St. Nick

DISCLAIMER: Whatever I have written about JNU is only and solely related to the languages department and not the university as a whole. I mean no disrespect to anyone and apologize to anyone who may have felt personally attacked.

First things first.

EXAMS ARE OVER. 

I am officially done with my time at JNU! 

Thanks JNU. It's been an "interesting" few months. 

If you think that was meant to be sarcasm.

Well.

You'd be right.

No, but really. Even with all it's administrative problems, JNU has honestly opened my eyes to the fact that being passive in life is not going to get you anywhere. 

So really JNU. Thanks.

Anyway.

Last Saturday the Belgian and Dutch community celebrated Sinterklaas, the original Santa Claus.

THERE WAS AN ELEPHANT. 

It became quite literally the best day ever.

The rest of this week was a bit...

Odd.

So. I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave it at this for the last two weeks.

I mean I could write about how peculiar the exams are here.

Eh. Why not.

But first.

SO. During one of my exams, which, mind you was an open book exam, the teacher had specifically said that the use of wi-fi was not allowed. (Which to be fair, is pretty alright considering if you just read the stories once which we were being tested on, there's a fairly good chance you'll do decently.)

But I mean why would anyone decide to listen to the teacher. It's not like they're giving grades or whatever.

A student decided to use his phone. To... I dunno google stuff or something. The teacher took the phone away and let it be.

Not five minutes later did this kid pull out another phone to... yeah probably google stuff.

I mean... come on. Seriously? You took the effort to find two phones and you couldn't find the effort to at least read one of the poems we discussed? Pretty sure that it would have been more difficult to find these phones than it would have been to think about why the poet wrote what he did.

OH. And then. During the American Literature exam.

We had three hours to complete a fairly lengthy exam but if you paced yourself you would have been able to complete it in the allotted time.

First of all, the original exam sheet (which was made official by the chairman) stated that the exam would start at 10. But I mean no reason it should actually start at 10 right? Might as well just change the timing of the exam to 2pm less than 12 hours before. Makes complete sense.

Anyway, thats besides the point. It wasn't an easy exam, but it wasn't tough neither as it was open book and all you needed to do was think logically and have understood what the teacher discussed the past semester.

About a half hour into the exam the teacher leaves and her PhD student takes over for her (which is fine because the teacher is in a wheelchair and has breathing problems).

About 45 minutes later a student gets up and proceeds to ask the class (loudly) who all wants tea or coffee. Which I guess is fine, just a bit weird that you would want to waste exam time to grab a coffee. Especially considering you literally just complained about the fact that it was in fact a very lengthy exam.

But you know. Whatever floats your boat.

So 20 minutes pass and the chai wala brings tea for those who want. At this point I'm about 1/3 done with the exam.

About two hours into the exam, when the proctor leaves, I'm just about to finish my last question when that same student who asked for coffee and tea asked the class "how do you answer question one."

Thanks, JNU. My stress-levels may have shot up but at least now I know that it's okay to be a bit selfish when it comes to work.

I'm on a boat

So you remember how I said I'd be posting every week at least once a week?

Well.

Funny story.

That didn't actually happen.

#Sorrynotsorry.

Happy birthday!

Anyway. Let's see. What have I been up to.

It was my fathers' birthday, so as a family we went down to Agra, to ride camels as one does.

We were at the Chambal River which is a tributary of the Yamuna.

And. We saw lions and tigers and bears!

Well okay no tigers. Nor bears. Nor lions. But. We did see crocodiles, turtles and dolphins.

Basically the same thing.

See? Camel! 

From the camel ride we ended up at this abandoned fort which had views for days.

We also went on a few boat rides where I only mildly felt like throwing up.

(I don't do well on water. Or cars. Or helicopters. Or any moving vehicle really).

Boat.

On our last day there we went to "Little Varanasi." At least that's what the locals call it. Varanasi, for those who don't know it, is the spiritual capital of India in Utter Pradesh and one of the oldest living cities. Basically, it's where people come worship their dead at the Ganges.

Along the Ganges (in Varanasi) you'll see the Ghats, the riverside steps leading to the Ganges where most religious ceremonies take place.

