around in her front "lawn" and pretty much had a tear fest. In the car, I put my arms around her and she was sobbing, and I knew that she wasn't going to miss India, but she was definitely going to miss us. That just killed me, and I started to cry as well, even though I completely hate crying. It was a lovely little sobfest for the first hour, and then we put on our songs (yes, we have compiled a list of about ten of our songs!) and we talked about life. Trust me, the way I describe these things doesn't do them justice.
At the airport, I helped her with her bags and got her in line. Unfortunately, in India, guests aren't allowed to enter the airport. I had thirty seconds to tell her goodbye as a man with a shotgun prodded her towards the airport and me away from it. She told me to sell her cell phone and use the money to send her a care package. I tried to cry when I told her goodbye, but some things don't sink in until days later for me. I smiled, because I guess I knew she'd be happier in Canada.
It's so weird, because besides Chelsea herself, I was the driving force to get her back to Canada. It's not that I wanted her to go (God knows it was quite the opposite), but I knew that she wanted to go. I suppose I should feel responsible in some way for the emptiness that quite a few of the exchange students have been telling me about, but I don't really. I know she made up her mind. When she called me today, she was laughing uncontrollably. She's happy now. Lol, I could even say that she's in a better place, but that's a bit morbid.
And how did I help her go? Well, I put up a pretty good counter-argument for our club councellor, IYE councellor, Inbound chairperson, and her host parents. I stuck up for her even though I didn't really like what I was fighting for. Does that make me a bad person? Or a good friend?
Regardless, everything's been a little bit off. I went to a Rotary Environmental Awareness Rally and to traditional dance lessons with Heather and David yesterday. I love the dances, even though they have the goofiest motions ever. I think I might do one of them at the conference in Grand Rapids next year. Today, I went to Sheesha with David and Heather for about three and a half hours. We passed around the phone whenever Chelsea called. It was just weird.
Anyway, tomorrow David is going to Goa for three days and Heather, Eleanor, and I are having a movie night. I'm staying over at Heather's. Tonight, I think I will go work out. I got a full night's sleep for the first time last night, with all the business of preparing for Chelsea's departure in the last two weeks. My arms hurt from playing cricket yesterday. I could write a whole other paragraph on things I miss in the US, but I will keep it to five things to keep from ranting:
Shelby. School. Libraries. Family Vacations. Snow.
Alright, I'm done. Sorry this was so sad, but that's just the way these things go.
Take care all,
<3 Lauren

Happy Holi Heeterpati

2007-12-05T02:08:00.000-05:00

Holi Heeterpati: (noun) A three-day celebration in Mumbai for Heather's 18th birthday. Comes from the root Indian words "Holi" [a celebration with coloured powder celebrated in March], "Heeter" [Peekay's pronunciation of Heather's name], and "Ganpati" [a festival celebrated in October to celebrate Pune's primary god, Ganesh].
On Sunday, all the exchange student gathered 'round for pocket money and a good ol' whining fest from the Rotarians. Apparently, my fellow exchange students and I need to cast aside all of our American mannerisms and actions (ie. leaving the fan on all day, returning home after 6:00pm, refusing to attend Nazi-esque speeches a la Nashik) and adapt, adapt, adapt. I can understand some of the points that the IYE President was making, such as obeying the 4Ds and attending functions with the host family, but besides these things, it seemed as if the Prez was just trying to tell all of us foreigners that the way we were brought up was completely incorrect and we needed to assimilate, because resistance is futile. (Okay, I understand that was the longest sentence ever but I just needed to get my frustration off of my chest.) Then Heater came to the rescue and totally brought the Rotarian up to date with what we were going through. All in all, it was an unproductive and highly annoying (due to the persistent firecrackers and drummer kids for some festival... there's always a festival in Pune) meeting.
Anyway, we had planned to go to Mumbai for the third and final day of Holi Heeterpati, but Heather encountered some Rotarian-based problems involving our plans due to her speaking out against the Rotarians. Let's just say, they were royally upset and were denying that they ever gave her permission to go to Mumbai. Five thousand phone calls, two hundred text messages, and about a million misunderstandings later (me, exaggerate? nawww) we had the ok to go. I ended up celebrating a private birthday cake with Heather (which was pineapple and basically the best cake I have ever eaten in my life). I even stuck a giant candle in there and smeared whipped cream on H's face. She went to bed at 12 and I went to bed at 2. We both woke up the next morning at 5. We took a private car to Mumbai, but the driver must have thought that we were only going to drop off Chelsea (who's leaving on Saturday now) and we ended up at the airport. There was much excitement at the prospect of us all going home for Christmas, promising to return back by New Years. Unfortunately, it was simply a prospect, and we turned around and drove through the beautiful Islamic part of Mumbai to get to Fort, which is Mumbai's equivalent of Pune's Camp area.
Anyway, we had a nice day of shopping (we meaning Chelsea, Heather, Eleanor, David, and i) and then we had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and got so rowdy I thought that they would kick us out. Basically, we were having mini food-fights, daring each other to eat jalepenos, and screaming Rolling Stones songs at the top of our lungs. Oh yeah, and singing happy birthday to one of the waiters.
On the ride home, we rocked out to Hindi songs and I fell asleep in the front seat. One McDonalds stop and four hours later, I was home at 11 and slept 'til the next morning, AKA yesterday
Yesterday, I saw the best movie of my entire life at Esquare with the who gang. Then I went home. I started to teach myself Arabic. Yeah, I went to bed at twelve.
Today, I help Chelsea pack, I went to Heather's to chill and write this entry, and I think I still owe Heather a bathroom cleaning... she bought me pizza, so I clean her bathroom. Gross, huh? Well, it's not like her maid does it.
Now, I'm helping to plan Chelsea's going-away party, and we might spend it in Bombay, as long as Peekay comes with us (he wants to anyway). Okay, this is long and boring. Talk to you later, miss y'all,
<3 Lauren

Me with Heather at our private party.
Yes, that's a cherry on her nose.

Goofing around at the Hard Rock Cafe.
Eleanor, Chelsea, David choking her.

The food was.. um.. yummy?
NO, it really was!

Some of the memorabilia..

Back in the Boring Rut

2007-11-29T12:02:00.000-05:00

I need to discuss a few future entries that I may be posting. First of all, I was thinking about doing any entry on the "The Other Side of India". Basically, as much as I hate to inform you all of this, you have only been reading about the candy-and-sunshine part of India. I won't go into too much detail about "the other side" in this post, but I can assure you that you will be quite shocked not only by the verbal details, but the pictorial accompaniments as well.
Secondly, I thought about doing an entry that focuses on my Hindi lessons, where Hindi originated, and it's extent into present times. Considering Hindi classes are the only place where I actually learn educational-wise, I thought y'all might be a bit interested.
Third, I was debating whether or not to emphasize the contrasting eras that India manages to display simultaneously: the untouched past and the Western present.
Well, those were all just ideas that I've been throwing around. Give me feedback on whatever sounds interesting.
Not much is going on. I went to school and didn't learn. I went out to the movies and saw Om Shanti Om, which is pretty much AMAZING. I sang Hero by Enrique, Earl's Gotta Die by the Dixie Chicks, and the title song from Om Shanti Om with Chelsea in the rikshaw. The rickshaw guy kept telling us "one more time, sing just one more!"
Chelsea got the okay to go back home to Canada.
Heather is celebrating her 18th birthday in Bombay.
I am going to Aurangabad on the 20th of December for three days.
I am also filling out my college application for the University of Michigan.
And spending the night at Anna's tomorrow.
I ran into my good ol' Symbi friends, Isha and I-Dont-Remember.
Okay, g'night my lovely readers. Sorry I'm so disappointing.
<3 Lauren

Because I Can!

2007-11-26T01:13:00.000-05:00

I have this method to exploit coffee shops with WiFi.
I'm not cheap enough to just walk in and use the WiFi without buying anything or to piggyback it by sitting outside, so I grab a menu and find The Cheapest Thing That Still Tastes Good (which is usually something drinkable). If it's hot, I let it cool down. If it's cool, I let it hit room temperature. By this time, I've been to Yahoo Mail and back. I then proceed to take the tiniest sips/bites humanly possible. I gotta make the thing last, so I can get as much free net time as I can scrounge. Then, if I run out of whatever I bought, I pretend to be waiting for someone. (Think: a couple of fake phone calls paired with an expectant glance or two out the window.) For some reason, I have to MAKE the people around me (who probably aren't paying any attention to this blonde white chick, anyway) believe that I have reason to be here other than the free WiFi. When I've finished checking three email accounts, my blog, PostSecret, and FaceBook, I make sure to sigh theatrically, look at the time on my cell, roll my eyes, and leave in a rush.
I will never understand my need for such pretense. Next time, I should walk in, laptop held high, and announce that I'm too cheap to buy anything, so I'm going to sit on the cement out front and PIGGYBACK THEIR WIRELESS, BECAUSE I CAN!
11-25-07, 2:38pm, Barista on FC Road

Just A Quick Post..

2007-11-24T13:43:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Death-By-Rikshaw Day.
First, I almost got into a major head-on collision in a rik with a bus.
Next, the rikshaw walla tried to charge me 50 rupees to go to Heather's.
Finally, after Heather and Chelsea and I went out to dinner at a sizzler place, we decided that our rikshaw driver was out to kill us all: He would randomly stop and then start again just to watch us jolt forward and scream, and then when the rikshaw broke down and Chelsea and I paid and left to find another (in the middle of the night, in the middle of a SHANTYTOWN) he started following us and making suggestive sounds and hand motions.
By this time, I was gripping Chelsea's hand for dear life. Then, I realized that I should probably do my best to lose him. So I told Chelsea to act like we were crossing the road. As we did, the rik walla made a U-turn and got into the lane across the street. In reality, we didn't cross the road at all, and we continued onwards at a power-walking pace. We had lost him for good, but it's not safe for two white teenage girls to be wandering the streets alone at night, so we called Chelsea's host mum and she came and got us.
That was my night.
Oh, and I was faced with devastating news: Chelsea is going back to Canada in the next two weeks. As much as I'd like to do the same for the United States, I have come to the conclusion that once I start something, I don't give up until I finish it.. no matter how much trouble I face. There's something to live by...
Right now, I need three things: AA batteries, turpentine, and linseed oil. Oh, and money's always welcome ;) considering it's illegal for me to work in Pune.
Speaking of Pune, there's Hindu-Muslim riots going on and riots about the $100 oil barrels. There have also been seven bombings in Delhi in the past two days. If the bombings move to Mumbai (which they probably won't) Rotary will have to consider their options.. Anyway, miss you all (I SWEAR IT!) and I'll update ya soon,
<3 Lauren

Happy Post-Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T01:48:00.000-05:00

How many pounds did you gain this Turkey Day?

Yesterday, the exchange students assembled at Mallory of the United States house, and we celebrated Thanksgiving. Though a bit puzzled at the point of this celebration, the Germans, French, and Belgians also joined in. The Canadians (who celebrate Thanksgiving in October... and I don't think theirs has anything to do with Pilgrims..) decided to be good sports as well.

Mallory's house is built like a wedding cake: it has around five layers (floors) with a terrace at the top. Last night, the terrace was covered in rugs, and we brought up the food, drinks, and utensils to eat under the (non-visible due to extensive light-pollution) stars.

Downstairs, our entertainment was a piano and a golden retriever. The piano brought out the Mozart in David and Yixia, and the golden retriever liked to growl.

When the time came to eat, no one waited for anyone... India takes away all Western manners. It's considered too formal to say "please", "thank you", or "excuse me". Instead, we gorged ourselves on apple-turkey stuffing, boiled turkey (ovens are virtually non-existent in India), tandoori chicken, peas (ew), carrots (I got excited when I thought they were strawberries), pasta, and mashed potatoes. After, the Americans decided to do a re-enactment of the first Thansgiving, complete with Heather as Plymouth Rock, Chelsea as an Indian/Native American, and Eleanor presenting the smallpox-infested scarves to Chelsea. Then, Heather magically became a turkey that couldn't shut up, and Eleanor put her out of her misery by shooting her with her "handgun" (made by pointing the index finger out and the thumb up). By this time, the Europeans were thoroughly confused.

At the end, we all said things we were thankful for, such as India's reliable electricity (two seconds later, the power in the entire city went out, I kid you not! it was perfect timings), Peekay, and a few good rikshaw wallas that actually don't overcharge.

Getting home was the tricky part: first, it took us about fourty-five minutes to find a rikshaw, and then David got in, I was next, Heather was smooshed next to me, and Chelse straddled on mine and David's laps. At least it kept me warm. I got home around 11:00pm, and then ate part of my b-day cake that was left over. Happy thanksgiving :)

<3>

Me and Chelsea in the rikshaw on our way to Thanksgiving :)

Our Thanksgiving feast, eaten Indian-style

David, Yixia, and Solen at the piano downstairs..

Birthday No. 17

2007-11-21T11:12:00.002-05:00

Hello World!
I spent the beginning of my seventeenth birthday puking my guts out, thanks to a two-course dinner at a five star restaurant. Who knew food poisoning lurks behind all those priceless paintings and gilded centerpieces?
Heather, Chelsea, and Mama burst into my room with a boquet of flowers and wished me happy birthday. After realizing my predicament, Heather and Chelsea crawled into bed with me and took a nap. Stephanie rung the doorbell and then somehow fit in my poor bed as well. It was like a four-person snooze-fest. Who knew sleeping only makes one feel sicker?
Around noon, I called my mommy, crying. She talked to me and prayed with me and made me mad and then I felt betters. Who knew fights could mend broken digestive systems?
Finally, I was convinced to straighten my hair, put on some makeup, and get dressed. I had to take it easy while fulfilling Chelsea's and Heather's birthday plans for me (which consisted of lunch at a Sizzler place that served steak, the movies, and a pizza/sleepover session at Heather's). It was a very nice day, and I kept getting bombarded by phone calls from well-wishers. When I checked my email that evening, I had at least 14 e-cards lol.
This morning, I was still recieving birthday phone calls by people who had mistaken my b-day for the 21st. It was amusing.
I picked up my package from the post office and that's about all I accomplished today. Oh, and I ate cake. It was yummy.
Take care,
-Lauren

Back from Nashik

2007-11-18T04:43:00.000-05:00

I woke up before my alarm at 5:00am on Tuesday morning, and went senselessly through my get-ready routine. At 6:10, Papa and I stumbled to the car and drove to Pune's most dangerous destination: the bus station. Here lies the homeless on burlap sacks and plastic bags. Here lies the dirty remains of Appy Juice wrappers and dead rodents. Here, men stare you down and attempt to lead you away. Here, I stick close to Papa.
When we find a group of white people (they glow, I kid you not) I join in the early-morning comraderie complaining. Around 7:30, we board a public transportation bus. I get last seat with Chelsea, and the boys in front of me started to beat their headrests with the palms of their hands until a strange white dust rose and settled on our knees. We deemed the dust dandruff, and smacked the boys for dirtying our Levis. Six-point-five hours and two tea-and-toilet stops later, we are at the bus station in Nashik.

