Guide Books

I've been googling different India travel advice blogs/publications over the last few weeks. Most of them say the exact same things in a very vague, travel agent sort-of way.

Before I left for summer vacation, my friend David gave me this awesome guidebook made by Frommer's:

And my friend Kirsten just gave me this one made by Fodor's.

I have a LOT of reading to do!

Tentative plan: buy a one-way ticket to Delhi, stay for the program, figure out if I have potential travel buddies in the mix, and if yes, stay on to go to Goa:

Mmmmhmm. And then come home!

Incredible !ndia

Part of India's Ministry of Tourism campaign, "Incredible !ndia."

Family and footwear

If you're seeing this.. it's because I've invited you to see it! Wahoo! Welcome and please click "follow" if you have a google account because you'll know when I've posted new stuff!!

And... I bought my Chacos today! I got them in green. No, they won't really match anything... but they are SO comfortable. And the green is different but very me.

One step down for packing. Sweet.

the website i've been frequenting

(that's an understatement).

This is my program!

School of International Training -

SIT Study Abroad: India- Health and Human Rights, Spring 2011

need a cheap way of contacting home

I'm leaving my iPhone behind (and my Dad will be using it, by the by) and just getting a local phone while I'm there. I need something to blog from, write my independent study project (30ish page presentation on a project while I'm there) on, upload pictures to, and skype home with (all of those prepositions are making my head spin).

I also need it to be lightweight in order to travel easily, and it needs to be cheap so if the heat/dust get to it or it gets stolen, it won't be the total end of the world.

Considering this little guy from Sam's club (right now $289 after a $40 rebate):

I tried it out in-store, and while I am really not used to Windows, I'll "rough it." hehe. 10.1 inches, and incredibly light-weight.

footwear

every "westerner's" nightmare. I have to be able to carry everything that I take with me, so packing 485963278 pairs of shoes is just not gonna fly. After consulting the magical interwebs, I have come up with the following:

1. tennis shoes, despite the EXTREME heat. I have a similar pair to these mens' sneakers. These guys have treated me well over the last year as a breathable running shoe, which will hopefully keep off the muck and dirt on days when we're walking a million miles.

2. Chacos/Tevas/Merrel sandals. I know, i know, they aren't the sexiest footwear known to man, but they're supposedly insanely comfortable and can pound a lot of pavement without that much damage to your joints. These are what I am considering, made by Chacos:

3. Flip flops. Even though my program site claims that I won't be taken as "a serious student" if I wear them, I really can't image being across the world without my flip flops in a situation where they may come in handy... aka all the time..

I will probably take my plain black pair with just the simple thong design, but I love these by Teva:

4. Annnnnnd I want to take a pair of "nice" sandals for going out to dinner or a religious ceremony or something (although for those I'll probably not be able to wear shoes anyway...but oh well). I just bought these by Bass Shoes:

I was also considering TOMS in this color...

BUT - they're A) impractical because of their color and B) made of canvas so they'd be covered in dirt faster than you could say "fair trade." Oh well... perhaps I'm better off keeping my shoe count at 4 anyway :)

love,

Laura

Laura Blogs abroad.. well, not really yet

Hello! I started this blog for my semester in India in Spring '11. Yeah, yeah, I know, it's a bit away, but the reality is that I have to do all of my preppin' now when summer clothes are in stores and when I have time to do things like practice some Hindi via a friend's Rosetta Stone copy and read up on India. For the next few months, this will be my hub for all things concerning my semester across the planet.

First exciting bit of news... the program date was finally posted! February 1st-May 16th, 2011, I'll be in Delhi!

Namaste!

Laura