Happy Independence Day

I'm still very jet-lagged, so please forgive me for not putting up pictures yet. They will come soon, perhaps tomorrow, when I no longer feel like collapsing on my bed.

Yesterday was our orientation, and we officially met the director of our program and the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, Dr. Nagaraja Rao, who is the former Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India. We also met all of our professors and program coordinators, all of whom made speeches. There was also a lecture on Swami Vivekananda (Swamiji) by Dr. Prabhu Shankara, a very accomplished scholar of both Indian and English literature.

(Phew...if there is one thing I've learned about educated Indians, it is that they are very gracious, formal, and patient people, meaning they love to make very long speeches thanking every person there, and every person not there, and expounding upon their accomplishments.)

Despite a lot of sitting and listening, I am very excited about starting classes on Monday. It is funny because when I was signing up for classes, it was stressed to me that I should sign up for very little so that I could enjoy my time here. But now that I am here, Dr. Rao has insisted everyone attend every core class for the first week, (Environment and Health, Gender in India, Science, Technology, and Sustainable Development) so we can officially decide what we want to take. I know for sure that I am taking yoga (I had signed up already, but Dr. Rao decided this morning that everyone will take it, 6am-7 Mon-Thurs), Kannada (the language spoken locally), Culture and Civilization of India, and South Indian dance, Bharatanatyam.

Today was India's celebration of its 64th year of Independence. We walked up the road to the classroom building, V-LEAD, for an hour of celebrations (aka speeches of thanks haha), some beautiful Karnactic singing, traditional Mysore sweets, and the raising of the Indian flag. I am beginning to understand how revered we are as guests here; we are included in these ceremonies of great importance to Indians, and yet in each speech, we are mentioned and thanked first; we are always served first; anything we want, according to Dr. Rao, can be arranged. (We just have to ask Somu, his go-to man, who lives in the hostel where we are staying. Somu literally takes care of everything and everyone. Today he introduced some of us to his friend Ravi, a dependable rickshaw driver, and took us into town for errands, helping us pick up some necessities.)

I'm getting off track...evidence of my exhausted mind. Anyway, later, we all went out to lunch together, and then split off into smaller groups to explore Hebbal a little bit. Hebbal is the "town" we are technically staying in, though it is really just a section of Mysore. It is a bustling place, though much calmer than the heart of Mysore, which is almost unbearably overstimulating. We encountered much of what we have come to expect in our few days here: a lot of stares, a lot of children screaming "HI HI HI HI," lots of free-roaming cows, lots of trash, and the most beautiful colors I've ever seen. I want to ask all the women where they buy their clothes.

This evening, in honor of Independence Day, our group attended a play put on by Dr. Rao's friend Prof. Vijay Padaki, which was about the correspondence between Gandhi and Tagore. I'd never heard of Tagore before, so it was very interesting to hear this view point on Gandhi's life, but I must admit it was not a very stimulating play (it was purposefully minimalist), and so I think it was a little lost on those of us still recovering from jet-lag.

Tomorrow, we don't have anything planned until the evening, when we go to a puppet show (I have no idea), and the next evening, we are invited to a "Cultural Evening" (I have no idea), and the following evening we are attending a performance by students from the University of Michigan who have been studying musical traditions of India for the past three weeks. They are actually staying on our floor at the hostel, but both groups have been kept so busy, there hasn't been much time for interaction.

Although there is tons tons tons more to say, I'm going to cut myself off here. I will post again soon, hopefully with pictures.

Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, I have gotten a couple of Salwar kameezes (very casual ones) and they are extremely comfortable and fun to wear. Again, pictures soon.