Hey kids. I thought I'd take some time to answer some common questions that have been cropping up. Namely.. what in pete's sake is a rikshaw. Two: what in pete's sake am I doing over here. Well. For Pete's sake... and yours... I'll tell you.

Rikshaws go like this:

Picture your basic scooter. Vespa. Chop off the back half. Add 2 wheels. So now you have a triangle of wheels. Over the back two wheels, there is a padded bench. In front of you, there is a padded chair with a man on it, and he's holding a steering wheel that looks more like bike handles. Add a Diesel engine in the back that sometimes breaks down in the middle of the highway. Add a fare meter that says "Don't touch me" and ticks off rupees every minute or so like one of those old-timie gas stations that goes cha-chink........ cha-chink....... cha-chink. Add a soft, Jeep-like car cover, black on the outside, surprises on the inside. Sometimes the outside has a bumper sticker that says "Don't spit, stop the spread of T.B." Sometimes the inside is pink, sometimes it's blue. Today, the inside looked part-fleece blanket, part-sparkley seat cushion in a diner. All is padded in case you hit your head or feel like napping (sounds of the rikshaw are very soothing..) (that was a joke).

Got it? Great!

My job goes like this:

I get in around 11:30. Already a nice thing about India... work starts late. The ride in is a little smokey though because the cars have had enough time to marinate. I breathe shallow.

Right away a man brings me tea. Tea! Chai! It is the best way to start the morning, and it clears my throat of car fumes. It makes my entire day feel like a tea commercial when the person takes a sip, leans back, says ahhhh, and then the sun comes out and an ottoman appears on which to rest her feet.

Then I do some work. One Karan Talwar sits to my right. He's kind of my boss. I sometimes call him boss. He doesn't like it, so I do it anyway to be ironic and funny. I'm pretty sure he finds it ironic and funny, too.

The cool thing is, Alankrita (who was the assistant director for the last film, Raajneeti) sits a few desks down. Prakash Jha (the director... head honcho) sits a few yards away. Karan is the second assistant director. I'm surrounded by intelligence and fame.

And I work next door to a CAKE FACTORY.

So I go to work and I'm surrounded by intelligence, fame, and cake. For an intern, that's pretty good... if only they knew that in America, we would be the ones bringing the morning chai.

Like I said, the last film that was released was called Raajneeti. Today I wrote thank you notes for the flowers in our office, and tomorrow I will photoshop some signatures onto photos of the actors in order to make them "signed photos of the actors." I'm the man behind the curtain!

We have a big family lunch in the office around 2. It is an Indian feast of sorts. I eat a sweet milky rice thing for dessert and the chai man brings me another. (Chai.)

Then I do the stuff Karan tells me to do. Or asks, rather. I sent out the costumes to places for contests this week. That was really cool. I got to edit today, which normally, you know, kind of is a pain in the butt. But editing in India felt much, much cooler than editing in Syracuse. No offense to the Edit Suites. But. You know.

What else can I say? It's an internship. I'm meeting cool people. They give me food, shelter, things to do, knowledge, and air conditioning. What more could a girl want.

Last night we had our red carpet debut. I don't know if you've seen the picture, but it's on facebook. The paparazzi demanded attitude, and we delivered their attitude on an American-studded platter. Lady GaGa has been in my head ever since (papa, papa-razzi...).

I leave work at 8. Rush hour. Weird, huh? But it's cool.. I get to arrive around noon.

I should probably leave you with some more cool things about India. Quickly..

- I saw a herd of goats on my way in this morning.

- Breakfast looks exactly like lunch and dinner.

- Garbage is raked and piled up like leaves.

- Girls live with their parents until marriage.

- So do men... but if they do live alone, they've got their own maid to wash the house, do the dishes, cook, and do laundry every single day. Hahaha!

I'm constantly surprised. Like a little girl.