Stay out super late tonight, picking apples, making pie

Somehow it's been five whole days since I've updated, so I will try to catch you up on my thrilling life. I'm currently sitting on my bed with Tania in Varanasi, where we arrived this morning for our week-long workshop with an NGO called the Kiran Centre. More on that later though!

Last time we talked, I had just returned on a grueling bus ride from Rishikesh. After sleeping for approximately three hours on Sunday night because I (obviously) had not done any homework amidst my Himalayan hiking and yoga, Rachael and I kept a low profile on Monday. By low profile, I mean we submitted our Independent Study Project proposals, took an auto home, and basically collapsed on our beds while our host mother took pity on us. We also got our Hindi tests back on Monday, and I was pleased with how I did (not that it matters, since my Hindi credits aren't transferring back to Dartmouth).

On Tuesday, Rachael ended up feeling really ill almost as soon as we got to the program center, and she spent all day in the center's guest room. Julia had gone to the hospital on Monday night because she'd been sick for a week or so, and Molly also felt ill on Tuesday. Rachael really wasn't doing very well, so she went home straight after school, and I went to Lajpat Nagar with Rebecca, Poonam, Sagarika, Liz, and Sarah Kate. Rebecca bought a beautiful turquoise-ish/sea foam green sari with a gold border, and Sarah Kate, Liz, and I got henna done. We all had peacocks done, and Liz's was definitely the best. I was really pleased with mine, because the last henna I'd gotten at New Friend's Colony looked a lot worse. It's already fading (especially where I had a bug bite and I scratched it a lot, whoops), but it looked good!

I don't remember Wednesday or Thursday being particularly memorable, but we had some work due on Thursday so we stayed at the program center for a while to complete that. One of those days, though I'm too lazy to figure out which day it was exactly because realistically it doesn't matter, Khadeeja, Rachael, Imaan and I took a walk to the Jamia Millia Islamia University athletic complex, where Adil was playing tennis with a colleague. This was fun because we were actually getting out of the house, but it was also fairly stressful because we were taking the baby in a stroller at dusk on Delhi streets that don't have proper sidewalks. I think Khadeeja still gets slightly out of sorts when the baby comes out of the house at all (because Lord knows, that child lacks out-of-the-home socialization like nobody's business, which I guess it isn't). So we were puttering down the street slowly and precariously crossing main roads, but eventually we made it to the university and toured the swanky facilities. The funniest part was the table tennis and badminton courts, which were set up with spectator areas (emphasis added by the author) and large margins around them to allow for intense athletic competition. And the people we saw playing were really good! It just wasn't a scene you would find in an American university gym complex.

On Friday, I again went to Lajpat Nagar after class with people, but this time I bought a little more. We stopped at a shop for black dupattas, at which no one actually bought black dupattas the first time around, but I picked up a dress for home and some other people bought long skirts (all with elephants and camels on them!). We walked around the market while people hunted for kurtas and shoes and such, and then I bought 10 postcards and a beautiful yellow notebook for my ISP notes. After contemplating a lot of other things but not buying any of them, we walked to a fabric store (with a stop for ice cream along the way, of course!) and I almost bought tie-dyed fabric that had marijuana leaves printed on it (accidently!). After being informed that it would look like I was a walking weed legalization ad (which I had not considered because I just thought the fabric was pretty!), I settled on some different fabric and bought two and a half meters for Rs 375.

On Saturday, we woke up early to go to an early showing of "Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge," a new Bollywood film based on the idea of love triangles on Facebook (essentially). We went at 9:50 A.M. so that we would only pay Rs 150 per ticket instead of Rs 250, which I wanted to do because I wasn't sure how could it would be and I didn't know if I would understand anything. It turns out the movie was 1) really good! 2) largely interspersed with English phrases, and 3) inclusive of quite a few understandable Hindi phrases. Plus the lead actors were attractive! Generally it was a much more enjoyable experience than I expected. We then went back to Lajpat Nagar to get get chat (snacks) and walk around. Rachael and I headed home to rest, and then I met back up with Sagarika, Liz, and Lauren at Select City Walk Mall. I bought a book (Pride and Prejudice because I just watched the movie) for myself and a little Winnie the Pooh book for Imaan. It was a much-needed break from the chaos of Delhi (and the fact that my host father basically convinced me that I was going to get kidnapped on my way to the mall).

On Sunday, we spent a relaxing day at home before boarding an overnight train to Varanasi. We arrived this morning and checked in at the guest house, where there is another group of SIT students (from a program in Jaipur) staying. We later had dinner with them after going to the Kiran Centre, but I think that will go in tomorrow's blog post because I should sleep. Night!