Friday, January 30, 2009

a couple randoms

Thank you dad—I’ve picked up every one of your penny-pinching tendencies and resumed the role of secretary in our traveling group. This is me fanatically figuring out the scribble-y supper bill as everyone else breathes peacefully…Jens looks ready to double check it though...
Good morning cows! That's the School of Social Sciences in the background. It's nice to have some comforts of home...heheh.

Our meals at the guesthouse are excellent, even if they do leave out half of the standard South Indian chili peppers. This was a meal (Jens's meal) we were served on a holiday—a banana leaf with different curries, chutneys, rice and roti for eating with. Silverware—ha. Completely unnecessary.
The guesthouse is nicer than I’d like to admit, even if the electricity is cut for hours every day and the showers are usually cold. We have western toilets, (WITH toilet paper!!) mattresses on our beds, locks on our doors and lounge chairs in the common rooms. I wasn’t expecting to be pampered like this…however, the house is still in full swing construction (and will be most of the semester, I think) which means the hammering happens all day and the best naps are under trees around campus. No complaints here though—I try to spend as little time as possible enclosed in cement. Although I’m sure come March, it’ll be a different story!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

everyday delights

This may come as a surprise, but I’m actually in India on a university exchange, and have indeed been attending actual lectures! I realized I’ve been neglecting that realm a bit, even though the lectures I’ve had thus far have been every bit as interesting as our weekend escapades. So, if you’re interested in hearing a bit about Indian academia, read on…

As the 16 year-old-Alison stands aghast, I’m discovering my rural roots are stronger than I thought. My favorite course by far is called Agricultural Economics, and we’re currently discussing the causes and effects of colonialism in regards to underdevelopment of India’s agriculture and the conflict of two different schools of thought: rural and urban bias. The class is an elective course for Econ MAs, so all of the other Indian students were really excited to take it and tell me the professor is the best in the department (hailing from MIT, as they put it). He anticipates taking us to some rural villages as well; I think I lucked out here...

I’ve also been attending guest lectures whenever possible, put on by various departments. (There are seminars every week here, which is something I read about before coming here and was anticipating taking advantage of). I attended a couple of tasty ones this week, as part of a seminar put of by the Philosophy department. I call them tasty, because it’s the best way to describe my disposition towards listening to guest speakers and interesting lectures outside my field of study; it’s like eating a special dessert—both are some of my favorite activities. J

Anyway, the lectures were on the validity of testimony as a source of knowledge, and the keynote address was given by a professor from Hawaii who earned his PhD from and taught at Oxford in England. I was actually able to chat with him for a bit after a paper presentation and we started to discuss the evasiveness of the Indian agrarian suicides in the media. This was extremely ironic, as I did a little research into the topic this fall when I was writing another paper on Polish agriculture. Furthermore, it seems to be the perfect subject matter for a research project in my Agricultural Economics course. So if anyone reading this has any information on the suicides or their coverage in the media please send it my way! (AliJ_23@hotmail.com)

My other courses—International Relations, Thought and Culture of India and Theory of Yoga—are extremely interesting as well. Workloads are notably lighter than back home—the courses have 3 exams max, with one thrown out(!!). Predictably, though, the lectures here take much more energy; you can’t let your mind wander for a second, because their accents are so thick that you only catch 50% of the words anyway. In one of my courses, the notes written on the board are completely illegible (a hybrid of Telugu/English I think??) as well. It’s a workout though—a good exercise in mind control! Luckily the Econ and Yoga courses are the only ones where all of the material is new though.

The other students are extremely nice—I hope I can manage to actually befriend some. It’s difficult, as the ladies hostels and the international house are on opposite ends of the campus. I’m thinking about joining a sports team though, if I can find the time!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Hampi pics 5

a home in Hampi--seemed very Indian to me. Coconuts everywhere, clothes always on the line, and bright colors whenever possible.
Workers in the rice patty fields outside our guesthouse
Not exactly sure why this one keeps wanting to turn sideways. Crane your neck though--it's worth it to see the monks washing their clothes in the river!


