As we near the end of the program, the familiar tug of homesickness gently nudges our attention away from India and back to the states. It reminds us what take-out pizza tastes like, what snowflakes instantly melting into water droplets on our skin feels like, what our siblings’ voices sound like when we lazily roll … Continue reading
After our stay in Bangalore, three of us boarded a plane to Kerala where we met up with three other ACM students for a houseboat cruise. Few places in the world can boast the perfect temperature and Bangalore was definitely one of them. Just a little breezy, warm enough to wear a sleeveless kurta but … Continue reading
One of those things that I didn’t think I’d find myself taking pictures of in India… Dust bins (trash cans) here are so much more creative–and at times creepy–than they are in the US. Here are a few of my favorite dust bins from Bangalore. There was a great penguin dust bin at Mahabalshwar a … Continue reading
As we come to the end of our week-long Diwali break tonight, I thought I’d share some of the photos I took in Bangalore earlier this week. From the lights hung strung over major streets to the lanterns lit outside of houses and the firecrackers bursting in alleyways, the “festival of lights” certainly surpassed … Continue reading
More detailed posts to come, but I thought I’d just take a second to go through some of the highlights of the past few days in Bangalore. On Friday afternoon myself and two friends grabbed a cab to the airport in Pune for the beginning of our week-long Diwali break. A few hours later we … Continue reading
Right around this time in the program, with about one month to go, it seems like it is almost guaranteed that a person will be hit with homesickness. The newness and freshness of the first month has worn off, the excitement that you can now successfully catch a rickshaw, haggle for a kurta and walk … Continue reading
It was something that had been on my mind for a little while. I have wanted to get a nose piercing for a few years now, but generally when I considered it in the US, it turned into a quick internal discussion of pros and cons and I would talk myself out of it before … Continue reading
One of the first things I noticed about India (and Nepal for that matter) was the incredible amount of trash and waste lining the streets, overflowing from the dumpsters, being trifled through by stray dogs and carelessly tossed out of car windows by travelers. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that there … Continue reading
Most days I find that India has a lot more in common with America than it does different. Partly because I am coming from a western perspective and we have a tendency to think of India as “backwards,” I generally find myself pleasantly surprised by the freedoms people (esp. women) enjoy here. Seeing girls playing … Continue reading
After venturing to a bar with a slightly older, more techno- and strobe-light-oriented crowd the night before, I was relieved when the bar suggested that night was slower paced. One of the men staying at the hotel recommended a bar called “Ghetto” to us and asked if we would like to accompany him. It was … Continue reading
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