Paud, as seen at 60 km/h (and other exciting news).

Some days ago I noticed that I always talk about the things that happen to me while I'm at school, and even though I've mentioned Pune & Paud a couple of times, I haven't really talked much about the place in which I now live. So, today's post will be about that. 

My school is located in Khubavali, a small village located in the middle of some smaller communities, which are in turn close to a bigger village called Paud. The photos below are of some of the things I see while traveling to Paud. 

Paud is about fifteen minutes away from my school (by car), and that's where we sometimes eat dinner or buy fruit (and ice cream!). We also have a post office and an ATM. I made a small video so that you guys can see the place where I now hang out in the afternoons (not really, I just go there sometimes because the food is nice).

To watch the HD version, click here.

I obviously had to include a totally-pointless and totally-random Bollywood song into the mix, because if I can't publish my guilty pleasures on a personal blog, then life isn't worth living.

Oh, and I have some exciting news! 

For the next 9 days, I'm going to be out and about in Tamil Nadu (that's down South) spending my time at Madras Crocodile Bank hugging lizards, handling snakes and fighting carpenter ants (it's on the beach!). I will be off the blog for all of next week, but I promise to share 20 thousand photos and make a big post on it when I come back. Wish me luck! 

Diwali (not to be confused with Christmas or anything of the sort).

India and all of us Humans of the Hill have been partying hard in this corner of the world, because it is Diwali!

Diwali, or the Festival of Lights commemorates the return of Lord Rama after fourteen years of exile in which his wife was kidnapped by the King of Lanka, Ravana. When Rama & Sita arrived at the capital of their empire, after Rama defeated Ravana in a memorable battle and rescued his wife, the people lit up the streets with diyas, a kind of oil lamp. Today homes are decorated with candles, lamps and fairy lights. Indian households also endure some thorough cleaning during Diwali, great food is cooked, and people make Rangoli, a sort of drawing on the floor made out of color powder. 

I have heard some misconceptions about this celebration, and the only thing I can say is that Diwali is not Christmas (or its equivalent). Christmas is also celebrated in India (2.3% of the population is Christian) and Diwali is completely different.

The magnitude of the celebrations varies according to the State, and both Maharashtra and MUWCI celebrated accordingly! We had Bollywood music and girls wearing Sarees. And if you think men look good in suits...you should see them in kurta!

 Me & my gorgeous second-year roomie, Ritwika

 The Mexicans: Daniela, Ana (2nd year) & myself.

With Mawada, my favourite Sudanese. 

Apart from food and freshly squeezed sugar-cane juice, we had performances, a mehndi tattoo station (like the one I used in this post) & palm readings.  

Me & my friend Lana from Armenia getting a palm-reading from Sonia, our Wada Parent.

(Thanks for the photo Adityajit!)

Ajanta & Ellora, a paradise made of stone.

This is the first of many great views that I had the chance of seeing last weekend when I went with my Art class to visit the Caves of Ajanta & Ellora in Aurangabad.

The trip took about 9 hours on bus. We left school on Friday afternoon and that same night we were having a midnight snack in Aurangabad. On Saturday morning we drove for about two more hours to get to the Caves of Ajanta, the first ones on our list.

The caves of Ajanta were built during the second century B.C.E., and they contain Buddhist images & sculptures. They have been part of India's World Heritage according to UNESCO since 1983. There are many interesting facts surrounding the caves, but one of the most relevant is that they were re-discovered by an English officer in 1819, after centuries of being abandoned! To this day, they remain in their original (and magical) state. They are truly impressive.

Ajanta has about 36 caves (each more impressive than the one before) which include what once were meditation rooms, teaching halls and cells for monks, among other things. The ceilings, walls and columns are (or were) all painted with ink made out of various kinds of plants and flowers, and they have very detailed carvings. 

There is a statue of Buddha in pretty much every cave. The sculptures tell his story and that is why in the last cave (Cave 36), Buddha is in a horizontal position (as if he was asleep), which means he has  reached Nirvana.

Apart from having caves, there's a river that runs through the site, as well as a small park and even a lookout. 

Besides exploring and snapping photos, we had the chance to sit down and sketch for a long time. This has probably been the most creative trip I've ever been in, and I have never felt as artistic and professional as I did when I sat down to draw. Even though it was only for half an hour. And I drew two wobbly lines somewhere in my journal. 

On Sunday morning we went to visit the Caves of Ellora. I thought that after spending a day in Ajanta nothing was going to be impressive anymore, but I had no idea that two places could be just as magnificent and genuinely beautiful. Ellora is fantastic.

Ellora has many more sculptures than paintings and the caves are a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu religions, so there is also a wider variety of sculptures, and carvings have a greater importance.

This is one of the first few photos of a cave from the inside, and even though it looks simple, when you are standing in the middle of that enormous hall, you feel really small. But everything is so beautiful that it doesn't really matter. And the peace that can be felt in that place is another story entirely. 