Hampi pics 4

Hakon and I waiting for a savior (michelle) by the side of the road...
a mother and daughter we gave school supplies to while passing through their village


street performers on Monday (a holiday) in Hampi

Jens, Banks, Justina and Andi relaxing in a watch tower




Hampi pics 3

inside some ruins--with a foot of water everywhere, you had to hop from ledge to ledge in this underground temple
andi and jens in the foreground and justina and hakon in the background on our scooters!

me in front of some temples on our scooter run

an attempted capture of the sunset overlooking hampi--you can KIND of make out the rivers and city below...

a shot from 30 mins earlier--much better.




Hampi pics 2

A view before sunset overlooking Hampi. That waterbottle the monkey is holding belongs to Banks, I believe...
Me in front of some city center ruins outside of Hampi. There are no roped off areas anywhere--anyone is free to wander through everything--it's incredible.

This boy made money by posing with his "pet" (note the rope) monkey. I'd say he's got the pose down.

Me in front of the south bank of the river


And a view from the north bank.



Hampi pics 1

One of our guesthouses--clean and spacious with a king-sized bed/shower/bathroom for $6 person/night.
A view from the luggage rack--not so spacious. (this was at the start of the journey--before the rest of the train got on...)

Resting at the top of a temple in the hot sun--that's me on the end


locals playing and bathing in the river...



me at 1am? 2am? 5am?



Hampi

The best way to summarize our weekend in Hampi (in the northern part of the state of Karnataka) in ten words or less would be to say it’s the greatest range of experiences I’ve ever had in one weekend.

As a result of some last minute planning (we only booked our tickets two weeks in advance), we weren’t armed with actual train tickets to Hampi—we were waitlisted but determined to get as far as we could. We had been informed of the variety of consequences we could encounter: anywhere from a fine to a night in an Indian prison. Our house manager had said that if worse came to worse though, we’d be bumped to general class, where other international students had been rumored to have had to literally fight for their sleeping space. Good news and bad news: The bad—we were bumped to general and ended up spending 12 hours on a metal luggage rack with most of the rungs missing (probably why there wasn’t any luggage up there). The good news—we were thanking our lucky stars we had been transferred early enough to claim those luggage racks, and avoid the mess of forty Indian men piled up beneath us. We were also extremely thankful no one had gotten sick from the sketchy biryani we shoveled down in third class before the move. But eventually the five minutes of sleep, backs full of bruises and the "free" train ride (as our waitlisted tickets were automatically refunded) landed us in Hampi at 6am on Friday. And as we sat in a local cafĂ© watching the sun rise over the Virupaksha temple, I, for one, instantly forgot about the hell it took to get there.

After breakfast and successfully locating our guesthouse, everyone collapsed for a couple hours. Unable to sleep (and eager to make alternative travel arrangements for our trip home), Hakon and I set out to start exploring.

Hampi is a walk-able city surrounded by snaking lakes/rivers, shiny weathered boulders, crumbling and faded temples, palm trees and glimmering rice patty fields. It is without a doubt the most beautiful place I have ever been. It’s built within the remains of the ancient city of Vijayanagara and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I kept expecting to see a triceratops step out from behind a boulder; picture Land Before Time or that old TV show, Land of the Lost, then litter it with hippies and local Indian artisans and you’ll get the start of an idea.

Hampi is halved by the Tungabhadra River, with a sole “ferry boat” driver making a fortune by charging 10 rupees per cross (roughly 20 cents). Locals are out bathing and washing their colorful clothing every day, draping it to dry on the steps to the river. And just like at the university, farmers herd their cows and goats through the streets and monkeys follow you around trying to snitch your water bottles so they can pour them out onto the dirt.

Everywhere you look, from the jewelry vendors shouting out deals to the children selling postcards to begging women holding their babies and blessing your knees as you pause to get out your water bottle, there is life and it wants your attention. The guides, the beggars, the smells, the colors and the sounds—everything is constant and constantly changing. I saw my first snake charmer with his dancing cobras as well.

