Day 5: We did it and then “I did it!”

Plan: Trying to register at the International Center for the second time and maybe meeting Vaishali at ILS Law College

This time, I dreamt that Julia Roberts, wearing her red dress and white long gloves from Pretty Woman, was singing the national anthems during the Stanley Cup playoffs in a Montreal vs. Toronto or LA match. Except she forgets the lyrics and out of nowhere, Commissioner Gary Betman, Don Cherry, and a host of children and others walk over with microphones and help her finish the anthem. Feel free to interpret this for me... And I can’t wait to see what diva with issues I dream of next!

So this is what I hear first thing in the morning after waking Yan up... that’s right, he sleeps with ear plugs and I’m stuck listening to the honking and dogs outside cause if not... nobody will hear the alarm and wake up!! We started our day like most days, taking a quick shower, eating fruits and going to the small restaurant in front of the hotel for our omelettes. Morning tasks being done with, we hopped on a rickshaw and made our way to the International Center of Pune University in the hopes that today ISN’T a holiday and that we’ll be able to register.

We get there around 12:30, walk in and get the forms that we need to fill out so that they can register us at the University and provide us with a letter of admission that we will be able to give to ILS Law College so they can register us with the college...long process I know!! But it’s because the University has a large international student community and it’s easier to process everything from there. So in this sense, the college is affiliated with the University but does not have the same rules (like International students at the University of Pune do not have to pay tuition). We had two papers to fill out, one was a white form with usual information such as name, address etc... This was the form for our registration. The second paper was a pink form that was to be brought to the bank so we could pay our $80 US fee for the registration. As we are filling it out, a man walks up to us, tells us to give him the pink form so he can sign and stamp it (this even though we’re not done filling it out!) so he can go to lunch and then tells us to go to the bank and pay. We take our pink sheet and head to the bank which was just across the street. We needed to go to the manager’s office since we were paying in US currency. We found the door for the ATM, kept walking a bit, found another door that was locked...but one nice student told us we had to go around the building... so we walk around the building and go through another set of doors...ask another woman who tells us that we have to go to the back of the building!! We walk over to the back and see a long line up of students waiting to pay fees. As we stand there, looking a bit confused, two girls walk up to ask us if we’re Canadian!!! Turns out they’re here on exchange on the same program as us! They help us find the manager’s office and wait for us outside as we pay.

The line up at the manager’s office was naturally much shorter than the line Indian students have to go through, but still we were about 20 students from various countries waiting to pay with our American money. About 6 students would wait in the manager’s office at the same time, with the rest waiting outside, as everyone would move from seat to seat, first the 3 seats on the couch and then 2 chairs in front of the manager’s desk. To pay, you had to fill out that pink sheet Emilie mentioned where 4 identical sections, each destined for a different department, would have to be filled identically. On the back we also had to write the numbers on each American bill. The manager would review the numbers, sign the form and stamp all four sections. He would then keep 2 sections and give 2 back that had to be brought back to the International Office.

As for the other exchange students, from what we’ve seen so far, most exchange students here in India are from neighbouring countries, the Middle East (many from Iran) and more from the Pacific. Europeans are VERY few and far between and aside from us 8 Canadian students here in Pune from the OMG program, we have not seen or heard of any other North Americans. I think most students coming from North America are also of Indian descent, which would explain why we don’t notice them.

Once we paid, we all headed back together to the International Office to go drop off our registration form. The office is not open since they’re still on lunch so we chat and wait...once the office opens, we form a line but soon realize the other students don’t bother with such formalities. We learn quickly and push through the crowd, drop off our forms and head back out. Yan and I had planned on going to Crossword (bookstore) in order to buy a map and asked the girls if they wanted to join us! They agreed, although they were hungry, so we told them we’d find someplace along the way. We walk through campus, and halfway through, Kara says that she knows a German guy who now works here whom she was supposed to have coffee with and asks us if we mind a change of plans....being the easy going people that we are, we agree and we all set off to find 2 rickshaws that would take us there. A short rickshaw ride later, he drops us off by the side of the street, no coffee shop in site...the girls finally show up and they don’t seem to know where it is either...but as we’re discussing with the rickshaw driver, her friend pulls up on a motorbike and tells us that the coffee shop is just up the street.

