Hindi word of the day: जीवन (jivan - life)

I felt like posting for no reason today so this is going to be kind of a random post and one that definitely doesn't correlate to the photos I'm using. 

As I mentioned in my last post, Pune has really started to feel like home. When I get back after traveling on weekends, it really feels like returning. I'm finally getting used to looking right before I cross a street and staying on the left side of the sidewalk. The constant sound of horns blowing has stopped startling me, the traffic seems to have a pattern rather than to be a monster of chaos intent on demolishing me underneath its evil wheels of rickshaw doom, and the feeling of breathing in pollution is no longer all that noticeable. I drink chai in the mornings, I put on a salwar kameez when I leave the house, and I wear flip-flops (okay, not actually--they're flip-flops with an extra strap on the back for flip-flop-tarded people like me but still, I'm making progress!).

But it's also more than that--I feel settled in so many other ways. When Pooja had relationship drama a few nights ago, she texted me and we spent a half hour talking. I spend free afternoons lounging around outside the center listening to music and making travel plans with friends on the program. When we went to Ashna's house in Lonavala, she told me she was glad she was finally meeting me because she'd heard so much about me. I suppose these little moments feel significant to me because they're unexpected--I didn't imagine being so close to people here--both American students and Indians--so quickly. I didn't imagine that our Indian friends would welcome us so wholeheartedly. I thought that integrating myself into the community here would be so much more difficult, but it has felt almost seamless.

Okay, get ready for some real pretentiousness. I also feel like I'm really settling into myself more here. At home, despite the language barrier, I often find myself laughing with my host parents. In Hindi, I'm beginning to piece together conversations and sentences. During meditation, I'm starting to actually be able to clear my mind. In yoga, I find myself twisting my body in ways that I didn't even know were possible (into poses that I've never even seen in yoga in the US). 

And I'm really starting to embrace my body in a way that I literally can't remember ever having done in my entire life. I realize this is pretty personal, but most of you reading this blog probably know that I've had issues with this in the past. Here, they seem to just be dissolving away (or rather, beginning to). I think there are several reasons for this. For one, Indian standards of beauty are so different than in the States. I knew this coming here (compare the body of the average Bollywood star to the average Hollywood star and you'll know what I mean), but it's so different actually being here. I've begun to stop worrying that I'm eating too much (or appearing to eat too much) here. I feel like I'm filling my stomach (and myself generally) with healthy things--and the right amount of healthy things. When I put on my salwar kameez in the morning I (almost) never think about how skinny I look. And when I'm running in the mornings or walking to school, I feel good in a way that just seems different from when I was doing those things at home. I feel like I'm at the very beginning of a very long process of letting go of ideas I've spent the past twenty-one years solidifying, but I do feel like I really am starting that process. Who knows if any of this will carry back with me when I leave India.

Anyhow, I don't really have time to write more since I have to go to class, but here are some random photos in absolutely no chronological order.

Our Environmental Perspectives class takes a field trip to a cave temple in the middle of Pune.  Professor Paranjpe announces that I am his favorite student (boo-yah).

A Valentine's Day brochure at a resort/restaurant in Lonavala. I hope this is funny even if you don't hate Valentine's Day with the burning fervor I do.

Chillin' outside the Lonavala train station.

Dancin' with Aprajita. Are my hands covered in henna or dirt? You decide.

My host fam.

Trucks here are pieces of art--I think they're amazing. I might devote a post to them later.

Emily and me on top of Chaturshrungi Temple hill.

Puppy of the day: doin' puja.

Outside the cave temple in Pune.

The macarena--an art that transcends race or country.

Christie and Julia outside Parvati Temple. 

Julia photographing Pune's urban sprawl from Parvati.

Third or fourth standard students doing an amazing performance at their school on Republic Day. We were the guests of honor, meaning we were asked to sit in front of the entire school for the whole performance. Hilarz.

Biryani--the perfect party food. Cheap and delicious. Basically the Indian equivalent of pizza.

Pune in the morning before the pollution has had a chance to rise.

Mujhe chandramar pasand he.

Hiking to the quarry.

Stefan skipping stones at the quarry.

The quarry--all the graystone buildings in Pune (including the beautiful Fergusson College buildings) were built using stone from here.