Our guesthouse, Shanthi, (for $6 per person per night) was on the north side of the river, and consisted of a community of thatched roof cottages overlooking a field of rice patties and palm trees. They had an incredible menu of fresh fruits and tropical dishes alongside the standard Indian fare, so we took all our breakfasts and suppers (the last ferry boat ran at 18:30) on cushions under a canopy.

The “hippie” influence in Hampi is unmistakable; it’s as if each one had come to visit and decided to stay. As a result, most of the clothing stalls house a hybrid of styles—think traditional Indian after a bowl of marijuana.

The temples and history in Hampi are untouched though. After Hakon and I met back up with the group, the seven of us spent the entire first day wandering around the outskirts of Hampi, through clusters of massive city centers and ornate worshipping temples. It’s difficult to find a map in Hampi—the only good maps belong to the sea of guides calling out things like “monkey temple, very cheap” and “lotus pond, nice swim in lake”. The free maps that info centers give out are so confusing they make you wonder if the guides drew them out free hand specifically to lead you back to their rickshaws.

But you can’t take a wrong turn in Hampi. After hours of climbing around boulders, up and down mountains and through different sites, we wandered upon a river where a boy convinced us to take a tour in his hand-woven boat, back to the main temple. Magically back where we had started, we then took off for this particular temple on the top of a mountain—the highest point over-looking all of Hampi and surrounding villages. We literally ran up the mountain, collapsing at the top just in time to see the sunset the temple was famous for. I can't really describe it. Moments like that—with your endorphins pumping as you watch a blood-orange sun sink beneath the black and smooth mountain tops while a group of monkeys sits at the edge of the cliff in front of you—moments like that make you feel as if you’ve cheated the world to get to witness something so beautiful.

...I think the majority of the communication that took place among us that weekend consisted of catching eyes and shaking heads in disbelief.

And the next day was better. We rented scooters and covered the local roads, making our way to several different sites of ruins. Once you leave the city, you’re on stretching tar roads lined with palm trees and can open it up full throttle, keeping an eye out for cattle drawn carts and rickshaws, of course. As soon as you stop in a village to ask for directions, you’re swarmed by children asking for chocolate and school pens. In fact, we were pretty much swarmed everywhere we went, once again. Hampi must be a popular destination for school field trips, because long lines of children were everywhere, and as soon as they saw our (burned) white skin emerge from the darkened rooms in the temples, they would begin a chorus of “Hello! What is your name? Hi! What is your country?” while their teachers tried to organize them for pictures with us.

Because we had to reorder tickets (a bus, this time) for our return trip, three of us had to stay behind (quite begrudgingly, as you can imagine) for an extra day. Hakon, Michelle and I were the lucky three and rented scooters for a second day because Michelle had opted for yoga and an Ayurvedic massage the day before. We had apparently gotten a bit too bold from our scooter-ing adventures, though, and managed to run one of the scooters out of gas in the middle of nowhere while searching for more temples. But in India, I’ve learned that everything always works out; Michelle managed to make it to a village and convey our dilemma so she could buy some gas.

My immune system must have decided it was my turn to go, however, because as soon as we got off the scooters, something hit me and I was down for the rest of the day. I had a fever and some pretty nasty nausea the entire bus-ride back (which ended up being only slightly more luxurious than the luggage rack) and was extremely excited to crawl into my board/bed.

I’m writing this after a second trip (which I’ll blog about tomorrow) and therefore can say with even stronger resolution: India takes so much energy. Nothing is predictable or comfortable or clean or quiet. You are always hot and sweaty and navigating your way through masses of bodies. I am so thrilled to have made friends with a group of like-minded adventurers—people who can spend 12 hours in the smelly chaos of the general section of a train and still smile at each other in the morning and laugh hysterically about it the next day while counting bug bites—I definitely got lucky.

More tomorrow on Pondicherry and the courses I’m finally starting!

and I'm back...

