our minds are just made out of strings to be pulled

Everyday is anybody's guess here. Will the internet work? If I do make a connection, how fast will it be? 14400 bps, 9600 bps? Sometimes its so slow, it can't even tell me how slow it is. Yesterday I waited for 23 minutes while it loaded my email inbox. In any case, the internet has been sketchy here, which is why I haven't blogged.

I'm getting used to life here, the unpredictability of it all. The feeling of utter chaos and complete loss of control. I'm getting used to things not working sometimes, like the internet, electricity, and hot water. I've mastered showering with buckets, and can eat with my right hand as neatly as anybody else. I'm getting used to the high pitched whine of mosquitoes around my head, the dog fights outside my window in the early morning.

I've also figured out how to make outfits that are both comfortable for my western sensibilities and culturally acceptable in rural India, like wearing slacks under a kameez. I'm learning how to create rules for myself when rules don't exist, like, how do women dress when the play sports? Women don't really play sports, and I'm the first western women many of the students have ever seen. I've started wearing sweats and a baggy tshirt to play frisbee and tennis in.

Everyday my lady friends come to visit me, and everyday there seem to be more than the day before. We've all figured out how to make these visits mutually beneficial. I help them with their English, they help me with my Hindi. I teach them an American song, they teach me a Hindi song. I show them dance moves, they show me dance moves.

Although this is monsoon season, rains have been sparse here. The dam is dry, the ground parched. Every morning, a group of women from a nearby village carry buckets of water on their heads, singing and chanting all the way up the hill to the temple. They offer the water to the goddess, hoping she will grant them rain. Half the time it seems to work, it has rained twice out of the four times they've done it so far.

I drink 4-5 liters of water a day and still feel dehydrated.

Today, like every other day, is a holiday. Seriously. When I got here, they told me that they go to class 6 days a week. So far, with all of the holidays and miscellaneous other functions, I haven't seen anybody go to class for more than 4 days a week.

Today's holiday is between brothers and sisters. The sister presents her brother with a friendship bracelet, and asks him to protect her. He in turn gives her a gift. There are 30 boys who stay in the hostel here who won't get to go home to their sister, so I've decided to go to market today and get them all bracelets (5 of them asked me to anyways). Several of the hostel boys are friends of mine, routinely looking out for me and rescuing me from large groups of students who surround me, asking for an autograph or a song.

I'm excited to go into town today. I might buy a sari, just to see what it feels like to wear one. Other items on my shopping list include: notebooks, pens, chocolate, t-shirt, nose ring, cell phone minutes.

There was an alumni function here on Saturday. I gave a speech introducing us to 300+ people. I bet that about 50 of them understood every word, maybe 100 getting the gist of it. The rest just stared blankly, clapped, and waggled their heads.

I think I've figured out the mystery of the head waggle, well, at least I have my own interpretation of it. There is a slight difference in waggle for "yes" and "no". "No" moves slightly more from the left and right, "yes" is the traditional "make a figure 8 with your nose" thing. If someone's eyes look down, its most likely a "no". If eye contact is maintained, its most likely a "yes". All of the rules that apply for "yes" also apply for "I understand."

The shrew. We caught him in a shoe, and set him free. Since then, we've caught 2 mice, one of which I found in my toilet. It was quite unsettling to have something looking at you from the toilet. I nearly flushed him. His tail gave him away, without that, he would have been a goner.

I get to do a research project of sorts into the experience of women students and faculty here at the college. I will hold meetings and interviews, and write a report detailing my findings. Then, I will make suggestions based on what I find that will be implemented, if reasonable. This is the first time that they are doing anything like this, and I'm really excited to be a part of it.

Finally, I'm beginning to know my place here. That is the one thing that everybody seems to know here, their place within 6000 castes and 2 sexes. Now that I know the rules, I am figuring out ways to accomplish the things I want to accomplish within the set boundaries.

Cards here are for "bad people," kind of like alcohol. We have, however, taught a few men to play poker with jaw breakers and double bubble gum as chips. We've also taught them euchre and spoons. Good times.

Marriage is a subject that keeps coming up in my discussions with students. Some say they wish they could have a love marriage, others say that arranged marriage is the best. Dowry is customary. I explained what dating was yesterday to a group of boys from the hostel. They couldn't believe that people wait so long to get married, that people date for so long, stay engaged for so long. I didn't mention that sometimes people live together first, or that they sleep together before exchanging vows. Out here, things seem to be the way they have been for eons, except for that the stick huts have satellite dishes, and everyone has a cell phone.

My classes are going well, I enjoy teaching. My students are really receptive, and we're learning how to understand each other's accents. I will have a spoken English class starting next week too, I might even be working with staff members of the college.

I'm going to learn how to drive a scooter today. Next episode: learning how to drive in India.