The sociology department held a farewell party for the
graduating seniors, so Marie, Claire, and I dressed up in sarees for the
occasion. The master’s first-year students (my classmates) put it on, so they
did all the decorations, arranged for food, put together a slideshow and music,
and performed during the party. It was really nice, especially because it was
clear how much work they had put into it.
The next weekend Pondicherry University held a talent show,
which was supposed to start at 5:30, so according to Indian time that means
7:15. People performed dances, yoga demonstrations, songs, etc. It was awesome!
However, it went on too long, and some people didn’t get to perform – including
Arun, who was going to dance. At ten p.m., the talent show was still going on,
but they made an announcement that women should return to their hostels (but
men could stay). So I stayed! Ha. Such a rebel, I know. They ended the talent
show soon after, though, because no one had had dinner…it just frustrates me
that women are supposed to go back early all the time and yet men can do
whatever they want. But enough of that, I rant about it enough to my friends
here.
On Saturday, a group of us got dressed in sarees and took
the local bus (oy vey, so many people stared at us) into Pondicherry, where we
had lunch at a fancy buffet to celebrate my birthday and Kara’s birthday. Lunch
(and getting there and back) lasted from 11:30am to 5pm, when we got back to
our hostel. Around 6 or 7, we got ready to go back out - we were going to a friend’s house,
then salsa dancing in Pondicherry! We rented a 14 seater van for the night
because it was cheaper than renting autos ($4 per person for 4.5 hours, cool
eh?). I think about 16 people were there, total. Salsa dancing was fantastic! I
had never done it before, but I had a blast. The party was put on by a group of
European expatriates, so it felt like going dancing at home a little bit. It
was really fun.
Other things of interest…the power has been cutting on and
off – though not for very long – because of the heat, I think. I was cooking
dinner (a rare occurrence here because it’s harder to get groceries, adequate
cooking supplies, and we have a cafeteria to go to) for me and Arun and the
power went out right as I put the vegetables into the oven to roast. Thankfully
the power came back on a few minutes later, but you never know…also, the
internet hasn’t been working well (well being a relative term) which is hard
b/c I have to email people, figure out classes, and book plane tickets. Yikes!
It’s okay though, I’m used to it by now so it’s not a problem.
I leave Pondicherry University early in the morning on April
27, and I’m ready but not ready at the same time. Leaving will be hard. I’m in
the process of packing and studying for finals and saying goodbye and it’s just
a lot to take in all at once. Study abroad is hard, for a number of reasons.
It’s also the best time I’ve ever had in my life, though…it’s just like India –
everything is an extreme, great or terrible, rarely any in between, and often
it’s both. So you just have to accept it.
On April 27, I’ll be traveling to Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur on
a guided tour before traveling to Darjeeling and Kolcutta with Liz and Jackie.
From there, I’ll fly to Nepal to start my Odyssey project on May 9 – I’m going
to be volunteering at a small hospital in Pokhara teaching health education and
living with a Nepali host family for six weeks. I’ll keep my blog going until I
go back to the United States in the end of June.
Noella, Liz and I wearing sarees on our way to fancy lunch in Pondicherry
Friends! Taken in the van before salsa dancing. Leon, Matt, Kara, Liz, Charlotte, Natasha, Marie, Claire, Najeeb, Me, Arun, Jackie, Ravi, Eugenie.
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