In my life now there is a strange dichotomy in the idea of movement and freedom.
I love riding in auto rickshaws. I don't know why, but I really enjoy it, and whenever I'm not in a rush, I'm always sad when the ride is over. I may feel differently in January, but at the moment I like the wind, to see things, and most of the time the drivers are amiable. I love that using autos you can go basically anywhere. If you have an idea of where you're going, or the driver does, you can be delivered right to the front door, so thats an advantage over even european public transportation. If you don't know where your going, and neither does the driver, and you can't understand each other, the driver will pull over to ask another driver or a vendor, who generally sorts things out. So using autos, I can basically get anywhere in Delhi I want for less than two dollars.
I also enjoy the campus. In the back of the school, its quiet and peaceful, and I like to go to sit and meditate and listen to music in the mornings and evenings. At night it gets cool, and its nice to sit and watch the moon rise as the sun sets. I feel very comfortable there alone. The college is walled in and chicken wired all around with guards at the gates, and the whole wall is probably a half mile loop. So its really strange for me to be told by my professor on a walk that I ought to move to a less shrubby place, because "there are more than mosquitos out." I don't quite understand this, am I not to trust the people the school has allowed to live within its walls? Like the cafeteria workers? Janitorial staff? whose families live in apartments just behind the residence hall and who sit in front of the residence to make sure strangers don't wander in? Are mad jungle cats going to emerge?
Finding my own space on campus is near impossible if I rule out sitting on the wide open lawns within fifteen foot walls. My room is the size of a single room for two people, and is uncomfortably hot without an air conditioner. The college completely closes down on weekends, which leaves no open rooms to study, the library being also closed. Today I sat at the picknick tables next to the closed cafe stand to do some homework, and felt as though the idea of sitting outside and doing homework was a strange thing in the minds of the people working nearby.
Indian independence day is tomorrow. Will I be going to a parade? Enjoying festivities? Tasting street food or visiting markets? No, I'll be laying low, because according to girls in the hostel, its too dangerous. I'll be doing homework. Or something to that effect.
I love riding in auto rickshaws. I don't know why, but I really enjoy it, and whenever I'm not in a rush, I'm always sad when the ride is over. I may feel differently in January, but at the moment I like the wind, to see things, and most of the time the drivers are amiable. I love that using autos you can go basically anywhere. If you have an idea of where you're going, or the driver does, you can be delivered right to the front door, so thats an advantage over even european public transportation. If you don't know where your going, and neither does the driver, and you can't understand each other, the driver will pull over to ask another driver or a vendor, who generally sorts things out. So using autos, I can basically get anywhere in Delhi I want for less than two dollars.
I also enjoy the campus. In the back of the school, its quiet and peaceful, and I like to go to sit and meditate and listen to music in the mornings and evenings. At night it gets cool, and its nice to sit and watch the moon rise as the sun sets. I feel very comfortable there alone. The college is walled in and chicken wired all around with guards at the gates, and the whole wall is probably a half mile loop. So its really strange for me to be told by my professor on a walk that I ought to move to a less shrubby place, because "there are more than mosquitos out." I don't quite understand this, am I not to trust the people the school has allowed to live within its walls? Like the cafeteria workers? Janitorial staff? whose families live in apartments just behind the residence hall and who sit in front of the residence to make sure strangers don't wander in? Are mad jungle cats going to emerge?
Finding my own space on campus is near impossible if I rule out sitting on the wide open lawns within fifteen foot walls. My room is the size of a single room for two people, and is uncomfortably hot without an air conditioner. The college completely closes down on weekends, which leaves no open rooms to study, the library being also closed. Today I sat at the picknick tables next to the closed cafe stand to do some homework, and felt as though the idea of sitting outside and doing homework was a strange thing in the minds of the people working nearby.
Indian independence day is tomorrow. Will I be going to a parade? Enjoying festivities? Tasting street food or visiting markets? No, I'll be laying low, because according to girls in the hostel, its too dangerous. I'll be doing homework. Or something to that effect.
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