Jaipur Beginnings

Getting a cell phone & a sim card should be a quick & easy process right? Not in India. Because of terrorism, they have a ridiculous procedure to follow for getting a cell phone, especially if you're a foreigner. You have to provide them with a passport photo, a photo copy of your passport, and one of your visa. Then, you have to sign your signature EXACTLY as it appears on your passport four separate times. Twice on the form then once on your visa & once on your passport copy. Anyway, I passed this ridiculous test and now have my very own Indian cell phone, sim card, and phone number. I called home for the first time today and was told by my mother to update my blog because I hadn't in a while (Hi Mags!).
I moved in with my homestay family last Saturday. I live with a woman and her daughter, and am close enough to the program center that I can walk every day, which is really nice. My homestay mother doesn't speak much English but her daughter is a professor at a girl's college here in Jaipur so she's essentially fluent in English. I have the only room on the second floor, and have my own room & bathroom in the house, but I wouldn't exactly call the setup western. I take bucket showers, which I expected, but I heat the water using this metal rod that I plug in to a wall socket and stick in the bucket to heat up. I have very specific instructions as to how to go about this so that I don't shock myself that I am following to a T.
I live next door to a doctor who treats patients from his home, so every day when I get home from school there are a ton of people lined up outside waiting to see him. In the mornings, I can see him getting his morning exercise from the window in the door on my room that overlooks the upstairs patio. He power walks FURIOUSLY around the second story patio of his house while he reads the newspaper. Seamless multitasking. I am fascinated by this and now look for him every morning.
On Sunday my host sister and I went to a school function at the school one of her friends runs. It's for lower income children and is in a converted horse barn that her uncle gave to her. We got there late (naturally) but got VIP treatment - we sat in the front row in nice chairs and were presented with flowers. We saw the athletic side of the function, then the awards ceremony. Afterwards we toured the students' craft display and had snacks (so many snacks) with the principal and keynote speaker, a Rajasthani writer. I'm settling in pretty well with the family though. My host sister said that if I teach her yoga, she'll teach me how to cook Indian food.