Saturday, March 29, 2014

So much to do

Papers, tests, assignments...AHHHH!

It's getting to be that time of the semester again. Which actually isn't that bad because I think this will be my last one. Fourth semester will be all about writing my these (which has its own special kinds of anxiety) and IF I do a doctorate, there won't be any classes comprised of things not related to what I want to write about. I've been spending multiple hours a day working on Gender and IR, US Foreign policy, Statistics and Modernization and Development. Sadly, Arabic has fallen a bit by the wayside. I will get back on it, though.

I recently had to delve into the JNU Library for one of my bibliographies. I felt a bit Indiana Jones-ish
Lara Croft ain't got nothin on this

I've still been managing to go to Yoga and work out every day which is nice, considering that we'll be going to Varanasi this coming week and I won't have any sort of the kind of schedule I've gotten used to. 

Despite all of the craziness, I still managed to get in my weekly excursion off-campus:


Some things were different but it still had that crunchy-organic-granola flavor to it 



The opportunity to check out an organic market was just something that I couldn't pass up, given the fact that I did the same in Argentina. I didn't do any field research this time but,suffice it to say, it was interesting. I also managed to get a nifty new notebook. 


I want to try a bit more creative writing. Blogging and term papers are fun and all but I think I have other things to express. 



Monday, March 17, 2014

Saturday, March 15, 2014

So many pictures


So many things! This week, I got my first experience speaking at an academic panel (even if it was just reading the introductions...haha) The GSP program coordinator was roaming the halls about 5 minutes before it started, looking for one of us to introduce the speakers. Despite being not dressed up at all (note the T-shirt), I said I would do it if she couldn't find anyone else. And then this happened:

It was a talk about globalization and cities, specifically Mumbai and Delhi. Both the speaker and discussant had published numerous works on the topic and offered various viewpoints on the distinctions between the global north and global south. The talk, like many things at JNU, gave me a lot to think about especially in terms of my academic future. 



Another hostel night! Fooooooooooood....So good. Despite weird feelings from the person/people with whom I was spending my night, it was in general a very pleasant atmosphere. I managed to get home at 3am, which wasn't so ideal for the tour of Delhi planned for the following morning.

I still somehow woke up at 7, ate breakfast and coerced a friend into coming with me. On the schedule: Mughal Gardens, Purana Qila and Tughlaqabad. I took a lot more pictures than I normally would have. This makes sense, I guess, because we were out and about for 8 hours. The whole trip, organized by the International Student Association, gave us the opportunity to see things I wouldn't have had the motivation to undertake seeing myself. I'm glad I got to see these sites, especially Tughlaqabad. The view of Delhi was amazing!


Funnily enough, cameras were not allowed in Mughal gardens. After a while though, I started noticing that everyone was taking pictures with their phones. They didn't ask me to put my ipod in my bag so I just started snapping away. Apparently there are around 400 types of flowers within the gardens. 




 


Purana Qila was pretty cool too. It's the oldest structure in all of Delhi and was right by the zoo, which is where we ate lunch afterwards. 

 
 
 

At this point, we had been underway for about 5 hours and I was getting pretty tired. I'm so glad I decided to stick with it because Tughlaqabad was amazing. There were underground tunnels and the view of Delhi at the top was breathtaking.

 
 


Being on campus is great and all but I'm glad we were presented with this opportunity to leave the comfort zone of JNU and get a chance to see the city. It was good to enjoy the sunshine and see a little bit of what Delhi was to offer.





Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Vlog Numbah 2



Hey, I like have a real blog with regular updates and stuff. Nifty. 

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Baldheaded

The scene of the incident. 

photo credit: dailymail.co.uk

Last weekend, I finally resolved to shave my head completely. Well, actually, I had decided long ago but a friend of mine from China mentioned that during the first month of the lunar calendar, it's bad luck to cut your hair. I'd noticed that there is a patch on the back of my head that doesn't grow hair quite as proficiently as the rest of it so the combination of my personal vanity and defeatist attitude led me to the only logical recourse: cue-ballin' it. 

It was also interesting on a cultural level, as I had seen the barbershop on campus and wondered just how much the experience differs from getting your hair cut in Germany or in the United States (I didn't have the opportunity in Argentina).
The stylistic fashion-consultant/hair artist dude began the entire process by lathering me up with some sort of foam and then tackling my thinning but admittedly still wild hair with an old-fashioned straight razor. 

Here is a picture before the whole thing started

Here I am with the look that I will most likely return to because I prefer not shaving my face to shaving my face...or in other words: laziness. 

All in all, I've gotten mixed results including:

"What have you DONE to yourself?!"

"Oh, looks nice"

"You look like a Black Nazi"  (????)

"I don't know...."

"Oh, it's you! I didn't recognize you"

Some people have said now that it's starting to grow back in, that it fits my face. I think I'm going to go back to having no hair on my head other than my eyebrows a couple of times before I leave India. The one thing I like about it: it's quite cool. My internal temperature is basically that of a reptile so, when it starts getting hot (next weekish) I will be able to sun myself on a rock in the jungle while digesting my food. Mmmmmm...






Saturday, March 1, 2014

Vlog

First video post!

I've been wanting to do this for a long time but finally got around to doing it. One day, I will learn how to edit and have a fancy camera and junk...but until then here's what I got.