Howdy folks,

Life is going rather well here in the glorious city of Chandigarh. The people I am staying with are the most wonderful family, so very warm and welcoming and I feel very much at home, it is super lovely. My friend Gulshan has been extraordinarily kind in putting up with my desire to see the 'touristy' sights, I imagine it must be incredibly dull for him but it has been just suoer to have some local knowledge. The first morning he took me into town on the motorbike, which was the best fun ever! (But if my insurance company asks I haven't even touched one!) Of course, my first attempt at getting money out at an ATM ended in my card being eaten by the machine. Yep, I just about shat myself. Thankgod Gulshan was there otherwise I am certain I would have laid down and wept until my eyes slipped out of their sockets. We went to the bank and they told me I would be able to get it back the next day. I practically sang with joy. Crisis averted. In the meantime we went and saw a movie, Spiderman in 3D. It was a joy to escape the heat for a while. It's crazy the way you can be in mad India outside and you walk into a shopping mall and it is a completely different world, virtually the same as in the west. That night we went to club and got rather intoxicated, and danced my face off. There is a large community of Uni kids here, and it was really cool to see that there is essentially very little difference between people my age here and at home. It was so much fun and I met some of Gulshan's friends, alot of whom were studying overseas. Yesterday was rather lazy, I taught Raman how to make pizza dough and we had pizza for dinner. It was nice to be able to cook for them as they have been so generous to me. Gulshan took me to 'Nek Chands Fantasy Rock Garden', which was really interesting. Everything was made from recycled materials, and it was a really very beautiful. 
 A family there asked to have their photo taken with me which was super funny. They were all calling me Auntie, which Gulshan assured was good. In the evening (ten at night!!) we went to the market. It. Was. Crazy. So many people. So much fruit and vege's. It was so cool. My eyeballs just about popped out of my head. The fruit here is incredibly good, I just want to eat all the time! Today we went to the Rose Garden, the Art Gallery and to Sector 17, which is the city centre and where alot of the shops are. We had lunch at a South Indian place and I had a dosa. It. Was. AWESOME! It's like a crispy pancake thing with filling and you have chutney and stuff with it. It was super tasty. This afternoon Raman took me shopping and I bought some tights to wear with my outfit tomorrow (I AM GOING TO A WEDDING!)  and perhaps some other things too.....haha, don't tell my mamma!It is so cheap here anyway, so I can afford to buy a bit. It s just the issue of fitting it in my bag, but we will deal with that when the time comes. I am so excited for this wedding, I'm rather sure my eyeballs are just going to burst at the colour and excitement. Anyway, I have nonsensed on long enough I am sure. I shall write again soon and tell you about all the marvelousness of the wedding. xx