First and foremost, I am indeed alive! I was very touched though, by the anxious emails waiting for me when I logged on after neglecting this thing for the past week and a half. I’m very sorry! It was a combination of our trip to Hampi last weekend, returning quite ill, having just enough time to sleep, throw my filthy clothes in the washer and attend a couple lectures, and then taking off again on Thursday for Pondicherry. So I have a lot to write, and if you’re interested, you have a lot to read. …

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Elbows, Buddah and Sheesha

Our trip to the train station yesterday was a colorful and validating morning indeed! We had purchased weekend tickets to Hampi several days prior, (an annoying day-long process and our first foray into the Indian Rail realm) but amidst a string of miscommunication and misunderstandings, we had managed to buy the wrong type of tickets. So yesterday, Andi, Banks and I headed into Lingampally’s station to return them. First milestone: our rickshaw-rate haggling is becoming successful (and fun)! Banks started haggling while I pretended to become disinterested and eventually suggest taking a stroll around the area. That’s where they break and cut their price down to something decent. And when you finally agree, and they give you a grin and shake their head as you triumphantly climb in—that’s what gives you the confidence for the next one.
At the station, Andi and I got out the word puzzles while Banks readied his elbows for three lengthy trips through the ticket lines. There isn’t much of a “first-come-first-served rule to queues here”, or any notion of “ladies-first”. Andi and I also became friends with an Indian student eager to practice her English and make plans to get together next Sunday. Successful haggling, a new Indian friend and collectively about 12,000 rupees richer—and we even made it back in time for lunch!

We currently have tickets (new, working tickets) for Hampi this weekend; it’s apparently a city of ancient Hindu temple ruins you can bike/scooter/rickshaw around for the day. There’s also an area of bazaars and parks and things like that. However, the only tickets available (you have to book things about a month in advance) were waitlisted, so cross your fingers, please!

Later today we’re also booking a trip for the next four day weekend to Pondicherry. Trips are extremely reasonable. Our round trip to Hampi came to something around $14.

Today is the beginning of a type of Harvest festival (another holiday!) known for kite flying. So we’re headed to Shilparamam after lunch, which is an enormous venue for festival celebrations with vendors, artisans, gardens, a river and an amphitheater. It’ll be my second time there, but the first visit was on my second day in Hyderabad and consequentially a bit bewildering; so I’ll be sure to get some quality camera time in today.

In the meantime, enjoy some from some trips into the Old City and a birthday party at a Hookah (or Sheesha) bar for Hakon, who just turned 24. Note: a goat milk and cappuccino sheesha is sublime.
all of the buildings on campus have courtyards in their centers--this is a (sunny) shot of the courtyard in the SIP (Study in India Program) office complex. I'll be sure to get more campus pics up soon!
Happy Birthday Hakon! And thanks for an excuse to live it up a little, with sheeshas, desserts and irish coffees. :)
These little guys are literally everywhere...I don't know what people are talking about when they mention the scruffy street dogs...

The statue of Buddah in the middle of the Hussain Sagar lake at night, while walking around the city after supper


Justina, my roommate, and Hakon on the ferry to the middle of the lake

A restaurant we stumbled upon while wandering haggardly through some streets in part of the old city, after our first trip to buy tickets to Hampi




Sunday, January 11, 2009

The words finally came!

As I write this, I’m still out of breath; and quite desirably so. Every time I push those last couple of pedals to the top of the hill overlooking the northern part of campus, I suck the sweet Indian air deeply into my stomach, and with it a feverish desire to run and write down every sensation the bicycle took me through on a single journey to and from class.

This morning: waking up to the call of worship and stepping out onto the balcony before breakfast to stretch and enjoy the music from a construction worker’s radio; it’s probably outdated and overplayed, but it’s new and interesting to my ear, so it doesn’t matter. After breakfast, I pick out mine from a line of bikes resting in the red sand and my tires clumsily slip through it as I leave the hostel.

The journey through campus is like driving through an entire community. Taking a left after leaving the hostel leads to an entire village of makeshift tarp-covered tents in the shade of trees and lines of laundry hung out to dry. But it doesn’t look like clothing—the pieces are in every color, as if the aesthetic value of one’s clothesline indicates the wealth or happiness of a family.

