So after an early breakfast on Monday we were off to the university. I had a general idea of what classes I may like to take, but some of them didn't even have times yet. Because we hadn't moved in yet and didn't even quite know what we were going to be taking etc. it in so many ways didn't feel like the first day of school. There are 3 girls and 2 boys (including me) staying in the hostels on campus, whereas the rest of the CIEE group is in the guest house on campus which houses only the American students. Everyone else had moved in already, but the keys for my and Ben's room still needed to be acquired. I decided not to wait for it and head off to an Indian Society anthropology class with a few other students, my first class here. We were relatively late, so I had to walk in front of everyone (maybe a dozen or two) to sit in the front. The professor sounded understandable enough, although it was a two hour lecture, so it was hard to pay attention.

The classes here meet 4 hours a week, either twice for 2 hours or four days an hour each. Usually students don't ask questions during the lecture. Additionally, it can be VERY difficult to understand the professor. Especially if there are loud fans above. Many are soft spoken too, accent aside. I've found that the students as well are VERY quiet in general, when they speak it barely sounds like a whisper; maybe I'm just used to the "loud" States, but I must say that I prefer vocalizing oneself, it makes for facilitated communication. Finally, Indian society is an oral one, not a written one. It's always been that way and not until the British came and started documenting those in India was there reliable text detailing Indian history. Anyway, the professors live this reality, lecturing at the students and rarely writing anything on the board behind them, certainly never using presentation aids like powerpoint or overhead (or at least I've never seen them used). For all these reasons it makes it a special challenge to pay close enough attention to understand what is going on.

An additional issue I've encountered is the lack of room assignments. If there is a class listed on the course sheet, you're lucky if there are times listed. Never are room numbers listed. You kind of have to make an educated guess which building a particular class is in and just head over to the department; in my case I also have to guess in which direction to travel...the campus is still so huge and foreign to me and difficult to navigate. Once you're in the department, you search for someone to talk to, either the professor or department head, to ask where a class is being held. Maybe or maybe not they'll know. When you head to the classroom, either the professor will or won't be there; the door may or may not be locked; students might be or might not be around.

Tori and I wanted to see if it would be possible to take a third semester philosophy course, so we went to visit the professor. We started off with asking him a simple question about course prerequisites, but the conversation lasted about two hours (or rather him talking at us). He got into ancient scrips, scuba diving, Columbia University, Buddha, academic reliability of certain texts, and the pursuit of knowledge...if I recall correctly, although there were probably more topics involved. Much of the time I wondered how any of it related to the information we were seeking in the first place, but Tori and I paid close attention and at least looked like we were interested. Someone came into his office and put a sheet on his desk. He gave it to us after glancing at it and said *oh look, there's the course schedule.* Tori and I eagerly took it to see if it could fit with other classes. He continued talking at us. I realized that the course we were talking about should be starting really soon. *They never realized that Sanskrit actually meant refined...the ancient texts--* "Um, sir, I think this class is starting now" *Hmm?* "Indian philosophy III, it's starting at noon" He took it and stared at the timetable for some time. *So it is* We walked into the class room and there was no one else there (I guess you couldn't really expect any people to be at a class that was just scheduled a few mintues ago). Anyway we both sat down in the front and Dr. Varma at the desk facing us. We kindof stared at each other for a few minutes, not quite knowing what to talk about, whether or not to start the lecture or just wait until tomorrow. I also was not too keen in asking another question that would entail a two hour long response. A dog wandered into the classroom. He laid down on the cool tile under the ceiling fan and panted, looking around the room. We continued to wait for a few more minutes, and then Dr. Varma started talking, we got into the schools of Indian philosphy, what the term Hindu means, etc. And this lasted for another two hours. No other students came. It was an interesting experience, Dr. Varma really knows his stuff for sure, but like everything here, it was different from what I'm used to.

The classes are in halls that are covered but open to the environment, as are the department rooms. A dog could easily wander into a classroom, but there's no way that would happen at Muhlenberg. Students usually scare the dogs away if they come. Additionally, it's common to walk alongside cows to class, as well as stumble over giant millipedes and lizards.