You know those stereotypical movie scenes where they burn bodies on the Ganges?

Yeah. No. Not exactly.

This is the Agra version:

Not too shabby right?

Fast forward a few days and we're at our National Day Event.

I think we had around 800 people.

But I mean it was only 800 people, no biggie.

I wore Indian clothes to celebrate the Belgian national day.

As a result, climbing stairs had been taken out of the agenda.

Walking in general actually.














Fast forward another two days and we're at my fathers' surprise birthday party.

Happy birthday!

Here's a picture of your granddaughter to celebrate

And fast forward another week and we're at exams. Which is where we're at now.

I forgot how much of a pain exams really are.

Stupid exams. 

Anywho. One more week and then I'm off traveling for 2.5 months.

Here's the itinerary:

Magnetic Fields
Nepal
Australia (Melbourne - Sydney - Gold Coast - Cairns)
Goa
Mumbai
Kerala

It's okay to be jealous.

I'm jealous of future me.

Here's a puppy to make you feel better:

I would like to say that this coming week is going to be filled with exciting things, but I'm afraid I just can't tell a lie.

Well that's not true. I can. But no this week I'm afraid won't be all too exciting.

#yayexams.

BUT as I mentioned before, as I will be traveling non stop I'm sure I'll find a story or two to tell.

So bear with me as I work through the next week.

You're also more than welcome to wish me luck.

Happy Diwali!

Guys.

This whole posting on a weekly basis is so tough.

Like. I mean. Whut.

Not all my posts can be as amazing as the one before it.

So I apologize in advance for the lack of creativity surrounding this one.

Actually, no I don't apologize cause you guys try posting every week.

Anyway....

Happy Diwali!

Walking cliché

I'm afraid I didn't have much going on this week, hence the fact I'm actually posting this far later than I originally intended it to.

I was in Lucknow celebrating Diwali with my family.

Diwali is the festival of lights and also marks the start of the financial year in the Hindu calendar.

Basically what it means is people buy a ridiculous amount of firecrackers and fireworks (from the Chinese market of course) and then blast them until... actually until today.

It's Tuesday. Diwali was two days ago people.

You've made your point.

Last week though something pretty cool happened. I got published!

The student paper published my article on what JNU is like in comparison to KUL. And to whoever read my rough (really really rough) draft will know that I really held back in the final version.

Here's the link:

https://theinformerjnu.com/2016/10/25/six-thousand-four-hundred-kilometers/

So what else happened last week.

Nothing.

Nothing else happened last week, I don't even have a Fabienne's joke for you this week! So I suggest you guys go read my other posts.

Go.

Read. Now.

http://sixthousandfourhundredkm.blogspot.in/2016/10/annex.html

G'parents went all out on Diwali decorations

Annex

Here's the latest from Fabienne's jokes:

What do you call the Mexican Harry Potter?

Last week nothing of actual importance happened so we'll just skip to the weekend.

Actually. No, that's not true. The student-run paper asked me to write about how JNU is in comparison to the KULeuven.

Once it's a lot less... harsh, I'll be sure to publish the link to it.

This weekend we went to Udaipur.

Udaipur is the City of Lakes.

The Venice of India.

The (insert cliche about water) of (insert famous place). 

No but in all seriousness, Udaipur is located in Rajasthan and was built around the 16th century. If you have a chance to go to Rajasthan then you cannot miss this place. 

The City Palace is a massive building fit for a queen or you know me (but that's basically the same thing anyway). Had it not been for the guide, I'm pretty sure we would still be in there, considering it is the largest palace in Rajasthan. 

Its.... Well, I can't really put words to it. 

(But that may just be because the bus ride back was a wonderful freezing 12 hours.)

It was an imposing piece of architecture though. 

And then of course if you see the City Palace you have to stop by the Crystal Palace. 

Well. I can honestly say I've never seen that much crystal before in my life.  

Come afternoon time we had lunch in the very same place The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was filmed. 

I may or may not fangirled a bit. A lot. 

And lucky for us, that place had a pool. So this is what the afternoon was like: 

Yes. 

It's alright, you're allowed to be jealous. Especially all ya'll in Europe where the weather is a lovely 7 degrees. 