Program Schedule - Multi District International RYLA

13 NOV
1400-1500 Reporting at City Point
1500 Buses leave for Orchid International School
1600-1700 Registration at Venue
1730-1830 Inagural Function
1900-1930 Orientation
1930-2030 Dinner
2030-2130 Breaking the Ice
2200 Lights Off

14 NOV
0600-0645 Wake Up and Wash
0645-0745 Workout
0745-0830 Bath and Get Ready
0830-0915 Breakfast
0930-1100 Lecture: Are We Reaching Out?
1100-1130 Tea
1130-1300 Lecture: Are We Reaching Out? Pt. 2
1300-1400 Lunch
1400-1545 Lecture: Discover Your Leadership Potential
1545-1615 Tea
1615-1745 Lecture: Youth Health
1745-1830 Freshen Up
1830-1930 Preparation for Talent Programme
1930-2030 Dinner
2030-2130 Culture Programme
2200 Lights Off

15 NOV
0600-0645 Wake Up and Wash
0700-1300 Trekking to Anjneri Hills
1300-1545 Lunch and Rest
1545-1615 Tea
1615-1745 Lecture: Team Leadership
1745-1830 Freshen Up
1830-1930 Preparation for Talent Programme
1930-2030 Dinner
2030-2130 Talent Programme
2200 Lights Off

16 NOV
0600-0645 Wake Up and Wash
0645-0745 Workout
0745-0830 Bath and Get Ready
0830-0915 Breakfast
0930-1100 Lecture: Generation Y Leadership - A New Perspective
1100-1130 Tea
1130-1300 Participants View / Valedictory
1300-1400 Lunch
1430 Adieu
1500 Buses Leave for City / Nashik Road

Wonderful little schedule, don't you think? Yeah. Sure. Now let me clarify a few points of the schedule that didn't play out exactly as planned. First of all, we our morning "exercises" consisted of various elementary stretches and "laughter exercises", such as "The Kangaroo Laugh", "The Bubble-Blowing Laugh", and "The I-Ate-Something-Spicy Laugh". I was actually more scared at the faces the Rotarians made than anything else.
Also, the Culture Programme turned out to be a dance where I got mobbed by pre-pubescent Indian boys. I also went to bed at 3:30.
Trekking was not for six hours; a few of my friends and I were allowed to go back down the hills early, and we ended up in a small villiage. The children were curious, so they started gathering about three meters away. They took turns running up, taking a quick listen from Laura's iPod (they'd obviously never seen one before), and then running away, laughing maniacally. I went to a small store and bought them candy and biscuits, and eventually the kids got the nerve to try on my and Chelsea's sunglasses. This was the best part of being in Nashik.
Getting back to Pune was the toughest part. We left the school at 4:30, but then we stopped at McDonalds for some meat (the whole stay had been veg and I was about to kill someone if I didn't get iron and protein back in my body). At 5:30, we reached the bus station. Our bus left at around 7:00. We got back to Pune at 12:30. I talked on the phone until 3:00. The end.
Yesterday, I went with Chelsea, Heather, Anna, Pia, and Stephanie to lunch at Polka Dots and had amazing tandoori chicken, chicken wings, potatoe wedges, butter naan, and apple pie a la mode. It made up for four days of rice, chapati, dal, paji, and tomatoes. Afterwards, we went to go see Lions for Lambs, which is an American political movie that packs a huge punch. The ending holds impact that I will never forget. I am still puzzled as to why a movie on the Iraqi war was shown in the Middle East, though. In the evening, our society had a Diwali dinner of Dominoe's. I met this guy named Shantanu and we talked computer programming and Rubik's cubes. He offered up his personal library after I told him I am almost through Papa's and Mama's, and I intend to take full advantage of it.
Today is Sunday, so I am going to clean my room and do stuff on the computer. Fun stuff, isn't it? I miss church...
Actually, I miss home.
<3>

The bus station of joy... not!

The long bus ride

Our lovely dorms :)

The dining hall.. yes, we were all in uniform.

A male dancer at the Talent Programme

The junk we at at Orchid

Yay! McDonalds... welcome after days of rice!

Waiting for the bus around 7:00...

Gone for Half of a Week

2007-11-12T07:16:00.000-05:00

Dear Readers,

I regret to inform you that the author and maintainer of this website will take leave from 6:30am on November the Thirteenth, in the year Two-Thousand-Seven, and will return at approximately 7:00pm on November the Sixteenth, also in the year Two-Thousand-Seven (hopefully this year, but ya never know with Indian public transportation!) She expresses her deepest regrets (yeah, right. In all actuality, keeping this blog is a pain, but I suppose I owe it to y'all who sent me over to this country...) and appologizes in advance for any inconveniences.

Best Wishes,

Lauren A. Harper

Editor-In-Chief of Documenting the Student Exchange

So... I leave for Nashik (pronounced "nah-sick") tomorrow morning for the RYLA Conference. Though I'm not looking forward to this particular trip, I'm excited to hang out with the other exchange students. To sum things up and be a bit biased, the Germans keep things rowdy, the French add some drama, the Belgians spread the word, and the Americans get mixed in and mixed up. It's a truckload of fun...

By the way, Mom, I withdrew $20 from Savings for this four-day trip. It's amazing how cheap accomodations are in India, eh? Also, I want to return home May 5th instead of May 15th.
Yesterday, I hung out with Ama (Papa's mother), Abu (Papa's father), Urvi, and my cousin-sister. We watched Hindi movies and ordered in pizza. I almost asked for pepperoni, but quickly remembered our pure-veg house rules. The cheese slices were AMAZINGGG. I think I've become addicted to oregano seasoning.
The day before, Ama, Abu, and my cousin-sister arrived. We talked and Ama gave me this pretty baubly black-and-white bracelet. Abu gave me Rs200. These were my Diwali gifts. In the evening, we trekked up into the hill outside my house... FINALLY! I have been dying to go up there, and the view was not disappointing in the least.

Today, I did my best to get up at 10:00am, and ran errands with Heather and Chelsea. We at at the Blue Nile in camp. It reminded me of a mosque-meets-church... the patrons were mostly be-burqad Muslims, but the posters on the wall were replicas from Sunday School. The tandoori chicken was good, but the roti was amazing. The chocolate shake was chunky, and the ice-cream in the shake seemed to be spongy and liquid-resistant. The service was perfect.

In the afternoon, I came back home after mailing a postcard, topping-up my phone, and purchasing shampoo at Pulse. I bid Abu, Ama, and my cousin-sister goodybe as Mama and Papa took them to the train station. Urvi had already left for her university this morning. Now, the whole house is mine, and I'm taking this opportunity to chill. In the evening, I'll probably watch the Prince and Me and finish up my third Sidney Sheldon book of the week.

Take care, you won't hear from me for a while,

<3>

The hill that I climbed.

Happy Diwali!!!

2007-11-09T12:31:00.000-05:00

Alarm went off at 5:00am. I showered, dressed in my new salwaar from Mama, and headed out the door with Urvi in tow. Destination: Temple.
I will never get used to the whispering and turning of heads as I enter a room.. especially an auspicious one such as that of a temple. The old women glare, asking in Hindi, "what is a foreigner doing in our temple?" The younger generation giggles and wisheds me a happy Diwali in English. I keep a smile plastered on my face and pray to Christianity's God in a Hindu temple. I always find that as a kind of paradox...
After Temple 1 came Temple 2. After Temple 1 and Temple 2 came breakfast at Vaishali's.
Hello, cheese sandwiches!
Please, let me take a moment to describe my love and infatuation for the simple cheese sandwich. Upon reaching India, I quickly learned that most food was either veg, unidentifiable, or both. A friend then told me about cheese sandwiches... they are one-hundred-percent delicious, fattening, and available nearly everywhere. Basically, two pieces of white bread are cut in half, buttered, then grated cheese is put in between the pieces and the bread is cut into cute little triangle quarters.
End of tangent.
After breakfast, I came home and napped until a text message alert woke me up. In the afternoon, I went to run some errands with Chelsea, but everything was closed due to Diwali. I came home and napped some more. In the evening, my uncle, aunt, and cousin-brother came over and we burst firecrackers and watched the Indian equivalent to Dancing With the Stars. I blistered the index finger on my right hand. We then ate supper, and the extended family took their leave.
All in all, a very uneventful day.
Happy Diwali
<3 Lauren

Special Edition: Bombay/Goa

2007-11-07T02:27:00.000-05:00

As I arrived at the bus stop bleary-eyed and disoriented, I took a few minutes to sit on my suitcase and survey my surroundings. Early morning was a side of Pune I had never saw before: traffic had slowed to an occasional rikshaw, men were segregating and packaging newspapers in front of Dominoe's Pizza, and there was a slight chill in the air that had never occurred during the hot afternoons. As the other exchange students began to join me in waiting, our bus barreled up and wheezed to a stop. Laughing, we pointed out that it was bright pink and had airbrushed lettering splayed across the windshield. Host parents sighed in relief, taking notice that the bus seemed to be in good condition, with visible internal fans and air-conditioning ducts. Twenty minutes later, the other exchangers and I became painfully aware of an awful truth: not only did the air-conditioning and fans not work, but the windows were extremely hard to slide open. We bruised our fingers and scraped our knuckles in attempts to wedge open a slice of fresh air into the bus. Though lighthearted and optimistic to leave Pune, everyone was well aware that there would be a bit of trial as well as error in store.
Through the morning, we travelled around five hours to get to Bombay, with a toilet-and-tea stop along the way. What amazed me first was the immensity of the city; we had entered Bombay city limits two hours before we actually reached our hotel. Bombay (or Mumbai, as it is officially called) visibly contrasts Pune physically, environmentally, and socially. Not only is it incredibly immense, but there seemed to be a formula for figuring out how much income a person recieved based on where they resided. The outermost edge of Bombay consists of Farmer's fields. Just inward, the zig-zagging alleyways and rough dirt roads of the shantytowns house the people in poverty. By travelling around a half-hour more, Indian middle-classers live in apartments and small bungalows. But when you enter the centre of the city, where Back Bay empties into the Arabian Sea, creating a semi-circle of land known as "The Queen's Necklace", huge mansions, simple skyscrapers, and expensive villas line the sides of a paved cement road. Bollywood stars, powerful politicians, and rich tycoons reside here. Though this part of Bombay seems to be the nicest, it still tops the dirt meter of any American city. Small public gardens have succumbed to heaps of trash, tangles of weeds, and sleeping beggars. A dark streak of grime is smeared across the curb, the bottoms of fences, and even lightposts and park benches. The ground glitters with shards of broken bottles and the sky is a musty blue-grey. The stench of sweat, cow dung, urine, rotten food, body odour, and exhaust fumes is enough to repulse the strongest of stomachs. I realized the extent of the filth when the exchangers and I were forbidden to enter the beach water due to the fact that professional international swimmers had contracted various rashes, diseases, and infections from the water just a week before. According to our tour guide, one of the swimmers stated "I'd never get in that water again - not even if you paid my plane ticket, hotel fee, and gave me a thousand pounds for spending money."
Though the dirt and stink paired with an overwhelming humidity and heat seemed to be enough to kill us all, we were in awe at the architecture of the city. The Taj, an extremely famous 5-star hotel, housed various international couture brands at it's base, stretched upwards with each intricately designed floor. The Gateway to India seemed to be a favourite for tourists, with it's triple arch entryway capped by four towers. Every landmark looked very different, and I found a different kind of beauty in each.
That afternoon, our group took a small boat ride around Back Bay. The breeze was nice, as well as the psychotic combination of Hindi-Techno-Carribbean music our captain seemed fond of. Lunch was at The Ghetto. Literally. We walked along a back alley and ended up in front of a brick building that had been spray-painted in a wide array of colours, which looped together to create the entrance sign for "The Ghetto". Peekay, our guardian and exchange trip coordinator, decided that our group would eat vegetarian during the day, but were free to consume as much non-veg as we liked in the evening. That said, lunch consisted of naan (Indian flatbread, slightly thicker than chapati), paneer tikka masala (literally, "spicy cheese gravy"), and mint chutney. In true Indian style, we ate with our hands. For dessert, we each got to pick out a bottle of pop. In true Lauren style, I drank 7Up, as my stomach can't handle pop that isn't clear.
Upon arriving at our 3-star hotel (christened "Shantidoot") we soon realized that the Indian hotel rating system must be different from the American system. For starters, the 3 of the 5 room had broken showers, busted toilets, moldy walls, crumbling floors, and bug-infested bedding. The two non-nightmare rooms were given to the boys and to Peekay's favourite girls: Chelsea, Stephanie, and me. The only downside to our room was the crazy, wall-pounding cricket player party boys next door.
Exhausted and cranky from sweating all day, my roomies and I took turns in the shower and keeping an eye on the door adjoining ours and the cricket players' rooms. For some reason, hotel management felt the need for a single sliver of wood to hold the lock of this door in place. We were sure the rowdy cricket players were about to burst in at any moment.
The next day, we missed three wakeup calls, a knock on the door, and breakfast for a few extra minutes of shut-eye. Trudging down the stairs and to the bus with our luggage, we loaded up and headed to the zoo. The architecture was beautiful and the day was cooler and breezy, but the animals were virtually nonexistant. The most exciting event was when Eleanor got defecated on by a raven.
As most of the students were now thoroughly disgusted with Bombay, we left for Goa early, at 5:00pm. On the way, we stopped at a large temple on the outskirts of Bombay (where we took our shoes off, watched adults prostrate themselves before idols, and ate cake) and at another temple called the Birla Temple somewhere between Bombay and Goa. This temple was absolutely gorgeous at night: the lights and chimes hanging from the open-walled ceiling created a kind of surreal atmosphere. We held a small puja and then tumbled back into the bus, geared up for a restless sleep.
Waking to a U-turn around 4:30am, Chelsea realized that we had been driving in the wrong direction for around three hours. Groans emitted from the awakened exchangers.
A large pothole and an armrest in my side brought me to the realization that we were at a toilet-and-tea stop. Taking advantage of both amenities, I got back on the bus with the others, anxious to complete our would-be 10 hour (but in actuallity, 19 hour) trip to the Silver Sands Hotel in Goa.
Goa is an entity of its own. Due to it's heavy Portuguese influence, it has an aura of Brazil and the beaches of the West Coast. It is the only state that has a larger amount of churches than temples. Catholicism is the most prevalent religion, and signs of its strength are present everywhere: the body of St. Francis Xavier on display in his namesake church, "Our Saviour Jesus" bus company, whitewashed crosses lining the streets, and tiny paintings of the Virgin Mary on display throughout the markets. Unlike the state of Maharashtra, whose top spoken languages include Marathi and Hindi, Goans mainly speak Portuguese, English, and Konkani. Due to Goa's proximity to Maharashtra, Marathi is also spoken, but not with the fervor as in the aforementioned state.
The Silver Sands Hotel was indeed a blessing... and a palace, if compared to Shantidoot. The managers and staff were always helpful; they provided beach towels, three square meals, and endless room service. The food was amazing; we recieved chicken, mutton, steak, and prawns whenever we wanted it. The prices were cheap, and a huge list of massage services was also available. The best part? A two minute walk to the beach, and complete visibilty of the surf from the second story of our hotel.
Unlike the routine atmosphere of Pune and the rushed, grimy one of Bombay, Goa is a true vacation hotspot. Though I saw enough white tourists to blind me, the Goans are uberfriendly and enthralled with their visitors. The next couple of days were a whir of relaxation: we played in the waves, danced in the evenings, toured around the churches of Goa, and laid in the sun. At one of the most active beaches, I parasailed and speedboated.
At the end of the four days, everyone was extremely reluctant to go home. Suggestions of "let's find host families here", and "let's exchange one of our other trips for another in Goa" were thrown around. 9 hours later, we unloaded at Fergusson College on FC Road in Pune. Exhausted, I threw my suitcase on my bed once home, and fell deep asleep, dreaming about returning back to paradise.

<3lauren

Ahhh... the joy of bus-hair!

The top of the Gateway to India. David stuck his hand in the bottom half of the picture.

The Ghetto.. pretty self-explanatory.

With our parasailing instructor, Steve, on the beach.

Getting ready to sail.

You had to get into the goofiest positions to become airborne.

Up in the sky....

The Things I've Never Been Able to Say

2007-10-27T00:56:00.000-04:00

I've never been homesick in my life. Ever. Not when I went to Africa for a month, not when I stayed with Gramma for a week when my parents went on vacation, not while I am in India.Until now.I must vent: I miss the way the leaves change colour in autumn, and the breeze... "all you need is a light jacket". I miss my bed and my room with my poetry written all over the walls and my artwork plastered on my ceiling. I miss climbing up into my loft every night and the whir of my fan that puts me to sleep. I miss barbeques and burgers and steak. I miss my friends, my school, the way that the hallways go around and around. I miss going to classes where I learn. I miss homework and writing and reading textbooks. I miss getting away with goofy things and pretending like I know more than I actually do. I MISSED Homecoming, I will miss Snowball, and I hope I don't have to miss Prom. I don't even like Prom! I miss my parents bossing me around because they "love me and are obligated to do so because of parenthood". I miss my little sister... she's seriously one of my best friends in the world. I miss driving her around in Mom's Vibe, and trying to get her to admit that she's got a crush on one of the guys in her grade. I miss the goofballs on my bus. I miss miniskirts, bikinis, snow, and baseball/tennis. I miss spelling "colour" as "color" and "favourite" as "favorite". I miss the American accent. I even miss mowing the lawn :( People don't have lawns in India. I miss having a job... and applying for jobs. I miss waking up at 6:00am and looking forward to snow days. I miss going to bed at 10:45pm. I miss wearing hoodies and long-sleeved shirts. I miss flipping upside down on the swingset and teasing Dylan with cattails from the ditch. I miss walking to the cemetary when I'm upset. I miss the American flag and basketball games. I miss Student Government and mom's salsa. I miss going to college and painting. I miss the loveseat that I read on every day. I miss going to movie theatres where they don't assign you seats. I miss a family that actually spends time together. I miss Elizabeth and Ashley, Logan and Sam. I miss my half-hour long phone calls with Stephanie and Micah. I miss roadtrips (I haven't left this city, besides a trip to Satara for two days.) I miss going into Detroit and Canada and Ann Arbor. I miss the mall in Novi.. dealing with drama from the Freshies and Sophomores... ketchup that isn't sweet... going out for Monsters... spending the night at Elizabeth's... going to church. I miss haunted houses with Chelsea, trick-or-treating with Shelby, and digging the guts out of pumpkins so we can bake the seeds and salt them. I really want to go back home.Okay, the pity party is over. But, for the first time in my life, I'm horribly homesick. And it's probably only going to get worse from here... moving on...
Yesterday, I went over to Chelsea's at 10:00am to sleep in. Chloe had spent the night there, so we all crammed into Chelsea's bed and got some extra shut-eye. That eveing, we took part in the full-moon festival. The Rotary had arranged for a dinner and activities for the IYE students, so we all got to attend. First, we played musical chairs, followed by the Indian rendition of hot potatoe. (Which deemed that if you were caught with the potatoe, you had to be "punished" by pulling a slip of paper from a bowl and then doing/saying what the slip told you to. I got to jump like a frog. I even added a complementary "ribbit!") Next, we had a three-legged race, which Chelsea and I won second place in (or so we decided haha). Then, we played a weird version of hide-and-seek. I won't go into detail, but let's just say that I was cawing like a crow when my group of fellow "crows" won. Near the end, we had an Indian meal of paji and chapati. Dessert was boiled milk flavoured with almonds. Did I mention it was chunky? Yummy..?I got home around 11:30pm. No one was awake, so I went to bed.
This morning, I went over to Chelsea's to get my daily dose of sleep. Chelsea had told me to call her when I got to the door, so the doorbell wouldn't wake the family. She let me in, and I crashed on her bed. A couple hours later, her mom came in. She said that she was upset that I didn't ring the doorbell. I still don't understand...Tomorrow, I pack for the Bombay/Goa trip. I'm looking forward to it, because I am so sick of Pune. Seriously. I really hope and pray that things will get better.
Missing EVERYTHING,

My apple juice commercial... in front of my society's gates.

