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a typical day

7:00am - 8:00am Wake up. If I am feeling especially ambitious, I may go on a run through the woods or at the track. By the time I get back, the morning yoga routine is in full swing. Up to four of us will be practicing our yoga on the roof before it gets too hot.
8.45 a.m. Breakfast in the Foreign Student Hostel dining room - usually is Indian cuisine - idli and dosa brought to us by Aca, a sweet woman who brings us our food and tea from the girls' hostel.

We talk about each other's program for the day.
9.30 a.m. Most classes are about a 10 minute walk from our campus in a building called "Science and Humanities Block I." On the way we may run into some other students we know.

Ecology class. Class will usually begin informally about 10 minutes late. I chat with my classmates while waiting. My Plant/Animal class has four other students - Arpana, Safa, Sumin, and Vandana and we have become well acquainted during class and field trips. Class often consists of student seminars or paper discussions and always ends with "time for lunch."

1.00 p.m. Sometimes I head home for lunch, but lately I go to the canteen. There, for the equivalent of $0.20 you can get a decent hot meal of special bread and vegetable curry. You approach a crowded desk and work your way to the front where you loudly state what you want. A man gives you appropriate colorful tokens in exchange for your money, in which case you simply give the tokens to a woman in the kitchen who gives you some nice food.
2.00 p.m. Class begins for "Innovation & Creativity". This is my favorite class. The Professor also takes me to various organizations in Pondicherry, and I really enjoy these practical lessons in Creativity. He answers all my questions all my questions and throws in a few anecdotes too for good measure.
3.15 p.m.

Time for yoga classes. We board the mini-bus to go to the Yoga Ashram just 4 kms away from the university. Our Yoga teacher Dr. Ananda Bhavanani teaches us that yoga is a way for spiritual and physical enlightenment. We also practice some yogasanas (yogic exercises). This is a very rewarding class and we enjoy it most.

5.00 p.m. Back to the campus and our Hostel for tea and snacks. Then we decide to go out to the main market.
5.30 p.m. We board a public bus outside the University campus. We get down in the center of the town, and the first stop is the moneychanger's. Some of us exchange dollars into Indian rupees and the binge starts - first window shopping and then some real shopping for some personal items that we would need for the next week.
7.30 p.m. Our favorite Pondi activity is to go down to the water front Beach road. This is always a chaotic and busy place. There are carnival rides, so much good food (boiled peanuts, chick peas, puffs, fried cauliflower, ice cream, popcorn), a lovely breeze, and a beautiful moon. We'll just sit for awhile, sometimes meet some friends or talk to occasional salesmen of wares. There are always tons of people hanging out, children playing on the giant statue of Gandhi, and even groups of women going out for an evening stroll.
9.00 p.m. Birthday party for one of our fellow IISAC students. Our Indian friends and classmates stop by to partake in the festivities.
9.30 p.m. I retire to my room and do some work on my Ecology project. But I can't avoid thinking about the next day's trip! Tomorrow is another memorable day, I know.