We also met other travelers from the States. See? Told you guys you'd be mentioned! 

So Sunday we rented bikes (read: scooters). And in case you were wondering, yes my weekly life-risking has continued. 

Don't worry family, it was all safe, the "highway" was relatively empty and the drivers were relatively experienced.

We ended up going somewhere forgotten to the rest of the world.  

Sas Bahu, Udaipur

Sunday night we took the bus back home and yeah fine it was more comfortable than the drive to Dharamshala, I think its safe to say that I'm not going on another 12 hour bus ride in the near future. 

Or any future.

Or just never. 

Thanks guys for letting me tag along this weekend! Where's our next stop? 

Did you guess the answer to Fabienne's joke?

Well, here it is! 

The Chosen Juan 

Yes. These jokes are actually so bad that they are funny. 

Sneezing Panda

Let's start this week off with a joke, courtesy of Fabienne's Jokes (not yet in stores).

What do you call a Mexican without a car?

Keep reading to find out the answer!


Before I get started, it was brought to my attention that I "forgot" to mention something in last weeks' post, namely the fact that I drove on a scooter through Delhi.

Well, I didn't drive.

I'm not mad.

Life risking seems to be a weekly occurrence lately.

This weekend I went to Dharamshala with some friends.

For those of you who don't know where or what Dharamshala is, it's where the Dalai Lama lives (when he's not traveling in Europe like he is now and so we didn't get to meet him and that was sad). It's basically a mini version of Tibet, in the state Himachel Pradesh and borders the Himalaya's.

It was amazing.

Let's get through the gory details first.

Our bus ride to Dharamshala was a wonderful 14.5 hours. I mean it obviously couldn't be the 12 hours it was supposed to be. Why make life easier.

14.5 hours.

...

It was a long night.

After we arrived at the hotel we discovered the town and ate food.

It never ceases to amaze me how much food can just make a persons' day so much better.

Momo's and massive pancakes are obviously the answers to life's problems.

We went to a Buddhist Temple right as the prayer was going on.

I may or may not have illegally taken this picture.

The rest of the day was spent looking at views like this:

The next day we went trekking where we had more amazing views like: 

We were at 2800m and it was a tad bit chilly. It got so cold that random people started giving me their jackets and pants. Yes pants. 

The trek was amazing. The views were to die for. 

Our guide.... not so much.

We had paid for a guide who ended up not being a guide but rather spent his day talking on his phone or listening to music. He then also proceeded to ditching us on top of the mountain. 

However out of that misfortune came our up-and-coming band: Guideless* 

With Fabienne and Ana on vocals, Andrea on drums, Boudewijn on the trumpet and me on the piano we're an unstoppable squad.  

* CD's soon available at a location near you! 

The day after we risked our lives and drove up an incredibly steep mountain where the driver thought it would be a good idea to overtake on sharp turns. The fact that trucks were barrelling down the mountain didn't seem to bother him. I mean it's not like our safety was at risk or anything.   

Oh and we went paragliding. 

You'd think that the paragliding would have been more dangerous than the drive, but nope. 

The most "frightening" part was the taking off where you're basically running of a mountain into potential death. 

That view. 

I honestly do not have the right words to describe what that was like. 

Well I guess "wow" would be an adequate word. But it doesn't fully encompass how imposing it all actually was.

Most of us napped that afternoon. Okay, two of us napped while the other 3 were being productive. 

But then again, those who say that naps aren't productive obviously aren't living a fulfilling life. 

On our last day I felt like I fell of the mountain so I stayed in bed while the rest went to a Tibetan museum, a waterfall and became bros with a goat. 

Then, we shopped. 

And then it rained.

And then I heard two people speaking in Russian and could understand them and I felt like a spy. 

I also found a bunch of stray dogs that I wanted to take back home but nobody would let me. Something about ticks and not wanting to get sick. 

Anyway, we took the 12 hour bus ride back home and here we are again. 

Thanks for the great weekend guys, now lets go to Udaipur (in 1.5 weeks)! 

Stay tuned for next weeks' Fabienne's jokes!

Answer: Carlos. 

Presley

Dear Rain,

I know. We've had our differences the last 22 years. I don't like you and you don't like me.

