Hey Mom,

So I'm here at the University.  They put me in the nicest room in the
building (which is actually pretty nice I have a balcony and my own
bathroom) but told me not to get too comfortable because next week
I'll be moving into the dorms with the rest of the students.

The ride from the airport is pretty ridiculous.  This area, Howrah
District or Belur or wherever I am is very third-world.  It's kind
of like Mexico, but dirtier and way more chaos.   You get a picture of what the squalor in the area is like on the drive to Belur Math.   There's animals all over the place that look pretty cute, and the whole scene actually isn't that
shocking, there's just elements that are kinda weird.

Last night I slept for about three hours, the beds are just boards
with like a little pad on them and a sheet over the pad.  No blanket
and the beds are pretty hard as you can imagine.  I didn't mind the
beds so much if it wasn't for the muslims, birds, and mosquito bites I
might have actually gotten a good night's sleep.

I got up at 4:30 this morning and got ready and went for a walk around
the campus.  On the walk I saw two water snakes, a frog, chipmunks,
fish, and cows, and that was literally just like walking around the
medium sized school building I'm staying in.  This whole area is just
like swamp they put concrete over, and the swamp frequently bursts
through the cracks to let you know it's there.  The campus of the
University is probably nice for Indian standards, but it isn't very
nice by out standards.  It's cool though, just kinda swampy and dirty.
 The building is nice though and there planting some nice flowers and
stuff around it that make it better.  Your going to die when you see
the cowshed the cows are so damn cute, Arupeshananda says he's going
to take me over to feed them soon, he says he even has favorite cows
now.  The weather isn't too bad either, it's a little hot and sticky, but totally managable.

I had breakfast around 7:30, it wasn't as terrible as it could have
potentially been.  They gave me buttered toast that I enjoyed like I
never have before and some Indian stuff.  The Indian stuff wasn't that
bad.  The problem was they gave me too much of it, and I ate it all and I don't know how fast I can
digest it, so I'm a little worried now, this happened in Singapore.
The secret is to chew the food, otherwise if you just swallow it fast
then your stomach has no chance and your going to feel like crap and
you just have to take a nap.  But I think I'm ok, I enjoyed the tea, I
can't say I fell in love with it but it is really good tea, and I know
over time I'll start to really like it.

Today I'm planning to go to Belur Math with Arupeshananda as soon as
he's ready, to distribute my Swami gifts.  I've yet to see Vice
Chancellor Swami, I guess he doesn't come around until later in the
day.

We should Skype tomorrow so I don't have to keep writing these long
emails, today's going to be busy a little busy for me I think, what
time is good for you?

Please forward this email to the family and any friends you think
would be interested in what's going on with me, I might do some of it
but I don't have many email addresses.

Much Love,
Rip