It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life...

... for me, and I'm feeling good.

Greetings my readers! Here I will start narrating my experiences about this academic course at Manipal university. Even though most of the readers will be Spanish (for sure), the purpose of writing in English is that of polishing my writing skills, mainly because I'll be studying a PG diploma here at the MCES (Manipal Center for European Studies) and I need to get rid of this "English uselessness" appearing at non-academic periods (summer). However, I will write some posts in Spanish from time to time. Either way, I will be uploading pictures in every post (as soon as I get my new camera).

Honestly, the trip to Manipal was not a piece of cake. First flight running from Madrid to Dubai lasted around 7 hours, though the Emirates' Boeing 777 provided interactive screens for every seat (and also a blanket, a pillow and a stereo headset). As can be guessed, I watched Toy Story 3, Family Guy, G.I. Joe (just The Rock shooting Pakistanis) and listened to Led Zeppelin all way through. First layover was pretty short as flight was delayed for an hour and a half, so I got some time to open facebook and send a couple of messages. Next flight ran from Dubai to Bengaluru (Bangalore in Spanish), lasted about 4 hours and spent the whole time sleeping as it was at night. Once arrived, had to fill some documents for foreign and Indian people (crazy) and hand them in at the immigration register. Strange remark when one of the guards guided me to the baggage claim and instead of saying goodbye he mumbled "tip". Apparently it's something normal they do with foreigners, just offering your services for the easiest thing possible and asking for a tip (which I find it's very normal, but quite unexpected from a member of the airport staff). Anyway, still had 3 hours till the next flight to Mangalore in a turboprop airplane (yes, scary as fuck). Once arrived there, I shared a cab with a guy I met while picking up my suitcase (very nice btw) and here started one of the craziest rides I've ever had in a car: cows on the street, dogs on the pavement (basically the earthy sides of the road), caged hens, palm trees with with weird fruits, very heavy rains, tropical rainforests, potholes everywhere, and the most startling detail: every single driver was pushing the horn for no apparent reason. According to my new friend, it's because:

- They want to overtake
- There is a dog/cow crossing (or trying to mate) the road
- There are people crossing the road randomly, namely dodging kamikazes.
- No reason. They just do it for fun.

So as you can imagine, Indian cities and towns are usually a combination of all things above mentioned. Very noisy and hectic. Still there are things that make your day pretty easily: three to four students in the same motorbike (no helmets), a guy driving a motorbike with his passenger holding firmly a hen by its neck, an old man driving with one hand and holding a huge barrel under his arm, etc. I don't think nothing isn't going to surprise me here, there are many things to discover.

Ah, my house is sort of a zoo. I've already killed my first anopheles (Malaria mosquito) - this one goes for you Ignacio-, four spiders (yes, big spiders), and other sort of flies and mosquitos. Big thanks to Tagirem who has left me some repellent and a useful mosquito net for covering my bed at night. Apart from that, the house is quite nice. There are about six rooms in total: two bedrooms, lounge, kitchen, bathroom (Indian one, aghhh) and a laundry room. Although it seems quite empty now, it'll look perfect as soon as I clean it a little bit and decorate it  while playing old rock from the 70's (sweet home).

So life here is getting better, even though I couldn't help feeling uneasy at the beginning, now I'm meeting new people at the MCES (Manipal Center for European Studies) who show me the premises of Manipal University and take me to the food court for having lunch (my first Indian meal, not as spicy as I thought, but specially seasoned. 6 different meals for less than two euros) and a chocolate ice cream (ice cream costs twenty around twenty cents)

 Tonight we're going out and I've already been invited to an Indian celebration: new house for one of my colleagues. All in all, I know it's crap being alone at home fighting animals (there are kobras, Indian vipers and pythons on the grass), but I'm sure I'll be perfectly adapted in one week or two. Meanwhile, I need to get hold of an Indian SIM card and an USB modem so that I can use facebook at home (uni doesn't allow students to enter certain webpages like facebook or youtube).

I guess this post is about to end. Thanks for reading up to here. I'll try to keep this updated with pics and more experiences. Take care and...


... NAMASTE!