nothing compares 2 u

My mom's advice to me for this trip was:

1) don't ever take off your shoes.
2) don't ever kiss any boys.
3) don't ever worry about home.
4) don't ever buy anything tacky.

I've broken every single one of these rules. Multiple times.

In my defense, my mother doesn't understand moderation.

big mac no pickles extra sauce extra cheese

What I learned in class today:

badami chalukyan, art, gupta-vakata, aihole, pattadakal, badami, vatapi, mahakuta, nagaral, sculptures, raval, ravan, pahad, aihole, i want a big crunch combo from KFC, Mahavishnu, Natesha, temples so many temples, durga, apisodal, nagal, Hucchimalli Temple, Virupaksha, Pattaaka, Dravidian, Vikromaditya, Galaganatha, Rashtrakuta Art and Architecture, Kailasa, Ellora, Nandi Mantapa, Dwara Mantapa, What the hell is he saying? Gajalakshmi, Indrasabha, Jainism, Indra, Kushmandihi Yakshi, Rupala, Sanghameshwara Temple, Bicchavolu, Popcorn chicken would also be desirable, vapi, Kalyani Chalukyan, Mahadeva, Itagi,, Dwarabandha Stambha, Panjara, Srikara and Shubankar, Bhadrakanta,so many temples i wonder if it'll ever end at least this'll make a good blog post, Doddababappa, Dambal, Bhumija, Hoysala, WHAT THE HELL IS HE SAYING Stallette, Salabhanjika, Madanika, pillars, Govindianahalli, sculptures again, Govindanahalli, Panchakuta, Gajasambha amurti, Mahishamardin, Chennakeshave, Argulguppe, I'd go for a chicken snack wrap at Wendy's, Salabhanjika, Arujuna, Rati Manmatha, okay well i guess this is the end of my life, dadaka, Ramayana, Bhuvaneshwari, bye life, it's been nice, Chahnakeshava, Belure, Bharathi.

I got a PhD in Indian architecture in three hours!

Craving of the day: all dressed chips and ranch dip. om nom nom nom

How the hell do you add a video to blogger? Well guys you should all watch this. funny funny!!

Today, Catherine and Shab and I got caught in the monsoon. It was crazy. Felt good though.

Actually, who am I kidding? it felt miserable. It felt like I had swam in freezing water with my clothes on.

Our group is going out on a fam dinner tonight.

Cute new guys! I need some summer lovin'. Having a blast. Summer lovin' happens so fast.

I don't like how Indians seem to think us white people are better than them. I am doing an essay on skin-lightening industries in India.

I'm scared my bed has bed bugs.

My roommate has a respiratory tract infection. Indian health care is ballin'

Damn your mood swings

I know I promised photos but you're all gonna have to look at my Facebook instead. Indian internet is not the best and uploading photos is a day long event.

Foods I crave:

Sweet and sour meatballs
Smirnoff Ice (is this a food? sure, why not)
chicken burger
Number four combo at Wendy's
Caesar salad
Lasagna
After 8 chocolates
Fish and chips
grilled cheese
bagel (of any kind. with butter)
Roll with butter
pepperoni pizza
bacon and mayo sandwich on an English muffin
Hershey Kisses
Strawberry pie (I don't even like pie that much)

What the hell am I doing here, you ask? Answer: eating a lot of rice.

PEI moose

I realize I’ve been slack with this blogging for India thing. To be honest, I just haven’t really felt that passionate for it lately. Also, at the end of an Indian day I’m just so friggin’ exhausted it seems too complicated to explain in detail what I’m living. It seems too hard to explain how exactly things went down and what I liked and what I didn’t like. I wish that I could make some sort of mind machine that would allow you guys to enter my life at any given time. Or some sort of machine that would synopsize my life into simple paragraphs so I wouldn’t have to do it.
BUT BECAUSE I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH I DECIDED TO MAKE AN EXTRA EFFORT TO BLOG MORE REGULARLY.
We went to the jungle this weekend. But it was a jungle “retreat” and so it was terrific. They had potatoes and deep fried things and it was just so delicious. And MOUNTAINS. And mountain goats. And a pool! AND DID I MENTION ELEPHANTS. THEY HAD FRIKKIN ELEPHANTS. And we all slept in a cool cabin that reminded me of camp from the Parent Trap. And I got a 2 ½ hour massage that was CRAZY. It was so crazy. The woman had to wipe sweat off herself half way through because she was working so hard. She used her feet and elbows and hands. She crunked (this isn’t the proper use of the word “crunk”. I realize that) my back and my neck and I’ve never felt so loose.
I had an earwig crawling by my ear. Guess how they got their name.

And my hostel keys fell in the toilet and I had to fish them out.

The elephants seemed sad. Got a mighty good profile picture for Facebook though.
OH OH OH! HOT SHOWERS!
Also, cute Indian dogs and cats and babies. And men.
I am really excited now to just get back in the swing of things for school though. I am going to write an essay this week. Hold me to it people. I need parental figures to do that for me.
I think it was a good idea to have the jungle retreat earlier in the trip because now, suddenly, when we got back to the hostel I felt that good feeling that you’re “back home”. I was pretty surprised that I felt it. It felt good though. And then I took a shower. In the cold. And wished I was back in the wild jungle.

Pictures to come tomorrow! Check 'er out

WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE PHONEBOOKS

I am so hungry. All I want is food :(

The other day my lovely friend said she'd like to know what classes I'm taking here in India and so here they are:

Women in India: we talk about inequality. go figure. makes me wanna die.

Culture and Civilization: we talk about culture. and civilization. in India.

Science and Technology: we talk about inequality. go figure. makes me wanna die.

They are actually quite interesting. In the first class we learn stuff about dowries and sati and other things. In the second class we talk about pottery and paintings. In the last class we learn about how the World Bank is fucked.

For better info go to mta.ca/india. Class outlines from another year are there.

Here are some photos!
Here is one of the people in our group. His name is Mark. He is the only guy with us. He does this thing where he wanders off all the time. He usually comes back with a new friend, as shown in this photo.







And here is another. Last for today. I'm not the best photographer. I feel as though my photos aren't able to depict what it's actually like. I want to learn though.

It's really interesting how Indians are all peaceful and shit. Know what I'm saying? I mean, they've got Gandhi and yoga and Buddha and the Kama Sutra and they're too kind to eat animals. And so it makes you wonder why in North America we're all about the military and Big-Macs (which, I would DIE for right about now).

I think I've had this problem where I've always assumed that un-Western societies are less fortunate than us. I think a lot of this ethnocentric (big word!) is because a) they're not white! b)look at their clothes and, c) where's their Mcdonald's! However, my little Indian experience here has taught me already that they're probably more well-off than us in some ways. They smile a lot. Even in the frikkin' heat. And they're so peaceful, other than in their driving skills. So I really think I should change a bit.

Still can't make me a vegetarian though so don't even ask.