But today I take a right. I pass children playing with water hoses by the side of the road and am almost run over by a family on a tractor carrying a full load of green grasses for their cattle, which rest wherever they please. I pass by groups of dark women with long braided hair and brilliantly colored saris, carrying shiny metal pots on their heads in shallow wooden carriers. They smell of spicy Indian soaps, fresh and sweet and reminiscent of everything else here. They stare at me but give genuine grins if I’m brave enough to flash my own. Zooming by me are fathers on scooters who’ve managed to take multiple daughters and sons in little school uniforms to class in one trip. (There is an elementary school on campus as well.) Further down the road I glance to my left and see a monkey running along side me; to my right, an old bent man with a long white beard, dressed in indistinguishable pieces slowly makes his barefooted way to…? I pass by groups of young men meeting at the canteen for breakfast, sporting their tight jeans, leaning on each other’s shoulders and drinking tiny cups of insanely sugared coffee.

Professors and students and employees and their families and monkeys and peacocks and stray dogs all have a bed here. The culture is community; suggesting the cyclical nature of Indian culture pervades scholarship and keeps the two connected; strange. What a foreign idea, and what a strange world!

Friday, January 9, 2009

goodbye, stringent american cleanliness!

I think I'm slowly sweating off that hypochondria we americans call hygiene. We eat most of our meals out, and everything—from rice to runny yogurt to curries—is eaten with your hands. Then you rinse them off in a dirt-covered bathroom, wipe them on your tunic and squat to pee into a hole in the ground. Usually someone brings along hand-sanitizer. Then after walking through refuse-filled streets in flip-flops, you pile seven people into a three-seater rickshaw that is absolutely never cleaned and breeze through the smoggy night air. The showers are frigid at night and in the morning though, so sometimes tiredness wins over that sticky film that you're covered with at the end of a day out. Everything is absolutely filthy here—but I can honestly say it’s liberating. I never shave, (because we're covered from head to toe--no one would know if I did! I have blisters and bites all over my feet, and every time you go anywhere—even just around campus, you’re drenched in sweat by the time you arrive. These Indian bicycles don’t have much air in their tires—to compensate for the bumpy terrain, I think--so making your way up and down huge hills around campus is slightly grueling.
But I love it. It’s like a constant stream of endorphins all day, including when you take your meals, because EVERYTHING is spicy and causes you to sweat even more. I usually order northern Indian food when we eat out, (i.e. less spicy) and even then there’s the occasional unfortunate that makes its way to the back of your throat and causes tears to start streaming. ..haha. Everything here is intense. That's the best word I've come up with so far, and I think I stole it from my roommate.

Finally, some photos...

A local favorite among students--check out andi and her mad finger-food skills
A group of admirers...we looked up and suddenly were completely surrounded by a group of school children...what can you do, other than sit and smile for the cameras??


me amongst the ruins!


I just like this shot...


The henna I got (running around to the back of my hand as well) at Shilparamam the second night we were here. Sweet, eh?




Wednesday, January 7, 2009

My favorite picture thus far--Hoken, Jens, Andi and Banks at Golconda
While walking around a temple inside Golconda...

wall art next to a shrine



I love this picture because it gives a glimpse of how colorful all of the people here are



From the top of Golconda fort...overlooking the rest of the fort and Hyderabad in the distance



Pictures!

Celebrities at Golconda Fort...so I starting taking pictures of them taking pictures of us!
Michele from Montana and Banks from Richmond in the background, relaxing after lunch at Golconda


An Indian couple playing on the lawn...


View from the top of the Charminar in the middle of the Old City--believe it or not, it was a Sunday and one of the less-busy times in traffic


Monday, January 5, 2009

lessons learned.

