The night was a bit restless but I felt rested by the time my alarm went off at 7:45 the next morning. We headed downstairs and enjoyed an Indian breakfast with the other alliance program students. I finally got to meet the six other girls that would be joining me at Manipal University this semester. After breakfast we grabbed our things and headed back to the airport for our flight to Mangalore. After the flight we took an hour and a half bus ride to Manipal but the air conditioning on the bus had broken and the windows wouldn’t open so it was a scorching ride. We had to stop half way to get some fresh air and cold water to cool us down. When we finally arrived we went to a hotel to enjoy tea and meet with some of the Manipal faculty before getting to go to our hostels. My roommate wasn’t around when I arrived so I unpacked my things in the empty dresser and made my bed with the blanket and sheet left on my desk. The beds are horribly uncomfortable, but overall the room is really nice. It’s a lot like a dorm room in the US but has its own bathroom and little kitchen counter area. I put up all my pictures and then hung out with my next-door neighbor, another girl on my program, until we met Katie Jo at six to do some shopping. We all wanted to buy some kurtas (long Indian shirts) to wear around. We stopped by a shop just a block or so away from the hostels but no one really found anything they liked. We grabbed a few rickshaws nearby and headed to another nearby part of town to try a few other shops. We were mostly unlucky, but I loved the rickshaw drive! That is something we never would have been able to do in Kenya. Afterwards we dropped by the hostels once more to put stuff away and then wait for the bus to dinner. All of us were so tired though we were practically falling asleep standing up. Dinner was nice and we met up with three students from University of Miami who are studying here for the semester as well. After dinner, back at the hostels, I finally got to meet my roommate. We only talked for a minute or so but she seems really nice. After a quick shower, I fell right asleep.
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AuthorAmerican University Student studying abroad in Kenya and India and wandering the world Archives
May 2015
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