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 I think the map they've given us is slightly outdated--the library isn't even listed.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