Curse you, stupid plastic wrap!

Oh my gosh, it's been awhile. Since I last blogged, I have left Delhi and relocated to the city that my language school is in. I am now a student at HEED Language Center and I like it a lot. Class is from 8am-10am Sunday-Thursday. The teacher is super friendly and so enthusiastic it's hard not to be happy around him. That's a plus, since I have to wake up at 6:15 and I am decidedly NOT a morning person. Also, it takes about an hour to get to school in a baby taxi because the traffic is horrible. Add in the pollution, the blaring car horns, and the death defying maneuvers of the drivers, and I could see myself arriving in a less than pleasant mood. Probably, the scariest thing I've done so far is cross the road. Many of you may be breathing a sigh of relief, but that's only because you've never experienced traffic here. My roommate and I actually had a discussion about how drivers know which traffic lights to obey and which can be ignored. One the bright side, I've only been within inches of being crushed by a bus once. :) But then, I've only been here 3 weeks...

Let's see, what other exciting things have happened. Although, we live in a guesthouse with an excellent cook and laundry services, my roommate and I are trying hard to save money. So, we buy our own food and we wash our clothes by hand in the bathtub. I miss living at home. If at all possible, you should avoid hand-washing jeans and towels. Trust me on this. I know.

We've experienced bed bugs. That was great.
The internet service provider decided they'd rather provide service to a different part of the city.
And my computer crashed.

But don't worry. The bugs are gone for now. We have internet for now. AND most importantly, a friend of mine who lives here is currently in Oklahoma, so my parents picked out a new computer and it should be here in week or two! Hooray.

The people we've met here have been really friendly and helpful. I'm excited to be able to speak the language better and get to know more people. Recently, we started volunteering at a kind of community center for young girls who live in the slums. It’s a place where girls can come to get help with their homework, a meal, and just have a place to play and relax. They are so sweet, and they’re excited to help us learn too. After I helped one girl with her English homework, she read her Bangla lesson to me and made me repeat after her. I honestly, can’t tell you what I said or if I said it correctly, but my little teacher was very pleased.
People have absolutely no idea how old we are. Sunday night after church, we went to ask the pastor’s wife if it would be possible to practice with the praise team. The members are all young adults and we think it would be a good way to meet people. Unfortunately, our Bangla and her English were not good enough to get the point across. Instead, this wonderful woman thought we wanted to practice music with her. So, she taught to sing a children’s song and then to say “I love you.” At this point we began to try to disengage, but it was no use. We were stuck. During the course of the encounter, she stroked my hair, like I was a little child. Then she proceeded to say that I was her daughter and my roommate was her sister. Apparently, I look like I’m 12 and Melinda looks like she’s 30. (Which is definitely not true) Finally, she escorted us to the gate of the guesthouse and just before we made our escape… She tickled my chin. Yup it was great.
 Melinda and I have kept an excellent sense of humor about us and have even started a quote book, which is the best pick-me-up ever.

This quote came from the guesthouse manager's five year old son: [Sarah] you're funny. Not the jokes you tell the things you do.
Also, in case you're interested, you can get a phone plan with "unlimited STDs". Still haven't figured out what that means...