For those of you

     That do not know, I transferred to a new university this semester. Not that anybody cares, but it has taken up most of my time, so I am not able to update the blog as often as I want to. It's a new environment and I enjoy it. For example: at my old school if I looked at somebody for 2 seconds or more, it would probably be returned with a dirty look. At my new school it would be greeted with: "Hey! How are you! Good morning! You look pretty tired this morning buddy! Didn't get enough sleep last night pal?!" Mind you this is coming from a stranger. A subtle but welcoming change. Another subtle difference is the cleanliness of the bathrooms. My old institution had disgusting facilities even though I would see them being cleaned at least once during the school day. It's a good feeling to walk into a restroom and not have a foul smell hit you in the face, or hear moans and groans while somebody is in a stall. The professors are dope as well. I missed a couple days of class the other week because I was sick as a dog. When I emailed my professors to notify them they all said: "It's ok! Hope you feel better Bali! *nicknamed is used to hide my real identity hehehe* If you need more time on any assignments let me know! JUST GET BETTER!!!!" In the past I wouldn't get a response, but if I did, it would be along the lines of "Yea ok. See you next class."
     Before attending I knew that quite a few Desis went to this school. I didn't see many my first few weeks of class. The ones I did see looked like they belonged in high school. I had at least one Pardesi in each of my classes and eventually spoke to a couple of them. I was told that if I wanted to meet Desis on campus, which I had no real desire to, then I would have to join clubs like the MSA (Muslim Student Association) and SASA ( South Asian Student Alliance). I asked one of my Desi classmates about the MSA. He said he only went for Friday prayers. Makes sense. Might as well use the facilities on campus while you're there. Then he said that not too long ago there was a "weed scandal" at the club. I didn't need to hear anymore to know what he was trying to get at. Coupled with this news and getting emails and physical letters in the mail from them even before I started attending about various functions that I didn't care about, which seemed almost harassing at moments, made me not want to associate with the club. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure they do great things, and help out the community, but I'm not religious anyway so I don't see a point in going there. Also, I don't want to be in the middle of any "scandals" while I'm at school. The last thing I need is a young Molvi planting a dime bag on me so he can save face in front of his peers.
     The workload, just as I had expected, is much more than I'm used to. I like it. It feels good to do a mountain of reading and shut the book knowing that you conquered it. It does get stressful at times, but I don't mind it. Overall I'm happy with the institution. I know this post might be different than my others, but I have to change it up once in a while. Right? Not really. Just using that as an excuse so I could write this. I am Baliwala. Hey there! Thanks for reading! Be sure to visit more often! That is all.