Almost heaven, and now back in cynic hell.

After a hazardous trip back from the airport, we're finally back from the Delhi of cosmopolitan/touristy/modern goodness and stuck here in cynic hell. Updates will have to wait for I have class in ten minutes. Meanwhile, a short poem I came up with while in Delhi, on the India I cannot seem to comprehend.

You



I stand suspended
in your center
In a limbo
I linger

The unobtrusive voyeur
in your kaleidoscope
Impassive glances
upon your hazy throes

I reach out seeking
beyond the mad
for your spirit
one single thread

My fingers slipped through
your smudged translucence
And I returned untouched
A virgin maiden.

Sand, salt and shooting stars.

I'm back from my overnight trip with some year two students to Dasada, a desert safari a couple of hours from campus. I went expecting something like the sand dunes I saw in Dubai, but instead we saw a lot of salt and the odd flamingo or wild ass (donkeys, not anything else your dirty minds come up with). Nevertheless, it was a good opportunity to get to know some of the students better, and to bond even more with our French counterparts.

And I saw two shooting stars! Stayed up a little longer learning French songs and laughing my head off while hoping to catch a third (for I was moments late in making my wish the first two times), but to no avail. I'll let you know if wishing on a falling star makes the wish come true.

I'll let the pictures do what pictures do. I'm off to grab some food before jumping into bed. Three hours of sleep and an entire day in a cold and dusty safari's taking its toll.


Our room,and the padded swing on the porch.


Took a shot with these handsome kids.


Fascinated as they saw themselves on Romain's digital camera.


The prettiest eyes.




Cracked salty earth.


Salt formations.






The desert landscapes.


Those black dots are actually flamingos.



The decorated jeep - kinda makes you think of the Hungry Ghost festival.


Traveling in style.


The wild asses we came to see.


Sunset.




Sunrise, this morning.




More salt.






Legs of a carcass.


Our pseudo-GAP fashion shoot, hahaha! Kash, Nuria, Marine, myself and Romain.






The boys standing atop the salt mountain.


Shaggy and the jump that hurt his back.


The Indian way of carrying stuff.


The salt exportation business.

Misplacing time.

What is blatantly obvious from the lack of updates here? Classes have started, and so I've stopped playing tourist and am (still) trying to play the role of a MICA student. Which really isn't easy, considering how it is a post-grad school.

We've still yet to figure out what on earth we're doing here, and how on earth we're gonna pass the courses. Haha, but as we're working on Indian time, there really is no hurry.

My schedule's been pretty lax so far, averaging on one class per day, yet despite the lack of Singaporean frenzy here, time unknowingly slips by me. I've been meaning to blog for days, but the time I set aside to do so is usually spent out in the city, or hanging out at Chota (this tea stall on campus) with the other French students.


And this is where I'll be for the next six (hopefully only three) months.


MICA's situated in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by fields where cows often graze.





This is Romain, one of the French exchange students we hang out with. Behind the amiable facade lies a champion bargainer. In fact, I'm almost certain that he bargains as well or even better than a local.


Slices of Indian life.








There are many such stalls selling kites 'cos of Makar Sankranti that's coming up on Monday here in Ahmedabad. Half the locals I ask have no idea what the celebration's for, except that it's a day when people fly kites. Haha.


These are the men preparing the strings. I think the rub it with glass powder, as they did last time in Singapore, if I remember my auntie correctly.


A camel I saw on my way to Law Garden on Sunday.


Law Market's a bazaar selling traditional Indian wear, like these. I bought the dark blue one.


And this is the lady who sold me the top.


Shopping in Ahmedabad is a hazardous affair of dodging traffic (no such thing as pavements here) and crowds. Amit, Erwin and I headed here for sustenance after a tiring Sunday evening at Law Garden.


Chocolate decadence pancakes. It was good. In fact, Erwin and I just went to The Chocolate Room again earlier today. Yum. Maybe they'll make us VIPS.


As part of our Imagining India course, we took a field trip out to one of the mosques.




The boy in blue was fascinated by my Nikon, and requested that I take a picture.


Then he got his family in...


And this girl wanted in on the action.


More of them.







The boys caught up with me and asked that I take more pictures of them.








The fantastic sunset skies.






There's a gorgeous lake that the site overlooks.


Inside the mosque.



There are plenty more, but they're gonna have to wait. :)