Monkeys, temples and the night we took care of the world

So a lot has happened since the last time I posted so I will try and fill in the gaps while still describing the cool stuff. Academically last week was pretty interesting we visited a hospice, which was really tastefull but still depressing. Then we visited a public housing project and met with the president of the group of people living in the project. It was a little awkward to visit people's homes especially because there was very little privacy and there were numerous discussion about whether what we were doing was acceptable and appropriate. Regardless after we left the house we were mobbed by all of the children in the neighborhood who were so excited to see us and kept wanting to shake our hands and get their picture taken by us. On Thursday we visited one of the high-tech medical tourism hospitals that people come from the U.S. to have major operations for a fraction of the price. It was interesting to see and also to serve as a contrast to the inadequate health care that most of the population receives.
On Friday, after class we went to explore the city of Bangalore a little more. After visiting a few temples we decided to climb a hill near one of my friends homestays on the outskirts of the city to watch the sunset. Not to mention the joy of being outside the city the hill was beautiful with great views of both the city and the unoccupied area to the other side. On top of the hill was a Hindu festival. They were celebrating Maha Shivatri which is the day when Shiva the Creator of the World rests for a day and all of the people have to stay up all night and watch the world. So we stayed on top of the hill and enjoyed the view and the celebration took a few pictures of eager children and then finally walked down the hill. The way down the hill was lined with Christmas lights and was beautiful. The path was crowded and people were helping each other and making room as people climbed both up and down.
On Saturday I went with a few friends to Mysore which is a city three hours from Bangalore. We saw some interesting stuff includinga bird sanctuary which is on the migration path for birds from China and a huge spectacular palace. The coolest part though was at the end of the day. After climbing down another hill from we had to wait in this village-like area on the hill for about an hour as we waited for our driver to pick us up. While we were waiting there were around hundred monkeys in the trees climbing the trees jumping up and down and running along the trees as well as the power cords. They were semi-domesticated and we even saw one eat the crumbs from a bag of chips just like a human would.
As a final note it is amazing how quickly people can adjust to a new city. Two weeks ago India seemed like a whole different world but now we are all getting used to the crowded dirty city and finding our way around with a lot less difficulty.