Chelsea and I took second in the three-legged race, and we got was this measly spoon to show for it. (But then she dropped it in the toilet...)

The moon. Apparently, according to Indians, when it reflects in our milk glasses, it makes a chemical reaction, rendering the milk more nutritious. If one drinks this newly nutritious milk, then a great harvest is in store!

Aren't I adorkable? I know Chloe is!

As you can see, I was enthralled to drink my boiled, chunky, almond-flavoured milk.

A close-up of the milk. :)

Bombay/Goa Prequal

2007-10-24T11:12:00.000-04:00

This morning, I was warned not to stay in my room past 10:00am because I was being a problem to the maids. Not quite sure what that means, but I am sure that I trekked bleary-eyed and half-asleep to Heather's house with Chloe (who had spent the night) to get some shut-eye. We slept in until 12:00ish, and then commenced the making of salsa, which was my first real endeavor at bringing American cooking to India.
I wasn't half-bad.
Plus (and I grit my teeth as I admit this) mom's million lessons on canning tomatoes etc. came in handy (still gritting my teeth). I remembered that you have to coil the tomatoes in water for 3 minutes and then move them into cold water, and then their skins come off with ease. I then diced the tomatoes and plucked the coriander leaves off, as Chloe spliced the onions and Heather squeezed the limes and added salt, pepper, and chili powder. When the concoction was done, it was pretty darn good. And we ate a little of it with Taco Dorito Chips (one bag was about $7.50 at Dorabjee's... but that's what you get for purchasing imported food). We then put the salsa in a glass bowl and stuck it in the fridge to wait for Uncle to get to Heather's house, so he could try it. Well, Uncle finally got home and I went to the fridge to get the salsa and it... well... it popped out at me.
The stupid bowl flew out of the fridge at my feet.
The stupid GLASS bowl blew out of the fridge at my feet.
Never have I saw such a perfect splat of shards and tomatoes plastered against a kitchen floor. And I wanted to cry; the bowl was a gift to Auntie from her brother. Honestly, I must be mental. I'd love to blame it on the bowl, but I have accepted the fact that I'm a natural klutz to the core.
Uncle and Auntie tucked in to the Taco Doritos instead. I felt bad, and cleaned up the glass first, then scooped up the mess with my hands. Unfortunately, I missed some shards, and punctured my left palm while slicing my right. Heather is squeamish. I told her that I had to show her something cool, and you should have seen her eyes roll into the back of her head when I showed her the blood trailing down my hands. It was hilarious.
Two bandaids and five million appologies later, the Dominoes Man, Chelsea, and the Pizza Hut Man showed up at the door. Reason? Dominoes has good breadsticks, Chelsea was up for a pizza fest, and Pizza Hut pizza is better than the other chains. Chelsea's driver took us to the Bombay-Goa Prequal Meeting. We learned a few very important facts:

We will leave at 5:30 on Sunday for Bombay. The bus ride is approx. 3 hours.
We will be in Bombay for 2 days, 1 night.
We will then go to Goa that evening of the second day, and drive throught the night, sleeping on our private bus that's not air-conditioned (but does have reclining seats!)
We will stay at a hotel called Hotel Silver Sands Resort on the Beach. It's a 3 star hotel (PEEKAY LIED! HE SAID THEY WOULD ALL BE 5 STAR HOTELS!) on Colva Beach in Goa. It has a coffee place named Crossroads and a bar named HAHAH "Intoxication Bar". How fitting. It also has a gym, a steam bath, a sauna, and a massage parlour, along with a swimming pool.

Well.. after the meeting, we realized that Stephanie had not been present, so we rickshawed over to her house to find her sleeping. Apparently, she'd gone to bed around 5:00am, and had slept the day (and the meeting) away. We woke her up and she's trying hard to make the trip money deadlines now.
We then ricked over to Heather's and chilled. Chelsea and Chloe (who's staying at Chelsea's tonight as Pratik [Heather's host brother] has exams.. that's why Chloe has been rotating through all of our houses) took me to get Natural's Ice Cream... it's amazing. And all-natural (duh!). Then I came back home and watched a Hindi soap opera with gramma and mama, had dinner by myself, and now I'm updating! By the way, I will have a bunch of goofy pictures up either tomorrow or the next day.. I have to get them off of Chelsea's camera.
Take care,
<3>

Technical Difficulties

2007-10-21T10:45:00.000-04:00

There's two announcements I must make: first of all, my sidebar seems to have dropped to the bottom of my page, and no html tweaking seems to fix this problem. If anyone has experience with this problem, could they please tell me how to solve it? Second of all, I would like to announce the commencement of my blog as usage for gaining a high school credit. That's right, this is the first post that actually provides gain for me: the deal with my principal was if I posted three times a week (minimum) then one high school credit would be awarded to me. Please, let me begin...
Happy Dussehra! I don't know the religious significance of this holiday (because Mama and Papa end up busting out in Hindi whenever they explain something to me) but I do know that people string garlands of leaves and orange flowers in their doorways, on their cars, on the rikshaws, and over some electronic devices. The lights for the holiday season of Diwali (like Christmas) have started appearing, and a smattering of fireworks can be heard every now and then...
Today, I set my alarm bright and early for 9:00am. Mama had asked if I'd like to attend a temple with her in the morning, and I was very eager. You see, I don't get many chances to go places with the family because each member is so busy with his/her job/school. After I showered and dressed in one of Chadni's light green kameezes (the salwar pants and dupatta were still at Heather's), I dozed in and out of sleep while I waited for Mama to return from vegetable shopping. Sunday marks three very important things in our household: veggie shopping, no work or school, and the arrival of TGIS (the Pune special-edition newspaper that comes once a week... AKA Thank God It's Sunday!) After breakfast with Mama and Papa of muelsi, cornflakes, and milk, Mama, Urvi, and I trekked out of the house in our salwar kameezes to Mama's brother's house, where we added Grandma and Uncle to our group. It turns out, to get to the temple, one must first go through a Jain Boy's Youth Hostel. As the boys stared on open-mouthed, Uncle joked that they were wondering "where this new Jain girl had come from and, by the way, just what is her name?"
In the temple (which was more like a classroom with a larger entryway), a very simple-looking idol sat cross-legged in the back, seemingly deep in thought. I watched mama get on her knees and place her forhead to the floor, but copied Urvi when she placed her palms together and looked on solemly. While they prayed to the idol, I took time to pray to God, thanking Him for a host family that was kind to me and who took many opportunities to teach me of Indian culture. The praying lasted around two minutes, and then Grandma opened up a tin of dry rice, almonds, rock sugar, and some nuts, and we cupped our right hands in our left hands, took the offering, and then placed it on a metal table in front of the god. When leaving, Mama took a toothpick of red substance, dotted it on each of our foreheads, and then sprinkled pink water on our scalps. Uncle noticed that Grandma was walking off without her shoes, and called after her to come get them. I asked Uncle if she was leaving her shoes as an offering to the god. He laughed and said that if everyone left their shoes for the god, they'd have to set up a peddler's stand and sell the shoes off to make money. Turns out, Grandma hadn't forgotten to put her shoes back on after all; she had left her shoes in the car.
On the ride home, I got a call from Heather asking me if I'd like to go see a movie at ESquare. Mama must have read my mind, because she told me to go see the movie (which started in 30 minutes), so I rushed around Americanizing and de-kameezing myself to get ready. 20 minutes and 34 rupees later, I was buying a cheese sandwich and paying Heather back for purchasing my ticket. The movie was alright (Rise of Taj), and we ended up at a small, lounge-like cafe on FC Road afterwards. I got naan with cheese. It was AMAZING. After that, we went to Heather's house, where I read magazines, Chloe read a novel, and Heather typed up random stuff. Chelsea joined us shortly, then Chelsea and I ran some errands and ended up at CCD (Cafe Coffee Day) for dinner of veg pizza and green apple soda. At home, Chelsea and I made random phone calls, texted random people, and talked over random problems. She just went home a half hour ago. Mama and Papa are out with other society parents, and I am here typing a blog entry on a blog that's ticking me off because it's not working properly. I'll put some of Heather's CDs on my computer, begin cleaning my room and contemplating what to bring to Bombay and Goa (we can wear whatever we want there), and then I might get some sleep. Might. You never know with these Indian inch-thick matresses and brick-pillows. G'night,
<3 Lauren

What's the Opposite of Progress?

2007-10-16T13:04:00.000-04:00

Answer: Congress! Don't you know the difference between pros and cons?

Haha, couldn't help myself, I made that one up this morning when I was wide awake around 4am. Why was I awake? Because I was sick... but let me get to that part.

On Saturday evening, I went to this special celebration called Dandiya. Basically, everyone gets SUPER dressed up, all decked out in jewelry and traditional Indian garb, and then dances with a pair of sticks, which they hit together and hit on everyone elses sticks. The dancing is intense, and the beat is hard to catch on to, but the look of elation on everyone's face is pretty much worth it. I even got a blister on my right palm... you know what they say; no pain, no gain.
On the drive home with David, Laura, and a rotarian, we talked about how Dandiya traditionally had religious tendencies, but has now turned into a more party-like atmosphere. We also discussed what Christmas is going to be like in India, and made plans to attend an English-speaking church on Christmas Eve.

On Sunday, I went over to my friend Stephanie's house and hung out with her and her cousin-brother Sid. (That's right dad, the same Sid from Grosse Pointe). We went out to Mocha, and once again, I got sick. Hence, I don't plan on going back there anytime soon. This sickness started with my spine feeling like it had turned to water, and then my whole body aching. Heather and I decided that a swim might be a good idea for my muscles, but after we got out of the water, I started shivering uncontrollably and I couldn't stand. She was staying the night that night, but I had become bedridden. To pass the time, we discussed how my funeral procession would go and how life would continue on for each of my friends and family members. Strangely enough, this was comforting. Unfortunately, my fever progressed into this horrible, hot-cold cycle, and I was begging Heather to kill me around 8pm, as my head was pounding, my back felt like it was being bruised by the bed, my throat hurt, and my lungs were tight.

I don't remember how much I slept that night.

In the morning, Mama dragged me to the doctor's office. I told her I couldn't sit in the chairs, or I would puke. I love her to death for finding me an operating table to sleep on until my name was called. Diagnosis? Throat infection. Sounds elementary, but those drugs worked. Yesterday passed in a blur...

This morning, I was feeling quite bit better and realized a good side to the sickness: I'd lost around 2 kilos in three days. The bad thing is, I had to miss my Hindi lessons, I still have to eat bland food, I will be missing a Rotary event tomorrow, and I am not allowed out of the house until Thursday.

That sums things up. My right hand is now asleep and tingly...

<3>

Give a girl some sticks...

Chelsea and I: the chicks with sticks.

Sid's "What did I do this time?" face.

The dreaded Mocha.. don't ask about the look on my face... or the stupid head-tilt.

On Holidays.. (Such As Today)

2007-10-12T04:21:00.000-04:00

I wake up at 12:30 in the afternoon.
I make myself brunch.
I take a shower around 1pm.
I lay in bed for 30 more minutes.
I get three phone calls: A) Is from Sid, telling me that bowling is cancelled tonight because he's grounded and I'm supposed to pass the news one. B) Is from Heather, who's trying to find a cheap place to print out college applications. She decides to try the school, even though it's probably closed due to the holiday. C) Is from Chelsea... she's making sure that I'm awake, and she's going to come over around 3:30 so we can do our Hindi homework together.
I write four emails: A) Is to my dad, on high school credits. B) Is to my mom, on high school credits, class rings, and prom. C) Is to my principal at Dundee, on high school credits. D) Is to Susan Mehregen, on high school credits, late emails, absent teachers, orphanages, and India in general.
I straighten my hair because I've decided there's nothing better to do with it.
I clean my room up.. a little.
Chelsea comes over like she says she would. We do our Hindi homework together and then rikshaw off through a seedy part of Pune to get to the ladie's house at which we take Hindi classes (more on Hindi to be posted later).
Chelsea and I rikshaw to the movie rental place, rent Ferris Buler's Day Off (definitely spelled that wrong) and watch it at my house, because I'm the only one with a DVD player.
Chelsea either spends the night or goes home.
I make two-three phone calls to various friends while writing in the margins of the newest Vogue. (And the first edition in India!)
I eat dinner around 10:00pm and go to bed around midnight-oneish..

That's all, folks... not much for today, but I will be sure to take lots of pictures tomorrow.. even thought it's the second half of my English exams..

<3>

So Yesterday...

2007-10-09T12:38:00.000-04:00

I woke up quite early, but took my sweet time getting ready. I rikshawed by myself (for the first time in weeks!) to the Idea! showroom to top up my phone. I'm burning minutes like Grammy burns rubber on a highway :P I ended up meeting Heather and Chelsea at Inox in the afternoon for a movie. The nice thing about Inox Theatres is that A) There's no annoying beeping noise throught the entire showing (unlike at ESquare) and B) The seats do a full 90 degree tilt. And Inox has better caramel corn :) And I must have had a lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it) outfit on yesterday, because a guy in front of Inox is like "you're looking cute! what's your name?" (response? "thanks, I'm going to get my friend now.. have a nice day") but I didn't stop to talk because that's weird and I had to get Chelsea before she was hit by a stray rikshaw. The guy beside me in the movie kept asking me all these questions like "Where are you from?" "Did she kill him yet?" "Do you watch Hindi movies?" and "How do you find India?" And then, when I'm waiting for Heather to get out of the bathroom, some other guy comes up to me, asks for my name, where I'm from, tells me a bit about himself, and then asks to take my picture! I swear, it must have been the heels..

After the movie, I went with Heather to pick up her parcel at the post office (alliteration, anyone?) and then I lugged it back to her house on my shoulder, IN HEELS! Before I continue, I must mention that I wanted to take a picture of the inside of the post office, so I just stood in front and snapped a pic. You have no idea what commotion ensued... men were jumping up and yelling things in Hindi. I though I was going to be arrested, or made to pay a fee, especially when one man came up to me and said "charge, charge!" It turns out, he wanted me to snap a pic of the postmaster, who is in charge of the post office! Gladly, I took his pictures, and then the whole post room cheered and clapped and yelled exuberantly. Heather had finished up by then, so I put my hands together and namasteyed myself out of there. In two minutes, I had become good friends with an entire post office. Beat that!
Once back at Heather's house, I was more excited to open her parcel then she was. Tearing it open, I discovered a BUCKET of Twizzlers, five shirts, various personal items, and some book by Bill Clinton (who actually reads that?) I tossed the offensive book aside and busted open the licorice. Needless to say, Heather was as pleased with her parcel as I was.
After that, we went to the Park but discovered something atrocious: trees had been cut down and obstructed the playground equiptment. I was so disappointed; I could barely swing!
That evening, I mostly read a magazine, talked on the phone, and caught Mama to say hi as she walked in the door after work.
This morning, I slept in until 10:30, when my phone started ringing. After getting ready, I met Heather and Stephanie at ESquare for ice cream, then I attended Hindi lessons (that's right, I'm LEARNING :) ) and then Chelsea and I picked up Faaso's (chicken wraps) and ate on the steps leading up to my house (which is strictly non-veg... I can't even bring non-veg in the house, so Mama laughs whenever she catches my friends and I sitting on the ground with plates and forks, eating chicken wraps or pepperoni pizza!) Other than that, we watched a movie in the TV room and then moved to my laptop when Mama wanted to watch her Marathi series. When Chelsea left, I sat with Mama and made up storylines and dialogue in my head to her series (as I only understand words like "bas", "chala", and "toda".

