hey hot stuff!

Great job on your finals!! Im really happy that you got fantastic grades. I was sure you�d do well, we just don�t have that much of confidence on ourselves. Well, I don�t know my grades yet. I think a copy will be sent to my mailbox at school and one copy to home at nigeria. I really don�t know how I�ve done, I took my finals so quickly it could have gone either way. I expect a treat for the grades when I get back, jus kidding (hmm..maybe not..). Ready to tackle a new semester, eh?

My family left for home last night. It was good that there were no tears at this farewell for 6 months. Mum usually cries at these situations. I think she is getting used to the idea of her kids being away from home. Atleast my brother gone home for a month. He has a 2-month winter break from school. Next semester will be his last, hez a senior in high school. After the wedding, my father and brother have been working non stop to finish applications to american and canadian universities. Hez applied to some pretty good schools. I hope he has enough to get into them with substantial financial aid. Its been really foggy in Delhi ever since I�ve been here. My parent�s flight was delayed by about an hour, they were lucky, flights and trains are being cancelled due to the weather conditions. Im praying for fair weather when I travel.

After my parents left, I accompanied my cousin�s family to a wedding reception. There was a young couple of our age group dancing well, incorporating swing moves into slow rock music. It was fun to watch that. I really missed you when there were couples dancing hand in hand. And I had the first bit of alcohol at india ever last night at the reception, just a glass of red wine. It warmed me up in the cold weather. My cousin has vodka and lime cordial (I think its sort of a juice concentrate). I had a sip of that, its pretty good, sweet. And they had a couple of Russian Belle dancers perform at the reception. That�s extremely progressive for india, mind you.

Apart from that, I am going to my father� brother�s place again tomorrow. I just have to pack tonight. Some stuff in hyderabad has fallen through. Bhavya doesn�t have Jan 2 and 3 off and she can�t take them off too plus her car might not be ready to pick me up from the airport. Although, I have finally established contact with some of my school friends, so I should be seeing them at some point. Everyone here has a cell phone! Which is good for me because I can contact them by text messaging. I will be living with my uncle for the most part. I just heard that his business is doing really well. He just got a new car, office and apartment! I just have to buy something for my cousin brother before I get there.

Are you getting on at AIM at all nowadays? And oh, I definetly have to start working out to lose all the weight I�ve gained here! I think I might start running with you when I get there. It�s a good thing that I have pictures here. I see the photos atleast once in a couple of days, smile while doing that. By the way, my family and cousins think you are postively gorgeous! The cousin who just got married is very jealous apparently, she wants me to send her a dress like that you were wearing at homecoming. I don�t know how everyone here knows because I certainly didn�t tell them. I have been teased incessantly about you. And I just saw the pictures in which my female cousins were wearing the tops I sent them. They are looking fabulous in them! I remember them telling me that they liked them, at that time I thought they were just being nice, I realize now they actually did like them. They wear them at parties.

I can�t wait to get back and see you. I reaaaalllllyyyy miss you!

Tonnes of you know what!

Joy

PS: got another haircut. i look saner. cost: $0.80! lol!

Hi sweetie!

it was good to talk to you on christmas. im sorry i called so early (i can't apologize enough), i didnt want to miss you again like a few days back. it was good to hear that you finished most of your christmas shopping before christmas. its fun shopping with other people especially when you ask them for their input of whatever you are buying. i did go shopping with my cousin but didnt buy much before my parents told me that they would pay for my clothes shopping and thats what i had gone to do. so far, i have bought another one of my graphic tees and mum has bought a couple of short sleeve shirts. I also got a long sleeve shirts from my aunt as a gift. people here buy their nephews and nieces stuff when they go to their homes. just like i had to buy stuff for my cousins.

after i called you, i left immediately for my relative's place. the naming system here is a bit more complicated when it comes to family. people on my mom's and dad's side are called by different names. except me and my brother, no one else in the family is called by their real name. talking about real names, i dont know the real names of some of my cousins! its weird i know. we reached there and spontaeously decided to go watch a movie. we packed 6 people again into a small car to get there! when we reached the theatre, we found out that the movie that we had wanted to see was sold out. so we switched to another movie that we had heard was funny. i have never had a greater urge to leave the movie half way before. the movie was truly pathetic and lame, what a royal waste of time! worst part was that the theatre is the most expensive in the city. unfortunately that was the closest to us. atleast the dinner was good, had subway before the movie for $1! food here is soo cheap, its unbelievable! anyway, we got back home at 3 in the morning and had our proper dinner then.

the next day, woke up at noon as usual and lazed about most of the afternoon. we went handicrafts shopping in the evening and bought some stuff there. i bought a few things that i will be getting back to coe. i havent bought your saree and cds yet but i will be doign that very soon. i will try to get silk but if i dont, i'll get somethign that you will be comfortable in. my cousins told me of a different material that the girls here wear. i might get that. we need to go to a special shop since normal sarees would be too short for you. i told mum that you were a tall girl, a couple of inches taller than my tallest sister. tall by indian standards atleast..

my parents and brother leave for home tomorrow night (sunday). i will be here by myself for a couple of days before i leave for hyderabad. i wil be in hyderabad for about a week. Most of my time there is sorta planned and hope everything there goes well. I havent seen my friends in a long time and there are some friendships I hope I can repair. I don�t care either way though, its been too long to affect me anymore. I don�t know if I told you that I lost my best friend in 10th grade due to dumb petty stuff. Somehow I don�t think I�ll see her though. I will be doing significant shopping there since I have so much of time there. I am spending $250 on airfare instead of $40 on train fare because I couldn�t get a ticket! I should have asked my cousin to book my ticket along with hers, that was a mistake. Instead, she going to reach hyderabad in 30 hours and me in 1.5 hours! Family time there should be good too. Im looking forward to hyderabad if you havent figured that out yet.

