Take a Deep Breath

So it's almost the end of another week- my 4th week here actually... crazy, right?!

We've been told this is when the 'honeymoon phase' of study abroad is over and the stress starts to pile on. Luckily, I haven't seen too much of this but I can already see how it can happen if I don't plan out my papers, field visits, and travel plans now. Amid all of this, I'm STILL trying to get my spring semester plans finalized.. which is proving to be the most frustrating thing of all time.

But after a great conversation about destressing with a friend here on the trip, I realized the importance of the phrase 'take a deep breath.' There are times here, on the walk to the program center, on the walk to class... or even just walking to get an ice cream cone where I have to remind myself: I'm in INDIA! It's really easy to lose sight of the important things and become fixated on the most minute details but while I'm here I'm making a huge effort to stop doing exactly this. Everything will work out in the end, and if it doesn't, it's not the end.

On the bright side...

• On Tuesday our Social Justice class saw a film on Ambedkar. It was extremely long.. but taught me a lot about the Dalit Movement here in India. It also gave me a lot of background knowledge (that I desperately needed) about many of the social justice movements of the past that are still continuing to this day. Although the acting was pretty... bad... the film was incredibly informative so I was thankful for that! 
• Today, we went to a bollywood/bhangra fusion class!!! It was awesome, and I can tell it's going to be a workout but that I'm going to love it nonetheless. I'm pretty sure that we were all laughing the entire hour and a half we were there :) We are currently learning how to dance to one of the songs from Om Shanti Om- this is a movie I have yet to see.. but it's definitely going on my to do list. 
• In addition to the delicious foods I have here on a daily basis, I've also made friends with the local ice cream store man (fyi there are about 50 ice cream stores just on the road that my college is on) - and am getting an ice cream cone every day. Thanks to my mom's suggestion, I'm testing out different flavors every day... hahah so far, my favorite has definitely been mango! So yeah, it's been great to incorporate ice cream into my daily diet. Fantastic, to be more accurate :P 
• I found a drink called "Mango Chill" (can you tell I'm obsessed with mango) at one of the nearby coffee shops and it's probably on the top 5 tastiest drinks I've ever had thus far. 
• I'm going shopping tomorrow with a few friends! Funky colored pants here I come 
• I bought PENS today!! That might sound crazy to some of you but I'm obsessed with Indian pens-- they write super well and so of course I got like 10 all at once today (all different colors of course). I am most likely going to not leave the country without buying at least 50 more... you think I'm kidding- I'm not. 
• I'm starting yoga at some point next week- finally
• Last but definitely not least-- my tickets for Hyderabad are officially booked! It's been years and years since I've been back and I'm excited to spend celebrate an authentic Diwali with family. For those of you who may not be aware, Diwali is a HUGE festival here in India. I think I can best describe it in pictures so you'll have to wait until the end of October for that! 

So that was just a small update but I'll definitely be posting again in a few days :) I'm using this weekend to catch up on a ton of work. But for now, sleep awaits me.

Love,

Sai