Running off all that curry....

before I continue updating you on my first week in Pune...

I'll just say, right off the bat, today was a good day (minus the two and a half hours I spent in the police station). This morning I had my Public Health class which is very interesting, and I really like the professor (I'll fill you in on the details of my classes later). After class a five of us had to go get our passports registered because for some reason everyone who got their visas from the New York Consulate had to register their visas within 14 days of being in the country. As many things have been thus far on the trip, this quickly turned into an ordeal. Upon arriving we crammed into a stuffy hallway and waited in line outside the appropriate office. However, the first student was turned away almost immediately because we seemed to be missing some 'necesarry' documents (even though students went yesterday and registered successfully without any problems). We all got out of line and waited awkwardly in the hallway, obviously in the way. We ended up having to wait for Prashant, one of our program directors, to come meet us with the form. His jolly little face coming through the metal detector definitely put a smile on all of our faces, but his jolly little face emerging from the room without success wiped them off just as quickly. We took turns holding a spot in line will Prashant tried to figure out what to do next - apparantly we needed more forms that officially certified our enrollment with the study abroad program, or something like that. We spent the next 2 hours waiting around in the heat with no idea what progress had been made. In the end, we finally left the police station. unregistered. Prashant, being the well-connected, personable man he is ended up having to use his 'connections' to get things passed through and he would have to return later with all of our passports and documents. Thankyou Prashant.

After having a quick lunch of Palak Paneer I had my development economics class. Going into class I wasn't too enthusiastic, because the previous introductory lecture wasn't that exciting and the professor was often hard to follow (definitely attributed to his strong Indian accent that in fact caused us to confuse the word cement for semon, for a brief moment I think the majority of the class was surprised at the fact that semon was manufactured as an intermediary good) Today the class was taught by the other professor (it is a team taught class) who we all really liked. Although it was an introductory lecture so the topic wasn't initially compelling, he was able to direct open discussion, insert bits of humor, and get us thinking about conceptualizing development economics and how we will approach the topic throughout the semester. 2 hours later, I think we all left the class feeling really excited and eager to grasp both the methodology of developement economics and the perception of development within India.
After class we returned to the program center and hung out for a bit. A few of the other girls had gone for runs around Fergusson college on previous days, so I brought my stuff today. I was a little hesitant to go at first because I hadn't yet gone on the hike up the mountain or walked through some of the surrounding trails, so I was unsure of my surroundings and of how crowded the area would be. But I had to go, the weather was perfect and a run would definintely help clear my mind and settle my spice filled stomach as well. When I left it was drizzling a little and the air was somewhat cool, or at least cooler than usual. I ran through Fergusson College campus up to the sports fields at the back end where students play endless games of cricket and huddle in groups chatting. At first I wasn't sure where the path up the mountain was so I ended up running in circles for a while behind the fields. Finally I found a path that seemed to lead up and around the mountain. I had no idea what to expect, but as I continued the path got rougher and I came to the end and looped up the mountain. At this point it was more like jogging up cliff like rocks, lucky I didn't twist my ankle. As I continued up the somewhat treacherous terrain the entire city of Pune started to become visible. I continued upward, passing a few water tanks (i think), heading towards the sound of a male voice possible calling out religious prayers. At the top there was a small yellow shrine with a red statue of Ganesh inside. There was a group of men sitting on the path around the corner and another tall religious structure visible in the distance. More impressive was the view of Pune. I stould at the top for a while taking it all in - the expanse of industry, movement, color, dust, and of course, the somewhat audible honking of the traffic below. Taking care not to fall flat on my face, I continued down a path on the other side for a bit and then decided to turn around before it got to late. On my way back running over the rocks I encountered numerous stray dogs, a few uniformed school children presumably on their way over the mountain, and a scattered dewey raindrops. Honestly, for a while I didn't really feel like I was on a run, but a goat up in the mountains with skinny stray dogs scampering carefully down the rough stone. Once I reached the path back down towards Fergusson college I was feeling really good and extended my run for a little bit, passing a few stray cows and a massive pile of trash on the way. I finally made it back to the program center, washed my face, filled my water bottle, and headed back on the road for my walk home. My run made me feel really good about being in India and I'm glad I was able to have that time to myself and explore the paths and the view on my own. I had been feeling a little down the night before, I think maybe just somewhat overwhelmed or lonely in my homestay, but that run was exactly what I needed. I came home to Aju waving at me through the metal bars on their porch and the dog, Crona, disobediently charging out of the house to meet me.

Although my host mom and Aju are going to Falton, Aju's hometown, for part of the weekend I had a really nice dinner with just the grandmother. She told me about her family, their town of Falton, and some of her travels. I learned that her father in law was the first 'ruler'/governor of Falton after India gained independence and that her family has been involved in the government service in Falton ever since. She told me that recently there was an English Medium school named after her husband. I learned about the women who work for them in the house here in Pune. They are all from Falton and have either left, or been left by their husbands. One of the young girl's husband had a drinking problem and he used to beat her constantly. There were people in her village who obvioulsy knew about the situation so they gave her the money to leave and live with her mother in the village. She now works her in Pune for the family and sends money to her mother with whom her 7 year old daughter lives. The women who work for them are provided with food, living quarters, pocket money, clothes twice a year, and medical expense necesitites. Although these women are essentially servants in that they do laundry, all of the cooking, clean the house, satisfy every need from getting me a glass of water to giving Aju his favorite kind of tea to running quick errands to the store. They don't speak english becuase the governement run schools in the small villages don't have the resources to have an english teacher - they only learn their mother tounge, Marathi (the local language). The women are very sweet to me and I try to thank them and smile at them. The other day I was at the desk upstairs using the internet and the younger one walked by, she actually came over interested in what I was looking at. Despite the language divide I was able to show her a few pictures on facebook of my family and friends. She smiled and then walked away to finish whatever chore she was set to accomplish.

Enough rambling for now, I'll try and fill in the gaps on this past week eventually...
Yoga and shopping tomorrow!