Sara goes to India!: Archive

almost done....

So, i’ve gotten really behind on this, but things have gotten really busy. Before art classes started, we had a few days off which were nice. I got a lot of work done. Then art classes started. We leave campus at 9am, and don’t leave the factory until about 5pm. I’m in a handmade paper class. The first day started out alright. We got there and had a tour of the factory in...

Apr 13th

Week 12- a trip south

So last Sunday night we left on the train to head south to Tuticorin. It was an overnight trip, and it was pretty miserable. It was really hot in our compartment and I was surrounded by 4 snoring men while i was trying to sleep on a bunk not big enough to sit up in. I was also sick. I came down with giardia on Saturday night. It wasn’t too bad as long as I didn’t eat much. I went...

Mar 28th

1 month to go!

Last Saturday we went into Pondy and went shopping. I am slowly acquiring all the things I want to get before I go home. I bought a pair of black puffy pants and a red kurta that I can wear with them. Kurtas are a kind of tunic. they are usually short sleeved and go down almost to knee level but are split on the sides up to hip level. They are worn with pants. The one I got is really nice. ...

Mar 19th

Week 9 – back to class, Weekend – Carnival, and...

So, I’ve fallen behind on these, so this post is extra long. First, a few thing I forgot to say about break week: The hotel we stayed at in Baga was nice, for India. We had 3 people to a room. Each had a big bed and a mattress on the floor, a tv, and a balcony. I lived with Eleanor and Zach. We got along well. The whole time we have been here, they have had a band together. They call...

Mar 11th

Spring Break!!!

Saturday night we left i Pondy to go to Goa for spring break. We took 2 trains. The first one left at 10pm and was 10 hours. We were in 3rd AC class which means the cars were closed in and air conditioned and bunks were stacked 3 high. Each of us had a bunk. There was not enough room to sit up between them and it was rather cold. The bunks were basically brown vinyl padded benches, and were...

Feb 28th

Pulicat week 2

Last weekend we left Pulicat and came back to feral for the weekend. it was uneventful. Sunday we drove back by way of Chennai. Chennai is one of the biggest cities in India. We’ve been on the outskirts, at the airport and at a college, but not in the city before. It was not what I expected. We were told Pondicherry was a small town, but it’s easily bigger than Syracuse. There...

Feb 18th

quilter504 asked: Hi Sara,
I've read several of your entries and viewed your pictures. Thanks for letting others in on what you are doing and seeing. It must be amazing. Kathy Barden

Feb 12th

Pulicat week 1

On Monday we left for Pulicat, a big lake north of Chennai. We live at a field station for Madras Christian College - MCC (Madras and Chennai are 2 names for the same place). On the way to the station, we stopped at MCC. We are the first BCA group to work with MCC so there were all sorts of formalities of meeting professors and touring laboratories. We had tea with everyone. At one point we...

Feb 12th

Week at feral

Monday and Tuesday were slow days of classes. I am back to doing GIS work - equally fascinating and frustrating. Wednesday we went out on a trawling trip, on a fishing boat that drags a net along the bottom of the ocean. We were warned that the water may be a little choppy. Actually there were 10 ft swells constantly rocking the not-very-big boat. I’m not one to get motion sickness,...

Feb 6th

1 month!

I left home a full month ago!! In 2 days, I will have been in India a full month - travel time plus the time zone difference adds up to a lot. The time has gone by really quickly. I’m happy I still have almost 3 more months left. It is nice to be done with finals. I have a lot more time just to hang out, although things here are pretty busy. Friday we did a lot. We went into Pondy and...

Jan 31st

DONE

i finished my fall semester finals today! they were supposed to be a while ago, but they got pushed off because i was in the islands, so i’ve spent the last 4 days taking exams. i have skipped all classes, and just studied stuff from last semester and taken tons of exams. it is a little depressing knowing that today i spent all day writing 20 pages for an exam, and i know i didn’t...

Jan 27th

Pictures! →

I’ve taken hundreds, but here are some especially good ones. They cover most of the main places I’ve been. (clicking on the title takes you to the link)

Jan 24th

Weekend and Week 3 – Andamans 2

Friday was fairly uneventful. I went to the internet cafe an turned in my last paper. We also played some beach frisbee, which was a lot of fun. Apparently there is a group that plays in Pondicherry sometimes. I’m going to have to check it out. We also went out to dinner at a nice bar where there was supposed to be good music.. It ended up being this weird Israeli group who did covers...

