A Week Already?!

So yesterday marked a week of my being in India. I will say so far so good. I just have a small cold that I'm hoping goes away rather quickly. I am still getting use to the customs and it's not as easy as I thought it would be. I will give myself my own advice to “be strong.”

Yesterday was quite adventurous. A new volunteer arrived for the season as well as a guest. After lunch we were on a mission to find a pig. Now there is a great debate here at Sangam as to what a pig in India sounds like. Mina (she's from Pune) says that a pig goes eek, eek, eek while the rest of us say a pig goes oink, oink, oink. Before I go any further, yes I know that this is a chicken and egg argument, but then again I am in India so we can amuse ourselves with silly if not ridiculous missions. Moving right along, so after lunch I grabbed the video camera and the four of us set off to find the pigs on our way to the Big Bazzar (it's a grocery store.) Almost immediately, we found the pigs. The problem was that they were having their Indian siesta. We asked the pig owner if we could video the pigs. There was a little pig that was moving around, but as soon as we got close to it, it froze. I think the little pig was a bit on the shy side. So we said thank you and continued on our way to Big Bazzar. In Pune you have to go through security prior to going into the grocery store. I also had to check my backpack in with this lady outside. At the checkout stand they also put zip ties on your bags, and then they have to check your receipt when you exit. It wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be. We when walked out of Big Bazzar it started raining quite a bit. After waiting like 10 mins, we decided to walk back in the rain. On our way back to Sangam, we ran into the pig that was taking a siesta earlier. Apparently, we scared the pig because it started to run away. So as of today the great debate about the pig noise is still unsolved. Trust me there is no way I could make this stuff up because I am not nearly that creative.

We also have a pool going as to when monsoon season is going to start. According to the local staff, monsoon season starts when the Pune Mirror tells us it's going to start. Don't worry I laughed as well, but they are dead serious. My vote is June 10^th. Since it rained a lot yesterday we were all afraid that the season has started. Luckily for us, the Pune Mirror tells us that we are in pre-monsoon season. The rain yesterday was unbelievable. I will have to take pictures the next time it rains and post them.

I should probably finish unpacking or doing homework for my online class. Maybe I can rearrange my room before I have to go to work at lunch. We will see how much energy I have after I finish my assignment. I am not really homesick because I haven't lived at home in years, but I am “homesick” for my friends. Just know that I miss you as much as you miss me. No worries, I will be back in October. I will say that if you want to send me gatorade, crystal light, or propel packets I am more than willing to accept them :) Just FYI if you send me anything put it in a bubble envelope and not a box. We don't get boxes very quickly. My address is below:

Robyn Statum

Sangam World Centre

Alandi Road

Yerawada
Pune 411 006
India

Peace out for today my friends.