After 30 hours of travelling, running through airports with 20 minute slots to catch my connections (resulting in a few connecting flights missed), I arrived in India. At 3AM I was greeted by some staff of the Global Alliance and was taken to a hotel where I later met 34 students from around the US whom i’d study with for the next 4 months. A little filled with eagerness, a little with reservations and nervousness, I met everyone and went through the whole “what’s your name . . . where are you from . . . what’s your major . . . awkward silence. I was glad that this phase didn’t last too long.

Um yea awkward

We then had a 4 day retreat in the mountains where we were pleasantly forced to get to know each other all day long –which was great but we all agreed on the necessity and lack thereof personal space. Some people were home sick, and some were just plain sick, but all of us were super excited to finally arrive in the most culturally rich and exciting place in the world (at least I like to think so)—India.

To rewind, I originally thought I would be studying in a rural area but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Pune is one of the largest and most populated cities in India. It’s full of people, cars, rick shaws, honking . . . cows . . . but best of all trees and mountains. It is also the epicenter of music and art, as I witness this every day waking up to my host mother’s violin playing and roommate’s traditional Indian singing.

This is a glimpse of the past two weeks and I apologize for my inability to post due to lack of internet and sheer laziness. I have already done so many cool things so look forward to the next post ;) full of rock climbing, trekking, elephants, pictures of my home and campus, and more. 

jet lag at its height

 The new fam

 tourists?

Sheer talent

Um yea...Stephen :)