First Week In Madurai

Hey everyone, sorry its been a while since my last post. We have arrived in Madurai, where we will spend the rest of the semester besides a few trips to nearby parts of the state. My only internet access is at SITA where all of our classes have been held and things have been busy so I have not been able to post on the blog. I am now living with my host family my mom's name is Kavitha, my dad's name is Sugumaran; I also have a sister Keshma who is 15 and a brother Sanju who is 19. I like my family a lot. I am their 10th host student so they pretty much are accustomed to the western ways of students. My sister, Keshma is the U-17 and U-19 doubles badminton (shuttle cock) champion of Madurai and ranked 3rd in U-17 of India, I can't wait to go see her practice or one of her matches. My brother Sanju is really cool, he is super excited and pre-occupied with his new iPhone 5 that Jenny, a past host student brought for him (she is staying at the house for 5 days). But my family makes me feel really comfortable and always tries to their hardest to make sure I am okay and comfortable. Last night they called me a "bad eater" because I typically only take seconds on a meal. It is amazing how much Indians eat, rice fills me up pretty quick so my stomach is not yet accustomed to the amount of food. On that note, I love the food of India. Typically my meals include rice and Sambar which is a mix of vegetables and spices in this sauce. My host mom has also made fish gravy (curry) and dosas. The first day we came to SITA for classes I was not feeling okay with my bike riding skills so I braved the busses of India,I was surprised to find that many people were very willing to help me out. Once I got on the right bus an old man took me under his wing to make sure that I knew which stop to get off which was very helpful,this man didn't speak english so another guy helped by translating and also the guy who collects the bus toll made sure that I was going to get off on the right stop. I am adjusting really well to India so far, I havent felt jetlagged or sick because of the water/food. So, everything is off to a great start and tomorrow I will try to upload a few pictures that I have taken so far on the trip. This week is the celebration of Pongal, the harvest festival. Yesterday we had a pongal celebration in which we had a ceramic pot of milk boil over and then add rice, dal, yellow sugar amoung other things. It was a nice festival that we had and after the celebration at SITA I went back home to have even more Pongal from my host mom.