Reflection on month 1 in India

So yes, we have been in India for a month now and I've been in school for three weeks! The first month has been really interesting; I like Bangalore a lot more than I thought I would. School is also really good, but Indus lies and says that they only give two hours of homework a week, when they actually give like five or six hours of homework a week, if not more. But the campus is really nice and the teachers are too. I got my formal uniform on Thursday (which consists of a plain but see-through white collared t-shirt, a tan skirt with buttons DOWN THE FRONT [which I do not understand], and these super ugly brown shoes). Amara and I both have to wear the formal uniform on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we get to wear our PE uniform on Tuesday and Thursday. A couple posts back, I said that Wednesdays were my favorite days because I had good classes, but now we have a new schedule and Wednesdays aren't my favorite any more.
We recently put an offer on an apartment though! The lease got signed by the landlord today and now it has to go to Google (where my mom works, for those of you who don't know) to get approved and get the rest of the signatures that it needs. Also, on a completely different note, I got a role (a very tiny one at that) in the school musical! I only have two lines (not that I really care all that much) but I get to sing kind of a lot, which is what I actually care about.
I got sick for two days last week and I have no clue why, but I felt really bad and missed two days of school, which kind of sucked. My mom is convinced that I am "becoming SO Indian already!" but I actually don't even know what she's talking about because I am so not. The weather here is AMAZING, it's warm-ish but it's breezy and I realllly like it. Don't get me wrong though, I definitely miss the rain every day back in Washington. I also miss my fat cat, who isn't fat at all but regardless of that I miss her. She's in good hands though!
OH MY GOODNESS yesterday on our way home from school we saw a protest for Anna Hazare! He has been fasting to end corruption, and has caused a movement that swept all over India. The protest (supporting him) was really interesting, they had candles and signs and a guy was yelling stuff and it was so cool! It's probably not that big of a deal to locals but for me it was so different and awesome! I have to get to bed...more later though, thanks for reading! :)

Survived my First Week of School!

Yes, yes I did. The teachers were really easy on homework, but I'm guessing that was because it was the first week. My first week overall was pretty good, I made friends, I like my classes, and the campus is really nice. Unfortunately though, I've already caught a cold and don't feel very well. On Monday, me and Amara are performing in a small orchestra to celebrate Indian Independence Day. We do have a half day of school though, so we have to drive the hour and a half to Indus just to pretty much come right back. Then on Tuesday, there are auditions for the musical We Will Rock You, which our school is putting on. Of course the auditions have to be happening when I have a cold. But I'm still planning on trying out; I guess I just have to drink tons of tea, get lots of sleep and pray to God that this horrid sore throat goes away. I'm already homesick...which is a bad sign, considering that we haven't even been away from home for a month yet. I miss our cat, Nattie, a lot more than I thought I would. I hope she's being good for our house sitter and not doing anything stupid like she tends to do. And, of course, I miss all my friends a TON! I also miss our house, and my bed, and our kitchen, and our couch, and everything. To my friends and other people in Washington, I love you guys and miss you! Thanks for reading. :)

First 3 Days at Indus

Monday was my first day at school, unfortunately leaving me and Amara with an extremely short summer. The first day was pretty much a waste of time, we sat in a room ALL day and were given the same presentation as at orientation, so since I went to orientation, I was soooo bored. The second day was when I started having classes, and I'm not used to having a block schedule, so I was really confused. That being said, I accidentally did Monday's schedule on Tuesday for my first 3 classes. When I realized that, I felt so freaking stupid, so today in biology I had to explain to the teacher what happened. And I was mad because the business studies class that I accidentally went to had cool people in it, so now I'll be alone and sad when I actually have business studies. Oh well. This school really scares me because there are so many rules, and I feel like whatever I'm doing, I'm breaking a rule. And the uniforms are really ugly, in case I failed to mention that before. I don't know any of my teachers' names, they're all either Sir or Miss. It's much easier that way. Today, we also had classes, and I decided that Wednesday is my favorite day because I have good classes on Wednesday, including Spanish and biology, which I love. But it is really weird to be in school the whole day on Wednesdays, because in Washington we got out of school early on Wednesday. It's also really hard to decide what sport to do; I really want to do swimming but if I do that means I have to swim in the middle of the day which I don't want to do because that's really weird. Anyways. More later, thanks for reading!

The Past Few Days in Bangalore

On Saturday, we went to two music schools around Bangalore to see what our options were for continuing music lessons (viola and voice for me, flute for Amara) while we're here. The first one was interesting, the guy who we talked to was named Ashley and he was a weird dude. But, he actually took the time to listen to me and Amara okay our instruments and he also listened to me sing. He then invited me to come back on Sunday to participate in their voice class, and I was undecided at first, but after seeing the second music school I decided to go to the class. The second music school, The Bangalore School of Music (either School or Academy, one of those two) was really a disappointment. I've become really attached to my viola teacher back in Washington over the past four years of lessons from him, so it's really hard for me to be open minded about taking lessons from someone else. But I'm trying, I don't want to lose a whole year of playing my viola so I guess I'll do whatever it takes to continue that. On Sunday, I did go to the voice class and ended up liking it a lot! It was really fun, but I was reminded in that class that I also really got attached to my voice teacher in Washington over the past 2 years of lessons from her, so it was again hard for me to try a new style of teaching and a new teacher. But I think I'll definitely be going back for voice and viola lessons at William Joseph International Academy for Performing Arts. Today, we went to our new school, Indus International School, to get measured for our uniforms and to get our PE uniforms. They're all ugly. Really, really, horribly ugly. It's only for 8 hours a day though, so I guess it's fine...but they're still ugly. Girls have to wear a SKIRT every day which is actually the worst thing ever. Whoever invented skirts is mean. And we have to wear these stupid ugly brown loafer-like shoes! UGH. The PE uniform definitely isn't as bad as the regular uniform but I'd obviously prefer no uniform at all. The parentals are out house hunting yet again, but Amara wasn't feeling good so we had our driver drop me and Amara off at the apartment while my parents went to look at around 9 more apartments. More later, thanks for reading!