But please. I'm begging you.

Please rain! My hair can't handle the excessive humidity anymore! Just give me 5 minutes of frizz-less hair.

Sincerely,
Aditi

Yes this picture is from Instagram. And yes you should be following me on Insta: adje_luykx

Monday was Freshers for the Russian center. Freshers is a party organized by the second year students for the new students, the freshmen. There are three parts: formal, informal and really informal.

Well. That was interesting. The event started maybe 1.5 hours too late, but I mean this is India so that's fine. First up was the introductory speech by sophomores. It's not that it was a bad speech. On the contrary, the speech was decent but just lacked the enthusiasm that it needed.

One by one the new students were called up to the stage to say a few words about themselves and why they decided to join Russian.

If there's one thing I've learned about that day, is that "English language university" does not actually mean "English"-speaking.

I went on stage.

I had a whole speech prepared in my head as to how important it is to me to learn about my Indian side and how JNU is helping me accomplish that goal.

Of course I didn't say any of that.

I mean why would my brain allow that anyway.

I said: Hey guys. I'm from Belgium, a country about the size of Delhi. Okay so that's not true, but we only have 11 million people. I'm here as an exchange student so I'd like to thank you guys for welcoming me and I'm looking forward to the next two months. Thanks!

Clearly I work well under pressure.

Throughout the introductions the students performed songs, dances, etc. And I was actually really impressed with my classmates' performance. If you guys are reading, you guys did really well! For people who only had a few days to practice you guys did very well!

The informal part was next. I can't exactly say I approve of this part. I'm all for embarrassing people, but I mean really? On stage in front of 50+ people? Let them at least have some of their dignity. 

So I left. 

Sorry guys, but I can't sit somewhere when I don't approve of the actions. 

Yes. I'm lame. But I'm cool too, right?

I feel like I sound like the mom in Mean Girls. 

Now lets flash forward to Friday.

The Marines at the American embassy were throwing a party so a couple of us went. But before we went in I met a few Americans who seemed to be a bit perplexed at the idea of people actually going to one of these parties. 

Apparently it's very frat-party-esque. 

And well. Yes it was exactly like that. 

Red cups, Budweiser* and beer pong. 

I haven't been to a US frat party, but I've been to a few house parties thrown by Americans back in the day and its safe to say that I went back in time.

In other news, thanks everyone for the overwhelming response to last weeks' question! I got a total of zero answers! 

.....

Next weeks' post will be late as I'm off to Dharamshala for the weekend. And how are am I going you may ask? 

Well. Obviously by bus.

A whole wonderful 12.5 hour bus ride. My very easily motion-sickness susceptible stomach is really looking forward to this. I also in advance apologize to who ever is sitting next to me. Don't worry I've got my stash of baby approved anti-motion sickness pills ready! 

See you guys in a week and a half! 

*I'm never drinking Budweiser again. That's not beer. That's water (with a rather unpleasant aftertaste). For my Belgian friends, it's basically Cara Pils. 

Purple or Blue?

This week was bittersweet.

Friends left to go back to Belgium. So that kind of sucked.

BUT.

I managed to convince my American Literature to let us watch Pocahontas.

So I mean the good outweighed the bad. Cause obviously Pocahontas rules all.

Can you guys believe its already almost October? I mean I literally only have two months left before my semester here ends.

TWO months.

I will miss JNU, despite its shortcomings. I will especially miss the fact that I can purchase a full meal (including chai) for only 25 rupee (0.334 euro).

On Wednesday I was walking the dog (see below for most adorable and fearsome dog) when he suddenly stopped and started wagging his tail at something. I looked quickly and determined it was a cat.

It was not.

When he didn't start barking at it I looked closer.

It was a monkey.

.......

WHAT.

What is a monkey doing here. Monkeys do not live here. I cannot handle a monkey.
Another dog? Sure. A cat? Why not.

A monkey?

I think not.

Stupid Monkey

Anyway. Wednesday I went to the airport and I think I went back to the '70s.

Indians, at least the men, who travel for some reason have decided that that time period is the best way to cut their hair.

I... disagree.

Thursday afternoon I skipped my class cause naps. Naps are a very crucial part for a growing person.

