We had a three-day weekend because India's Independence Day (August
15th) fell on a Friday this year! Dave Colbourn's (another classmate)
birthday was Thursday, and seeing as most of us will use any excuse to
celebrate, we took him out for the night to a lounge on Marine Drive
called Jazz by the Bay. It was a really cool place for all of us to
hang out together, listen to some music from the live band, and relax
after our first week of classes.

Independence Day was filled with food (as usual!), and even more
people hustling around the streets - if that's even possible! We
ventured down to Sion, where the guy's hostel is located, and met them
for dinner at a restaurant called Peninsuala. The food was delicious
and I may have found my new favorite spot! Anyway, we decided to check
out the movie theater in Sion to see one of the new Bollywood films
after eating. It was quite an experience! None of the films were in
English, nor had sub-titles, so we settled on the most publicized
blockbuster playing - "Singh is King." It wasn't until we got into the
theater that we realized seats were assigned when we purchased our
tickets. I bought mine from a different window than everybody else, so
I had to sit by myself during the whole movie because it was sold out
and all the seats near them were filled!! haha I can only imagine what
people were thinking about me, sitting all by myself, sticking out
like a sore thumb with my blonde hair and hot pink corti (Indian dress-
shirt), and no understanding of the Hindi language (as evidenced by my
delayed laughter after all the jokes)!!! It may sound crazy, but I
actually got the main gist of the film and really enjoyed myself! It
was just one of those experiences you have to laugh about and
appreciate for it's peculiarity!

Saturday was spent shopping again in Colaba and we had a nice
afternoon together. Emmie and I were the only two up for going out on
the town when Pooja invited us to tag along with her friends for the
night, and we had SO much fun! She told us it was a pretty upscale
nightclub, so we got all decked out and met her at her apartment in
Worli where her friend, Varun, picked us up and  brought us to Prive`,
one of the trendiest clubs in Bombay. It was amazing inside - straight
out of Manhattan it seemed, with VIP tables set upon an indoor lagoon
complete with floating rose petals and votive candles. I knew the
nightlife here was supposedly fantastic, but I wasn't prepared for a
place so posh just across the street from where I was trying to avoid
stepping in cow poop on the sidewalk earlier in the day! We had loads
of fun, but definitely paid for every cent of it Sunday in a currency
of reading, studying, and homework!