The Little Things IV

     After taking classes in India for quite some time, I have come to the conclusion that college students are the same all over the world. You have your teachers' pets, the ones who get by by the skin of their teeth, and the ones who fall to peer pressure. There are always the students who sit in the back of the classroom starring avidly at their laps. It's as if they believe teachers are brainless and have never heard of cellphones. Then, you have the quiet ones, the nerds who ask too many questions, and those who doodle in order to stay awake (At least they do stay awake. There is always the one who stayed up too late the night before having fun).

My point is the students here are just the same as the students in the US. They like to go out and have fun. They take risks. They have adventures, and they're here to learn. We all want to grow and expand ourselves in various ways. I love the guys and girls of SSLA. They are truly wonderful characters. They have welcomed us since day one with open arms. I have gotten close to a few in particular. On Tuesdays, Tess and I go to a small group Bible study at Namita's house. Namita is a beautiful girl, both on the inside and out. We hit it off from the beginning. She loves art, films, and traveling. How could we not get along? Plus, her family is marvelous. This past Tuesday evening I went over early so her Mom could give me Indian cooking lessons!

Manasa is the queen bee of SSLA. Everyone loves her, including me. She's the president of the student government, top in all of her classes, and involved in all the clubs. She even won the photography competition the school held recently. Manasa is so sweet! During the first day we actually met the students, Manasa was the first to come up to us and begin chatting. She's also helped me out a lot in our Film Studies class. I was definitely behind in the beginning.

Through church, we met two hilarious boys, Viral and Akho. Viral is an engineering student at another university. Akho is in his final year at the Symbiosis Law College. They have taken Tess, Sijla (one of the German exchange students), Eugene (a student from NY), and I under their wing. They take us out to different parts of the city. They even took us to our first movie in India; we watched Zero Dark Thirty. (Seeing that particular movie with Indians made me look at it with a different perspective, but that is another story). I wouldn't have found half the restaurants/bars in Pune without their help. They're kind of like crazy goofy, energetic tour guides. But, they really are sweet boys. Sijla and I are going to Akho's home in May. He lives in a part of India that very few outsiders travel to, Nagaland. I can't wait to go there! (Sorry I don't have any pictures of them to post yet).

Because of everyones' kindness, it has been really easy to adjust to living in India. I am so grateful for this opportunity of learning from these wonderful students. I have learned more from them than I thought possible. They truly are incredible people!