Or maybe thats just babies. At least I slept like a baby. Doesn't that count?

Hauz Khas Village

We then went out to Summer House in Hauz Khas. The people I hang out with are for the most part Europeans (read foreigners) so when they texted me saying they were there I expected to be able to find them quite easily in a crowd.

Nope.

It took me a good 5 minutes before I could find my foreign friends. I kept going up to random groups of foreigners thinking they were my friends. I went up to at least 3 different groups of people standing around awkwardly looking for my group.

It was an awkward 4 minutes and 40 seconds.

Anyway. This place is pretty awesome. I mean the fact that it was ladies night helped of course, but besides that the music is good, the rooftop is good, the whatever else you can think of is good.

Magically I managed to wake up the next morning at a decent hour and make it to school. Five hours later Laureline and I were trying to set up the projector to watch Pocahontas. Two hours after that I was back at Sarojini Nagar with my mother. Three hours after that I was back in CP.

Somewhere in the middle I tried taking a nap but some printing got in the way. So thanks for that. (You know who you are!)

For non-Delhi residing people, CP is Connaught Place. But I'm obviously super cool and call it CP like all other cool people. Like anybody who's cool will know what "whats crackalackin" is and that its actually cool and that when I wear my glasses I don't look like a nerd that I look like Supergirls undercover persona.

Pure awesomeness

We went to Lord of the Drinks, another rooftop bar. This place was pretty chill as well. And I can't believe I haven't talked about this as yet but Kingfisher is actually a pretty decent beer. Reminds me a bit of Belgian beers. The kind I drink anyway, which generally is none, but hey when in Rome.

And this place seriously has some decent dessert. It's incredibly heavy and portion sizes should probably be about half of what they actually are, but dayum. 

Caramel. Chocolate. Food.

This weekend though. This weekend was cray-zee. I mean I read an entire book, wrote two and a quarter term papers, exercized, took care of the dog and caught up on sleep.

Yeah. It was wild weekend.

Most handsome bearded dog ever

In other news, I need suggestions for day trips from Delhi and I need suggestions on where to go from the 5th of December till the 9th of December. 

Join the club

First things first. If you understand my humor, I recommend that you immediately go to YouTube and type: dog sail vine.

Secondly, its been brought to my attention that my friends (well, one in particular) in Delhi would like to be properly mentioned by name: so here you go Laureline.

Let's see. What did we get up to this week.

Monday. Let's see Monday. No okay not Monday.

Tuesday? Tuesday was a holiday. So Tuesday was spent at the pool, naturally.

But Wednesday. Oh Wednesday. What a day.

So Wednesday I had my first test at school. It wasn't exactly easy nor was it difficult. Nothing unexpected. What was unexpected though was the amount of people actually openly cheated. The teacher noticed some students looking at one another's paper and simply asked them to not look at each others paper.

...

Yes this happened.

...

Anyway. Wednesday night I had invited some friends (LAURELINE) to hang out at the house.

So you know that was alright.

I mean.

Food was without a doubt best part of the night.

(Sorry friends, but you know its true. Dat mac and cheese and dem brownies. No contest.) 

Thursday we went to Agra (read Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri.)

AND WE WENT BY TRAIN. (I feel like Sheldon). Creepily enough, I ended up sitting next to the same couple going to Agra as on the way back.

Dear Agra,

I've been to you 3 times now in the last 10 years. I think it's time we take a break from one another. It's not that I don't love you, it's just that I'm not in love with you.

Love,
Aditi.

No but for real, the Taj Mahal will always be an amazing imposing beautiful piece of artwork and all those who go to India really can't leave it without having seen it. Sure the town itself, Agra, isn't much to see, but you go for the Taj Mahal. The Agra Fort is the red fort of Agra and the Fatehpur Sikri is an old abandoned city about 30km from Agra. When I say abandoned I don't mean run down, ruined or left for dead. The "city" has been kept up to a prime standard.


Friday we went to the Agrasen Ki Baoli. It's only recently become a protected monument and rightfully so. Though no one really knows for sure how old it is, most people agree that it's been around since the 10th century.

Saturday we went to Dilli Haat and had momos.

Momos.

Life is good with momos.