Even though the caves seem to have an average size, the truth is they're HUGE!

Ellora also has a temple which is famous for being built from top to bottom instead of viceversa, which is how everything is usually built. 

The temple is possibly the most gorgeous view in all of Ellora. 

One of the things I liked best was that although Ajanta & Ellora attract thousands of tourists, both places are clean and well preserved. Not all the guards were nice, but some of them gave us really small tours and random facts, so I had a great time. 

I couldn't have enjoyed this trip more. It was worth every second!

Thanks for the photo, Mawada! 

To look at the photos in their original format, click here.

Lost & Found

A few days ago I shared my most recent (and failed) attempt at an adventure in this post. 

My goal was to find the Sacred Grove, but after walking and getting to see another (yes, another!) beautiful sunset, I ended up a little lost...(and very happy). I kept looking and after asking around, I finally found it!

It turns out that said Sacred Grove is actually pretty small...and it looks more like the kind of forest you would see in a horror movie, than the green & magical space I was hoping for. Even then, there's something quite unique about it.

My favourite part was definitely the small hike it took to get there. I can almost state without fear of being wrong, that all the views in this place are gorgeous. Even more so with butterflies flying around all the time.

Just as you can see in the pictures, fall is starting to be felt in India too (although we still get rain!). I'm definitely going to miss waking up and seeing everything eternally green & alive, although to tell the truth my heart sings with joy every time I hear the little leaves crunching under my feet --the laughter of the forest. 

You can view the pictures in their original size, here.

Looking for the Sacred Grove.

Even though I love living in India, there are many things that I haven't gotten used to and which bother me to the point of madness. Yesterday, my roomies and I went to the supermarket. We spent about an hour shopping, and more or less the same amount of time waiting in line to pay. No one else seemed to mind, but I was furious. Who's going to give me back that hour of my life?!

Something that also bothers me is that although the housekeepers come and clean every day, my room is really dirty! All sorts of insects live at home, and the other day I even found cobwebs under my desk. I decided to join in the housekeeper's efforts and clean on my own during the weekends. Things are getting better...but with homework, weekend activities, afternoon lessons, having to do  laundry (considering I find an empty washing machine...), having to go to Pune to buy whatever I  need for the week, the urge to explore & the need to rest...cleaning my room doesn't sound very appealing.

When Keats was having a rough day, he put on a clean shirt. I tried it too and failed miserably, but I did discover that moving around helps me relax. Besides, after having discovered how good it feels to explore (which I wrote about in this post), my sense of adventure kicked in again. Someone told me to go to the Sacred Grove, a clear in the forest that is of special importance to the hindu religion (as well as many other religions & cultures throughout the world), and I decided to go for it.

I don't know where I ended up, but I didn't find it. I walked for about an hour and I just went back because it was getting dark and technically, I was still off-Campus, although I don't think I went far. I didn't discover any new territories or something of the sort. What I did find out was that the sunset from here also looks amazing. 

Life is beautiful (although it is harder to notice when you're standing in line at the supermarket...).

My only hope is that these amazing sunsets never cease to surprise me.

Some people have been telling me that the images in the posts are too small. If you want to see them in their original size, you can visit my new Flickr account, here. I will be uploading all the images that appear on the blog. Remember you can also see my Instagram, here. If you're getting bored of seeing photos of the sunset, don't worry, I will be blogging about some other stuff soon! 

Sunsets from Internet Hill.

Let me introduce you to Internet Hill. A hill with no internet.

Even though it is technically off-Campus, if you ask anyone what is the best place to see the sunset, contemplate the valley, think, be alone, reflect on life...they will send you to Internet Hill.

The first time I was there, was the day I arrived in MUWCI (I hadn't eaten or taken a shower in three days and yes, I was wearing the wrong shoes), but I was so impressed, that I promised myself I would go back soon...and then I forgot about it. Until last Sunday.

Even though people usually go to Internet Hill in groups, I decided to go alone (because I am a strong independent woman..!). Never in my life have I walked faster. A hike that usually takes about 30 minutes (at least for couch potatoes like myself), took 11. All because I wanted to see the sun set. And I was not disappointed.

Life never ceases to amaze me. Keep rocking, Internet Hill.

Life now.

I have been writing a lot about all the things that happen and how they have made me feel, but I haven't written about the "ordinary" stuff that also happens here from time to time, so this post will be dedicated to that.

Like I've said before, life on Campus is extremely intense, not only on an academic level, but also socially and emotionally. Sometimes a lot of things (and people) happen on very little time, and it is exhausting, but I truly love being here. 

What has surprised me the most so far is the academic environment. According to me, my Mexican high school was a place that gave me a lot of freedom and in which I had a bunch of opportunities to develop as a student and as a person. Then I arrived in MUWCI and well, I'm not sure if it is the fact that we have people from so many different places living all together and therefore we have a greater tolerance to things (and with it, more freedom)...but over here, I actually feel free.

