Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

...And Merry and Little it was.

I'm sorry I haven't written much in the past... um... while. This time of the year is not, by any stretch of the imagination, my favorite time of year - it's cold (even in Jaipur), it's a rush to finish finals (even in Jaipur), it's dark all the time (even in Jaipur), people suddenly forget how to drive now that white stuff is on the ground (Traffic is pretty terrifying all the time in Jaipur - you get desensitized, really), people forget to treat each other like human beings in their shopping, and it's cold. Usually, I spend it near fireplaces and surrounded by the people I love - it's the only thing that keeps me from thinking seriously about throttling some hapless shopper/driver.

This year was different, for a number of reasons, not all of them as obvious as "I'm in India".

First, I chose to be in India. Yeah, despite the fact that I still kind of want to throttle someone sometimes, I chose to be here for the holidays. My father, who was going to come and visit for the holidays, was detained by an emergency surgery; while he's recovered, his surgery left very little time for me to make other plans. My mother offered to come out here or bring me home anyway, and I was so, so, so close to coming home. I've been pondering why I didn't choose to come back. I've moved from my guesthouse into an apartment with two of my classmates, and both of them have left Jaipur; the moving took place right before I would have had to leave for the states, and I did kind of want some time to settle in. My neighborhood doesn't exactly have what you'd call a "holiday spirit" - Diwali was a few months ago - though it does have a pretty hilarious Christmas store, which I'm going to take pictures of in the coming days. But here are three of us left here, myself included, four if you count a friend who popped in for last night, tonight and tomorrow. Anyway, I had the choice - and I chose to stay here. It's not so bad being here, but I do miss home something desperate. Though not, it seems, desperately enough. I *have* desperately needed some time alone, so I guess I've gotten that, whether I like it or not.

Second, I've been having some social issues, both at home and abroad, most of which I'm at fault for. I've been accused, among other things, of being the worst person with people ever, and I've come to realize that, while maybe a little harsh, it's not over far from the truth. So I guess "improve people skills, and rapidly" is a sort of preemptive New Year's resolution for me. I'm actively working on it, so that works out.

Annnyway...

Today was kind of lovely. I woke up at about 10:30am, to a bouncing friend at the foot of my bed telling me to wake up so breakfast could start. I helped with breakfast, but was pretty much shooed out of the kitchen. We ate "ham" (it had some pig in it, I'm sure), home fries, spinach, and eggs with orange juice. Delicious. Then I napped for three hours, read for two, did some chores around the house, made plans for dinner, and finally went to dinner at Barbecue Nation. For those of you that have heard of Cena, it is remarkably like Cena. For those of you that haven't, it's a concept restaurant where they bring you meat. And more meat. And more meat. And other stuff. Until you tell them to stop. And there is also a buffet. And a desert buffet. Needless to say, I am stuffed fuller than a Christmas ham, though not on ham, but on chicken. And Naan. And pineapple and icecream and gulab jamun. Delicious.

I hope you all had (are having) a lovely Christmas as well!

(Also, if you hadn't noticed, there are new pictures up! I did go to Amritsar over thanksgiving - and it was LOVELY! I'll try to talk more about that tomorrow, and about my upcoming travel plans for the rest of the break.)