Sunday we went to Sarojini Nagar and had clothes.

Clothes.

Life is good with clothes.

<3 Delhi.

Read a book*

So Monday my Belgian friends arrived and boy did we go cray-cray. Well, I mean we did our best. But hey, its the thought that counts, right?

But Tuesday. Oh Tuesday. No okay we didn't do anything much to crazy. I mean we did unknowingly walked 5km looking for a bank. 

Thursday we went to the zoo because we're 22 and thats just what we do. (Ha that rhymed.) 

While at the zoo I witnessed something that I had only heard about in some distance past: people actually went up to my friends (blonde and redhead) and asked to take their pictures.

Why! Why would you want strangers in your personal pictures! 

Besides that lovely experience, the zoo was very nice. And actually they should be charging more than they are (200 rupee = 2.6 euro). The animals deserve it. 

We saw lions and tigers and bears. 

Oh my. 

The next day we went to Red Fort and Jama Masjid. The Red Fort is an old, massive fort build in 1648 constructed by Shah Jahan. The Mughal emperors lived there until 1857, the rebellion of the Indians against the British. The Jama Masjid is one of the largest mosques in India and honestly it is an incredible sight. It was also build by Shah Jahan around the same time as the Red Fort. You cannot go to Delhi and not see these two. But don't believe the tariffs from Lonely Planet or any other tourism website as they're not up to date. Price for foreigners has gone up to 500 rupees (still not a huge deal, but just warning.) Jama Masjid remains free entry, but you have to pay for cameras (including cellphones). 

And so of course at the Red Fort people kept coming up to my friends asking to take pictures with them. I crowned myself their bodyguard and came up with a few responses when asked:

1. If you want to take a picture of them, go to Europe.

2. Why do you want to take a picture. They're not in a zoo. 

3. No. 

And one we should have said:

Sure, but it'll cost you 20 rupee. 

Yes I am that vain that I would use a picture of myself. Picture credit: Riana Musschoot

Friday night I invited some people over to hang around at the pool for a while and eat. Now I feel pressure to write something good as I know they're reading this. 

Heeey. 

No just kidding. It was a lot of fun. We ate, we drank, we conquered (the pool and for some of us, our fears of jumping from high places). 

Night swimming. Definitely recommended. 

Saturday, as some of us weren't exactly feeling our best, we slept, we ate and we slept. In the afternoon we went to the "Pop it up: Fashion Flea" event in Nehru Park. We decided to take the dog, who ended up being photographed more than the clothes at event. 

I'm not even joking, we were walking around when the guy organizing the photography asked if he could take a picture so I said sure. Then he got on his walkie-talkie and called everyone to take more pictures. 

I felt like a proud...

... something. 

Also new this week, I matched the interior of my rickshaw: 

*Look it up on youtube. It's funny, but be warned, it uses foul language. 

UCD

So here I am.

A week later.

AND I HAVE NOTHING TO BLOG ABOUT.

Not every week can be as genius as the last. But I'll give it a try.

I had another peculiar auto drive this week. Ah Delhi. You never cease to amaze me.

I asked the guy how much and he mumbled something about a meter. Not wanting to risk anything, I grabbed someone from of the street to help translate. I told (okay not told necessarily but rather forcefully explained to) the guy that I was not about to pay above a certain price. The auto guy actually decided not to rip me off and said "no problem, pay me that price."

So I get in, still a bit frustrated at the fact that my classes had yet again been cancelled for lack of reason. But everything is going great, I'm even thinking I'll pay the guy a little extra.

But then.

Then he decides to stop at a gas-station.

So I ask him: kya hogia? (whats wrong?)

And he mumbles something: ...gas.... ap niche... (...gas...you down...)

I figured okay fine I mean I guess its fine to this now. It's not like I needed to be somewhere or anything.

Suddenly he starts yelling at me: Niche! Niche! (Get down! Get down!)

By the way he was yelling at me you would have thought that I had tried to do something *insert whatever you find is a horrible crime that is within reason.*

And then.

Then he starts yelling at all the bad drivers on the road. ALL OF THEM. And this is Delhi. There are a lot of them.

Needless to say, I was deaf by the time I got home.

