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.