Jan 23rd

Week 2: Andamans 1

For the first 2 or so weeks in the Andamans, we are staying on Havelock Island, at Barefoot Scuba. I live in a big fancy tent on a cement platform, covered by a thatched roof. I share it with Lindsey and Nicole. It is really nice. It has a bedroom, with a large bed and 2 mattresses on the floor. There is another room with a closet and a mini fridge, and there is a large bathroom. Everything...

Jan 13th

The Rest of Week 1

So, Monday was an exciting day. We all went into the RRO (registration office for foreigners) to register. Then we got to look around town for a while. Streets in town are crazy. The preferred method of transportation is motorbike , and there is very little organization to traffic. There are also many small rickshaws. Everyone tries to go very fast. This makes crossing the street very...

Jan 13th

Trip and Day 1

I’m in India! Took a long time to get here…. 3 flights. From Syracuse to Newark on a tiny plane with propellers on the wings. It left 40 min late, but got there 10 min early somehow… Then a few hours in Newark. The next flight was in another terminal, so I had to go through security again. I met up with the rest of the group. Apparently group flight only means 4 of...

Jan 2nd

Dec 30th

leaving tomorrow!!!! (well, today....)

So, this is my blog for my semester abroad. I going to India. I will mainly be in Pondicherry, but we travel around, so I will be going to Chennai, the Andaman Islands, Goa, and several other places in Southern India. I am mainly studying marine science, but I’m sure I will be learning about many other things too. It’s a program for American students, and we live at a research...

Dec 30th

(old blog) blah.....

so, my owner got back from thanksgiving break about a week ago, but she’s been so busy i haven’t gotten to her computer until now (no work over break = too much work now). overall stuff here has been ok. she’s afraid she has stress fractures in her foot though, too much frisbee…. once again this weekend she has been out and about and not getting enoguh work done. ...

Dec 5th

Nov 14th

(old blog) i have a friend again!!!

my owner came back :) and she’s spending lots of time with me. she has lots of tests to study for and an essay to write that keep her right here at the desk. but she had a good time over her break. she had 2 of those awkward conversations that go “Hey, you go to Princeton? I know someone that goes to Princeton! do you know them?” she always thinks it’s a bit...

Nov 11th

(old blog) lonely.....

my owner went home for fall break, leaving me alone at the desk with the house plant. she was here over the weekend for her tournament. she had a lot of fun but she was really excited to go home afterwards. she’s going to go see her boyfriend over break too. i’m glad she’s having a good time but it’s kind of dark and scary here. i donn’t even have the textbooks to...

Nov 3rd

Oct 28th

AAAHHHHHHHHHH

so, it’s midterm week here at princeton. my owner just had her multivariable calculus midterm, and is pretty sure she failed it. like actually, a 30-40% is seemilng like a pretty likely grade right now. she hopes there will be a BIG curve and that everyone else thought it was a difficult as she did. she studied a lot. she did like, 10 practice exams last week, all while sitting at the...

Oct 28th

Oct 20th

work work work

my owner needs to work more…. especially on weekends. she hasn’t had a full weekend on campus without visitors yet this year so she hasn’t had enough time to do all of here work carefully and her grades are starting to show it :( now that midterms are approaching, i’m sure she’ll be spending more time with me here at the desk

Oct 20th

Oct 9th

Sep 30th

blah.....

it’s been busy the past few days…. my owner was away all weekend for a frisbee tournament, and then started classes. it means i get a lot more company here at the desk with the text books. and, when she went shopping a few days ago, she got me a new light bulb!!!! lights out.

Sep 24th

slow internet sucks.....

even lamps have trouble blogging…… on another not, my owner is supposed to start classes tomorrow, but her professors emailed her and told her that actually, her thursday classes don’t start until next week. secretly, i made them do this so she would be trapped in the room with me for another day *mwahahaha* and, she got mistaken for a freshman again today. i think i’m...

Sep 16th

lamps have friends too....

guess what?!?!?!?!?!?! my friend got a blog too :) (i know i don’t have a face, but i can pretend). he lives on a desk at cornell and has an owner that’s even crazier than mine…. she apparently likes to put dress up clothes on him *shudder* this makes me feel happy, even though my owner was mistaken for a freshman by a friendly RA today because she was eating lunch alone in...

Sep 15th

my first post

so, a few days ago, my owner and i moved in to her new room. she’s just starting her sophomore year here at princeton. right now things are pretty slow. she spent a lot of time in the room today. she seems slightly annoyed at things. like how the school took away her funding for violin lessons because of budget cuts but still gives the student government enough money to charter a party...

Sep 14th