Now, I'm thinking about going to read and then go to bed.

Hope this satisfied your cultural cravings!

I'm out,

<3>

Heather, sitting in front of the depressing, tree-infested Park...

The mail-sorting room at the post office :) (my new buddies!)

October Heat

2007-10-07T12:32:00.000-04:00

Sounds like an alternative band, smells like garbage, and feels like you're halfway to Hell.
October heat.
And that's right, you're not out in the pool with lemonade in your right hand and Vogue in your left... you're wearing jeans and lots of layers to keep the rays from frying what little pigment you have. The ground is literally baking, which isn't the best after a rainy-season prelude. So, as I'm frying, and potholes are breaking into the roads, the roadside trash is decaying faster than ever. How's your walk to school?
No, it's really not that bad because October is the transitional month into a pleasant November and December.
The exchange students got a pleasant surprise this morning when we went to pick up our monthly allowance: an extras Rs1000. Apparently, the Rotary people didn't give us all the money back in July that we were allotted. So, we got bonuses :) (Or is it "bonusi"?)
After that, Chelsea, Heather, and I decided to go on a shopping spree.
Shopping Spree (Heather) verb: Walking briskly from mall to mall, urging the others that it's only "one more block ahead, guys."
Shopping Spree (Lauren) verb: The act of finding the cheapest item that still fits the general idea of "acceptable".
Shopping Spree (Chelsea) noun: No money left in wallet, ie. moth flutters out.
So... I went shopping, then stopped by Chelsea's to borrow a belt, then stopped by Heather's to drop off a shirt, then got picked up at the Skoda Showroom by Mama and Uncle and Grandma.
I went out to dinner and ate this strange paper-like bread with aloo paji. My stomach has been killing me, so I didn't have much to eat at all. Now, I must go work on a very important project that I have 4 days to complete. Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I just don't have the time.
<3 Lauren

A Night at the Haunted Hospital

2007-09-30T10:13:00.000-04:00

I just woke up.
It's 7:50pm...
So, yesterday, all of the exchange students went over to Charlotte of Belgium's house to celebrate her 18th birthday and Eleanor of the United State's 16th birthday. We were all dressed traditionally and ate jam and butter sandwiches, deep-fried potatoe stuff, wierd spicy cucumber and tomato and chilli chutney sandwiches, and black forest cake. But the strangest part of the evening came after the party...
Because Charlotte's house is on the other side of town, Chelsea, Laura, Heather, and I were told that we would be staying the night in Johnathan's mother's hospital. We ended up cramming four cots into the AC room and hanging out in there. Around 12:00, we got really hungry, so we went to the basement floor where a "Store" supposively was. Instead, we found the Pathology Lab, complete with saws and pliers lining the walls. It came straight out of a horror movie.
When we finally decided to go to sleep, there were these glowy moving dots on the ceiling AND a transformer blew up, causing the night guards to go crazy on their whistles. Laura is a heavy sleeper, but the rest of us made it to sleep around 4:00am. Johnathan's mother woke us up for breakfast at 8:00. Needless to say, we weren't too enthralled.
Heather left first. Chelsea and I took a rickshaw to her bungalow, and Laura continued on to her house from there. I helped Chelsea move a bunch of her stuff to her apartment, then we went back to my house, got in our PJs, rented two movies, and ordered pizza from Dominoe's (but forgot that non-veg isn't allowed in my house, so we had to eat it on the steps in front of the door lol). Then, we watched one of the movies and fell asleep around 3:30pm. We just woke up, no one is home, and I am about to give the computer over to Chelsea to check her mail. Have a nice evening.
<3

INDIA WINS!

2007-09-24T10:58:00.000-04:00

Can I hear a "heck yes" for India? They just won the first T-20 World Cup against Pakistan! I don't even understand cricket but I'm excited... and there's fireworks and crackers going off like bombs. Heather even saw a couple streakers :P

So, on Friday, Peekay got all of us Rotary students together to go see the beginning of the Pune Festival. The nice thing was that we all recieved VIP passes, got a VIP entrance, and got VIP seats. When we walked into the building, there was this line of women who put red stuff on our foreheads, rice in our hair, sashes around our necks, and garlands of flowers on us. I felt sort of like a US Ambassador mixed with the winner of a horse race. The Introduction of the Festival was nice, but a lot of it was in Marathi/Hindi. There was a very nice dance presentation at the end, which made sitting there for three hourse COMPLETELY worth it.
On Saturday, we went to the second part of the Pune Fest, which was a ballet with a very prominent dancer/actress playing a leading role. The ballet was gorgeous, except for the creepy male lead, who had too much makeup on and kept wiggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively during the dances. After the ballet, Peekay took Chelsea, Heather, and I out to dinner. It was funny... we got some weird looks... with it being an old guy constantly talking about his wife while three pretty exchange students listened to every word in a random restaurant.
Sunday, I went to a rotary meeting in the morning, which didn't address anything other than whether or not we were going to attend one of the trips in November. Only six people were interested, so I don't think that it's going to happen. After that, I went back to Heather's house and felt horrible, so I fell asleep and woke up a couple hours later. Heather dragged me to Chelsea's, then we went out to lunch/dinner/whatever. I had both of them over for a 'party' in the evening, and they spent the night. We ended up going to Mocha to hang out with Stephanie and Sid (who I hadn't saw since I was in Detroit) and then back home around 9:30.
This morning, we woke up and had breakfast at my house, then Heather and I went to her house so she could get ready, and Chelse went to hers. When Heather was in the shower, I wrote blonde jokes all over her newspaper (because blondes are the only ones who are allowed to tell blonde jokes!) But then I threw it in the garbage.. I should have kept it; it also had random formulas and facts written in the margins. (Okay, I went off on a major tangent here...)We met Chelsea and Stephanie at KFC, and then we went to E Square to see No Reservations, which was so NOT worth Rs100 ($2.50). It was quite plotless, though I will admit it was kind of cute.

Now, I have just finished eating and watching the cricket match on TV with mama and papa. I will probably surf around online some more, stretch and work out, then go to bed. I think I need to try to sleep more since I have barely been getting 5 hours each night. Ttyl,

<3>

P.S. I will have to upload the videos on YouTube because it took an hour for 9 MBs of a 62MB video to upload... sorry :(

Dancers... with whips.. yikes!

More of the dancers at the Pune Fest

Dancers wiht an idol.

I WAS A FOREIGN GUEST!

A demonstratoin of rickshaw hair.

Heather and Chelsea all decked out.

Me, all decked out :P

The aura of the dancers...

Bored, Lonely, Sleepy

2007-09-20T09:33:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Heather, Chelsea, and I attemped to go to school. Unfortunately, our professor didn't show up. Big surprise. Not to mention, most of the teachers have decided that the week before exams is their very own private vacation week... so they packed up their teacherly one-pieces, some juicy novels, and their families, and they have headed to Goa! (Or so I imagine...)
We hung around camp and then Heather and I went back to her house in the evening to attend a puja. I wore the red salwar, and Heather got this funny white one that was not meant for lime-green underclothes... the puja was the nicest that I have been to by far. It was much more personal and independent, with no singing or clapping or truckloads of family members (which I don't mind, but switching it up a bit is nice as well). Basically, you kneel on this square board, put some coloured powders on a bowl of flowers inside a small shrine-like thing, put some flowers on the bowl, and then put your right hand over your left to recieve spoilt milk and curds (kind of yoghurt-y tasting), which you drink, and this grainy brown stuff to eat. After, we recieved potatoe-filled pastries, spicy cornflakes, and gulab jamin, which is basically a very soggy small donut soaked in sugar-juice.
After the puja, Heather's host parents took us to a club (similar to a boat club) and we had and AMAZING dinner of tandoori chicken and naan/roti and Heather ordered a bowl of fruit and ice cream for dessert. I ended up spending the night at Heather's.
We woke up this morning around 9:30ish... I honestly cannot sleep at night. I wake up every hour on the hour. Not-so-well-rested, I got in the shower, hopped in Auntie's (Heather's mom's... if you are referring to a woman older than you, you call her Auntie.. a man is refered to as "Uncle") car, and she took us to Peekay's house (Peekay is our organizer for practically everything). We found out that the total cost of all the trips we will be taking up until May of next year is $2,500. So, if you'd like to donate to send Lauren on trips to Goa, Mumbai, South and North India, etc. I'm sure my parents would be more than happy :P
After Peekay's, a bunch of the exchange girls and I went over to Mocha. This is the weirdest part of my day... I performed first aide! Eleanor, a fellow American, smashed her toe on the step up to the table, and the next thing we knew, blood was pooling in her flip-flop, and she told me to check the steps because "I think I saw a piece of my toe over there!" Thank God, her toe was still intact, but I still mopped up her foot with napkins, used iodine to clean it, rolled gauze around it, used medical tape to hold the gauze in place, and then went upstairs to wash my hands afterwards like a good little paramedic's daughter.
After Mocha, I napped at Heather's house, and then I just got home to an empty, lonely house. There was nothing to do, so I updated. Oh yes, and I have also added another poll, so check it out.
Sorry for the lack of pictures,
<3 Lauren

Overcoming Cliche Titles (I Think That Statement Was Hypocritical...)

2007-09-17T10:36:00.000-04:00

I'm really sorry that this entry is completely boring and random, but why not get to know me first? All you ever hear about is India, so I included some random lists, a random survey, and random pictures I found on my computer.

Five Things I Miss About the United States
Feather Pillows and Foot-Thick Mattresses
Abundant Toilet Paper
Homework (that's right, I said it!)
Driving
Monster Energy Drinks

Five Things I Do Not Miss About the United States
High School Drama
Sky-High Prices
Living in A Sunroom with a Shower Curtain for a Door
Waking Up at 6:00am
Vegetable-Less Meals

Ten of the Greatest Songs Of All Time on My iTunes
"Bubbly" -Colbie Caillat
"Calling You" -Blue October
"Gasolina" -Daddy Yankee
"Definitely Maybe" -FM Static
"Look After You" -The Fray
"Find Me" -Lucerin Blue
"Hey There Delilah" -Plain White Ts
"Dancing for Rain" -Rise Against
"Truly, Madly, Deeply" -Savage Garden
"All the Same" -Sick Puppies

The Longest Survey Ever

~*basics*~

((full name))??:Lauren Harper
how old are you??:16
height??:5'8"
eye color??:Constantly changing... gray/green/blue
hair color??:Blonde
are you male or female??:Female
what grade ((if any)) are you in??:12th
tattoos ((if no, do you want one))??:I want one... but it wouldn't fly with my parents :P
peircings ((if none do you want some))??:7
heritage??:French/Irish/Cherokee/Scottish... the list goes on and on... let's just say AMERICAN.
religion??:Christian
cell phone service?Idea
hobbies?Writing, drawing, reading, walking around
job??:Student

~*School*~

what school do you go to??:Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce
what school DID you go to?Dundee High, Summit Academy, Max Paun
sports in school?Basketball
sports out of school?Tennis, swimming, soccer, volleyball
do you consider yourself a computer nerd?Absolutely.
do you consider youself a jock?Nope.
do you consider youself a popular person?Popular with my friends :P
did you ever work for the school newspaper?Nope.
did you drop out of school?Haha nawww :)
what do you want to do after you graduate??:Go to college
what do you want to major in?computer science.
what do you want to minor in?CRIMINAL JUSTICE! haha i don't really know...

~*favorites and why*~

movie??:The Italian Job
how about least favorite and why??:Marie Antoinette.. that was the most plot-less, ridiculous thing I have ever watched. I wanted to walk out of the theatre 10 minutes into the stupid thing. gaming system?the original nintendo... hello mario bros and duck hunter!
messenger service?yahoo
band??:Lucerin Blue
mail service?yahoo
season??:Summer
pie??:Apple
drink??:H2O
animal??:Chimpanzees
age??:23
grade??:8th
song??:You are not human if you can only pick one song.
instrument??:Piano
sport??:Tennis
tv show??: Smallville!
number??:17
search engine?:google
lollipop??:Strawberry
candy ((non-chocolate))??:Twizzlers
chocolate??:Dark (I like my coffee and my chocolate like I like my men, strong and black :P that one was for you, mom)
coffee concoction: double tall iced caramel machiato from STARBUCKS!
food??:Steak.. or strawberries.. can't decide
clothing store??:hollister.. and forever 21
color??:Green (they say geniuses pick green :P)
place to think??:The cemetary on Liedel in MI.
place to talk??:On my bed in my room in India
place to eat??:Any where with non-veg
place to be in general??:CEDAR POINT
time of the day??:11:11pm.. or 4:56am
government agency??:CIA

~*in my room*~

what color is your room??:White
how big??:Ehhh 20'x18'?
what size bed??:King
how many pillows??:2
((honestly)) do you still sleep with stuffed animals??:No
has this always been your room??:No, not until 2 months ago.
what's the most valuable possesion in there??:My diamond necklace from Gramma.
what's the most priceless??:Just a few papers...
what's the most cherished??:A combination of the previous two.
what colour do you wish you could paint it?black.. no im not goth, i just like dramatic paint
what's the most number of people you have had in there at once??:5
tell the truth... can you see the floor??:Absolutely.
if so what color is it??:Grey
is there carpet?no

~*what if*~

you could be a bird for a day where would you go??California!
you won the lottery??I'd keep 50%, give 30% to charity, tithe 10%, and then give the remaining 10% to whoever bought me the lottery ticket! i'm too young to buy one!
you could have any superpower ever, what would it be and why??:Stopping time and being able to walk around and do whatever!
the world were to end tomorrow, who would you confess your love to??:But the apocolypse isn't tomorrow, now is it?
you had 3 wishes... what would they be and why??:1. (Can't tell you.) 2. Worldwide Security 3. Banishment of all Stress...

~*who*~

can always make you smile?Ashley
have you been hanging out with lately?Heather and Chelsea
are your foreign friends?oh, gosh, too many... considering i live in a foreign country... well, laura, anna, johnathan, chelsea, munmun, pauline, peekay, ritika, urvi, valentine, vinaya, yixia, etc. etc.
bought you your most expensive gift?mum and dad.. or maybe grammy
do you miss??:Ash, Shelby, Elizabeth, Micah, Steph, the list goes on and on...
do you want to call, but are too scared??:If I told you, I might pee my pants from fear!
is your funniest friend??:Heather
goofiest??:Ashely
loudest??:Stephanie
most shy??:Sam
most political??:HEATHER
has the most morals??:Elizabeth
most animal/earth friendly??Shelby
do you think will really go places in life??:Heather
is obsessed with their work?Brad. lol
can you talk to about deep things??:ehhh, Elizabeth
do you want to say something to but can't and why??:I really can't tell you...

~*would you ever*~

eat your weight in jello??:Let's put a price on it: $5,000
play the guitar with your feet and then lick the strings??:$100
pretend you and 2 of your friends are the 3 stooges and go slap people??:$250
pretend to drown while being baptized??$50

~*in a boyfriend/girlfriend*~

what is the most important quality ((non-physical)):Integrity
the most important quality ((physically)):A nice face lol
hair?yes, please! unless they look good bald, like vin diesel :P
eyes?both intact.. lol
personality?well... semi-passive-aggressive with a hint of confrontation in dire situations :P
smoker?no
kleptomaniac?honey, where's my purse? LOL
body type?is this the part where i'm supposed to say pear/apple/hourglass/etc.?
what do you notice first ((physically)):The eyes
what do you notice first ((non-physically)):Their confidence
do you believe in soul mates?Yes.
do you believe in love at first sight??:No.
love after getting to know someone better??:Yes.
love at all??:Yes.

~*do you want to*~

get married??:Yes.
have kids ((if yes how many and what would youl name them))??:Yes, 3, and i think that i don't have full decision on what to call the kids.
have a career or stay at home??:Have a career, then stay at home with my kids and take care of the house... blah blah blah.
eat a pizza right now??:NO I JUST HAD SOME
be done with this quiz?I suppose so...

Sizing up to the marble statue at America's biggest mansion.

