From Masala to Bollywood and everything in between! Catch up with me and my time around South Asia

So this morning i accompanied Gigi and Stacy to their first class--Indian Religions, which although I'm completely interested in I cannot take or even audit because I am already taking 5 courses for credit and Auditing Hindi! So anyway I will continue to attend class until Dance begins in a few weeks (it's taking some time for them to organize it all). Our driver took us to Augusta's (our professor) home for the religion and culture courses for the next few weeks because she slipped in July and broke her arm and hip. She is a very pleasant lady and incredibly intelligent. She runs the course through simple but profound discussion. Today we discussed the background and context for the stress and disagreements between Hindus and Muslims in India (esp. northern states). I'm looking forward to visiting a Hindu temple with them in the next few weeks and learning more about the customs and daily rituals of the diverse Indian peoples. Today for example, we learned about the way Hindus conduct their morning routines--first they pray to their deities either in or out of the home and then they use the bathroom and bathe and only then can proceed with their daily routines. They are concerned with contaminating their souls with the daily filth so they first attend to the cleanliness of their souls, then their physical cleanliness and then move on with the dirty and monotonous human routines. Anyway, i'm looking forward to all of the new things i will be learning. I'm excited to study in Augusta's home where she has two dogs--Heidi, a golden retriever and Nino a dachshund!! i'm getting my doggie fix and am very happy about it, b/c through most of class today nino sat on my lap as I took notes and petted her. Class is like a long and interesting discussion with a very lovely woman I would enjoy to spend time with anyway--much less get academic credit for!!! She promises us she will teach how to cook north Indian foods once she heals more completely, so needless to say Augusta and I will be spending lots of time in enriching ways.  All is well on this side of the dateline! XOXOX