What is your good name?

Someone asked me this after yoga the other day and I almost started laughing ( seriously, watch Outsourced; its a good movie and I will likely reference it a lot). Luckily I knew that they were just asking my name so I could answer. He seemed like a very nice guy and not creepy, though I was still wary ( I really hate not being able to trust people) and he is studying philosophy too ( he offered that information before I said anything about philosophy). I went to afternoon yoga since my internal clock seems to be shifting back towards not being happy to be awake so early. I was the only non-Indian person in the class, which was kinda nice and definitely different. I may just stick with that time since it is convenient, though I feel bad that I don't speak Hindi, since the instructor asked me if I did.
On that same note, it is very weird to be a minority. I've never really been one, at least not one that stood out so much. I'm probably as white as you can get so there's no way to blend in. I do love wearing the Indian clothing but I can't hide my skin color. People are fascinated by us. India is an interesting country because while there are many warnings about being safe and not making too much eye contact etc, the people are actually very very friendly and feel that as a visitor, you are a guest. It's hard to get used to being oggled all the time though. Yesterday was a Muslim holiday so we had no classes and a group of us went out to one part of the city. We went to visit this giant Buddha statue ( pics to come) which you need to take a little boat to get to. On the boat, the three of us were swarmed by people who wanted to take pictures with us and kept asking us all kinds of questions. They were very nice ladies, traveling together from somewhere near Mumbai, but they were absolutely entranced by us. We are pretty sure they took more pictures of us than the Buddha. Other people in our program have had similar experiences. On the boat ride back from the Buddha ( which is I believe either the largest or one of the largest in the world) the ladies had us come into the center of the boat and dance with them. It was quite fun and made my day. I was also asked twice if I was Russian, which I attribute to my uber-whiteness.
Today on the way to the library, I was stopped by a group of woman who were also just interested in me and what I was wearing ( a very plain shirt and skirt). It's hard to tell what exactly they are thinking because they smile and laugh, but it seems to be just genuine curiosity. I've read and been reading a lot about India and this seems normal. What I was reading last night was saying that fair skin is being pushed on Indians as an ideal of beauty, so they are very interested in it. While mostly things are still "traditional" in India, I have seen some people dressed or acting in ways which we have been told is inappropriate, so there is a range of behavior.
Yesterday, after lunch and the Buddha we walked around and found a really cool architectural park type thing. We didn't want to leave our shoes or pay so we didn't go in but we got some pictures from outside. There was a very LOTR looking structure/ temple inside which someone pointed out looked almost computer generated. Probably the most awesome part of yesterday ( besides the boat) was visiting a Hindu temple. Five of us went together, which was a good thing because we had to leave our bags and shoes outside in a coatroom, which none of us felt comfortable doing, so we went inside in shifts. The temple is amazing! It sits in a location up on a hill where you can look over the whole city( we weren't allowed to bring cameras in or I would have taken pictures). The carving is beautiful and people come to pay their respects to the various shrines for gods. I definitely saw ganesh and shiva, but I'm not sure about the other ones. The best part was the views over the city. It was close to sunset and it was also a semi-clouded day so that the sun was not unbearably hot, which made it beautiful. Yesterday was the first clouded day I've seen here. The temple was quite big so there was plenty to see and I could have stayed there all day, but when two boys came up to me saying, "sister, are you American?" I decided it was time to leave. Sister, or Didi (older sister), is a common term that people use to address girls, just as boys are called brother.
My classes are almost sorted out so I will be able to post them soon. I had a not completely unbearable cold shower this morning which was nice too. Things are really settling in nicely but I am also understanding a lot more of what I have read now that I am experiencing it. Soon it will be time to plan trips! We need to give 2 weeks notice to ciee so I need to get on that. AND my birthday is coming up soon!! yay! Oh, in addition, we have all been having really weird and vivid dreams. It is supposed to be a side affect of at least one of the types of malaria pills, though we all seem to be having them and we are on different medications so who knows!It could just be that we are in a really different place but it is weird to wake up every day and remember at least one dream. I usually don't remember mine, or I very rarely remember them. If you are reading this then there is a pretty good chance that you've been in one or more of them.