On a 4-wheeler at Aunt Kims... about to go cow-tipping :P just kidding.. you can only do that at night! hahaha

Special Edition One: Satara

2007-09-11T12:01:00.000-04:00

I would like to begin this entry with a couple of shout-outs:
Devon- Congratulations on making the football team! Stay away from the cheerleaders.
Shelby- I told you, high school is simply 4 hellish years of your life that you have to endure, so you can be brainwashed to look back and say "Those were the best years of my life!"
Roy- I know you keep your secret, confidential, for-your-eyes-only blog at http://reformedposer.blogspot.com/ .
Mom- I was just kidding about the comment I posted on the last entry... I know that you have motherly-intentions.. and starting a little bit of faux drama earned me a heck of a lot of comments :P
Okay, so Satara was absolutely lovely! Unfortunately, the bus trip up there was absolutely not. I went over to Chelsea's bungalow at around 8am, and her driver took Chelsea, Heather, and I to the bus station. Or attempted to. He pretty much dropped us off in the middle of the road near the bus station and burned out! Lol, but we managed to follow the trail of white people and make it to Platform 2. Our bus still had another hour before it left, so I played Chelsea's game boy and distributed pieces of granola bars to pass the time. The bus was NOT a private bus, so we crammed right in there with hordes of perfect strangers. Apparently, at some point in time, I fell into a convulsive sleep, complete with head-jerkings and arm-flailings. Heather laughed; the Belgium exchange students turned and stared. I woke up a bit embarassed... and I still have no idea what I was dreaming about!
We got to Satara right around 12 noon, and we were welcomed with flowers by the Rotary club of Satara. They also gave us juice boxes and itinerary... then we trekked through the mud and the rain to this shabby little hotel where we were told to "freshen up a bit." Basically, we ended up watching VH1 in two cramped, musty room and talked to people who spoke our own languages fluently.
In the evening, the Satara Rotary club put on a small show for us that should have been entitled "India's Dance-Off". Basically, around three kids put on their best moves in front of us exchange students and the Rotarians. By the end, everyone (ages 15-50) was up front dancing the Hokey-Poky.
Dinner that night was amazing. We had roti and rice and different pajis... followed up by (thank God) regular-style non-Indian ice cream! Unfortunately, for the rest of the week, we ate things that should not have been considered edible, let alone cooked in bulk.
We were assigned double to around ten different host families. My fellow room-sharer was Valentine, from France.
The next day, we visited a bunch of waterfalls and a dam. We had lunch at the dam. We played Chelsea's gameboy. Basically, there were a bunch of mountains, a bunch of waterfalls, a couple boat trips, and not enough good-night's-sleep.
Sunday, we went to a small village and waited like, three hours for the Rotary people to finish eating the (non-edible) food. We ended up having to wait for our boat, because it was late as well. Then, we missed our 5:00pm bus, so we had to wait for the next bus, which came at 7:00pm. It was around 10:00pm by the time we finally made it back to Pune. I kind of got homesick for Pune! It was hilarious!
Also we went to Parle-G factory on Sunday. Chelsea got sick so we got to sit in a back room and drink pop instead of learning the wonders of how cookies are packaged.
Heather stayed the night that night because her parents were out of town.
I went over to Heather's aunt's for a (steak and chicken!!! score!) dinner.
Heather spent the night that night, too.
Tuesday night, I stayed at my house and attempted to update my blog. It took wayyy too long to answer the five-hundred emails in my inbox, so sorry, mom, that's why it's finally getting done today...
Last night, I stayed over at Heather's.
Right now, Chelsea and Heather and I are debating what we are going to do today. Any suggestions?
<3 Lauren

A view from the mountains.

Me and Heather on one of the many boat rides.

A view by the dam.

Some children who put on a drum-and-pom pom show for us at their school.

The epitome of Satara.

Heather, me, and Chelsea at the cookie factory T+2 minutes before Chelsea got insanely light-headed.

Me, Heather, and Chelsea with (surprise!) flowers we were given at the school.

Ellie and me freaking out over our picture in the paper. If you look really closely, you will see that bin Laden also accompanies us on the front page :P

One member of the waterfall monkey family.

Heather and I at the waterfall... soaking wet was the style for the weekend.

Myriad of Madness (or "The Past Three Days")

2007-09-05T13:21:00.000-04:00

Monday. The word strikes fear into the heart of any school-going boy or girl. It calls for early alarms, treks to dirty, crowded hallways, and never-ending lectures. As I lay awake on my bed around 7:00am this Monday, I was wracking my mind for any excuse not to attend school. I had no place to go, nothing to buy, no one to see. Only one destination remained, and my entire being resisted against confining myself to another six hours at the local peninentiary. It's name?
Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce
Students so feared death-by-boredom, only one in five dared attend on a regular basis. Teachers even avoided the air-conditionless classrooms and endless construction by bunking right along with the rest of us. Eleventh standard students had it the worst: they trudged up five stories, found an empty classroom, sat, waited, would soon realize no teacher would come to preach about Newton or GDP or verbs, trudged back down the stairs, wait ten minutes, repeat.
As you can see, it only took me about five minutes of being past the Gates of Enlightenment (what Heather and I have christened the steel, menacing gates that open into the schoolgrounds), when I realized that a mental health day would have to be in order if I wished to preserve my life. Unfortunately, I was at a loss for an excuse to bunk. As I reached the top of the fifth floor, I was greated with a glowing Heather-smile.
"What?" I asked.
"It's Labour Day. We're American. American's don't go to school on Labour Day. Heck, we haven't gone to school on Labour Day for the past twelve years! Why start now?"
I was so happy, I could have kissed her. But I don't swing that way. Instead, I resorted to joining her in a dance of joy, followed by mindless time-consuming of snapping photos on the roof of the school (see below).
This Labour Day, Heather, Chelsea (exchange student from Canada), and I got the best of both worlds: no school, but all the shopping spots were still open! We went to Crosswords and bought novels and magazines, then went to Dominoes Pizza and pigged out on cheese pizza, twisty bread, cheese sauce, garlic cheesy bread, and Coke. After, we dropped Chelsea at her house, Heather came over to mine, we got bored, went over to Heather's, and we listened to music, talked, and defragged her computer. All in all, it was quite a peaceful evening.
The next morning, I woke up bright and early because the Rotary had planned a trip to the IT Park for all the exchange students. The unfortunate thing? Wearing of the blazer was required. I wish that every one of my friends and family could have been present to witness the expressions on my host parents faces when I slogged out my room, hair dripping, wearing a ten-pound blazer. Why, you may ask, is you blazer ten pounds? The pins. As a Rotary exchange student, I have adopted the obsession with pin-collecting, and it is virtually required to affix each and every pin aquired to my jacket. As I only place them on the front (so they won't rub off and fall when I sit down or lean against something), what results is a noose-like feeling whenever I wear the blazer for periods of time exceeding ten seconds. Not to mention, a heavy long-sleeved blazer and jeans isn't my outfit of choice for 84 degree weather...
The Rotary students met at Pyramid's on Senapati Bhapat right around 8am. We were all outfitted in toasty navy blazers... except one. Chelsea. Being Canadian, her blazer was bright red. Question of the day? "Can my new name be 'Devil's Panties?'" -Chelsea. If you have not watched Miss Congeniality, you won't get the joke.
We walked/bussed to three separate IT-related buildings. In each, the program was identical: give us a brief tour (while appologizing for not letting us in the "top secret" rooms... "Company secrets, you know... can't let it get out to our customers that we're letting groups of teens mess with their products!"), a long sit-down in a board room (complete with water bottles and biscuits), a powerpoint, tea, another walk, some more tea. Repeat 3x.
In one of these sit-down board room discussions, an American girl named Stephanie was asked "How are you finding India?" by one of the senior Rotary members. Her response? "Well, the plane dropped me off here, so I didn't really have to look far." The rest of us Americans made a unanimous decision to revoke Stephanie's American citizenship and send her to Bermuda. She will be less dangerous to international relations there.
The funniest scene was at the last building in the IT park, when a woman had a small plate of bananas and a jug of water. All of the exchange students were sitting at a long rectangular table, eyes on the woman. She set the plate of fruit in the center of the table, then turned to leave. By the time she was two steps away, she turned around as if to say something, and then stared wide-eyed at us exchange students. The fruit was gone. A single solitary chunk of apple was left in it's place, but one of the German boys quickly used it to scoop up a squirt of ketchup and popped it in his mouth. The woman asked us if we would like some biscuits, and we quickly agreed. Overall, we consumed around five plates of biscuits, four bags of chips, three plates of fruit, and a half-glass of water (no one could figure out if it was contaminated or not, and Heather's water-wand wasn't working properly.)
On the bus ride home, we played card games with vulgar names and sang The Wheels on the Bus in German, French, and English. I was dropped off at my house, but ended up at Heather's later. Her mom invited me to go to a puja that celebrated the birth of Krishna (a very prominant Hindu god). The Krishna was at 11:00pm, so I went out to dinner with Heather, her mom, and her dad. We ate something called pow paji (definitely spelled wrong), which is like a chili-salsa mix which you scoop up with dinner rolls. On the way home, we witnessed what is called a "dahi handi", where a human pyramid is created and a person climbs up the pyramid to break open this basket thing suspended high on the air with a wire. I didn't really get it, but Heather's papa told us that many people break their legs while attempting that feat. Also, there were numerous eardrum-bursting street parties, where scores of teen guys were stripping their shirts off and dancing under showers of water like they were on drugs or something. It was the most insane thing I have saw since I've been here.
Once back home, Heather and I changed into traditional Indian-wear for the puja. Her mom gave us bindis to wear.. I guess they were required for the style of clothing. Heather's uncle and cousin-brother picked us up to take us to her aunt's house. The puja was very lovely and peaceful. Even though I had no idea what was going on, it was still interesting watching what everyone else was doing and clapping along when the traditional songs were sung. (That's right, I just used "interesting" as my word of choice :P) At one point during the singing, I turned over to Heather and asked, "So, does this mean we are singing Krishna-carols?"
I talked Heather through the milk-drinking portion of the puja, and she talked me through the fried-veggie portion of the breaking-of-fast. We made it back to her house around 1:30am, and I spent the night.
This morning, I got up for good around 11:30am, went with Heather back to my house, got ready, and then actually prepared myself to attend school for the first time this week. When we got there, no one was around. The explanation? It was Teacher-Day! All the teachers bunked and went out to party (or so I assume). So I spend the day in Nucleus Mall in Camp, window-shopping and eating at KFC (heck YES! I will never take meat for granted again!) After, we went back to my house and hung out, uploaded pictures, and wrote some, er, prose. Lol. I walked Heather to the corner, Mama got home, we ate dinner, went out for ice-cream (BASKIN ROBINS! I think that it's possible to get a Baskin Robins belly, just like a beer belly. Thank God I have a gym in my society...)
Now, I have finished what may possibly be my longest post to-date. I hope you enjoyed. A million pictures are featured below. By the way, a new poll will be placed in the side-bar by Sunday. Please take a moment to check out the results from the last one, and wonder aloud why so many darn people want to live in the USA? There are so many more cultured and beautiful places! Oh well, they say change never comes without a fight... goodnight my sweet readers!

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This pic was of Chelsea, me, and Heather, and it was at the puja sponsored by the Rotary, which was mentioned about two entries ago.

Heather, me, and the million-pound blazer (that's right, percieved weight increases proportionately to time passed :P)

Pyramid's: The Meeting Point

Me and Chelsea passing time on the roof of the school on Labour Day.

The building behind our school. It's pretty, that's why it's on here.

A view from Heather's roof.. it's lovely up there.

Another view from the good ol' roof.

Real mendhi on Heather's hand.... this stuff smells horrible!

Cows at the lake house (see previous entries...)

La Guerre des Blogs!

2007-09-03T12:29:00.000-04:00

Bonjour chacun ! J'ai décidé de mélanger des choses vers le haut et d'écrire mon entrée entière en français. Malheureusement, la plupart d'entre toi ne comprend pas le français, ainsi il sera le plus difficile que vous comprenniez cette entrée. Fondamentalement, je veux déclarer la guerre des blogs contre Heather. Cette guerre commencera à huit en soirée demain, et continue pour la durée du mois. Se sentir libre pour me donner plus de commentaires qu'elle. Je sais que je suis aimé beaucoup davantage qu'elle est ! Et si vous utilisiez un traducteur pour cette entrée, je suis très désolé… là suis probablement mille contextes et erreurs grammaticales. Mais toujours, n'êtes-vous pas fier que je peux parler la moitié française décemment ?

:)

2007-09-02T09:49:00.000-04:00

Today, I sent out my monthly report to the Rotary Club of Monroe and to my District Supervisor. I'd tell you what it said, but it holds things too top-secret and government-restricted to share in the pixels of this modest and wholesome blog.
Just kidding.
Yesterday, I went out with my host-sister, my host-sister's cousin, three of my host-sister's cousin's friends, my host-sister's cousin's cousin, two of my host-sister's cousin's cousin's friends, and Heather. Never have I recieved so many blisters on my feet, but I suppose the envious looks I got for my AE patent peep-toed kitten heels were worth it. Plus, I was wearing actual shoes (not "slippers", which are the Indian equivalent to "flip-flops". You have no idea how I have had to fight for the dignity of my flip-flops, warding off sarcastic comments from Heather's host-brother and my Indian school-friends. I love my flip-flops *tears up with joy* Even if they are broken and have been duct-taped in three places.)
Okay, I just realized how much of a blonde that last paragraph made me sound. Sort of like Jessica Simpson mixed with a Macy's commercial...
Anyway, we got home quite late, and Heather ate my toast. :(
Today, I attended a Rotary meeting where I was given Rs2000 and I paid for my trips to Satara and the IT Park in Pune (which is on Tuesday). After the meeting, I went to Heather's house, took a nap, then went with her family to their lake house, which has an incredible view from the terrace on the roof. I think I need to beg to go back there so I can bust out my pencils and drawing paper.
Oh, and mom and dad: I know what I want for my birthday.
I don't believe that I have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but these recent posts sure make me sound like I do. I appologize, and I promise I will have more constructive, organized posts in the week to come. I'm pretty sleepy, and I'm sure y'all are feeling the same while reading this sad excuse for an entry. I just wanted to say thanks so much for all of your comments. I know who's got my back :)
<3 Lauren

Champagne for My Real Friends, Real Pain for My Sham Friends

2007-08-29T12:47:00.000-04:00

The following were considered for use in this post's title:

Half the Comments On My Last Post Were From Myself

I'd Consider Joining Facebook but I'm Afraid of Who I'd Find There...

I Bought My Sister Gucci and All I Got Was One Measly Comment

Today Saw Me Write My First Poem In Months (and I'm Not Sharing It)

Me: "It's Raining." Heather: "Duh."

My Psych Teacher Is Out to Fail the Class

There Is No 'Satara' in the Lonely Planet Guide (and They Claim That Every City Worth Going to Is Featured Inside... I'm Going to Satara in a Week. Does This Mean It's Not Worth Going To? Does It Really Only Have a Hill and Some Goats?)

The Only Thing I Miss from America is a Bed Not Made Of Lead (and Pillows Not Constructed of Steel)

But then I effectively plagiarized off of Fall Out Boy and used the title from one of their songs as a header for my blog post. If you don't get it, don't worry... Heather does.
I'm going to a party with Munmun on the first. It's at a disc(o). I added the 'o' for us Americans... Indians simply call them "discs". I always thought a disc was compact and could be burned and played, but I get the feeling that burning down an Indian disc would simply get you some serious arson charges and not the acoustic rendition of "Grand Theft Autumn".
I'm kind of tired, but not bored enough to sleep (though, if you asked me earlier, I would have stated the exact opposite...)
I still can't believe I caved in and posted AGAIN when all I got was four comments on my last post, and two of them were FROM ME!
I wish my school were more organized and less egotistical.
This sentence is the first one out of five that doesn't start with the word "I". I must be feeling selfish tonight? (There I go again...)
There's a picture of the road to Heather's from today. I rented a boat and paddled home. At least it was cheaper than a rickshaw.
If you really believed that, then you will also believe that the word "gullible" isn't in the dictionary.
And if you just went to look up the word "gullible" to make sure it was there, you are doubly susceptable.

Okay, now I'm bored, but not tired enought to sleep.

Sorry for rambling.

<3 Lauren

Happy Raksha Bandhan!

2007-08-28T07:47:00.000-04:00

My small (but prided, nonetheless) Hindi and Marathi vocabulary:

Puja: Prayer. (poo-juh)

Hamesha: Always. (hah-may-shuh)

Namaste/Namaskar: Hello. (nah-muh-stay/nah-muh-scar)

Aloo: Potatoe (ah-loo)

Dal: A versatile soup-like substance, usually scooped up with chapati or other bread. (dahl)

Chapati: Indian flatbread. (chuh-pah-tee)

Ghee: Indian butter (ew). (rhymes with "tea")

Aloo+Tiki: poison.

