Look at the cute baby lizard!

paan

First, let me say that I've not been keeping up with my blog duties, and for that I'm sorry. I've been too busy reading Jane Eyre, riding rickshaws, going to yoga class, and stuffing my face. You're going to read a little about that last thing now. By the way, the above picture is of Caitlin Ruth O'Connor, who's remarkably like me, in that she'll pretty much eat anything!
Aaron told me a little about paan after his last trip to India, and I read about it in my trusty guidebook. It's made of shredded betel nut, mitha masala (a mix of fennel seeds and other spices), and often chewing tobacco. It's all wrapped in a leaf, and chewed slowly (and not swallowed, if you've got the tobacco variety), and then spit on the ground.
Paan is sold by paan-wallahs from tiny stalls. You can tell it's a paan-wallah stall because there are usually a bunch of men standing around it spitting red stuff out of their mouths. Cait and I wanted to try the real deal, but when the paan-wallah pulled out a couple of betel tree leaves smothered in a weird red-brown paste, we wimped out and went for the sweet paan instead.
It's just like its more potent cousin except the tobacco is gone and seems to be replaced with a ridiculous amount of sugar in the form of a red syrup (think maraschino cherry juice). It's supposed to be a mouth refresher, but it kind of tasted like eating potpourri to me, and Cait said after that she felt like she just drank a bottle of perfume. But now we can check paan off our list!  -Sarah

First Classes

The instruction at RIMYI is truly out of this world. Tonight was a lively standing pose class with Geeta teaching and Raya demonstrating. We did only very basic poses and used zero props.. Even for the seated poses. The amount of detail in the teaching is really really astounding. Sometimes my brain gets over loaded with information and tired from concentrating so much that I notice myself wanting to space out. Grant it it is virtually impossible to space out - Geeta really knows how to keep us focused. At the end of class everyone started clapping and she had this super sweet smile on her face. It was great to see.

The rains have started. It is much much cooler and at night is very pleasant. The bad thing about the rains is that everything is all wet. Everything.  -Aaron

Day 3

3 things I've learned in India so far:

1) It's not necessary to wear shoes while working at the supermarket.

On our first day here, after a long day of traveling and sleeping and moving into our apartment, we ventured out to buy some provisions for our new place. First we went to Om Supermarket, which turned out to be more of a roadside stand. Customers tell the people behind the counter what they want, but not everything is in view, so I haven't quite figured that out yet. And milk comes in a bag! Then we went to a "proper" supermarket, with a roof and aisles. While we were standing in line waiting to check out, I noticed that the cashier was wearing khaki pants, an orange polo shirt, socks, and NO SHOES.

2) Traffic is scary (don't read this one Mom)

We took a 3 hour car ride from the airport in Mumbai to our hotel in Pune. It was the middle of the night, so traffic was pretty light by local standards. But I got my first taste of the traffic laws of the land, or I should probably say the lack of them. Our drive went through every red light we got to, slowing down a tiny bit and honking his horn, but then just proceeding right on through. But that was nothing compared with my experience later that night on an auto rickshaw. I'll post a picture later of one, but it's like a motorized tricycle with a bench in the back for passengers. It weaves in an out of traffic very fast, there are no doors, and it is SCARY. But my most terrifying experience with cars was trying to cross one of the busy streets. We had waved down a rickshaw, but the driver stopped on the other side of the street. Aaron and Cait crossed with no problem, but I was still standing on the other side of the street, paralyzed. There was no break in cars and scooters at all. Finally, my sweet husband crossed back over and helped me. They said the trick is to walk slowly across at a steady pace, not to dart out and then stop. If the cars see you in advance as an obstacle, they'll just go around you. I was much better yesterday, but my heart still stops a little each time I have to cross.

3) Tea (chai) is probably 65% milk

On day 1, my most sleep-deprived day, I had two cups of chai by 2pm. It's so freaking delicious! It's very milky and sweet. They don't call it chai here, just tea. Our landlady gave us some instant packets. Normally I'm kind of a food snob, and would turn my nose up at something like that, but these are SO GOOD. We went through them all in one day, and have been looking at all the markets for more. It's kind of like an instant hot cocoa packet, with the milk and sugar already mixed in. I'm going to have my landlady teach me how to make it the proper way though. She offered to give me some cooking lessons, since my roommates are going to be doing a lot more yoga than me and I'll have some free time. I'm supposed to think of some dishes I'd like to learn to make. Any suggestions? -Sarah

Our apartment is the best. It's on third floor (top floor) of an apartment building very close to the institute. We have three bedrooms. Sarah and I are in one and Cait and Jen each have their own rooms. There's a big space for practicing yoga (Cait and I practiced there this morning) and there is a really large terrace with a beautiful view of the neighborhood.This is a shot of the terrace. Just inside the arched doorway is the yoga practice space. Through the door to the left is the kitchen.

From the kitchen looking out on the terrace.

From the terrace looking out on the neighborhood below.

More views from the terrace. Notice the yellow box/shack down on the road? That's where you can go and get copies made. The man who works there has a large Xerox machine. One copy costs 1 ruppee. Cheap.

Big beautiful palm tree that shades the terrace. -Aaron

Hanging out at our amazing apartment in Pune enjoying some tea.

We are here!

We made it to Pune! The flights and traveling were relatively uneventful. The flight from Paris was late but our driver was still waiting. He said he had been waiting for 3 hours. The sweet guy. He was one one of the safest drivers i have ever had. I was strangely disappointed because I have been telling Sarah for years about the crazy ride from Mumbai to Pune...and it was basically a piece of cake.  -Aaron