I don’t think he knew what her friend even looked like but I’m sure he just figured the group of lost white kids were very likely the ones he was going to meet.

So he heads off and we pay the drivers and walk to the coffee shop. This was no side shop...it’s called Coffee Days...and is much like Starbucks or Second Cup...very snazzy!!! I ordered a chocolate mocha and originally did not want the whip cream or chocolate sauce but was tired of arguing with the guy so I decided to just go with it...Yan ordered a strawberry milkshake with the works (ice cream, whip cream and strawberry sauce!!!). Having calculated that it would cost us a little over Rs 100, we thought it was a bit expensive but went with it anyways because we were chatting with the girls....after about an hour, we get our bill...Rs 212!!!! What?!?!?! Turns out the reason why the guy really really wanted me to get the whip cream and chocolate sauce is that they charge you extra for it!!! Guess I’ll know for next time!! We all decide to walk and explore this part of the city. They walked with us for a bit, but then got tired (one of the girls had gotten in at 4am that same day!) and so they decided to take a rickshaw back. Yan and I kept on walking since we wanted to go to the bookstore to find a map of Pune city. We walked to the Campus (we were on the other side and it was quicker to cut through). All of a sudden, Yan tells me he needs to go to the toilet....NOW....Ok!!! We walk to an engineering building where Yan tells me: “if there’ no toilet here...I’m going behind the building!” LOL!! But we see a guard and I tell him to ask him...lucky for him...it turns out they have one!!! He hands Yan the keys (since the toilet was behind the building) and tells me to sit down on a chair outside. As Yan walks out, I see him reach into his bag and grabbing one of the travelling toilettes that I had brought (and which just an hour ago he was making fun of at the coffee shop!!). He walks up to me, throws his hands in the air and screams “I did it!”. This can only mean one thing...the left hand is no longer a virgin!! :) I snap a picture as Yan continues to wipe his hands (he wiped them for what seemed like forever!!).

Ok so not that you need all the gory details but as we were walking and I felt perfectly fine, all of a sudden, my stomach begins acting up. After about 4 minutes, I realize I’m in trouble here. We’re walking down a road of the campus with little hope of a decent toilet in sight. I start looking the trees warily and realize we forgot to pack toilet paper. We see a building down a road on our left and I realize time is of the essence. We rush over to the building and as the guard appears, I’m worried about whether I can still hide behind the building as option B in case there is no toilet there. I ask the guard if there is a toilet and, naturally, he has no idea what I’m talking about. Thank full y another man understands and though he gives me a quizzical look, he probably sees the fear in my eyes and tells the guard to hand me the keys. The toilet is back there he tells me. I walk behind the building and there is a little structure with two doors, just large enough for two toilets. I struggle with the lock but finally manage to open the door. And there it is, my first Indian toilet... consisting of a hole in the ground, no toilet paper, and just that damn little bucket and faucet. Well, with little choice, it was time to embrace the real Indian travel experience. As for the “I did it!!” comment, it’s a reference to the show Heroes and one of its main characters, a Japanese man with a strong accent who yelled “I did it!” in triumph when he travelled back in time.

We keep going and walk all the way to Crossword (without getting lost). We spent about 30 minutes choosing a map and finally found one we could work with, pay, grab a rickshaw and head back to the hotel.

We went up to our room, dropped our stuff and went to the internet cafe for 30 minutes to catch up on a couple of emails and then to the hotel restaurant where we had a Mushroom and Pea Masala with Roti....DELICIOUS!! Once we were done, we headed back to the hotel, put on a movie and tried to fall asleep. Another great day in India!!