school school and more school

Day two of classes has ended, and I'm mentally exhausted. We are supposed to allocate at least an hour a night to practice Hindi. I feel like I will need way more time to learn. The kids are actually a big help, and assisted with the alphabet tonight. They are studying how to spell words in English, and we are learning the spelling of words in Hindi- so maybe we could teach each other a little. Sweet, I'm a graduate student learning from a four and five year old. We are also torturing Gamlesh (the maid-guy) with our horrible Hindi- he pretty much just laughs at us, and then says stuff we don't understand.
Yoga is amazing. My body is sore, but in a good way. Hopefully doing the sessions Monday through Friday will make me a little healthier. The movements are constant, and they use many poses I am not familiar with. Also, there's some shouting, groaning, and chanting during the sessions, which will take some getting used to (I was trying my hardest not to giggle- not appropriate). The room is open, and the mats are made of horsehair, and to top it off- there's a really old lady that sits on a bench in the corner. She randomly does some moves, but is just entertaining to watch. The meditation chants and all the instruction is in Hindi, so I'm sure I look a little lost. I had a hard time concentrating because all I could think about was, “I'm doing yoga in India!”
So, to answer the Slumdog Millionaire questions: the consensus that I am getting is that my homestay family is not too fond of the movie. The younger people here seem to like it better. They (my homestay family) enjoy the music, and we hear at least one of the songs from the album a day. They won't go into much detail as to why they don't like the movie. However, I get the feeling that they don't approve of the movie's heavy focus on the underbelly of Mumbai. The family I stay with is upper middle class, and I think that being the movie also has a huge Western following, they would like the movie to also show that India is not solely associated with poverty. I don't really know other reasons- and don't want to speak for them. Their house is nice, but once we go outside the gates, I can see many malnourished, barefoot children. I have quickly learned, “nahi, jaou” which means, 'no, go.' It feels pretty crappy when I am shooing them away, as they are touching my feet or grabbing my leg.
Ok, one more idea that came to mind: bicycle rickshaws around the Mpls lakes. Yes, I think this is a brilliant idea. I love the bike rickshaws here (see above photo). You get a good view of everything, and I don't have to walk everywhere. So, in the summer, there should be rickshaws available for people who want to go around the lakes- and there should be a cooler full of beer attached. Well, if I can't find a job this summer, maybe that'll be my backup.
Note: I hear that my scarf (and my girls, Ericka and Julia) met Kevin Costner last night- I want photos!
The other photo is of a 1500 year old hookah. I want it.