November may have started off as a ”blah," but October ended with a "bang!" The exchange students all got together for almost a full day long Halloween Party on October 31st! We decided to meet at Carlos’ (from Mexico) house at 2:00PM to begin with the festivities. Although we decided on 2:00, I think the last people to arrive came around 4:00. I don’t know if the Indian idea of time is slowly taking us over, or if other countries just aren’t as prompt as the US; probably a combination of both. Anyways, the day/ night consisted of lots of fun, games, and stories. With even more stories to tell about what happened at the party afterwards. We were having so much fun, that of course, we lost track of time and of course, then had to spend the night. Not only did we spend the night because we wanted to, but it can also be dangerous to travel around India at night, especially when your skin is white. Not to mention the rickshaw drivers triple the amount of your tariff after about 10:00. Needless to say, being teenagers, we didn’t really get to sleep until 5:00 AM on November 1st. We woke up about 8:00AM to clear out of the house to make sure we didn’t overstay our welcome, as well as to get something to eat and go home to shower after a long, hot night.
The first weekend in November my host family went on a three-day trip to Ganpatipule, a small town on the beach. We woke up early Friday morning to start on our six hour journey to the sea. My Father, Mother, little Sister, and I were all riding in the family’s mini-van. Due to a previous occurrence when we went to Mumbai together, I was practically forced into taking the front seat, ‘shotgun.’ That way I was able to curb some of my car sickness by see what was in front of me, and also had the window right there if anything decided to present itself. The first part of the trip was nice, straight highway, just like in the US, but as soon as we exited, it turned into a curvy, zigzag nightmare. Luckily, my parents are good drivers, so there wasn’t any more ‘jerking’ than needed, so there weren’t any problems. When we finally got to Ganpatipule, I discovered that we had booked the nicest rooms available – no not rooms, two suites – a bungalow all to ourselves. The way the suites were set up was that ‘mine’ was on the bottom floor, and ‘my family’s’ was on the top floor. Each one had a bedroom with a TV and AC, a mini fridge, a ‘make-up’ area, a bathroom with shower, and a sitting room. Being on the bottom floor, my sitting room was where we had meals, and on the top it was a balcony to look out at the ocean.
The first day (Friday afternoon), we went to the beach to play and swim. Mruga and I enjoyed the ocean while our parents enjoyed the beach. It was difficult for me not to go out very far in the ocean as I had in other places, but my family said that it wasn’t safe there and also Mruga didn’t want to go out very far so I would have been alone. We did the typical beach fun; body surfing, shell hunting, building sand castles, etc. After the beach, we went back to our hotel rooms to ‘freshen up’ before dinner. For dinner we went into town, and after a failed attempt at the usual restaurant my family visits when they go, we had pav baji at a small shack. It was actually really good, partially because I hadn’t eaten much all day, and after a couple hours of swimming, you work up quite an appetite. After dinner, we went to the temple on the beach. At the entrance of the temple, there is a golden rat statue, and it is believed that if you tell the rat your wishes, they will come true. My wish has yet to come completely true, but it has a long time period, so I am still waiting. After the temple we went back to the hotel, and fell asleep pretty fast due to a long day of traveling, swimming, and walking.
Saturday morning I woke up to find I was sick with the runs possibly due to accidently swallowing salt water. Luckily, we didn’t really have to do anything, so I had a relaxing morning and afternoon of mainly sleeping. Late in the afternoon we went again to the beach, and even though I wasn’t feeling the greatest, I couldn’t give up time in the ocean. Then in the evening, we went to the temple again, but this time walked around the temple performing “darshan.” Let’s just say that the walk wasn’t the best idea for someone in my position of being sick, because afterwards, when we were sitting in the hot and strong scented restaurant I turned as white as the shirt I was wearing. At any rate, I was not hungry, so my dad took me back to the hotel while my mom and sister finished eating. I went to sleep as soon as we got there, knowing it would be for the best, and also knowing we had to leave early the next morning. On Sunday we woke up, got ready, and checked out. While my family had breakfast in the restaurant, I sat outside eating simple bread and jam. I was dreading traveling again, because the initial trip wasn’t the greatest, and now I had to deal with diarrhea as well. Luckily there were no ‘accidents’ and we got home safely were I was again able to sleep until I got better.
