Busy Weekend

There are so many things I could tell you about to fill you in for the last 3 or 4 days. Let me see where to start:

Friday: I sat in for my first business school class. They are offering a lecture series this term about the medical/pharmaceutical industries in India. I learned a lot about the pharmacy business here and how it differs from the rest of the world. I will go to this class as often as I can, but there are actually only 8 sessions left, if I am counting right. Classes go by so quickly, it seems.

Friday night: A large group of us exchange students, plus one ISB student (Shiv) went out for dinner at a fancy place called Fusion 9. It was really nice, a great atmosphere. Actually, this place is in Lonely Planet India, so it's got a great reputation. We paid $20 for both of us. Not too bad. Geo even had a steak, which was his first red meat in over 2 weeks. Wow...I'm not sure how he's made it this long without meat, really. Shiv took us out for ice cream after the meal too. We weren't entirely sure we could handle this real Indian food (not the very sanitized stuff we get on campus), but it really hit the spot.


(My two scoop sundae...chocolate and coffee flavors. This was around 65 rupees, I think.)

Saturday morning: A few gals headed to a store called Q-Mart, which has a lot of international food and supplies. It's small and crowded, but I got a lot of things that will get me through. I got peanut butter for 180 rupees, and I even bought a set of UNO cards for only 99 rupees. Some things make little sense around here. I got a package of 20 birthday candles too for 10 rupees.

Saturday afternoon: The campus was visited by a group called AEISIC (an international student group) for a short weekend trip. Shiv sponsored them here and we volunteered to host one of 8 students. Her name is Nina and she is from Germany. She is doing an internship in Bangalore this year. I met up with her and her colleagues at lunch and then sent them off for a tour of Golconda Fort, where we went last weekend. I decided not to go through the tour again, because it was quite hot and I didn't think I needed to bake in the sun for 3 more hours.

Saturday night: I had the opportunity to go to the fort for the "sound and light show" that is also in Lonely Planet, and highly regarded as a fun activity. I went with one of the exchange students here from Italy (Antonino) and we met up with the rest of the AEISIC group for the hour long show. It's hard to describe, but they have an audio track playing with a dramatized story of the fort's history, with music and various illuminations of the ruins. Lonely Planet calls it "trippy". I haven't decided what to call it yet, but I think going was a good decision.


(Golconda Fort lit up at night after the Sound and Light Show.)

Much later Saturday night: The campus put on a celebration to usher in the Lohri Festival. I understand the festival is more from the North of India, but ISB celebrates many festivals because students come from all over India. The festival is to celebrate the harvest. There was fire, food, drumming and dancing and some impromptu singing (reminding me of the Vironia parties of my youth). The students wore such beautiful, colorful traditional clothes and even some of the exchange students got dressed up as well.


(ISB students and exchange students dancing at the Lohri festival celebration.)

Really late on Saturday night: Yes, it's still Saturday. A tradition on campus is to throw birthday celebrants into the swimming pool at midnight to usher in their birthday. Geo's was discussed and he was signed up for a toss-in at midnight. At least 15 people (ISB students and exchange students alike) were there to witness this event. They said they often throw the spouse in too, but I thought they were kidding. They weren't. I kept trying to tell them "It's not my birthday!" It didn't help. The pool was warm. Yea! The air outside afterwards was not. Boo. But I got a nice Kingfisher beer for my good humor.


(Krissy and Geo exiting the pool after a midnight birthday dunking.)

Too early Sunday morning: Nina, our exchange student, had to leave at 8:30 this morning for breakfast. I somehow woke at 8:26 and made sure she was up. She was. Amazing. She went to bed after I did! I got up later in time for a late breakfast with Geo in the dining hall, where I decided they really need to introduce Belgian waffles to the Sunday morning breakfast line. I think it would be a huge hit!

Birthday Sunday: Noi (another girl here on exchange) and I again joined the AEISIC group for a tour of the Salar Jung Museum. This is one of the nicest museums in India, I've heard (yes, I heard from Lonely Planet!). And today happened to be the last day of Museum Week. The museum was so crowded, I have never experienced anything like this. Even at the Louvre, where the entry hall is throbbing, you can still get close to the exhibits. This was really hard to get through, there were so many people. And the condition of the museum is not quite like the Louvre. It is a lovely effort though and the collection was impressive. It was hot again and the fans barely made it tolerable. I enjoyed the two hours we spent there, but we didn't even get to see half of the museum. I guess there's always more time. Oh yeah, and they don't allow cameras :(


(The entry ticket for the museum. Notice it says Non-Indian price on it, only 150 rupees. Indians pay 10. This is quite common.)

Birthday Party, Sunday evening: At 6 pm, we gathered everyone in the cafe (not the dining hall, but right next to it) for cake! I had ordered a chocolate cake from the cafe on Saturday to be ready by 6 pm. It was ready then and it was devine! I have never had such an amazing cake. The cake itself actually received applause by all. Wow! The ISB cafe staff outdid themselves. Almost all our friends here came and sang for Geo and then we all enjoyed the delicious cake. Yummy! We have some leftover too, and I can't wait for my next piece. After cake, about 13 students joined us for dinner at The Water Front, one of the snazziest new places in town. I could write a whole blog about that...anyway, we had a feast for dinner. 7 of us ate and drank for about $180 US. Even at $25 a person, you couldn't have a better experience in the US. Or in India, for that matter.


(Geo and his birthday cake.)

Late Sunday night: Geo had a study group to go to at midnight. Does anyone ever sleep around here?!? I'm going to try to stay up until 2, when he's supposed to get home. But I probably won't make it....zzzzz......