My free time the past few days has been just getting things in order. Seeing professors about meeting times and syllibi (syllibi are hard to come by, unfortunate because I need to know whether or not some will count for Muhlenberg gen ed requirements), submitting a deposit for my bike, getting a coursebook from the CIEE office, seeing if my hindi class time can be changed, replacing my lost student identity card, seeing if I can take a music class, etc. Right now it's Wednesday night and still no one quite knows what their schedule is, although most are confident that we'll be ok by the time registration come around next week.

Anyway, Monday evening after dinner I moved into my hostel room. The whole hostel is concrete, as is every building on campus. I couldn't quite find my hall, but no wonder because the student I asked for directs, Ehap, pointed down a dark corridor in the back. I approached my room trepidly, waiting until my eyes could adjust to the darkness. My room was...my room, I guess I didn't know what exactly to expect, but it sure is different. Everything is concrete, excluding the bed and desk. There are bars across the windows, the fan kindof and kindof didn't work, there was no blanket (although I was able to aquire one later), it was dusty and a little smelly, just shocking in general I guess, I coulnd't quite grasp for the longest time that this was now my home. I felt a little disturbed, but excited too because that's what I wanted in the first place. One of my goals of this trip is being placed outside of my comfort zone, the hostel seems to accomplish that to some degree. All my comments are not complains, just comments, this is how the students live, and just the way things are. I don't regret my decision to live there, a homestay would have been too far removed from campus and the guest house would have prevented me from integrating into the campus to the extent I wanted. The bathrooms lie at the end of the floor and are open to the environment kindof. There's sinks and showers and toilets, but their pretty grungy.

Toilet paper may or may not be available in the bathrooms. If it is, it cannot be flushed down western style toilets but likely can be flushed down Indian style toilets. If there is toilet paper and you're using a western style toilet, there may or may not be a trash can to dispose of it. Washing with water is generally always an option, but I've not really tried that yet. I have although been showering with bucket water. Many people do that, especially those living in the Ladies hostels because they kindof don't have showers from what I hear. It's fun and interesting, you have to work for the water, pouring it over yourself, as opposed to just standing there relaxing...all in all it must save a lot of water too, which, with the lack of monsoon rains, is a good idea. I'll also opt for washing my clothes in the large bucket that they provide you, the washing machines I think are too far away for me to feasibly carry all my stuff to wash it. That's what many people to I'm pretty sure anyway, the back of the Tide powder detergent gives directions specific to bucket washing, it doesn't even look like it's meant for washing machines. It's all part of the different experience, and exciting too, it's a whole new lifestyle.

Tuesday I had Conversational Hindi, and we went over the 13 vowels and many of the 33 consonants. I loved the whole thing, it was the first time I was being educated in a script that was foreign to me. It's going to require a lot of practice! The sounds are especially difficult, incorporating aspiration, non-aspiration, and specific ways of using the tongue to produce retroflexion and non-retroflexion.

I also had a Indian Medieval History class that day, but the syllibus made the class seem really difficult with a required reading list of 16 books for the semester, not to mention recommended readings. That reminded me that all of these classes are graduate-level, some upper-graduate level. Yeah I may have to switch out of that class.

It's a lot of fun coming back to the guest house to eat meals; I get to socialize with all the CIEE students I've grown close to and the other SIP students coming from California, South Dakota, South Carolina, and other places. It's something to look foreward to and grab a hold of, despite all the uncertainty we're all going through. I'll continue to eat there for a while until I muster enough courage to try the campus food, to which Kavitha says it will take a month to acclimate.

I also went to Yoga for the first time on Wednesday morning; it was pretty enjoyable and a great way to start the day. I may end up taking a certification class as well.

I'm getting used to the campus by now and have an idea about where to be heading myself when I need to be somewhere. Of course things are still uncertain regarding my course schedule and...practically everything else that I'm involved in here, but going with the flow is a virtue that I've been meaning to develop for some time now, and again, it's all part of being in a different culture.