Mera nam Erica hai.

Hello all,

Sorry if anyone was waiting for my next exciting post, but this will be a short update. I'm right now recovering from a change-in-diet problem paired with a headcold from the pollution, and I don't feel too good at all.

So far Jaipur is both exciting and incredible frustrating. I am finding it to be like living in the deep south--where name and gender determine a lot more than it should. While I've never lived in the Deep South, I've lived in Rajasthan, and stories seem to match up a lot. I love my group, my professors, and the colors of Jaipur. I hate the pollution, the noise, the gross, creepy men, and the way that women are treated. I feel very lucky to have a great roommate and some very good friends who I can travel around with.

The highlight of Jaipur so far has been the Raj Mandir, which is a huge movie theater. My friends and I saw "Chakde," which is about a fictional Indian Women's (Field) Hockey Team. The movie was really good and I understood a lot of the plot without knowing the language that it was in.

The worst part of Jaipur has been trying to get a SIM card for my cell phone. You need a ton of ID here to do that, and as an international student I don't have a lot of what they require. I just want to call home, but so far I've been thwarted. I'm going to try again tomorrow, and I hope that I'm sucessful.

I miss you all and I hope that you're having a great time in the Midwest and other wise!

Love!
Erica