Brief Update

So it’s been awhile since I updated…partially due to lack of time and partially due to my grim internet situation. For some reason, my internet card expired, so I don’t have wifi access, which makes it pretty difficult to update my blog. I’m currently on one of the university computers with a very low speed internet connection.

A few small updates:

1.  We presented a semi-finished project to Chharanagar on Saturday, which went pretty well. We still have a week to finish up work on it based on the response we got at the presentation. We followed the long morning up with a nice siesta and dinner at a fantastic traditional restaurant called Rajwadu. The entire restaurant is outside, beautifully landscaped, with short tables and rugs to sit on the floor. There were also several entertainment stations around the place with magicians, dancers, and musicians. Many of the Chharas joined us for dinner, so it was fun to hang out with them and not have to worry about school related stuff.
2. We spent the majority of last week mapping out Chharanagar. We started with a google earth image that Tad traced in Rhino, which turned out to be fairly inaccurate due to the pixilated image and rapid building changes that have occurred since the image was taken. We then went through the entire community and manually checked all buildings, pathways, trees and temples.  After mapping each neighborhood within Chharanagar, we compiled the results, made all of the edits in Illustrator and produced a final map. The Chharas were ecstatic and definitely appreciated our work. As soon as I have internet again on my laptop I can upload the image.
3. There are mice in our hotel. Tad saw one run into my room when we were talking outside. We told the hotel guys, and they pretended to care for a few minutes like it was something unusual. The next day I found mouse poop on my bed. Three days later I realized I was in India for the thousandth time and decided that things would be much easier if I chose to just not care about it. So far that’s working out for me…
4.  I’m doing much better with the food. I might even dare to say that it’s growing on me…or even…gasp…that I might miss some of it once we leave India.
5. Yesterday we went back to wonderful Khadia and visited the Mehtas. It was great to see them, and great to be back on the other side of the river. We did a good deal of last minute India shopping and visited some of the Sunday markets for probably the last time.
6.  We’re in Ahmedabad for about another week. We then go to Delhi for a few days, then it’s off to Kathmandu. I’m debating whether I should make the trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. I suppose it depends on what the alternative for the day is. Nihal talked about the possibility of going to New Delhi that day instead, which at this point in time sounds more appealing than Taj Mahal. I guess we’ll see.
7. Today we’re going to see a Cricket World Cup match! It’s Australia vs. Zimbabwe, which is supposedly going to be a blow out. The match is also supposed to last eight hours. I think it’s pretty safe to say that I will definitely not be staying for the entire game.