Pictures

They're keeping me very busy here, so I haven't had much time to update anything, but at least here are some pictures from around Jaipur.

From the roof of the AIIS building. Isn't that a nice palm tree?

On the AIIS roof

I'll add more but right now my internet connection is very slow and I'm not having any luck uploading any pictures. Grrr!

This horse is in front of Seva Sadan (the name essentially means community center) which is right across from my homestay. There are lots of weddings there. The night before I took this picture, we saw a baraat, which is when the groom gets on a horse and he and all his family and guests go to meet the bride. It was very cool. I took a video, but it's really big, so I'll try to edit it a bit and then post it.

These pink flowers are everywhere. I still don't know what they're called, in English or Hindi.

Our beloved AIIS building, in Bapu Nagar.

This is the statue at Statue Circle in C-Scheme. That's Sawai Jai Singh II, the Maharaja who founded Jaipur.

One of the buildings at Rajasthan University

Inside the library at Rajasthan University. It's a bit blurry, but you can see what nice colors it's painted.

(Most of) the students and teachers in the intermediate program (can you find me? I'm a bit hidden). We're at Jawahar Kala Kendra, a very nice cultural center.

I traveled over 8000 miles yesterday

(written in the morning)
The flights were both fine, nothing much to report, but good heavens 14 hours is a long time to sit on a plane. Before immigration, we had to hand in a swine flu health form, basically just asking if we've had any flu-like symptoms in the last 7 days and any contact with people with swine flu. While I was waiting in line at immigration (which took a long time, or seemed like it), I heard some people behind me talking about an academic program of some sort, and I eavesdropped for a little while to see if it sounded like the AIIS program before I turned around and asked them. Indeed, they were with AIIS, and having gotten through the looong line at immigration, picked up my luggage, and gone through customs (which was very fast – you just walk by a bunch of people in uniform and hand them a slip of paper) we easily found the rest of the AIIS group for that flight. The trip to the hotel wasn’t as nerve-wracking traffic-wise as I expected. We all piled into a van, and mostly we were traveling on main thoroughfares. At one point, we had to stop at a barricade and the driver said something to a couple of guys with big rifles (I also got to see my first cows loitering on the side of the road!)

The other students are all really friendly. I’ll see today if I can remember all their names.

From time to time I can hear various birds outside our window but I can’t see them. I need to find a guide to Indian birds.

Getting ready - vaccines

(Our internet has been busted since last Friday, so this post is a bit late . . .)




I got 2 vaccinations on Friday, and I'm due for 2 more in a month. I started an oral Typhoid vaccine today (pill form - weird!), which I'll finish next Tuesday. I also got prescriptions for really bad traveller's diarrhea (only 5 doses - I'd better be careful) and malaria. And I passed my TB test.

I can't believe how quickly the end of the semester is coming. Only about a week left before finals - yikes! Then I have a month free during which I have to try not to forget all my Hindi. I'm still not sure how I'll do that. Maybe by watching 2-3 Hindi films each day?

I'm slowly gathering things I'll need for the trip, like bug spray and an audio recorder. But it seems like the more I put together, the more there is left to find. How will I think of everything???

I'm totally going to India this summer!!

I am going to India this summer for an intensive Hindi program. The webpage for the program is here: http://www.aiislanguageprograms.org/

I will be staying in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

It's a beautiful city. Jaipur has a "semi-arid climate" (desert and scrub) but I'll be there mostly in the monsoon months. It's a beautiful old city, founded in 1727, and one of the first planned cities. It's known as the Pink City because in 1853 all the buildings were painted pink for the Prince of Wales' visit.

I think I'll be staying somewhere in this area:

and I'm guessing that my classes will be at Rajasthan University.

I bought my plane tickets yesterday. I'll fly from Detroit to Newark and then Newark to Delhi (14 hr 20 min flight - yikes).

From what I've read in the orientation material, the program is going to be a LOT of work. But it's going to be verrry much worth it.

I don't think I've adequately conveyed my excitement in this post; I'm not sure how to do that except by saying I'm really really reeeeeeaaaaallllyyy excited!