Don't you wanna get out of Cape Cod, out of Cape Cod tonight?

I'm sitting in a common room in a wada in MUWCI, feeling slightly out of whack.
It's now been a month (yes, I still seem to be counting) and I've just spent the past two days in the med centre with a cold. Time seemed to warp there, as all I did was sleep, watch films and eat.
Now I'm healthier again, so I suppose, whilst the internet is still up, I should probably update this blog (:

Since the third of September (woah, that's a while ago), I've been to Pune a couple more times, started school, performed a semi-improv piece on the flute with Benjamin the German on the piano for the First Year Show, dressed up as a Flamboyant Tellytubbie Zombie for the Second Year Show, tried a whole range of Commuity Interactions (known as CIs, where we work with the neighbouring villages) and Trivenis (known as CAS for all you lot) and painted my room.

Last weekend I had Film Studies, which is taught by a documentary maker from Mumbai. We have classes on Friday afternoon, a screening Friday evening, Saturday morning, another screening Saturday evening and a class Sunday morning, every fortnight. The classes are about everything to do with film, from shooting to analysing the film-maker's intentions. I'm still not sure whether I want to take it as my seventh subject, but for now I'm enjoying the classes.

I also went on an overnight, which means going off campus for, as the word suggests, a night. I went to Pune with a bunch of first and second years, tried the Indian clubbing scene (let's put it this way: it was an experience.) and stayed over at Khushi (an Indian who lives in Pune)'s.
It was slightly hard to find her place, as the rickshaw driver didn't know the appartment block, but Mika the Mauritian managed to ask directions in broken Hindi, which got us there in the end.

Things I've learnt in a month here:

- the pool is the best place to be
- on festival days, everything (nightlife stuff) closes at 1am
- compared to Indians, I have massive wrists (I have bought myself bangles)
- the internet actually dies here when it rains
- 'mai tumse pyar kurti hu' means 'I love you' in Hindi (:
- Busted actually made it to India (I have found an Indian-Rahul, who wants himself namechecked here- who can sing along to Crashed the Wedding (: )
- the postal service here is incredibly slow (I'd love to receive packages though (: )


Furthermore, I've seen some amazing views, a standout one being when the girls football team went on a jog up the nearby mountain. We did suicides at the top, on the slippery ground just after the rain, and could see almost the whole of the Mulshi Valley, where MUWCI is situated.

I'm off for Exeat this weekend, which means that I can go off campus from Friday till Sunday. I'm going to be heading for the beach, and I'll try and keep this blog more updated on events after that (:

love x

I smelt your scent on the seatbelt and kept my shortcut to myself.

(Mumbai, on the way out of the city on the first day)

It's been almost a week since I arrived in India now. It doesn't feel like that at all.
Everything is so new still but yet so familiar, and I feel like I've been here for weeks already!
Earlier this week, there was a musical Spotlight evening, in which we listened to some amazing music, such as a cello piece, one of Beethoven's final movements on the piano and a traditional song. I've also been down to a nearby village for a tutor-group dinner, where we tasted some good Indian food.
On Wednesday I went to Paud. It's a small village around 8km from campus, so we walked down and had a look around.
Yesterday I went to Pune, which was downright amazing. It is the nearest city from here, and we are going again on Saturday. It was so vibrant, colourful, alive and busy. Although there is visible poverty, the place seems bustling and I really enjoyed it. We did have to wear masks as a preventative measure for swine flu, but nobody else seemed to be worried. I had my first rickshaw ride, which was terrifying (there were four of us in a three seater) and exhilarating in equal measures. I managed to buy paint for my room here together with Mette and Gesa, so it will be fun to decorate the place here. We also picked up some fresh vegetables from the market, and cooked dinner with a bunch of people.
Today I was supposed to go on a hike, but I woke up with a massive ant bite on my eye, so I'm sitting here recuperating. Tonight I think there is a retro party in one of the wadas (previous ones this week have been the jumpstyle party and other general ones) and tomorrow evening is the First Year Show, in which we are required to entertain the other students. I'll be playing the flute with other musicians, probably a Bob Dylan or Beatles song.
Other activities I've been busy with are the interwada games we had (we played football and basketball against each other) and the biodiversity reserve tour. The reserve is fantastic! It has edible plants as well as local ones, and is peaceful and pleasant.
The photos are taking way too long to upload now, so I'll do that later.
x