I learned a valuable lesson yesterday (Monday): rickshaw drivers are not omniscient. Last night was a wild ride. The seven independents decided we were ready for our first venture into the city without a guide. We had three phones, a map and probably a smidge too much confidence. First lesson learned: never put all the phones in one rickshaw and all the women in the other. All the guys climbed into one rickshaw and took off, while we hopped in one with two drivers who didn’t speak a word of English. (Mistake number 2) We managed to stay with the other rickshaw for about an hour, but with the Indian pop blasting (a special treat for a group of girls, I think) and the drivers preoccupied with finding a good song, we soon lost the men and started to stop in random places on the busy Indian streets to ask for directions. (They asked; we just sat there, exchanging nervous glances.) After about two hours (hard to estimate time because none of us had watches either) we finally decided to just have them take us to a shopping center where we could find some English speakers with directions to food. After assuring these two (friendly) amateurs that we did not need them to wait for us while we shopped, we found some very nice FabIndia employees who directed us to a gorgeous restaurant. It was called “Our Place” and felt like a five star restaurant, dining in an open air garden glittering with lights in all the trees. The waiters not only brought the food, but continued to stand around and plate it for you whenever it looked like you were nearing a clean plate. I had two courses for six dollars (300 rupees) and it was incredible!

Getting home was much less of an adventure. We were discerning this time, and chose rickshaw drivers who spoke more than a smattering of English and who knew what we were talking about when we said “central university near Gachi Bowli”. We made it back in half the time, and after one more round of rate haggling, we staggered onto our bikes inside the gate and made our way back.

The best part of the story, however, was that it wasn’t even ten minutes after we’d arrived that the guys showed up, with an identical story; their rickshaw driver had gotten lost as well, they’d spent a good amount of time driving around looking for us, (we actually passed by each other at one point and both started yelling at the drivers to turn around) and then found a nice restaurant and headed back. So we opened a bottle of wine on the roof and toasted our first venture, deciding to try it again today.

celebrities.

True to my nature, I managed to get lost for a good hour yesterday, cycling aimlessly around campus and missing (what I thought was) my first day of my international relations course. The university is like a maze; our student facilitator Ilika described it as roads that all go everywhere. Yesterday I had my first Thought and Culture of India class at nine, and then after an afternoon of wandering through buildings learned that because we’re in a sort of “festival season” right now, a lot of students won’t be back for another week. So I have one class until next week! Indian professors are so friendly and helpful; yesterday I knocked on four different doors, and they all invited me to come in and sit down and one even ordered me a coffee.

One thing I love about the campus is how there is no shortage of places to be peaceful. There are several beautiful lawns that truly resemble some sort of fondant cake top and then balconies and rooftops and two different lounges in the SIP Guesthouse if you get tired of being stared at.

There’s something else I’ll never get used to. Blond hair and blue eyes really does equal celebrity in the eyes of Indian children.

Sunday was probably the most enjoyable day yet, and I can’t deny that the autographs I was asked for and the pictures taken with me didn’t make the day just a little bit more exciting. Ilika took us seven independent students out for a day of sightseeing and the best food I’ve had yet (all paid for by SIP as well!). We headed into the “old city” where we first climbed the Charminar, which was built in 1591 and is considered the landmark of Hyderabad. A sign at the entrance read “Indian nationals: 5 rupees / foreign visitors: 100 rupees.” Beautiful view of the busy streets below—I’ll get pictures up soon! Then we spent a couple hours in a museum called Salarjung Museum which is a massive collection of all the possessions of Salar Jung III, a former prime minister. He collected everything from children’s toys to the famous statue of the veiled Rebecca. After the museum Ilika took us to a restaurant where each plate had nine or ten different sauces and curries—some from the North so we could alternate with the burning Southern spices—arranged around a bed of rice and chapata bread on banana leaves, followed by dessert and coffee. If you know me, you know how excited I get about new foods; it was heaven, even if sweat was running down my face the entire time!

I thought nothing was going to be better than that restaurant, but then Ilika took us to Golconda Fort. Originally it was a mud fort built by the Kakatiya kings in 1143. However, it was then taken over by the Qutub Shah dynasty and rebuilt. Absolutely massive, it now has 87 semi-circular bastions, eight gateways and four draw bridges. The public is free to walk around the ruins and up to the highest towers overlooking all of Hyderabad. Or you can hang out on the lawns at the foot of the fort, where you’re also most likely to get “mobbed” by sixty school children or groups of giggling adolescent boys, all wanting to have their picture taken with you individually and shake your hand. The toddlers are the sweetest though. Parents prod them to inch closer to us and wish us a happy new year with their gorgeous brown eyes and their mini tunics.
It never failed. If you stand or sit somewhere for more than a minute in the city, you’ll soon be completely surrounded by smiling, waving schoolchildren.

