Well we decided to not go to Bangalore this weekend after all. None if were feeling that great and we figured we could do with a weekend of rest. Everyone said that Bangalore is an extremely westernized city, with actual traffic lights and all, so we thought we could save it until we are extremely homesick. So on Friday night we did the coolest thing ever! We went to a cheap tacky magic show. I really wish that I could have gotten a picture of this man because my words can not describe him. He was a pale pasty Indian man with a few missing teeth and of course a thick bushy Southern Indian mustache. He even had about 6 costume changes that consisted of head to toe (literally even his shos) sequins. After every trick he turned to the audience and raised his arms with a sly grin curling under his stash. He had everything that a magic show should have, but it was off a little bit. He pulled animals out of boxes- even a Peek which made me happy to see. He made an elephant appear out of “thin air.” He even had 4 scrawny female assistances, but they looked really sad and depressed. There were even 3 male assistances and a midget. All of which did a ravishing bollywood dance at the end of the show while the magician levitated above them all. He even did a tribute to Copperfield and made the Statue of Liberty “disappear,” crawled through a moving fan, and cut one of his assistants in half using a giant rotating table saw. It was well worth the 100 rupees. They took us up front too because we are Americans. One of our girls even got pulled on stage to have a knife put into her throat and to be levitated. It sounds decent, but it was just plain funny.

Saturday morning we got up and went to the Leprosy clinic. They call it an Ulcer center now because there is such a stigma about Leprosy. They also call it Hanson’s disease now. We saw a lot of people that had it in the past but are recovered and learned a lot about it. What happens is that the bacteria gets in the skin and destroys nerve endings. When the nerves are damaged the blood does not get to the bone cells and the they go nuts. The ones that build, do not build enough and the ones that destroy, destroy too much so they shrink. Originally it was thought that the fingers fell off, but they just shrink into their hands. Also the bacteria gets into the blood stream and effects the cartilage. This is why their ears get malformed and their bridges of their noses fall in. Eyebrows also disapear, but know one knows why…. But it was really interesting to see. We also saw a few nasty foot injuries from walking around barefoot. Shoes are always optional in India. Even in the hospital ICUs…I don’t know if I told you that yet. You have to take of your shoes and wear certain hospital flip flops or go barefoot. Took some getting used too….

Saturday afternoon we went and bought our tickets to Kerola at a travel agency. I am not sure how to spell that, but it is a lovely beach town that we are going to next weekend. We are taking a 14 hour night train on Thursday night and getting back Tuesday at 7am and getting on the bus to go to school by 7:30! It will be worth it though. I hear that it is the one place you have to visit in the South. We are going to be staying on a house boat and all I think. It will be a good half way break through our CMC stay. Last night we went to a carnival. It was kind of like a middle school dance. There were games to play and lots of Western songs playing. We were really only there long enough to get henna drawn on our hands and eat some seasoned corn. The henna is Beetle wood and smells like menthol. It is this chocolate looking stuff that they draw on. You leave it one for an hour or so and then when you take it off it is red underneath. The design satays there for a week or so. It is mainly used for brides on their wedding days, but we thought while we were in India we had to do it.

So that is it for this weekend. I am not sure what we will do today…everyone is still sleeping.

PS thanks for updating me on local news :)