"You look like Punjabi girl!"

7/23/10 4pm

It's now been two full weeks since I left Philadelphia, and as of tomorrow, it'll be three weeks until I return home. And even though I've been at my school for over a week, I still get the red carpet treatment from all the students, and that gives me a very happy feeling.

At my school, and I'm assuming in most Indian schools, the schedule varies day by day. I teach 4-6 classes per day, but don't see the same groups of kids at the same time every day. Some classes meet twice a day on certain days, other classes meet just one or two periods a week. So while I've completely taken over two English classes and a couple sections of Spoken English, each day is a different schedule with different free periods. This has been an interesting experience. It can get confusing for someone not accustomed to it, and I have to admit I still feel jumbled each day as I have to constantly refer to my notebook to figure out where I am supposed to be!

Invariably, when I'm in the hallways between classes, groups of students come up to me and ask me if I can visit their classes. Sometimes I don't have anywhere to be, so I can go, but some kids have been asking me to visit for 2-3 days in a row and I haven't been able to make it. But when I can, it's a ton of fun. I get asked for my autograph still, and the kids like to hear about what it's like to live in America. They are all curious, attentive, and sweet… and sometimes they give me handmade cards or other gifts to welcome me to their school.

Yesterday one of the teachers at my school, Dharitri, said that she doesn't think of me as American anymore, she thinks of me as Indian. Moreover, with my complexion and how I dress, she said "You look like Punjabi girl!" I've heard the Punjabi girl thing a lot over the past few days… and I get a kick out of it every time, because I don't think I look remotely Indian!

I have time to read the newspaper every day- The Times of India- and let me tell you, it's quite different from any American paper. The articles are much more opinionated and lively than anything you read in America. I've been cutting out articles that are particularly interesting or funny, to bring back to show people when I return. Indian politics are a big topic in the papers, but the thing that people are writing about most is whether Delhi is prepared to host the Commonwealth Games in October and whether the Delhi Metro will ever be completed. Apparently everything is over budget and behind schedule, and the papers are not shy about expressing their collective frustration.

It's true, there is construction EVERYWHERE, which is not only ugly but creates a lot of dust and noise. We went to Connaught Place last week, and it was nearly impossible to walk anywhere without worrying you were going to fall into a trench or trip over a pile of loose bricks. When everything is finished, Delhi will be absolutely gorgeous- it's just a shame I won't be here to see it.

I'm really excited about our trip to the Taj Mahal, which will be Monday and Tuesday. I went to the Taj when I was on Semester at Sea, but this time around we will get to see it twice: on certain full moons, they open up at night for moonlight viewings; tickets are hard to come by but our group was able to get them! Then we'll go back the next day, before heading back to Delhi. It's a six hour drive each way, and while that wouldn't ordinarily be something I look forward to, I'm excited to see the Indian countryside, since up until this point I haven't left New Delhi! I promise, I'll take a lot of pictures.