College had started up again by the second week in November and I was happy to have somewhat of a schedule again. Knowing that I would be gone for two weeks on a tour of South India, I attended every class I could for the two week period. But, spaced throughout those two weeks were lots of other events that I just couldn’t miss.
For instance, there was a birthday party for my Brazilian friend, Joao. We went to his house mid-morning and had a day full of fun. He lives in a newer society, so his ‘Club House’ is really nice and offers lots of things to do. When everyone arrived, he gave us a tour of everything ranging from the pool, to badminton courts, to the video gaming room, to the gym. To just waste some time before lunch, we all hung out in the ‘table-tennis/ foosball’ room. We held some mini tournaments with Ping-Pong and also played UNO, Phase 10, and regular cards. Then we were called to go back to the apartment for lunch, which was one of the best meals I have had in India. They served… carrots, potatoes, and BEEF in a way similar to Beef Stew, but without the broth. It was amazing, so wonderfully tasty, I wanted to eat more and more, but being a large group of foreigners not having beef for months, it was gone pretty fast. After the late lunch, we hung out for a while playing cards, watching videos on YouTube, etc. waiting for the food to digest, and the pool to open. Being guests, we had to pay for the use of the pool, but it only cost an American dollar for the day. The water was freezing, but it was still fun. We spent as much time as we could in the sun before it went down, then we went around the whole pool searching for warm spots. When we couldn’t handle the cold any longer, we went to the sauna, and put it as warm as it would go. We had eight people in a sauna about the size of a public restroom toilet stall; two words: crazy fun. After getting warmed up, and dressed in street clothes, Joao’s mom took us to a nearby mall so we could eat dinner in the food court. Then it was time to say goodbye, because the next day we had an early morning with Rotary.
In the middle of November, after being in India for four months, the exchange students had our Rotary Orientation day. The orientation was in a small auditorium at a local college and told us about what to expect throughout the year. Because the year was already one third of the way over by then, we already knew most of it, but it was nice to have an actual orientation. We also learned about the Four D’s of Rotary (No Drinking, No Driving, No Drugs, No Dating), and were given a chance to talk about what we would like to see differently in the tours Rotary officiates, and our dealings with Rotary in general. Although it would have been nice to have an orientation shortly after we arrived, it was nice to be able to say what we liked and what we didn’t like. After the meeting there was a complimentary lunch which was full of some typical Maharashtran foods that I now love.
Speaking of food, in November, the exchange students discovered a very “Americanized” restaurant on FC Road called, Aromas. The only problem with the place is that everything is really expensive. (Expensive compared to other Indian restaurants. A typical meal in an Indian restaurant costs about $2, but at Aromas, the meals cost about $5. I know, big whoop, but once you are used to spending so little money on food, you don’t want to spend double.) Luckily, Aromas had some publicity deals where every Wednesday was half price. So can you guess where the exchange students were every Wednesday in November? …Yup, Aromas. We had pizza, pastas, cheesy garlic bread, and for dessert, Apple Pie with ice cream. It was like Heaven in my mouth. Don’t get me wrong, I love Indian food, but it is so nice every once in a while to have some food like I would have in the US. Sadly, the deals are over now, but it was fun and tasty while it lasted through the month.
Thanksgiving also took place in November, but it was nothing like the usual holiday in the US. Actually Thanksgiving this year happened to be on my cousin, Ameya's, birthday. My family went to his house for a family birthday party with his favorite food, pav baji. It was like my normal Thanksgiving by going to visit family, and eating a lot there (practically forcing me to eat more), but it was also very different due to the food. Also, because my barber is very close to Ameya’s house, before I went to celebrate and eat, I had my hair cut: something I have never had before on Thanksgiving, and due to the result, don’t plan to have again on Thanksgiving. Overall, the holiday was still nice, but different. Then again, what part of this experience isn’t different?
In order to "be with family" on Thanksgiving, I Skyped with both my mom' side of the family and my dad's side of the family. It was really nice to see everyone and catch up with what is happeing in the US. The only downside was that to be easier for them, I had to Skype in the middle of the night. At midnight, the day after Thanksgiving for me, I was skyping with my mom's family. I got about three hours of sleep, and then woke up at 5:00 in the morning to Skype with my dad's family. Although I had to be awake practically all night, - I'm used to it, being a teenager - it was totally worth it to see family on the holiday.
November ended with the last three days beginning the start of our South India Tour.
