Despite swearing I wouldn't neglect my blog, I have failed to post in many months. I remember following exchange student blogs the year before I left and being frustrated when people stopped updating, so I apologize for doing the same to you all. Truth is that I got busy and when I wasn't busy I felt I should make myself busy doing something unrelated to a computer. I also put more effort into keeping up my personal journal and notes. Additionally, I think people like to see photos the most and uploading those photos was much easier with Facebook than Blogger, so check there if you haven't already. If anyone local wants to hear about my experience in more detail I would be more than happy to meet for lunch or something and talk--I'm back in Peterborough all summer! Just email me. As far as this blog, I would like to keep using it. Throughout the summer I will try to post a few pieces on my observations of India and life there in comparison to here in New Hampshire. I certainly miss my Indian life and until I can go back I want to keep all my ties intact. Phir milenge India!

Moving Day!

It's my official last day in my first host family's house! In less than a half an hour (indian standard time) I will pick up my life here and shift it to a new host family, whom I have met before and very much like, but are quite different from my first. For one, they speak Hindi at home, not Gujarati, and they have two daughters. The eldest is 15 and the youngest is 8. I can't wait to have siblings in the house with me, since my first two host brothers are in the U.S. for the year. I'll miss living with first host family and especially with Marie, from Germany, whom I have roomed with for a month straight now in Baroda and on South Tour. We start up school again tomorrow though and will still see each other everyday. As soon as I have settled in and unpacked everything (I have at least six more bags then when I came...) I will start working on a post about our incredible South Tour!

"Wildlife" in India

I expected cows in the streets when I came to India. Everyone tells you about that. However I got a lot more "wildlife" then I bargained for. Here are some of the species I cross paths with (in approximate order of abundance):


Mosquitos
Ants
House flies
Dogs
Cows
Donkeys
Water buffalo
Goats
Monkeys
Lizards
Peacocks
Cats
Rats
A camel

And of course some pictures:

Baby goats

A cow in my society

This guy hangs out on my front porch

This monkey ran right by my house!

This beautiful kitty is more affectionate then my own cat...

PUPPIES.

Four of the five puppies and another street dog

Gold eyes

Ewwwwww

So handsome

Monkeys on the roof!

He liked to weave through our legs

A peacock!

Pigeon eating the peacock food...

This guy lives in Bharuch! I pass him while in the car all the time.

I took this pic in Bharuch too!




... just kidding :) all the other ones are true though

Yummy Recipe for Pav Bhaji

WOW. So much has happened since the last time I posted! I can't even imagine catching up at the moment so I am going to share with you this recipe for delicious Pav Bhaji I recently learned from my second host mom. Here goes (this recipe serves about five):

1) Gather the vegetables picture below and any other favorites:
Tomato, capsicum (green pepper), cauliflower, cabbage, onion, garlic, two small potatoes, and two of these tiny eggplants. Other options include green peas and carrots.

2) Peel the potatoes and cut up all the veggies.

3) Place all the veggies except for the tomato, onion, and garlic over some water in a pressure cooker and steam boil them. They will look like this when finished. They should be soft, but not mushy. Set these aside for later.

4) Put the tomato, garlic, and onion into a food processor.

5) Grind the tomato, onion, and garlic until they look like the picture below.

6) Listen to live piano music while cooking. It really enhances the atmosphere. Thank you Marie from Germany!

7) Take out a pan and fill the bottom of the pan with oil. Set the stove to a medium heat and pour the tomato, onion, and garlic mixture into the pan. Mix in a few pinches of each of the following spices: chili powder (red), turmeric powder (yellow), dried coriander power (brown), mustard seeds (black), salt (white), and cumin seeds (center).

8) Finally mix in the Pav Bhaji garam masala which I am hoping is available in U.S. supermarkets or else I will have to hunt for it in Asian markets or Indian stores when I return.

9) Add this, which my current host mother and I think may be dried mango powder. It is optional.

10) Finally it will look like this.

11) Now take the veggies you boiled and set aside. Put these in the food processor and grind until they look like the picture below.

12) Pour these veggies into your pan and cook for a a bit longer on medium heat. Now your Bhaji is complete!

13) Meanwhile, butter your Pav (any bread or buns, think hamburger or hotdog style, will do) and toast it in a pan on the stove until it is golden brown and slightly crispy on the outside. Now your Pav is complete!

14) FINALLY ENJOY YOUR HOMEMADE PAV BHAJI!

You may also choose to squeeze some lemon over your Bhaji or sprinkle over it some chopped onion.

How to eat: Tear the Pav with your hand and fold it around the Bhaji to scoop it up. It's that easy!

Here's a picture from www.sailusfood.com because I ate mine too fast to take a picture of the final product...

ALSO here is a much more detailed recipe similar to the one I learned that may be easier to follow if you want to try to cook this dish yourself :)

Pav Bhaji Recipe: http://www.tarladalal.com/Pav-Bhaji-2813r

The Occasion for Wearing Chaniya Choli!

The other day I went with my family into the old city to a 500 year old Jain temple for the celebration of the birth of Lord Mavahira. The temple was stunning, I learned a bit about my host family's faith, and I got to wear my host mother's lovely chaniya choli!

Pink and gold chaniya choli

Rocking the cradle

The 13 dreams of Lord Mahavira's mother

The temple entrance

On the temple floor was this rangoli (decorative design made of sand)

The mirrored ceiling

My host parents!

The person who donates the most to the temple on this day gets to take the 13 dreams home and invite everyone over to celebrate.

Janmashtami!

Janmashtami is a festival that celebrates Lord Krishna's birthday. It is well-known for the gigantic human pyramids constructed in cities like Mumbai to reach and break the Handi, a clay pot filled with Krishna's favorite food, butter. Here in Bharuch we celebrated by going to the society temple a little before 12 pm and singing and dancing Garba, a traditional Gujarati dance I am learning in dance classes three times per week.

In the basket is a baby boy dressed to look like Lord Krishna

Me attempting to dance Garba

Swinging the cradle

The younger boys of my society participating in Dahi Handi

My Classmates

Sharing at snack

The girls

I've got everyone's I-cards, except one for me!

Chemistry. Is. Insane. And a couple days ago I got to touch mercury!