This goat emulates how I feel.

At JNU its nearly student election time. Which means:

It's protest tiiiiiiiime!

You get a protest! And you get a protest! And you get a protest! 

(Yes. That was meant to be read like Oprah.)

Friday there were student protests outside school.

I have absolutely no idea what they were saying, but it kind of sounded like what Belgians sing when the Belgian football team scores*: Waar is dat feestje? Hier is dat feestje! (Where is that party? Here is that party!)

Clearly very exciting days in the lives of international students at JNU.

Monday two friends of mine are coming from Belgium. And knowing these two, I can guarantee some good stories.

So keep on reading to find out what happens next week on The Bachelor. 

No wait I don't mean that. I mean keep reading to find out what happens in my life which is clearly, clearly more interesting.








*Belgium better beat Cyprus Monday. They better. Or else.

(Or else I'll be very very upset. Come on guys. I'm not a malicious person.)

Priyanka Chopra

So it's Sunday night and I'm trying to write this post.

Yeah.

No.

Inspiration has decided not to be my friend today. So here's a picture of the view from campus.

I complain a lot about the lack of attendance by the teachers, I know. But this week really takes the cake.

Wednesday, there I sat for breakfast, enjoying my usual (mango, sweet lime juice and a chia seed health bar), when I look at my phone to see if any news about school had come up.

I had 60+ messages on WhatsApp.

No, no I'm not exaggerating. I literally had 60+ messages from the different classes.

As I'm skimming these messages, I notice that this time it was the students who had asked the teachers if class could be canceled as they would be out till 5am.

And the teachers actually agreed. 

In other news, this week for some reason, I've repeatedly been told that I should become a Bollywood movie actress.

What do you think.

Me, the next Priyanka Chopra?

I think.

DEFINITELY.

I'm planning on going into movies after I retire, when I'm relaxing on the beach in Thailand with my elephant replacing a car.

Saturday night some of us went to Connaught Place. We were going for dinner and walked into a rather health-obsessed restaurant. For non Delhiites, Connaught place is a pre-Independence era shopping and business center - it is the epitome of British colonialism.

And when I say health-obsessed, I mean health-obsessed. They were promoting a "fat-burning detox drink." Needless to say we all just kind of stared at the guy. I'm sorry, but does it look like we need it?! I think not!

After about 15 minutes of not being able to decide what to do, we went to the rooftop of Summer House in Hauz Khas.

I could feel the wind in my hair, moon on my face and the music in my ears. 

I felt like a valley girl driving a convertible.

Except, instead of California it was New Delhi.

And instead of a convertible it was a rooftop bar.

Aand instead of a valley girl it was a half Indian girl with half red hair.

Okay I'm going to level with you guys. The lack of inspiration seems to stem from the fact that I may have only slept a total of 5 hours.

Goodnight y'all, I'm going to sleep until kingdom come.

Need for Speed

Once you can give directions in a new place, and they're actually correct then you know you've settled in.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you all today, it's been a very, very uneventful week. And studying is basically to blame. Well, not blame exactly, it's not "studyings'" fault that I didn't have an eventful week.

Monday was, as I wrote in last week's post, Independence day. In 1947, on August 15th, India gained independence from the British. India was thus partitioned into India and Pakistan. People here do various things to celebrate Independence day. The parliament and other government buildings were so incredibly lit up, that the only comparison I can make is how Americans decorate their houses around the winter holidays.

Thursday was another holiday. It's called "Raksha Bandhan" and its a Hindu festival to celebrate the love and duty between brothers and sisters, related or not. The sister has to perform a Rakhi ceremony in which she celebrates her love for her brothers and her wish for their well-being. She then ties a "rakhi" (red string) around the wrist of the brother. The brother then pledges to protect and take care of his sister under all circumstances.

So to my brothers, related and not, happy Rakhi!

I've also been running quite a bit lately. At least when the birds let me. I feel like I'm in some modern age rendition of Alfred Hitchcocks' "The Birds."

Yes. It is that creepy.

Then again, it does make me run faster.

This week I also took rickshaw.

BUT I ACTUALLY SPOKE PROPER HINDI.

It was great.

