I'll understand when I'm older: 7/1/07

Hi everyone!

Sorry it's taken me so long to write! It's been go go go since I got here at 5 am Saturday morning. But I am safe and well and loving it here!

The sequence of flights and buses was pretty rough. We boarded the plane about 45 minutes late in D.C., then sat on the runway for 2, count 'em, 2 hours before taking off. Seven hours later we landed in Frankfurt and I couldn't even find a pretzel to buy! Instead I ended up with some crappy fizzy stuff that cost me several Euro. Anyways... On the plane to Frankfurt I was surrounded by 50 teenagers who were all on a foreign exchange student scholarship. They were leaving their homes for 1 year and were on their way to be picked up by their host families in Germany, so you can imagine what they were like! We had about an hour before the flight to India, then the plane ride itself was nearly 9 hours. We got to India at midnight, went through customs and got our bags, hopped on buses and waited some more, then we drove the 2.5 hours to campus and were greeted with one of the most beautiful "resorts" I've ever seen! Since then we've been taking care of a lot of business, and yesterday we left campus to tour Mysore city.

I'll write about this more in my blog, but to sum up some of the more interesting bits:
-We had to walk barefoot through the palace, which is awkward, because basically it's like them making you take off your shoes and socks to tour the white house. Not only that, but the locals walk barefoot anyways, and through some pretty nasty stuff. I thoroughly washed my feet upon our return, and I have yet to venture back into those shoes.
-The poverty is pretty intense. There are hundreds of beggars missing a limb or two reaching out for you to give them money, and children and sometimes men will tag alongside you for up to about a quarter mile just trying to get you to buy a pencil or cheap gadget, or just begging for money. It sounds like it would be a difficult ordeal, but for some reason, at least so far, it hasn't been for me. I have not felt afraid or unsafe at all. Just dirty from the filth. Campus, however, is immaculate.
-The stories of cows everywhere are true. They're just like people in the street, and they walk where they may. They also make messes everywhere. There are also a lot of random horses hangin' out. And monkeys. Lots of monkeys! The babies are adorable and myself and a couple friends have discussed harboring one in our hostels, but maybe that will happen some other day.
-I have seen no elephants, although some guys tried to get us to pay them to ride one. It was out of sight, though.
-A young teenage boy with 2 monkeys on his shoulders (chained to him) pulled a yellow python out of a basket he was carrying. I don't think he was a charmer, he just wanted us to pay him to take his picture.
-Driving here is hilarious. There are sometimes lines on the roads, but they are rarely adhered to. At one point I noticed that cars coming in the opposite direction were passing us on both sides. The rules, as we were told today, are basic: 1)Always yield to the larger vehicle, and 2)The smaller vehicle has the right of way. Just try abiding by that.

I've got much more to say, but I think it will have to wait. Jet lag is still lingering and I need to get to sleep! Here are some pics of the trip so far!