So, today is Raksha Bandhan (rahk-shah-bahn-dahn), which is the holiday for brothers. Basically, the sister ties a Rakhi (bracelet made of coloured string and a couple beads) around her brother's wrist, and does a few ceremonial preps. Let me describe my horrible butchering of this otherwise heartwarming event...
Yesterday, I went over to my aunt and uncle's house to tie a rahki on Yash (my cousin... cousins are regarded as brothers as well here). I watched Urvi do her part, and then it came to be my turn. First, you stick your thumb in this dish of red sticky stuff and smear it in a line on the guy's forehead. Then, you take one grain of rice and put it in the sticky stuff on his forehead and throw the other grain in his hair (I was trying not to laugh, especially when my aunt told me to "just chuck it at his face") Next, you take a pinch of sugar and throw it in your brother's mouth. I got sugar all over his face! And on his shirt! It was a mess lol. Finally, you take a tray of candles and move them in a circular motion in front of your brother. This is the part where I almost caught his hair on fire.. lol he actually flinched! I wasn't that close to his face! Then, you get to tie the rakhi, but by this time, my hands were shaking so hard I could barely get the knot to go and everyone was laughing. I don't think I have been embarassed that badly since I've been here...
Today, I attended a puja for some rotarian's wedding anniversary. We had breakfast of this congealed vegetable grit-substance (not a fan) and lunch of the most amazing roti and aloo paji and gulab jamun (small donut-ball-things in sugar syrup). There was also this mint chutni stuff that was nice with chapati. After breakfast (but before lunch,) there was the actual puja, and the Rotarian hosting it explained what was going on/being said (his marriage was being blessed.) A priest chanted for about and hour or so, and then we clapped for 15 minutes and through the whole thing, flowers and coloured powders were being put on an idol. Almost all the female exchange students wore salwar kameezes, and I had gone over to Heather's in the morning so her and I could wear Chandni's (Heather's host-sister's) salwars.
Tonight, I will have to tie another rakhi for my cousin Jay. Apparently, he's really excited. It should be better than last time. I'll put up today's pix later (later tonight, hopefully). Take care,

<3>

Heather and I in salwars at the puja.

The celebrated wife and child.

Laura and Ana are the exchange student from Germany (far left). The two on the right are Charlotte (in pink) from Belgium and Pauline (in white) from France. I can't remember the name of the girl in the middle, but she is from Germany and doesn't go to my school. I believe she lives in Satara.

The frosted window where the puja was held.

The puja ceremony itself.

To Appease My Mother...

2007-08-22T13:18:00.000-04:00

Dear Mom,

You have been driving me up a wall! So, I must appease you with a very long blog-post, so you can "laugh and get strange looks from the dogs."

Today, as I was browsing through the Sunday paper (don't ask why the Sunday paper is still on our coffee table... this is a mystery even I am not keen on solving,) I came across the Indian equivalent of Dating Ads... MATRIMONIALS! That's right, every weekend, hundreds of Indian men and women put their own ad in the paper in hopes of finding not a boyfriend or girlfriend, but a husband or wife. Most sounded something like this:

"WANTED: Tall, fair, educated woman willing to travel to US. Match for 45+ male, Jain, veg, likes reading, has a BA in Bsns Mngmnt. Call 555-3432 if interested, email at iamadesperateman@yahoo.com."

I couldn't help but want to pencil in the word "blonde" by each of the "tall, fair, educated" sections and put an arrow pointing to my picture. Every one posted by a man sounded like he wanted a smart Paris Hilton to cook and clean for him as he studied in the US. It was quite interesting.

On a different note, I have a test in psychology tomorrow. Let me rephrase that: I AM DOING WORK IN PSYCHOLOGY TOMORROW! WE HAVE A TEST!! I'm very excited, as this will be the first work assigned since the beginning of the school year. Oh, and our unit tests will take place the first week of September. I'm a bit worried, because these tests account for a lot, and I will be taking my first trip (Satara) around that time. If I can't take exams early, then I'm bunking the trip because, frankly, my credits are wayyy more important.

Mama took Urvi and I out for ice cream this evening. We went to (AMERICAN JOY AND COMFORT!) Baskin Robins. Oh, and I found out today that there is a *gasp* Burger King in Pune! How odd... and there's also a Best Western Hotel.

As credit to my best friend in India, Heather, I shall steal one of her ideas: the approximate cost of things in India (in Rupees and Dollars) so y'all can compare them to the things in the US:

1) 7 kilometre (4.35 mile... AKA the ride to Symbiosis College from my house): Rs44 = $1.10

2) An amazing 12oz chocolate brownie-truffle-ice cream concoction at Mocha (one of the nicer coffee shops): Rs100 = $2.50

3) One gallon of petrol: Rs152 = $3.80

4) A decent shirt from Pyramid's (like Kohls): Rs400 = $10.00

5) A one-and-a-half hour massage from Heather's host mom's masseuse: Rs90 = $2.25

6) One litre of water from the school canteen: Rs15 = $0.38

7) A four-stick Kit Kat Bar: Rs10 = $0.25

Okay, I can't think of much else now, but I will add more of these later because I think they are very interesting. (By the way, I used the exchange rate of 40 Rupees to the USD; this is incorrect, because today's rate is 40.69 Rupees to the USD, but as the exchange rate continuously fluctuates, 40 is usually a safe bet.)

Well, Heather and I have been counting the peeing men that we see (trust me, there's enough to keep count by), and I am pleased to inform you that we have reached the Golden Jubilee Number of fifty! Once we hit 100, we want a party. Unfortunately, we don't know what to call this party, as the "Peeing Men Party" might give the wrong idea.

Okay kids, I'll write more later. Thanks for keeping in tune,

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This is directly outside the window by my bed. Here, the firball came from. Oh yeah, and I have a direct view into the apartments across! It's kind of creepy... like a scene from Disturbia!

My kitchen is connected to my living room... :P

Okay, So I Lied About Lots of Pictures

2007-08-21T08:22:00.000-04:00

Blogger isn't letting me upload my pictures.
Blame it on Blogger.
Maybe some more posts will appear soon, or maybe Blogger will prevent me from doing that as well.
Please send your condolences and lots of flowers (I like roses... red ones... lol).
<3 Lauren

Les Voyages...

2007-08-16T12:15:00.000-04:00

September

Trip to Satara (7th-9th): Approx cost = Rs1250 (USD$31.25) all-inclusive.

December

Trip to Mumbai (1st-4th): Approx cost = Rs2000 (USD$50.00) all-inclusive.

January

Trip to Aurangabad (3rd-6th): Approx cost = Rs1500 (USD$37.50) all-inclusive.
Trip to Hyderabad for Rotary District Conference (24th-26th): Approx cost = Rs5000 (district may contribute towards this expense) (USD$125)

February

South India Tour (Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mysore, Ooty, Kanyakumari, Trivendrum, Kerala Back Waters, Goa) (Jan. 26th-Feb. 8th/9th): Approx cost = (to be worked out with Tour operator)

March

Trip to Mahabaleswar (7th-9th): Approx cost = Rs1250 (USD$31.25) all-inclusive
North India Tour (Rajasthan, Delhi, Agra, Haridwar, Rishikesh) (2nd week of March to end of March): Approx cost = (to be worked out with Tour operator)

Oky doky kids, that's the most of it. I have decided not to mpost the photos on here today because I will have more to post tomorrow. I hope this information was helpful. You will have pix again tomorrow, be patient. G'night, Western World.

I Have Committed a Hindu Sin!

2007-08-15T13:48:00.000-04:00

First of all, the updates on my trips and when/where I will be taking them will be on here tomorrow. Along with some new photos. Unfortunately, I am very tired and don't feel like going downstairs to get the power cord, so I'm running stricty off battery.
Yesterday
I was in class for two hours, and then Heather and I were picked up by her host borhter, Pratik, and drove into the a nice little restaurant in the centre of town. What the quaint city of Pujne does not know (actually, they probably do) is that this cute little restaurant is a sin-centre... that's right... IT SELLS STEAK! And I ate it! Muahaha! And it was the best dang steak I had in my life (maybe because I've gone a whole month without it.. but you get my point!)
Afterwards, we went to E Square and saw the Simpsons Movie. THe funniest thing was that the movie was so full of American political humour, but Heather and I were the only ones laughing... the rest of the Indian audience was completely clueless as to why "Springfield is bordered by Arizona, Indiana, New Jersey, and Washington" was so funny.
Afterwards, I was taken home. Then I ate and slept. Amazing, no?
Today
Happy India-pendance Day! Like my greeting? I watched the flag hoisting (in the sun... I could practically feel my flesh peeling off of me) this morning, then I had a completely uneventful day, other than the quick trip to a Reebok Outlet. Yep, India-endance Day doesn't revolve around deafening fireworks or drunken bar-b-ques... kind of differnt, but quiet.
Goodnight, sweet readers,
<3 Lauren

Cheerio! (A Bit of Britain Was Left In India...)

2007-08-13T12:02:00.000-04:00

May I introduce my never-daft, slightly dotty bit-of-fluff British penmate, Ol' Bean. She enjoys cigars of the finest quality, hand-wrapped and full-bouquet. She's fond of sending Zinfandel care packages, though rum and ale are also choice. A nice pot of bubble-an'-squeak with biscuits for afters is her favourite meal. She enjoys crisps and chips with catsup. For work, she takes the tube to the bobby station with her beastly new dashhound, whom she has yet to name. Her private jet costs a bomb, and combined with petrol prices, it's quite atrocious... a thousand quids a litre! Though brill, she has the tendency to become cheeky with her mother. Sometimes, she has a kip in front of the telly on Saturday after-noons. And here she is:

Well, Bob's your uncle!

<3 Lauren

Diving for Rupees

2007-08-12T03:32:00.000-04:00

Friday- Heather and I went to Psychology and Economics classes, then walked around Pune, shopping. It was a lot of fun, until it started raining and we ran to the nearest Pizza Hut. Turns out, Pizza Hut is the most delicious pizza joint in all of Pune. Seriously, it was like we were in a four-star restaurant or something. (A four-star restaurant with lots of American rap in the background... I munched breadsticks to Beautiful Girls and Baby Got Back.)
Afterwards, we were going to go to a club, but the nearest only opened at night (and I can't be out unaccompanied at night... plus, all of the clubs have bad reps at night.) and the farthest was, well... too far.
So, we did what all normal American girls do- we hitched a rikshaw back to Heathers, grabbed a couple bathing suits, and got an infinite amount of stares as we jumped into the Society's pool and played "Dive for the Rupee." Afterwards, we hung around the house until dinner (which was amazing). That night, we checked our mail and used my laptop as an in-home movie theatre.
Saturday- Woke up at 6, got ready, poked Heather in the elbow until she got up at 7. Drove to a Rotary Oriention in the centre of the city. We learned that we will be taking many small trips and two two-week-long trips. I will post on those this week.
After the orientation, I asked to go to college, so Mama drove me to Symbiosis. On the way, we were drastically slowed by a cow who had decided to walk in the exact centre of the road, exactly in front of us. That lasted about five laughable minutes. When I got to school, I was told that there was only going to be one class at 4:15. It was 1:00. I did the smart thing and went back home. Turns out, Urvi was going out with our Society friends to Funky's (that crazy bowling alley I posted on earlier), and I was invited to join. This time, I bowled a 91 (the best score in my life by 19pts! and the second best out of the group of six of us.) much to Rashab's delight (we were competing the whole time; he won with a 93.) The boys really didn't want a girl to beat them, so they would scream whenever I was about to bowl. I will attribute that to my heartbreaking defeat (by only one! haha).
We also went in the haunted house (did I comment on how lame that was in my last post?) and we all agreed it was a complete waste of 100 rupees (USD$2.50). But it was still a lot of fun hanging out with everyone.
When we came back, I realised that one of my piercings was getting a bit infected, so I asked for some rubbing alcohol. Urvi said "We don't have alcohol, but does any of this work?" And then she opened up a cupboard that held the contents of the Kroger Liquor Section. I found one with the highes alcohol content (Absolut, I think it was.. at 43%) and then I used vodka as rubbing alcohol. The weird thing was, it worked, and I'm healing up nicely.
That evening, we went out to dinner at Ritika's house. That thing is gorgeous, literally a mansion, and her family is so incredibly nice. They even let my sleep on the couch for an hour in between courses (courses were about 3 hours apart.. it was the longest dinner I have ever eaten in my life!). I texted Heather a couple times (and apparently, she has found a store that sells STEAK!) We got home around 1am.
Sunday- Woke up at 11. Went with Urvi to get advance tickets to the 4:15 showing of Rush Hour 3. We're going with the whole family. So, mom and dad, your phone call might be at 10am EST instead of 9am EST. That's about all I'm going to do today... besides burn a couple CDs to my comp and clean up my room a bit. G'day to y'all!
<3 Lauren

Dear Shelby...

2007-08-09T12:48:00.000-04:00

Well, I think you are greatly going to enjoy your gift(s). First of all, I got what you asked for. And a set to go with it. And then I found something that I had wanted to buy for you in the US (it was valued at USD$650), and I ended up getting it for USD$12.50. Don't die when you open your package(s). I will be sending them within this next week.

<3 Your (amazing, wonderful, fantastic, Shelby-spoiling) Sister, Lauren

Phone Call From A Stranger

2007-08-08T12:53:00.000-04:00

(The scene is set in a comfortable Indian home in the large town of Pune. The camera pans across the living room, which is all marble floors and stiff fainting couches. The television is turned on low, and a goofy Hindi film is flickering through the screen. Lauren, our victim, is sprawled across the closest couch, while Urvi, her host sister, is speaking on the cell phone to a friend. Suddenly, Urvi glances over at Lauren.)
Urvi: (With a smirk...) "Lauren, here's the phone. Someone wants to talk to you."
Lauren: "Hello?"
Strange Male Voice: "Hello... Lauren? This is..." (The phone cuts out here.)
Lauren: "What?"
SMV: "Look, before you say no, I just was wondering what you were doing on Sunday."
Lauren: "Nothing that I can think of. Why?"
SMV: "Well, I really wanted you to go to the club with me. I'd ask Urvi to go, but she can't dance."
Lauren: "So how do you know that I can dance?"
SMV: "Urvi told me."
Lauren: "Urvi told you, huh?" (Glances over at Urvi. She raises her eyebrow and mouths "I didn't say anything.")
SMV: "Yeah. So will you please go?"
Lauren: "I don't know. Let me ask my host parents." (By now, she has already made up her mind that this guy is freaky and she doesn't want to even meet him.)
SMV: "No, don't worry about it. I will call them up myself and ask them. So will you go?"
Lauren: "Um, I don't think I can." (By now, just wants to get him as far away as possible.)
SMV: "Please? (Lauren begins to protest...) Please? Please, please, please? I will do anything, I promise. Please, just go with me. Please?"
Lauren: "Okay, you need to stop sounding so desperate." (Hands phone back to Urvi.)
(Curtain falls. Lauren looks confused, and asks Urvi to please tell whoever that crazy teen guy was that Lauren died and won't be able to go out with him after all.)

Fragments of the Past Few Days

2007-08-05T12:06:00.000-04:00

Friday Afternoon: We celebrated Parag's b-day at the Swiss Cheese Graden. I had cheese fondue for the first time in my life, and it was amazing. I used an Indian toilet for the first time as well, and from my host-sister's reaction, I must have used it all wrong. That's all the information that I'm giving you.

Friday Night: I was a bit freaked out about the Grudge still, so I opened the windows in my room and stared out into the night, searching for light. Just as I was about to drift off, a bomb dropped on Pune and a giant fireball formed DIRECTLY outside my window. The walls shook. I was freaking out. I ran up the stairs, yelling "Mama, Mama, there's a bomb that's been dropped. Why would they want to bomb Pune?" She laughed at me and said "That wasn't a bomb, it was the transformer exploding because of the rain. It's the second time this month." So yeah, I really thought it was a bomb. But there was a fireball. Needless, to say, I spent the night sharing Urvi's bed. I was terrified that Fireball Returns would be showing on my wall that evening.

Saturdy: When I got to Pune, I couldn't figure out why everyone asked me if I had done hookah before. For those of you who don't know, the American version of hookah is fruit-flavored tobacco and water smoked through a hookah pipe. Well, the Indian version is safe, legal, and doens't involve drugs. Or lung cancer. It's just water with flavoring, and the water gets vaporized by coals, and then you suck in the vapor to taste the flavor. It sounds so werid. But apparently it's the thing to do in India, like hanging out at the mall or drinking a coffee. Anyhow, some friends and I went to a very nice, upscale coffee place called Mocha, and one of them ordered a lime-orange-flavored hookah, and basically it feels like you're breathing deeply after getting out of a shower but tastes like eating an orange. And the nice thing is there is absolutely no affect on the body. For you dorks out there, no, you do not get a high, and no, you do not get a buzz. Try getting high in your bathroom off the vapor from a hot shower and then get back to me, okay?

