Orientation and Shopping!!

The second day in Bangalore was wonderful after a full nights rest.

 The view from my balcony.

Hanging out on the balcony by our clothes line. 

 Across the street from my apartment are lots of animals... Camels, goats, cows, dogs.

 The dogs are cool as long as they keep their distance.  I had a pack of four harassing me and licking my legs and hands.  Not cool.

The Indian students welcomed us with leis and giving us bindis (red dots)

My flatmates! From the Left: Gonzalo, Ana, Daniel, Lauren, and Tom.

Friends in the program.  From the Left: Ana, Spoorti, Monique, and Lauren.

 JACOB! He is the Resident Director and is the nicest man ever!  From the Left: Ana, Spoorti, Monique, Lauren, and Jacob.

My man Gonzalo being goofy eating at a restaurant. 

I meant to get a picture before I finished eating... Better late than never? 

The dining hall for the priests.

One of the many beautiful fountains on campus.

 The coolest tree next to a snack stand on campus.

 The ONLY recycling unit in all of India.  The recycling is done by hand.  The little gray sheets on the sidewalk are drying paper to be used to make folders, bags, and other goods.

My first auto-rickshaw ride!  Seats two comfortably, but five works too... It's India! 

 Our Indian "Buddy" joined us for our first ride. Dia.

The street where I bought my Indian attire for school.  I got tailored gowns!   And by the way, two custom tailored gowns with custom tailored pants and matching scarf cost less than 20 US dollars.

Tomorrow I go to the police station to get my Residency Permit.  Once I obtain that, I will be eligible to get a cell phone! 

Hong Kong and Day One in Bangalore

I met up with four other students at the San Francisco airport and began the journey to India.  The flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong was a tedious 15 hours.  We had a 4-hour layover in the Hong Kong air-port before boarding onto the 6 hour flight to Bangalore. 

Waiting for the flight to Hong Kong at the San Francisco International Airport

At the International Airport of Hong Kong

In comparison to the flight from Dulles to SFO, the international flights were AMAZING!  We are talking about pillows, blankets, movies on demand, free hot meals, free hot snacks, and free beverages!

After arriving in Bangalore at 2am, we were back at our apartments by 5am.  However, orientation started promptly at 8:30 am so we went a solid 2 days without sleeping.

Me with my room mate on my left and to of the other guys in the apartment to my right

Across the street from my apartment.  Two stray dogs and yes... A CAMEL on the back left

My first meal in India at the mall.  Spring Dosa

 I have another day of orientation and a few days of handling the legalities of obtaining residency.  On Monday I will begin taking classes at Christ University.  My class schedule has not been finalized yet, but I will keep you all updated.  I will be sure to take more pictures!

PIT-STOP: San Francisco

My sister and I began our trip to San Francisco, CA by saying goodbye at 2:45am on Thursday, January 5th.  We boarded onto the plane at Dulles Airport at 6:15am and after a 6 hour flight we arrived in CA at 9:15am!  We still had the entire day ahead of us... so we took ourselves sight seeing. 

 Bye Robert! Bye Dad!

 4am at Dulles Airport

 Staying on the look-out for my bag

 Don't want to miss it!

 Gotcha!

 China Town in San Francisco is HUGE.

 There were so many of these little markets!

 Climbing big trees is one of my many side hobbies. 

 Beautiful city scape in the background, beautiful tree, and GORGEOUS Leanne.

 We had to visit the aquarium. 

 Don't get stung, LeeLee!

 Yes, they had a touching section.

 San Francisco's version of Ocean City... 

 Went on a cruise to get a close-up view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

 Alcatraz!

 Sea Lions!

 Okay... Leanne and I had walked over 2.5 miles and were getting a little tired and could not find a Taxi for the life of us!  Luckily, we looked as desperate as we were and James (our handsome rick-shaw cycler) spotted us.  He gave us a ride back as well as a pleasant tour of the city.

  

James pulled us off of the road and onto the sidewalk so that we could get this awesome photo.

Just hanging out on the rick-shaw. 

He was singing so well!

 Re-fueling for day 2.

 I decided to rest and casually read while my sister shopped... My best reading glasses just happen to also be my sunglasses. 

 Is something in your eye?  Or are you just happy to see me?

 I guess both of us were in the mood to read.

 She is in her element.

Saks Fifth Ave with a trolly passing by... Classic San Francisco scene.

Next stop is San Francisco Airport to fly off to Hong Kong, China with my USAC group.   

Leaving For San Francisco

It is the eve of my departure and I am completely excited and nervous at the same time!  I am just about finished packing and I am hoping that I can fall and stay asleep tonight :-)

In the past few days, I...

Got my hair back to a natural color.  Goodbye blonde.

Said fare-well to Chipotle... You will be missed.

Packed the essentials with my dear friend from Middle/High School

Still on the To-Do List

Finalize my weekly budget

Decide what to eat tonight... What should be my final taste of MD?

My lovely sister will be traveling with me to San Francisco, CA in order to see me off onto a group flight to Bangalore.  This is really happening! :-D