Koi Baat Nahi

Just one week of school and a few days of tests and wrap-up activities left! Can you believe it?! I can't.

Today at school I had two classes back-to-back in which the assignment was to speak for a few minutes about different topics. The fact that I was able to complete these tasks, I realized, was evidence of how much Hindi I've actually learned. The fact that my Hindi is really still "Hinglish" is evidence of how much there still is to learn.

In the classroom Hinglish is generally ok, but in the real world I've found it doesn't work quite as well. I can't, for example, ask the recorded announcements at the train stations to repeat themselves a little slower this time and rickshaw drivers tend not to understand when I say "यहाँ turn right, यह छोटी street, ठीक है?"

इसलिए, This weekend will provide one last chance to test my communication skills in the real world. My classmate Jennie and I are leaving tonight for a brief jaunt to Western Rajasthan to a city called Jaisalmer. Jaisalmer is known for dramatic deserty sand dunes, a big medieval fort, and lots of camels (I've got the Hindi word for camel ready in my mind to pull out at any moment--oont!). Right now, it is a little rainy in all of Rajasthan, so while at the beginning of the summer I was cursed by dry lakes, there is now a high likelihood that I will find myself in a wet desert. I'm preparing to live out all of my Lawrence of Arabia desert fantasies nonetheless. कोई बात नहीं. I'll be back on Sunday with many cultureclashtastic stories to share no doubt.