For starters, I have a lot of freedom to choose my subjects and give them the focus that I believe is better. That is something that IB Students in my Mexican high school couldn't do. Since I want to major in Art History, I chose to focus more in Humanities and right now I'm taking Spanish Lit, English Lit, History and Visual Arts along with Biology and Math Studies. 

I am in love with every single one of my choices. It feels so weird to get to class and say "Oh, I like this one", and then go to the next class and say "Oh, I love this one too". It's a feeling that I'd never had before. Doing homework doesn't even bother me, although homework here is an entirely different story, I must say. Back in Mexico, I was used to having my subjects with one day in-between, for example: I would have Maths on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and History on Tuesday and Thursday. That gave me two days to do homework. Over here, there is no such thing as "The Days of The Week". Obviously, on Saturday and Sunday I am free to do whatever I want, but from Monday to Friday, my days are counted as Day 1, Day 2...until Day 7. Thanks to that, I have almost all my subjects every day, although we always rest from one subject each day. It's a complex system, but it works wonders because my days never look the same, so it is harder to fall into a routine and get bored even though I have homework every evening.

Classrooms are a whole different thing. We have our lessons in the Academic Quarter or AQ. The AQ is actually shaped like a circle, but with classrooms. Every classroom has a window, which opens into an individual stone-terrace, and every classroom is different. In those classrooms in which we have tables, we sit down in a half-circle, so we can all see each other and conversation flows easily. My Spanish Lit classroom has mattresses right in the middle and tables on the sides. My English Lit classroom (my favourite) has rugs and cushions, so I can either sit or lie down. When we enter that  classroom, we take off our shoes (in part because of cultural sensitivity and respect, but mostly because it is fun and comfy) & half the time, one of the school's doggies is taking class with us.

Teachers fervently believe that in order for us to learn correctly, it's necessary that we're comfortable, so they let us eat, drink and talk when we believe we need a break. I can also stand up and walk around my classroom, stretch, lie down or do whatever I have to do in order to be okay. Back in Mexico, I would have never been allowed to sit on the floor because sometimes, when we put our feet up in the chair, we were asked to "Sit properly". 

My Biology Class (and all the other sciences: Physics, Chemistry & Environmental Studies) are taken on a separate building where we have the Labs. These sort of look like the ones we have back home, although it feels great to know that I can use the labs anytime I want.

Group 6 lessons (Visual Arts, Film, Drama & Dance) are taken in another building, the prettiest of all. My Art classroom is full of material, paper, canvas, sculptures...it is a true artists' studio. We have one whole wall of glass, and the prettiest view in the whole school. Right in the middle we have our work tables and it always smells like paint and inspiration.

Every afternoon some people walk up Internet Hill (the neighbouring hill), others go down to Paud (our nearest big village). Some more go all the way down to Pune (mostly during weekends, though). Some people run downhill and then back uphill for fun. Others stay on Campus and go to the Tree House or the Temple to relax. Someone is always cooking pasta (or ramen) in the Common Room while someone sings & plays the guitar and seventeen other people try to do homework.

I wanted to try and explain that we also have normal days here in MUWCI, but the truth is I would be lying if I said so. Life here is never normal and things aren't simply ordinary. The fact that I can leave home thirty seconds before class and know that I'm still going to make it, isn't normal. It also isn't normal to go to school barefoot, in my PJs, with rain falling over my head, skipping puddles and being careful not to slip. It isn't normal to go to my Advisor's home and drink hot cocoa, or bake a cake at my teacher's place at midnight, or organize a Latino Dinner at my Lit Teacher's home. It isn't normal to be sick and have my roomies make me tea and bring me the  Forbidden Oreos to the Med Center. 

And just like things are not ordinary, people aren't ordinary either. In my other school, people would always be surprised (and a little judgmental) that I used to wear long skirts, feather earrings and "hippie pants" to school. Over here we have no such thing as dressing "normal" because everyone develops their own, unique style. I can be wearing the weirdest things and people won't even blink. A few days ago, I heard someone in the cafeteria say that they didn't know if that was good or bad because the people who used to be weird got to MUWCI and became plain eccentric. True, very true.

From left to right: Dipika (Texas/India) my roommate, Kayleigh (Wales) my front door neighbour, Srishti (Texas/India) my upstairs neighbour, Pietro (Costa Rica) who lives one house down & Yael (Israel) also my upstairs neighbour.

I think at some point life here calms down a bit. Next month when all the Integration Activities are over, my afternoon lessons (extracurriculars) will have a set time and I will know a bit more about how my life is going to work. Weekends will be completely free and I will be posting in the blog more often. Meanwhile, I have no other option but to enjoy the chaos that is life now.