Anyway, I think this has been a long enough email for you to read. I hope you had fun doing presents on christmas. I know I would have!

I can�t wait to see you again! Geez, I miss you so much, atleast thinking about you relaxes me.

Lots of flying kisses and real ones plus a tickle,

Joy

My precious,

Sounds like you are having a fabulous time there and thats wonderful! Isnt it uplifting to be around family? Parties are always fun especially if you know everyone in it. Atleast all your finals went off fine. i heard frm komal and she told me that you guys studied together, for humanities i presume.

i wanted to tell you before you left to pick my college mail up..i went to the dad's eldest brother's home with the family for a couple of days. i met my cousin who will be commissioned in the Indian armed forces in 6 months. he has been in a military school for the last 3 years. i heard about the rigors of that school..i wouldnt have survived that! he also told me a few things that he hasnt told his parents. apparently he has started smoking which is really sad and he has a girl friend now. his parents will kill him if they find out about either of the two and he knows it. funny the way things work around here. my cousin at home also had one for about 3 years and had to hide it from his parents becuase his parents wouldnyt approve. the funniest part is that the wedding i attended here, she didnt tell her parents that she had been dating this guy for about 2 years. they dropped a bombshell when they finally told them that they wanted to get engaged! guess what, my brother has a girlfriend too, and he hasnt told my parents yet!

and talking about good food, dont be shocked if you see me a bit plumper. i hope to god to recognize me at the airport (just kdding). i ate so much the last few days that i puked twice in the night because my stomach finally gave out. i have been eatin lesser since then because i dont want to puke again and dont wnat mum screaming at me again. its hard to resist all the home cooked food at home, i do try you know. but you know my fetish for sweet stuff, its as strng as your chocolate fetish, maybe not that strong.

i have also been making plans to go down to my hometown and visit some family and the friends i have back there. i will be flying to hyderabad on dec 31 and spending the evening with bhavya and her friends and possibly my cousin sis too. i stil have to figure out the sleeping arrangement for 31st. my main base should be my uncle's home but he lives quite far away from the main city. so my main plans are to spend a couple of days with bhavya and some friends, who ever has time and my relatives. i have a 15 year old cousin brother and 12 year old cousin sis i havent seen in a year and a half. I should do some part of the shopping there i think, need to start making a dent at the shopping list i have. it will be good since i have a lot of catching up to do there with everyone..

its late now so i need to go home and eat. more later. miss you!

lots of kisses and a poke,

joy

Hi sweetie!

it was really good to hear your voice today. im sorry i called so late, i miscalculated the time, you think i would get that right being a math major and all..(lol). its good to hear that your german went well. was your jury the italian song that you sang for me? try to send me a pic of the flowers that you got coz i havent seen it.. its nice to hear from the other nutty two,got the daddy one and britta message too. how are they doing?

i guess you should be packing for home. i think you will probably see this email at home. im really sorry that i havent mailed so far, things at home have been kinda hectic although it has slowed down now. i dont like the keyboard of the cyber cafe nearby and home's computer internet doesnt work straight.

anyway, the wedding went off really well. i was just disoriented because the sequence of the wedding stuff was inverted since it was fusion of the north indian and bengali wedding. i have a shit load of pictures that i will be getting back. most of them were from my parent's digital camera and i have a roll of my film too. there are a lot of pictures of me and my cousins too. i dont remember if i told you that most of the family cries at the end of the wedding when the bride goes away to her husband's place. all our mums and her dad cried as she went away. i felt sad too coz when i come back here, she wont be at home but somewhere else and i wont be able to see her as much. i hardly saw her this time too..

atleast i saw the rest of my cousins and i had a wonderful time. my cousin's brother is also in the same age group as me, so its interesting to see the college life of youth in India. We talked a lot and i turned into a confidant and secret keeper yet again! all us cousins went to watch intolerable cruelty with catherine zeta jones and george clooney. we travelled 6 packed in a car sized like a geo that can hold 4 people comfortably! and when we got out, it was pouring and we hadnt eaten yet. so we grabbed some food on the way and stopped at a shopping arcade that was closed and ate like homeless people do! it was quite an experience!

anyway, it seems like we will be going to my father's eldest brother's home for a couple of days and i think they have a better internet connection there, i hope to god!

i will go shopping soon and i will search for your 'saree'. i hope i can find a good one. and you still have to send me tina's address for the lagaan cd.

i hope your finals week went on well without much disturbance. I know its weird without the usual people in the room but i hope others kept you company went you needed it.

i think about you a lot and miss your touch. i hope you are having a good time. your emails cheer me up, keep em' coming! I'll try calling too.


Joy