Afterwards, I went to this amazing Chinese restaurant with my host family, and had amazing amazing fried prawns. That sounds so gross, but it was soooo good. Yeah, and I have a pic of me eating with a ladle for a spoon. Those soup spoons are like boats!

Sunday: Woke up at 7:30 to go to a Rotary Meeting. And then I met these German guys there and I kept talking to them just so I could listen to their accents. I am so obsessed with the German accent, it's not even funny. I think it's the coolest sounding thing in the world. I also found out that there's a very nice workout facility in our society, so I'm going to be working out every moring before school. Oh yeah, and today's Friendship day, which is like Valentine's day for your friends. So, happy Friendship day, everyone.

My friends and Urvi and I went out to this crazy bowling-dancing-arcade place. It's amazing. And I bowled a 50. I like to think of it as an honorary tribute to the States, not condemning evidence that everyone who breathes bowls a better score than I.

Monday: Worked out before school (told ya so). Only two teachers showed up, so I walked to Mocha with my friend Heather and we split something chocolate. It was amazing. Oh, and apparently Friendship day carried over to today. And two guys asked me out. And one was like 20 years old going to this prestigious Medical College next door. And I was trying to figure out why he was preying on young, innocent teenage foreign exchange students, but I guess I already know. Oh, and I have enough friendship bracelets to kill a cow (okay, you had to laugh at that.)

Monday Evening: We went out to Baskin Robins. Oh the joy of American comfort!

<3 Lauren

Some mendi that Isha drew on my hand with a ballpoint before class.

Isha is the one on the left. This is the day that every one of my friends wore a Salwar to school.

Me in my Salwar Kameeze on Friday.

Taken at Swiss Cheese Garden. (From the left, going back, and then from the right, going back): Parag (leaning out of view), Ashish, Ananya, Urvi (not my host sister), Amand, Me, Urvi, and Rashib.

Urvi and I at Swiss Cheese Garden.

Ashish behind Parag (with cake smeared all over his face).

The crazy bowling alley place we went to... it was HUGE!

A very creative way of spelling "Lauren". Apparently I am akin to hairstyling products.

The atmosphere of the bowling alley.

Quite possible the cutest pic I've taken since I've got here.

A List of Common Nightmares

2007-08-04T14:28:00.000-04:00

Okay, this isn't like a normal update. First of all, I am asleep. It is wayyy too late for me to be on the computer, and I still have to check my MSN mail. But I can assure you, my next post will be very interesting (hint: a strange mix of Swiss Cheese Garden, hookah, and fireballs.) But here, for your enjoyment, a list of the nightmares (due to the Doxycycline) I have endured:
1. A car with infinite acceleration and no brakes on a road with infinite obstacles and no end.
2. The deaths of my grandparents.
3. Being burned alive.
4. Being chased around a newly-built church building by none other than Voldemort himself.
5. The Grudge Girl in the toilets of my school, trying to hug me.
6. One of my best friends admitting that they actually hate my guts, then proceeding to climb Mt. Rushmore without proper cables and dying.
7. Myself contracting a parasite and the painful extraction process that follows (think Matrix).

Oh yeah, and the stupid pill does NOT help with acne. I never had an acne problem before, but now that I'm on it, I'm forced to curb off oncoming breakouts left and right!
Lol I'm done complaining. I really do miss y'all.

<3 Lauren

P.S. Lots of pix tomorrow.

Today's Two-For-One Special

2007-08-02T12:22:00.000-04:00

"Two posts combined into a space-saving-single!"

Wednesday:

Today was Symbiosis College of Art and Commerce's 25 Silver Jubilee Celebratory Event. Say that four times fast. I got to the college at around 10:30, all classes had been cancelled, and Isha, a girl in my class, was waiting with her friends for me and my fellow exchange student (and rikshaw ride-along) Heather. We watched the balloon-releasing ceremony, then were hearded past a giant statue of "The Common Man" (who keenly resembles the spawn of Yoda and Albert Einstein) into the Auditorium. Unfortunately, on my way down some stairs, I slipped in a puddle of water (WHY IS EVERYTHING HERE MARBLE? DO THEY NOT KNOW THAT STEPS BECOME DEATH TRAPS IN MONSOON SEASON?) and landed on my back down the last five steps. I heard gasps emit from the entirety of the Symbi students behind me. The force of my fall had knocked the air out of me, but I played cool and stumbled over to a pillar, leaning against it and waiting for the pain to stop shooting down my spine and the oxygen to fill my lungs once more. I didn't cry.

The "Celebration" was actually this four-hour long event of award presentations and long-winded speeches. Heather and I had made plans around one that afternoon, so we crept out of the auditorium during one of the (infinite) standing ovations.

Heather and I hitched a rikshaw to FC Road so she could get some passport photos, and then we warded off beggars as we walked to a well-known restaurant, where Heather's host mom would pick us up. Then we went to her house. Once there, we tried on Salwar Kameez-es, listened to American music, and read Indian etiquette books. Heather's host brother took us to go see Partner at E Square Cinemas. Basically, Partner is the Hindi equivalent to Hitch (with Will Smith). That's right, I said Hindi movie. The whole thing was in Hinglish, but thank God, Partner literally was a carbon-copy of Hitch (plus a bit of dancing, singing, and absolutely no kissing.)

After the movie, I got Heather's host brother completely lost on our quest to find my house. Eventually, I put my host-mom on loudspeaker and she spoke us unto Paradise. Paradise Society, flat #23, that is. Then, I ate dinner and practically fell asleep on the table. (If you were lucky enough to talk to me this evening, I sounded like a Starbucks customer with 0% caffeine content. Yeah, that whiny.)

Thursday:

Of the five calls I recieved from Isha yesterday, one of them informed me that we had no school today. A "holiday". So I got my ten hours of sleep, then got up to examine two rather large bruises on my backside.

After lunch, Urvi and I went to E Square to see The Grudge 2. It was completely retarded. Every single person dies; the main characters are killed off in the first half, and then the last, lone little boy is offed in the final ten seconds! It's ridiculous. Do NOT see it if you are intending to.

After the movie, we went back to the house and watched Fear Factor: Ex-Couples, which involved divorced couples. We really got into it, but then just as they were about to announce the winner, I remembered it was a Thursday and said "Hurry up, before the power goes out, and tell us who won!" I joke you not, this is exactly what was said before the screen clicked off:

Announcer: "Welcome back. Okay, Jodie, Jim... you finished the race in 1:31. Remember... the winner is the couple who completes the race in the shortest amount of time. Nancy... Karl... you finished the race in"

And then the power cut out. Thursday is power-cut day, when you never know when you'll lose your electricity. Urvi and I were laughing at our sucky situation and the perfect timing of my comment.

Anywho, we went down to the courtyard to hang out with the Society kids, but then I got bored and mosquito-eaten, so I left early and came up to watch Hindi soaps with gramma. Not much improvement, but I like to count the amount of times the characters cry within a span of five minutes. Very amusing.

We had dinner (chapati, spiced veggie stew stuff, sweetened yogurt, and white bread) and then I went into my room to update. All in all, a very uneventful day.

Well, goodnight America, and remember: "When it's 10:39pm here, it's 1:09pm there."

Thank you, goodnight,

<3 Lauren

Here I am with Mrudul and Urvi at the Taj restaurant on Saturday.

Here is Isha (in the blue), Stephanie (in green), and Heather (in purple).

The balloon-releasing ceremony.

The statue of the (Not-So) "Common Man".

The students of Sybi College watching the balloon releasing ceremony.

Ye famous rikshaw.

Groped By A Beggar (and Other Short Stories...)

2007-07-31T12:36:00.000-04:00

So, once upon a time, there was this innocent teenaged girl named Lauren. She was a foreign exchange student, and on her way to school in India (by rikshaw), traffic was suddenly stopped. Two beggar-women approached her, babies on their hips. The short one began tapping Lauren's leg, asking for change. Lauren shook her head "no". She was a very smart blonde, and had been told that if you give money to one beggar it A) encourages more begging and B) attracts all the other beggars. So Lauren repeatedly refused. Shorty began tapping Lauren's arm, but Lauren just shook her head "no" even harder. Then, Lauren felt something hit her, um, bosom, and the hand of the tall lady was the visible culprit. At first, Lauren deemed it a mistake. She even gave a grace period of not one, but two hits. After the third, fourth, and fifth forceful smack to her bosom, Lauren started to freak out. Did this woman still want money, or did she want Lauren to nurse her child? Lauren inched further away from the side of the rikshaw, toward her host sister, Urvi. By now, the rikshaw driver and Urvi and Lauren were yelling at the women to leave. Unfortunately, they did not, and the rikshaw driver sped away with Tall-Woman's arm still in the car. Finally, Tall-Woman hit her funny bone, shrieked, stumbled into Shorty, and left poor, American Lauren to her violated self.

So yeah, that was my lovely little ride to school today. At least it was a woman-beggar. Oh, and three guesses on how many teachers showed up to school today...

Contestant #1: "Six?"

Announcer: "I'm sorry. That's incorrect."

Contestant #2: "Four?"

Announcer: "Nope, that's wrong as well."

Contestant #3: "Three?"

Announcer: "Still wrong!" Holds up small, white card. "The correct answer is... ONE AND HALF!"

Audience: (Collective gasp.)

Yeah, so none of my teachers showed up today, except for my French teacher. My English teacher counts as the half because she showed up for 20 of the 45 minutes of class. After school, I took the rikshaw home. I watched a Hindi soap with Urvi while trying to read an Agatha Christy book, but all the crying and crescendo of music was distracting.

Preeta and another girl came over, and Preeta took me to the store at the end of the street on her motorbike. It was tons of fun. I love riding motorbikes/motorcycles.

After, we went to the courtyard and talked with some of the Society people. Tomorrow, there is the 25th Anniversary Jubilee at Symbi, so (big surprise) there's no school. There will be a ceremony (I'm bunking that) and a dance at a restaurant on FC Road (going to that). Afterward, I'm going over to my friend Heather's house and we are possible going to a club with her host sister and brother.

Oh, and my Indian school friends have convinced me to wear a salwar kameez to school on Thursday. That should be interesting.

Also, I had custard apple today. It's a fruit,, and it tastes kind of like peaches mixed with grapes. You can get in in California (so if you're going to Cali, I suggest you try it and think of me).

Well, I didn't have my nap today, and it's getting late, so I must depart. Hope you found this entertaining,

<3 Lauren

P.S. Lots of pix tomorrow.

The custard-apple... kind of like a grapermelon!

A really bad pic of a salwar kameez.

Rikshaw Road Rage

2007-07-30T12:36:00.000-04:00

I did not sleep well last night at all. For starters, I finally drifted off to dreamworld at 2:30am, and then I woke up every hour on the hour. I finally got out of bed at around 8:00. In school today, my friend Heather told me why this happens. Apparently, Doxycyline (the medicine I'm taking to ward off malaria) is the devil. 12 hours after you take it, you get extremely drowsy. Immediately after taking it, you are wide awake, and your skin becomes super-sensitive to sunlight. I have been taking my pill during dinner (around 10:00pm). That means that I have been experiencing insomnia due to the pill, then taking a three-hour nap daily because I get so tired from the pill in the afternoon, and then I don't want to sleep again because I have taken the pill again and I have already had a hefty nap.

Whew!

Anywho, school is so crazy. First of all, I had to wait in a hot, sweaty line with stinky, sweaty people for a half hour to process my applications. Then, when it was my turn, the guy at the desk calls out "Everyone, please shift to level three. Applications will no longer be taken here." So Urvi and I ran down two flights of steps and waited in another hot, sweaty line for another half hour, and then I got my app processed, and then I showed up to class but guess what? The teachers were bunking!

Okay, for all you non-Europeans out there, "bunking" is the Euro-Asian equivalent of "skipping". Apparently, teachers skip just as much as the students here! In the 11th standard, you can bunk 25% of your classes before it affects your grades! It's insane. Plus, there's no reason to attend class in the first place, because the teachers are simply reading out of the textbooks in (badly pronounced) English. If you read the text books and show up for the four tests, then you pass the class with flying colours!

So, I have six classes consisting of 45 mins each, and my first two teachers had bunked their class, French only lasted 20 mins, I have no IT, so that hour is always open, and I had an extra 15 mins break on top of that IT-less hour. So, my friends Heather from America, Stephanie from America, and Laura from Germany, and I, set out for the bookstore on FC Road. (Thats Fergusson College Road) We approached a rikshaw driver and asked him to take us there. "50 rupees a person," he demanded, "plus the cost to get there." Well, 50 rupees a person is a ripoff in the first place (it should only cost around ten for the entire ride... you know that they are charging you extra whenever they try to charge "per person") So, we decided to walk. 1.5 miles later, we had our French books in hand, and headed back to college. On our way back, the crazy rikshaw driver (who was pissed because we know our rupees!) zoomed up behind us and blared on his horn. Then he put-putted off. What a dork.

At school, I had Modern Economics with a foreign-exchange-student-hating teacher. Seriously, every time she mentions something grand about India, she gets this hard look and says "What's it like in America?" Oh, and here's an exerpt from the notes I had to take in her class:

The earlier the age of marriage, the longer the fertility period, and the
more children that can be had.

Climatic conditions allow Indian girls to hit puberty at a relatively low
age due to the heat. This leads to a higher fertility period as well.

Bachelors and spinsters have an extremely low status in India. Only 5 in
1000 females prefer to remain unmarried here.

Sex-ed or Eco?
So yeah, then I had Geography with a teacher whom I couldn't understand. She spoke with such a heavy accent, I had no idea what was going on. Ex) Aurbon = Urban, Rool = Rural, Setmet = Settlement. It's crazy.
Anywho, I made it back home and took a 3-hr nap, and then I woke up and went down to the courtyard where Urvi was. Her friends made fun of me for sleeping so much lol. Oh, and I have found that my skin literally smells like spices whenever I sweat. It's the stranges thing in the world! I need to stop eating food with spices, but I don't think that's possible!
Okay, that was my day...

<3 Lauren

This is the view from Urvi's window. I will be having her room when she goes off to college in September.

Here's my friend Heather in the Amsterdam airport. Her dad's in the Marines. She likes Coke and going to clubs. That's about all I can think of right now.

Here's that super-amazing purple shirt I mentioned that I bought a few posts back.

OHHH and to give you an idea of the bunking rate in this school, my last hour has 24 students, and only four showed up today, me and Heather being two of the four.

P.S. I named my bag Diesel. Vin for short. :P
P.S.S. And we cancelled going to see the Grudge 2 tonight.
P.S.S.S. I'm going to a Fresher party on Saturday. More about that later.

Oh! The Condoned Effort of a Writer!

2007-07-29T14:37:00.000-04:00

***IMPORTANT NOTE: IF YOU HAVE COMMENTED ON ANY OF MY POSTS, LOOK BACK AT YOUR COMMENT... I HAVE RESPONDED WITH MY OWN COMMENT IN THE COMMENT SECTION OF THAT POST... GOT IT?***

Today, I woke up at 9:00. Pride flowing through my veins for not waking up at 4:00am, I hopped in the shower and took my time. As I stepped out of my bathroom, into my room, wearing a lovely pink towel, suddenly there came a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door- only this and nothing more."
Just joking.
It was Mama, and she was like "The Rotary man who is meeting with you is on his way. He'll be here in about five minutes. Are you up?"

Never have I clothed myself so quickly.

