A lot has happened in the last week or so. I guess I'll begin with what happened on Sunday...I got food poisoning! Two more weeks left and I get food poisoning NOW. I went to the hospital yesterday and got some pills but the scary thing was that another girl who had different symptoms and different complaints got the same pills I did. The hospital was relatively clean but the waiting room could make healthy people feel sickly. The benches were covered with towels that looked pretty dirty. We were uncomfortable to say the least. On the plus side, I got to ride in the Ambassador.

Before getting sick...

I spent Friday and Saturday at a hotel called the Chancery in the city of Bangalore. Its about 30 minutes away from our hostel[we're right outside of Bangalore]. Must sound silly to stay only a half an hour away but it was nice to be closer to the city, MG road, Brigade Road-With traffic it takes us a long time to get into the city. I should also mention that my life in India has become pretty exciting in the past week. Last Friday we went to Fridays for dinner (I'm embarrassed to say that) where we met a man who invited us to a party at the Taj Hotel. We decided to go with this man and ended up meeting some of the most entertaining and interesting people I have ever met. One of my favorite people in Bangalore is a guy named Veren who is known for throwing all the best parties in Bangalore-most of the people we've met at these parties are foreigners who have been working in India for a few months or a few years. I also met a French man who has become a great friend of mine and I got to put my French skills to use last night when we sang "Une Belle Histoire" and "Champs Elysees" together. I have to say I am a bit disappointed that I just met these people, the French man in particular. I only have a week left so I might as well make the best of it but we both know that when I leave we'll probably never speak again.

In other news...
I rode an elephant last week and it was UNBELIEVABLE. We were hoping we would get to bare back the elephant but it didn't happen. They mounted a saddle on the elephant and six of us got on. It was a great experience.

I'm leaving for Kerala tomorrow evening. Kerala is on the western coast of India. I've been told that the monsoon is worse there right now than it is here in Bangalore but I hope that doesn't stop us from sight seeing and going to the beach. I hear Kerala is beautiful but a little touristy and the seafood is delicious. And we're going by train so the trip there should be interesting.

When I get back we will have two days in Bangalore and then we'll leave for Delhi and that Friday I will be in New York. I cant say I'm ready to go home. It took me a few weeks to get fully adjusted and now that I feel comfortable here I have to leave. I'm really going to miss India. Life here has been really good for me. I was speaking to my mom the other night and she said she can hear a difference in my voice and the way I speak. She said I sound more relaxed. I think its true, I mean at home I'm always running around, sometimes I feel like I don't have time to breathe, but in India life is lived at a slower pace, I had to learn patience and I've come to appreciate the simple things.

And I finally got to see an Indian sunrise...while driving down outer ring road on the back of a motorcycle...