When the lights go out

Again, today we had 3 lectures. Our first lecture was about Islam in India. This was a very interesting talk as it showed me a perspective of the religion that I probably wouldn't have learned about any other way. Our next lecture was on the subject of South Indian music. This lecture was interesting, as it gave reason to the count in which we had heard the night before as well it gave background to what we were going to hear in the coming days. After this we had lunch then one of our professors that is originally from Indian described to us the difference between South India and North India. In southern India, there are roughly 5 states. Another thing that was pointed out to us was that every state has its own separate language and natives of other states can rarely understand the other language of a state. Then we had our third and final lecture of the day, which was discussing yoga. There are four separate kinds of yoga that focus on different things. Our lecturer will also be our instructor in later dates and we learned a variety of different poses and techniques that can help beginners feel the same stretch. This talk was very interesting as we have been doing yoga for soccer for quite some time and I can't wait till we actually have class in a few days.

After all our lectures we had our first real time of free time. With this time a group of us decided to go exploring! We crossed the street to the market that we first experience and then began shopping. One thing that I have to get used to is looking the opposite ways on streets. As well as looking the other way we have to walk on the opposite side which is very hard for us because we just gravitate towards the "wrong side". We figure it out quickly though and follow the locals. One of the main things we follow the locals in doing is crossing the street. This is a nerve wracking adventure every time as we are not used to crossing in front of oncoming traffic. To make matters worse on our way back from exploring the lights decided to cut out right as we were approaching the cross walk. We thankfully made it across the street safe and sound all by ourselves!

Tonight will bring on a new adventure for everyone as well. We will be riding an overnight train. As many have seen in pictures, Indian trains like to accommodate all people whether they are on the roof or hanging from the sides. To say the least we are all a little bit nervous for this especially with the Indian news that has been going on lately. I am excited though as this will be an experience for us all to say we have rode on the Indian train system. We are boarding the train to go to T which is more southern then Chennai. We will be away from MCC for four days then come back again for a little bit. In this time, I am not promising any blogs as wifi may cost however I will still try to blog nightly then post them all once I come back.