INDIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

India IS amazing! This place is absolutely unlike anything I could have imagined. The streets are crazy, there are no rules about driving, there are elephants, peacocks, monkeys, frogs, chipmunks, and flies everywhere. But to top it all off I am staying in a PALACE. That's right, a palace. Apparently the man who is running this study abroad program I am participating in is a PRINCE. How freaking cool is that?

But India is something else. I have not really had a chance to post on here because I have been so busy and we do not have easy access to internet. I am using one of my friend's computers right now (yes, I did make friends in the end after all that worrying). Haha. But today I went around to four different temples in Dhrangadhra and took pictures of all the gods and goddesses' shrines. I also got to go shopping in the center of town. Ice cream here is 10 rupees, aka 10 CENTS basically. Furthermore, everyone is SO NICE. All the Indian people want to be your friend and know your name and take your picture or have you take their picture. Especially the staff here at the palace (who barely speak english, but somehow we communicate) are amazing. They are so fun to try to talk to and I feel like I learn something new everyday. The guys who serve us food are hillarious... Sandip told me I was beautiful the other day when I was wearing one of the Indian style shirts I had just bought. The rickshaw drivers (this little cab-like vehicle that we use to get around town in) are so great. They love to talk to us and drive us around, and one day Manu even let Brianne drive the rickshaw! Manu and I also have a handshake - its pretty damn sweet.

But India itself is beautiful, hot, dry, and tiring. Its hard sometimes being in a place where some people barely understand a word you are saying. But in a way its a blessing in disguise... we use other ways to communicate and we are overly friendly since we can't use our words half the time. This is one of the first times I have experienced language barriers to this extent, and its tough. But I'm getting by - most people understand a little bit of English and those who don't are just happy to be in our presence, or happy to have us in their town. I'm even learning a little bit of Gujurati, while at the same time teaching my roommate Ojashwiba (who is one of our native Gujarati translators) expressions like "to have a crush on someone." That was funny, she thought it was so weird that we use a word "crush" to describe liking a boy. I never really thought about that until I was explaining it to her... us Americans are a little strange :)

Yours,

Jaya (my Indian name bestowed on me by Bapa)