CHINA!

Ni Hao!

Okay so Chinese keyboards tend to switch randomly back and forth between English and Chinese..so we'll see how this goes.

So. I am in China. But before I was in China, I was in rural India and then on "spring break" in India, both of which were pretty amazing. In rural India we stayed at a weird commune place called Kanavu, where none of us really knew what was going on. We slept on straw mats on the floor and it was freezing, and probably the most uncomfortable thing I've ever done. Kanavu is kinda like a boarding school but it's run by young people, in their 20s, and there are only like 20 people in the whole place. Basically they do nothing but sustain themselves, and we had classes and collected firewood and helped gather rice and were kinda weirded out by the whole experience. But it was a pretty beautiful setting and a big change from Bangalore. For the second two nights of our rural trip we stayed in Kalpetta, which is a tiny town a few hours from Kanavu. There we stayed in what was probably the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in, but maybe it was just because we had just been using squat toilets and sleeping on concrete. We stayed at Green Gates resort, which not only had western showers and air conditioning, but actually had a POOL, which really isn't that cool in the US but after sleeping among cockroaches seems amazing. At Green Gates we had amazing food and wrapped up the India program before departing for vacation. We had a day of academic synthesis around a really beautiful lake and then a day of evaluation of the entire India program, and then we set off on spring break 09!

There were seven of us traveling together for the vacation, and we stayed the first night in Green Gates again so that we could get up at 5am and travel to the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary..where I was promised a tiger but did not see one. In fact, in our three hour safari we saw exactly one elephant, three types of deer, and some monkeys that I could have seen outside my window in Bangalore. But it's ok, I am determined to see some exciting animals in South Africa. Then that day we drove to Alleppey in a private van, which was an eight hour drive. Once we got to Alleppey--which was by far the single hottest place I have ever been in my entire life--we checked into a little guest house run by these adorable people who made us banana pancakes for breakfast every morning. Besides the excruciating heat, Alleppey was a cute little town and we stayed there for the next day. On Saturday we walked around and went to the beach, where I dipped my feet in the Indian Ocean! So now I can cross that one off the life list, just have to find a way to the Artic and then I'm all set. On Sunday morning we got on a 24-hour houseboat, which we took through the backwaters of Kerala. It was the definitely the most relaxed I've ever been. Monday morning after docking the boat we got on a bus to Cochin, a town about an hour and a half south of Alleppey. Being on the Southern coast, Cochin was also among the hottest places I've ever been in my life, and was super touristy. We stayed in a cute guest house and ate Italian food and sought out every Western restaurant we could find. It was nice to have a break from Indian food but it was really weird to be in a town where there were clearly more white people than actual Indians, and it just made me realize how different my traveling life has been before this trip. As we sat poolside at a friend's hotel I couldn't believe that the people sitting around me had bothered to come to India just to sit by a pool in a resort town; for the first time in my life I feel like I've actually experienced real life in a place different from my home, and I really can't imagine doing anything different.

Tuesday night was the end of our break as we boarded an overnight train back to Bangalore. They say you haven't experienced India until you've ridden the overnight train-and if that's true I guess I really had not experienced India up until that night. We slept eight to a "compartment" which really weren't compartments at all, competed for the bed with the fewest cockroaches, and dealt with our fair share of drunk Indian men. All in all though I think traveling in India by train was a really valuable experience, just in case life in Bangalore was getting too cushy.

Wednesday night we had our farewell dinner where we all gathered with our homestay families and said goodbye. It was a really sad night because I realized that I may never see my homestay family again, and though I do hope they stay in touch, it's weird to leave a family that you are a part of and think you will never be back again. Nikhil wanted to take us dancing, but alas the Indian nightlife shuts down far too early. Thursday Barbara and I ran around the city trying to get everything together, including writing our country papers (whoops) and trying in vain to send packages home. Then Thursday night we boarded a midnight plane to Thailand and then to Beijing, and after a looooong day of travel arrived in China!

The first few days in China we spent in Beijing, in a guest house near downtown. I didn't have high hopes for China but Beijing turned out to be an incredible city and I wish we had had more time to explore. On Saturday we climbed the Great Wall, which was amazing. Apparently the Chinese believe that "you are not a great man if you have not climbed the Great Wall" (or something like that) so thank god I am a great man in their eyes. After we climbed up it there was a toboggan slide down, which is both the creepiest thing I've ever seen and also the most fun I think I've had on this trip.After that we had our first Chinese dinner which was surprisingly really good. On Sunday we visited an urban planning museum, Tiananmen Square and walked around the city. Sunday night a few of us went to the Olympic Village, which was all lit up and even though its probably the most touristy thing you can possibly do in Beijing, it was really cool! Beijing has been totally transformed by the Olympics, like its such a clean city now and everything is really neat and everyone has apparently been trained to smile and say hi to visitors. Of course almost no one speaks English, so we didn't exactly talk to people, but that's ok. On our last day we visited the Forbidden City and had a final lunch of delicious dumplings, as dumplings are unforunately not served in Chansgha.

Monday night we boarded another overnight train to Changsha, this time slightly nicer and lacking cockroaches. We arrived in Changsha early on Tuesday morning to rain and cold. Basically we were told that Changsha is known for its "not-so-nice climate," and we have since confirmed that to be true. The whole time we have been here it has been rainy and cold, and I really really miss India and the warmth. In Changsha we are staying for another few days on the campus of Central South University, in a guest house that is essentially a hotel. It is sooo weird to be back on a college campus but really great too, it feels like home. The campus is really pretty, minus the rain. This is where we will be having our classes for the next two weeks, but we move into our homestays on Friday. I am living in this homestay with another girl from Brown named Shannon who I like a lot and who enjoys cuddling almost as much as I do, so I'm pretty excited about that. Changsha was described by the Lonely Planet guidebook as "just another drab Chinese city," and so far it is definitely not as cool as Beijing, though it is pretty populated (6 million people) and a real city which is not what I expected. So far its been kind of gray and damp, but I actually don't really mind, because at least for now its something different. And we only have three weeks in China, so I'm sure by the time I get tired of the rain we will be heading to South Africa. We seem to be the campus celebrities here, yesterday we had an opening ceremony where all these reporters came and we all had to stand up in front of them and introduce ourselves. And there is not just one but two gigantic banners hanging around campus that say "Welcome US IHP Students," soo..that's kinda weird but cool. So far everyone is really friendly, though most people speak absolutely no English so that will be pretty interesting. We eat all of our meals in this banquet hall where they serve us ten times the amount of food we could ever eat, which is nice of them except that I really really miss Indian food.

This has officially been the longest blog of my life so I'm going to end it here, but I will try to update again soon. Keep sending me letters! (And by "keep" I mean "start" because I've gotten no mail since I've been here)