Hiking in the Western Ghats

yesterday i woke up at 5:30am. i am still trying to get adjusted to my days and nights being flipped with the time difference. right when the sun showed signs of rising around 7am, the symphony of birds started, first only a couple of them and then the sound was almost deafening. what a nice way to bring in the morning.

i met with the other graduate students that are working on this project. i am the only american of the crew, all of them speaking 2 if not 3 or 4 languages - amazing. we went hiking yesterday in the western ghats mountain range. it was an hour car ride out there - we stopped to have some tea along the way which was served in little glasses that drank standing up outside. then it was a 2 hour hike up to the top. some of it was pretty steep, but

managable. we found some scat (that's the scientific term for poop) that had a lot of fur in it and everyone was asking me what i thought it could be because i'm the "mammal expert" which is quite scary...i obviously had no idea. hopefully, by the end of my time here i can identify more of the animal tracks and signs.

i also took my first bucket bath after the hike yesterday. not so satifying. you heat up water on the stove, mix it with cold water and then dip a little pitcher in the water and pour it over yourself...at least you get clean, i guess :)

today, i am going to get more things to set up the apartment where i will staying. the apartments are completely bare. the kitchen only has a sink, so i have already purchased a refrigerator and burners to cook with. i need to get gas though to attach to the stove, curtains, lights, table and plastic chairs etc. i also need to return the lock that i bought. the houses just have a place to put a lock on the front of the door, as you would a gym locker. the one that i got only had one key to go with it and they usually have at least 3...so that is on my list of things to do today. i'll attach some pictures of the apartment too once i get it set up a bit.

Motorcycle for Four...

yesterday, we drove from bangalore to the coorg region where i will be doing my research. driving in india is nothing like i've seen before. imagine broadway and 42nd street during rush hour with tons of tourists - then multiply that by 10. it is insane. motorcycles, buses, cars, pedestrians, bicycles, cows, trucks, motorized rickshaws are all trying to fit on the street together. to make it worse, it seems that most of the vehicles do not drive in lanes at all and kind of share the middle lane for passing...then, the horn is used all the time - and not in an angry or annoyed way, like we tend to do. it is used to ask if you can pass, answer yes or no, say thank you, or simply just to let the other vehicles know that you are coming. hand signals for turning are used in the cars out the driver's window. there are signs on couple of fancy cars that read "a/c, no signal" to indicate that the drivers behind them should look for their blinker instead of their hand out because the window is closed because of the a/c! i am starting to understand more what people warned me about with sensory overload.

here motorcycles are vehicles for whole families. the child sits in front of the dad, the mom sits side saddle with a baby or toddler in her arms. its amazing. i don't understand how the women can sit so beautifully and gracefully while barely holding on plus with a child on their lap! five people so far is the most people that i have seen on one motorcycle - a man driving with what i assumed were his 4 sons arranged by height in tow on the back.

thankfully, i will have a driver for my field team and myself :)

India - day 1

so after a very long 24 hours of traveling, i arrived in bangalore, india. i am staying with kate and philippe in their apartment for the first couple of days before heading to the coorg where i will begin my research. i found out that i will be staying in a 2 bedroom apartment with another graduate student. the apartment is new which is nice, however, the kitchen is just a room with a sink, so we will need to get a burner for cooking and a little refrigerator. also the bathroom definitely doesn't have hot water and most likely no shower - so bucket baths from here on out! or bird baths as my grandmother used to call them. who really needs to wash every day anyway :)

yesterday, kate and i went shopping for sheets, towels, and other things that i will need for the apartment. the fabrics are so beautiful! she also suggested that i get a couple of indian clothing. so i got a short sleeve shirt that i can wear with jeans and then a longer tunic shirt and pants. there are 2 types of pants, one that looks kind of like hammer pants and then the other that it puffy at the top and then tight at the bottom. i got the latter...and apparently, the color pants that you wear with the shirt will determine whether or not the outfit is fit to wear out or if it is more like pajamas - so the sales person helped pick out the pants for me, he went with peach...my first pair of peach pants :)

i also had the opportunity to go to a roof top indian yoga class last night. it was really amazing! the temperature was perfect, there was a slight breeze. hawks were flying overhead and one landed on the ledge and watched us for a while. the class was different than what i am used to, more meditative and slower. the class is offered daily and the students pay the teacher for a monthly fee, i offered to pay for the class for these 2 days that i will be here, but she said that she didn't want me to pay and would have me as her guest. i thought that was really nice.

well my battery is about out, so i'll close now. i'll attach some pictures soon!