The Rotary president of North Pune (I believe that was his title) barely glanced at my dripping hair and soaking shirt as he handed me a bouquet of roses and wildflowers. That was really sweet. I've only got roses two times before that in my life. They're me favorite, especially red ones. Okay, off the tangent. So, I spent the next half hour answering questions and enduring silences (though awkward for me) that did not seem to bother anyone else.
After that, I went to the veggie market with Mama and Urvi. I still feel funny holding their shoulders as I cross the road, but honestly... I'd get killed if I didn't let them drag me along.
At the veggie market, I found the strangest fruit imaginable. If you've ever seen those old Juicy Fruit adds for Grapermelon gum, it looked exactly like those strange fruits.
Then, we came back home and I watched... INDIAN IDOL! Heck yes! It was the strangest thing in the world. There's a picture of it at the bottom. We then had lunch (mango sauce with THE LAST MANGO, chapati, some greenish bean sauce, and some chili-looking sauce). Afterwards, we went to Venus, a stationary shop, where I got a new notebook and this amazing Diesel messenger bag. It's green. I love it.
When we returned home, I took a (you guess it!) three-hour nap. Urvi woke me up at around seven, and we went down into the courtyard. I had dinner there, which was the first-ever Indian meal I found completely disgusting: Aloo Tiki. (I probably spelled that wrong.) Aloo Tiki is this horrible mess of crispy, salty, crunch, sweet, slimy things. You can probably make Aloo Tiki by emptying out your fridge, cramming it all in the blender, and then hitting "low" for ten seconds. It's that gross. To finish off the Aloo Tiki, I had fried (ew) chapati with this weird salty chick-pea gravy stuff. It was so oily, it coated the inside of my throat and I can still feel it in my stomach.
Praise God....... Ashish, Piroge (spelled wrong), Urvi, the other Urvi, me, another guy whose name I can't remember, and another girl ditto piled into a tiny car and headed to Baskin Robins. Chocolate mouse ice cream has never been so welcome.
So, here I am, back home safe and sound. School starts tomorrow, and it's kind of scary because I still haven't bought my books and I don't know where all of my classes are. Or what they are. Ugh. On the upside, the aforementioned group of us are going to see the late-showing of The Grudge 2. (Don't worry, mes parentes... it's PG-13).
Oky doky artichokies, I'm off to bed.
<3 Lauren

This is my messenger bag. I'm going to name it. Any ideas?Here's Urvi. What we were doing here is taking these weird, sugar-cane-like substances and sucking the juice out of them. Then, you spit the leftover pulp in the small bowl. She's laughing in the picture, not about to spit at the camera or anything.Ah... the great INDIAN IDOL!

P.S. The title = lamentation over the lack of supportive material (aka comments) I have recieved of you folks as of late.

Saturday Is Party Night

2007-07-28T14:59:00.000-04:00

So... Pune has been relatively quite in the evenings, spare a stray car horn or two. I thought that everyone disappeared off the streets in the evening, and I was convinced I was 100% right... until this evening. I am currently typing this post to such marvelous beats as "Smack That" by Eminem, and "Don't Phunk With My Heart" by The Black-Eyed Peas. Great stuff. My Indian neighbors are hooting, hollering, dancing, and laughing along with the whiny voice of Slim Shady. I can't help but laugh.
Today was most interesting. I woke up at six and couldn't fall back asleep, so I made myself lie in bed and stare at the ceiling until seven. Mama, Urvi, and I went to a currency exchange center, and I suddenly found my measly $123 turned into Rs4748. It was nice having a wad of cash too big to fit into my pocket.
After that, we went shopping. The first mall was insane; it had four floors, and the floors were separated into categories such as "Ladies: What Women Want" and "Men: The Cutting Edge of Style". It was quite interesting, until I reached the Juniors floor. You see, I am unfamiliar with the Indian teenage style of dress. They call it "Western", I call it "Eighties Thrift Shop". Do not take that the wrong way, but it honestly was a mishmash of styles virtually extinct in American malls. Needless to say, Urvi had to pull me out of the boys' section, for I had wandered over there and was contemplating trying on a polo. From then on, I followed her like a puppy, constantly asking "Is this the ladies section? Are these for girls?" With my luck, I would have grabbed men's cargo pants, a work shirt, and headed toward the masculine dressing rooms. I honestly couldn't tell the difference between the guys and girls clothing.
On top of that, I had another problem. Remember how I said that the average Indian girl my age is about 5'0"? Well, a medium on a 5'0" torso is not the same as a medium on a 5'8" torso. To cut it all down, if I had purchased the shirts I found in the girls' section, I would have emerged a Brittney-Spears-Wannabe, complete with visible navel and movable joints!
I decided on a pair of Pepe Jeans. What freaked me out most was the sizes. The salesman suggested I was a 28 and I about dropped dead. "I'm a seven." I told him. He looked confused. "You have a seven-inch waist?" I then realized the cruel joke: European and Asian sizes are all in double-digits.
The happy ending to this little episode is that I got the pair of Pepe Jeans 50% off, at Rs700 instead of Rs1400. The not-so-happy ending is that I practically had to duel with the sales manager when he found out that one of his employees gave me a discount when there was no discount. The guy tried to grab my bag out of my hands! But then Mama told him that it was his employee's mistake, so it was his loss. That shut him up. The employee just looked at the manager like "I couldn't help it... she was blonde, cute, and foreign." Okay, maybe I made that last part up!
We then went to a second mall which was much like an American mall; there were separate stores with girls' stuff on the left and boys' stuff on the right. I bought this long tunic-like dress thing in purple that you are supposed to wear over jeans from Levi and a red polo from United Colors of Benetton. At least polos are in here.
Speaking of now, there are currently fireworks exploding over my flat. How strange. I told you it was a party out there!
So, after we went shopping, Mrudul decided to pick up some banana chips to snack on on the ride home. I picked up the hard yellow chip and popped it in my mouth, then gagged: it was salty! Apparently, the banana chips here are not supposed to be sweet, and are more akin to veggie chips. But they're still really good.
For lunch, I had fermented rice cakes and some sort of vegetable Dal, and then I had chapati and spicy cabbage and a nice slice of *gasp* BLACK FOREST CAKE! Amazing, amazing stuff. I will never loathe cherries again!
So... we had dinner in this amazing, five star hotel. I got meat for the first time in a week, but unfortunately the chicken tasted like fish, and the only fish I like is tilapia, and this definitely wasn't tilapia. Still, I got meat. *beams* Oh, and to give you an idea of how fancy this hotel restaurant was, a Rolls Royce Phantom pulled up in front of a Ferrari as we were leaving.
And here is where I will sign off and probably do something dorky like, uh, I don't know, finish reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. G'night, sweet and faithful readers,
<3>

The view from my window (taken @ 7:00am this morning.)

Heheh... proof I'm still alive! A very crappy shot... taken 20 mins ago... it's 12:43am!
P.S.S. I'm good at Cricket! Yay!

My Hell Would Consist of 100% Humidity

2007-07-26T13:19:00.000-04:00

Hello! Welcome to Day 2 of Survivor: India. Haha, just kidding. I have it so good here... our maid comes in the morning and makes breakfast, does the laundry, and washes the dishes. In the afternoon, she makes lunch and cleans up the house. She leaves in the early evening, but not before she hangs our clothes out to dry and washes any leftover dishes. Unfortunately, I can't communicate with her; she only speaks Marathi.

I have learned that there are four main languages in Pune: Hindi (the national language), Marathi (the state language), English (the business language), and Hinglish (the sloppy teen/ Bollywood soap opera mix of English and Hindi). I am going to go shopping at a couple of the malls here in Pune to pick up some jeans and a curling iron on Saturday, and I will also be stopping at Crossroads to pick up an English-Marathi book so I can "communicate with the maid when no one else is home." I feel so funny asking a grown woman to do things for me, but I'm not supposed to do them myself.

Today, I went to the school with Mama (Mrudul) and we filled out my paperwork. My school is the last building on the right, and it has five floors. We climbed up and down those steps about four times, running from the Main Office to the Cantina, to the Internet Cafe, to the Photocopy Room, back up to the Main Office again, because none of the paperwork is computerized; it's all done by hand. I will have super-strong leg muscles by the end of this year, I can feel it (haha).

I took a three-hour nap this afternoon, and then walked down to the courtyard with Urvi. We watched some boys from our society play Cricket, and I have no idea how they convinced me to play a game I have never even seen before, but at least I managed to hold off embarassing myself until tomorrow, when I promised I would play. Today, I simply watched.

Two of Urvi's friends, Ashish and another guy whose name I can't pronounce invited us to go bowling on Friday. I told them I was terrible. They said not to worry, everyone was terrible. So that should be interesting.

I start school on Monday, and I am taking French, English, Psychology, Political Science, Geography, and one other class I can't remember. But it shouldn't be too hard. School starts at 12:00 noon and gets done at about 5:00pm, six days a week. Sunday is off. We also have a lot of long vacations, like the 3 week vacation during Diwali in November.

Well, I need to be getting off to bed now. I really need emails. As much as I like it here, I still just want to hear from my friends and family so much. Well, talk to you all later!

<3>

Here's my school. Don't let the picture fool you... it's not that clean. Very muddy and mucky.

Namastay America!

2007-07-25T13:19:00.000-04:00

Imagine yourself riding in the backseat of a 6'x5' car. There are no seatbelts. There is no speed limit, and if there were, you wouldn't know what it was anyway because speed is measured in kilometres. The car swerves around everything in it's path: motorbikes, huge buses, pedestrians, and cows. It stops for nothing and no one. To top off this little daydream, let's just say that you're driving on the left side of the road, instead of the right.
Welcome to India, friends!
That was my 3 hour car ride from Mumbai airport to Pune. My plane arrived in Mumbai at around 10:30 pm, and I recieved all of my bags in excellent condition. A few passes through customs and security led me out to what can only be described as the walk of fame. All along the front of the airport, hordes of Indian men, women, and children were waiting for passengers, all held back by metal gates. Many stuck their arms through the slats, holding signs printed with the names of their friends. I was to be picked up by a one-night host family, and stay in Mumbai until my flight to Pune the next morning. Unfortunately, that host family didn't show up.
Instead, I found Sid, one of my friends who had been an inbound to America from India and stayed in my district, 6400. He led me to another host family who were also hosting a girl in Pune. They offered to drop me off at my house of my long-term host family. After a few phone calls and some repeated Marathi, I was on my way in the back of the tiny car.
This car is supposed to fit four people, maximum. Well, we fit four people... in the back seat, with two others up front. I had this amazing view of Mumbai, it's nightlife, and the various times we almost ran front-first into the back of a bus. It was great, and didn't feel like three hours at all. Plus, we stopped at a small open-air market/restaurant at 1:00am. I had chai tea (because you must boil the water to make the tea, and I cannot have any water that hasn't been boiled) and asked about the strange seeds served with everyone's meals. Apparently, they aide in digestion, and taste like licorice. I remembered to tip the woman in the bathroom after I used it, and I must have over-tipped her, because when I handed her the one dollar bill, she grinned and said "Oh, thank you, thank you Ma'am."
I arrived at my host family's house at around 4:00am, made phone calls to mom and dad, unpacked, and ended up falling asleep at 6:00. My host mother (Mrudul) and sister (Urvi) woke me up at 11:00 s0 we could go to the commisioner's office and fill out my paperwork. After that, I took a three hour nap, ran a few errands with Urvi, and then came back here and hung out with her and her friends in the courtyard. Ashish is one of Urvi's best friends, and he's 18 and helped me convert some of the American numbers into metric. Apparently I weigh 66 kilograms. Double digits... I mean, c'mon, why can't the US do kgs?
After dinner, my "aunt", "uncle", and "cousin" came over to meet me. We ate bits of dark and milk chocolate. Speaking of Indian food, so far I have had cow's milk and muelsi for breakfast, spicy shreaded cabbage on chapati (indian flatbread) and potatoes with tumeric and spice and rice with dal (a chicken-broth-like substance) and salt and butter for lunch, and baked vegetables in cream sauce and salad and rice with yogurt and spices and white bread with butter for dinner. For tea, I had a small piece of chocolate cake with a bit of Belgium chocolate. It is all very yummy, I just have to be careful of the green chilies that are in practically everything, because I have already swallowed one and I involuntarily started craying it was so spicy.
Anyhow, it is 11:45pm here, so I need to get to sleep to get rid of this jetlag. I will write again soon, please comment me if you get the chance.
P.S. There are some pictures below. P.S.S. FOR ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE ALREADY LEFT COMMENTS: I have commented on all of your comments in the comment section of each post, just click on the comment link to read them.
Love, Lauren

This is a cafe in the airport in Amsterdam. Everything is in Euros.

This is an international calling phone and it sucks because it doesn't work.
Here is the sign warning passengers that they might have to move.

Houston, we're ready for takeoff...

2007-07-23T09:52:00.000-04:00

Hello, my sweet and avid readers!
As today is the day that I depart, I would like to thank everyone for their prayers, their phone calls, their visits, and their advice. As beneficial and welcome as it has all been, I still have one more request to ask: Hand it over to my family. They have to go through all the stress of leaving for a foreign country, and they don't even get to leave! They just get to see their daughter/sister/niece/granddaughter/etc. set off on some grand adventure. So, without further ado, I bequeath you all to not only think of me every once in a while, but to hand over your prayers, well-wishes, and love to those who need it more than I do.
Keep in touch... I'll be needing that.
<3 Lauren

T + one week 'til takeoff

2007-07-16T14:15:00.000-04:00

Well... I have recieved all of my flight information, tickets, visas, etc. and can officially begin the grueling packing process. For those of you who are still wondering, I leave late in the afternoon on the 23rd from Detroit Metro, arrive in Amsterdam on the 24th, arrive in Mumbai late on the 24th, stay the night in Mumbai, then depart for Pune early on the 25th.
FAQs

Are you excited?
A. Yes.
Are you scared?
A. No.
How do you say "Pune"?
A. It is pronounced "poo-nuh". Common mispronunciations include "poon", "poo-nay", and "p-yoon".
Are your parents freaking out yet?
A. A bit.
Will you get homesick?
A. I say no, the rest of the world says yes. I'm guessing I'm right, but maybe that's just the teenager in me talking again.
Where is Pune in relation to Mumbai?
A. About 140 kilometers south.
How long will you be gone?
A. Until mid-May, about the 15th.
Will you still be able to graduate?
A. Yes. I forced my principal to comply with my specifications. Just kidding (about that last part) but yes, I will be able to graduate and you are all invited to my graduation party next June!
Do you know your host family yet?
A. Yes, and they are very amazing people.
What will you eat there?
A. No meat (my host family is vegetarian), lots of rice, flat bread, curry, spicy foods, yummy Indian stuff like that.

That's about it. If you have any other questions, feel free to comment on this post. To all those of you who commented on my last post, thank you all for your love and support. I'll miss you!

<3 Lauren

T + two weeks 'til takeoff

2007-07-09T18:40:00.000-04:00

Ever wish you had a social life? Want some friends to go to the movies with? Wish people would throw googles of galas in your honor? Look no further; here's a quick and simple step-by-step solution:
1. Plan a looooong trip to a foreign country.
2. Tell everyone you know about it.
3. Sit back and watch everyone scramble to spend time with you because everyone knows that you won't be around. ever. again. once you leave.
All sarcasm aside, I'm enjoying the attention and fighting off the fatigue. This heat isn't helping...
Comments and helpful hints always appreciated,
<3 Lauren

Documenting the Student Exchange

Safe (and Slightly Unsound)

Here for One Week

Tumultuous

Spare Some Change?

Aundh Fire Department

It's Almost April...

Chocolate Shakes

It's Been A Long Time...

Best 30 Rupees Ever Spent!

Jaipur. x2.

Oh. My. Gosh.

North Tour Schedule

South Trip, Part the Second

Thought of the Day:

helllllllp. *burble*

Riots, Rumors, and Rotary

A Massive Amount of Data

Just A Quick One...

The Second-to-Last Post Before I Go!

Suddenly I See...

G to the REAT News!

My Bad

Wonderful New Years!

Fast the Posts

I'd Buy Your LOOOOOOOVE!

Due to a 12-Hour Time Difference...

Midnight Mass and "Marry Christmas"

If It Makes An Impact...

Updated List for Mum

Chuck Day in India!

After the Long, Emotional Interlude...

Happy Holi Heeterpati

Back in the Boring Rut

Because I Can!

Just A Quick Post..

Happy Post-Thanksgiving

Birthday No. 17

Back from Nashik

Gone for Half of a Week

Happy Diwali!!!

Special Edition: Bombay/Goa

The Things I've Never Been Able to Say

Bombay/Goa Prequal

Technical Difficulties

What's the Opposite of Progress?

On Holidays.. (Such As Today)

So Yesterday...

October Heat

A Night at the Haunted Hospital

INDIA WINS!

Bored, Lonely, Sleepy

Overcoming Cliche Titles (I Think That Statement Was Hypocritical...)

Special Edition One: Satara

Myriad of Madness (or "The Past Three Days")

La Guerre des Blogs!

:)

Champagne for My Real Friends, Real Pain for My Sham Friends

Happy Raksha Bandhan!

To Appease My Mother...

Okay, So I Lied About Lots of Pictures

Les Voyages...

I Have Committed a Hindu Sin!

Cheerio! (A Bit of Britain Was Left In India...)

Diving for Rupees

Dear Shelby...

Phone Call From A Stranger

Fragments of the Past Few Days

A List of Common Nightmares

Today's Two-For-One Special

Groped By A Beggar (and Other Short Stories...)

Rikshaw Road Rage

Oh! The Condoned Effort of a Writer!

Saturday Is Party Night

My Hell Would Consist of 100% Humidity

Namastay America!

Houston, we're ready for takeoff...

T + one week 'til takeoff

T + two weeks 'til takeoff

helllllllp. burble