There were no weird looks. Well, thats not completely true. From my side there were plenty. At the end of the drive, I sat there with a single tear running down my face. Wiped it off and handed the cash to the driver.

I'll start from the beginning.

I called for the rickshaw and told him where I wanted to go. He seemed to have absolutely no idea what I was talking about (a fear that was proven true as we neared the area). But fine, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I asked him: Kitna? (How much?)

He said: 100. (100).

I said: Na hi, 80. (No, 80).

We settled on 90. And we were off.

I call this next part "Need for Speed: Auto Rickshaws of New Delhi."

I don't think I've ever feared for my life more than I did Friday. We drove through red ( a few times), bumped up against cyclists, flew over potholes (my head hit the top of the auto a few more times).
I'm fairly certain we broke at least, at least, 48 traffic rules.

As we were driving over the Moti Bagh flyover (almost home) I could feel the wind flowing in my hair, my eyes watering with each km/h over the speedlimit.

I felt........ like I was about to near death. Quite the opposite of alive really.

And that brings us back to where I started, sitting there with a single tear rolling down my cheek from the wind, paying the guy, and vowing that I will never complain about traffic in Europe again.*

In other news, doesn't my dog look like the king of the jungle?

*Disclaimer: The rickshaws are generally safe. Once in a while it happens that one driver will be a little more reckless than others but don't let that discourage you from taking one. Keep in mind that they don't want to get into accidents neither because it would cost them a lot more to fix their rickshaw than that your trip would cost.
It's all part of the adventure.

Def Col

As I walk through the valley of the shadows of death

I take a look at my life and realize there's nothing left

Yes I am in fact talking about the wasps that are currently terrorising my classroom. 

Friday started off as a great day. I did discover though that running in this weather is a bit of a challenge. But at least the view is nice. 

I've noticed something else lately. Teachers tend to not let students know when they will be teaching. My four hours of class turned into 5 minutes in each class waiting for someone, anyone to show up. Normally you'd think "great, no class, time to go home early." But really. Twice in one day?! Four teachers in two weeks?! This is a tad ridiculous, is it not? Or is it just me?  

Anyway I ended up taking an auto (rickshaw) home. And as we were nearing the house, I was trying to give directions in broken hindi. I said "islieh dhain, islieh bhain," thinking I was saying "here left, here right." But the guy just kept looking at me really weird. Like, really weird. 

Turns out, "islieh" does not mean "here." Rather, it means "this is why." 

Okay I kind of understand the confusion. 

Oops. 

Friday night some of us went to Defence Colony. That was an interesting evening. We went to a bar where they were advertising "499 rupee = unlimited Bira.*" 

Yeaaaaaah. No. The deal was only until midnight, but they did give us two pitchers instead. The bar had a guy playing music, and believe you me, this guy was amazing. He was singing in Hindi most of the time, but noticed that we weren't exactly Indian, and thus most likely didn't understand Hindi. So he sang "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias for us. Personally I can't stand the song. But hey, it's the thought that counts. And it really did sound like Enrique was there in the room with us.

The best part of the night was when we spent 20+ minutes driving around Defence Colony trying to find the next bar. Once you've passed the same roads about 4 times, it's time to call it quits.

This post comes a day late as hopefully some of you may have noticed. But it's for good reason! We went to a Bengali wedding last night and I was hoping that there would have been enough interesting events that I could talk about.

First off. Food. Yes. I did in fact eat about 51% of all the spring rolls that were available. I would have eaten the other 49% too, but that may have been a bit too gluttonous.

Secondly. Apparently the bride and groom wear these special types of hats during the ceremony. They looked quite funny.

Thirdly. While the wedding was going on, Belgium beat India 3-1 in hockey in the Olympics. I have mixed feelings about this.

And finally. It definitely was a very special night and I'm very glad I witnessed it. Just to see the differences between north Indian and Bengali weddings was, to say the least, very interesting.

And in the picture is me, struggling to wear typical Indian clothing. I say struggling because it's not exactly the lightest thing to wear. 

But I look pretty darn good if I do say so myself. 

And of course, today is the 15th of August. In 1947 India gained independence. 

Happy Independence Day! 

*Bira = Belgian brewed beer made especially for India