Anyway, after a light show about the history of the fort, we headed for one last destination: a restaurant popular with the students just outside of campus called Kaipula. It resembled a small town biker bar—maybe because a lot of students have mopeds and motorcycles. The meal was delicious but hilarious, because in true Indian fashion, there was no silverware. So you poured some curry onto your rice, mashed it around with your fingers and then proceeded to eat everything—curries, rice, yogurt, fried fish—with your fingers. There must be a technique we haven’t learned yet, because I’m pretty sure every table around us was watching and laughing. Oh well. It was delicious. And you’ll be glad to know, my stomach handled it like a pro.

The Group

Seven of us have kind of fallen into step with each other. There is Justina, my roommate, from North Carolina, Andi—also from NC, Michele from Montana, Jens from Denmark, Banks from Virginia and Hoken from Norway. We all came independently; all the other international students came in groups with scheduled tours and things like that.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Something Substantial

Good morning!
We have a free couple of hours this morning, so a friend and I trekked to the library (about a 20 minute walk). The campus is enormous, and as of yet--quite confusing. I think the map they've given us is slightly outdated--the library isn't even listed. :) But long walks are far from disagreeable! Yesterday we discovered the monkeys--akin to the squirrel population in SD. They're adorable and everywhere!
The campus is also incredibly beautiful--parts of it at least. The disparity is equally as incredible. Right behind our enormous guesthouse is a community of tents where the employees live. Every morning we awake to singing (a call to worship) around 6am.
We take all of our meals in the guesthouse (meaning me and the other exchange students--about 60 in all, although I've only seen about 20 others) and I'm pretty sure it's all prepared with purified water, because I haven't heard any "noises" coming from the bathrooms yet. I still get excited everytime I remind myself that I get to eat nothing but Indian food for the next four months--it's absolutely delicious. After a misjudged bite of something ungodly hot yesterday though, I thought I would have to make a trip to the university clinic, and (in the words of my roommate Justina) have my tongue removed.
Yesterday we spent the late afternoon at an enormous market celebrating a festival, which was crawling with people and craft vendors. I've never seen so many beautiful textiles and carvings and foods. It was held in a park with greens and rock gardens and a river; there was also an amphitheater with entertainment when we got tired of pushing through crowds.
Everyone is so incredibly beautiful--the only rule for dress seems to be "the brighter the better". I had heard that dressing "Indian" would be the best way to go--definitely definitely correct. (And some of you scoffed...) I'm stared at enough for my blond hair--every single person I pass stares for at least 5 seconds.
Dressing Indian is definitely not enough of a disguise though--during my first rickshaw ride to and from the market, (more fun than a rollercoaster!!) we stopped and were immediately invaded by a swarm of beggers with their babies, blessing our feet and grabbing our arms. It probably looked pretty comical--three pasty American girls shouting NO at the beggars and GO at the rickshaw driver, none of which probably understood either. I doubt if Hindi would have worked much better though...
It's hard to write much more, as I haven't quite figured out where I am. My room feels like the hostel in Berlin. Sometimes I feel like a tourist; other times I'm a 5-year old; other times I'm like an animal in a zoo. To everyone here, I'm simply "white". I keep reminding myself of that. And living in the international guesthouse and being herded around on tours and orientation sessions feels a bit like summer camp.
I'm really excited for classes to start, so I can feel like a student.
This afternoon we're headed to the "old city"--the center of Hyderabad, I think. Hopefully I'll be able to start using the real names of everything soon, so this will be a bit more interesting!
I'll get pictures up as soon as we get internet in our rooms.
In the meantime, thanks for reading, many many thanks for your messages and emails, and keep 'em coming. I miss you.

Love always, Alison

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Arrived!

Here's a quick note that will hopefully soon be followed by a proper account of London, new years on the plane and my first few days in Hyderabad. But know that I'm here, I'm safe, and I'm already donning a salwar kameez. So everything is fantastic, and I can't wait to tell you more soon! 
-al-