Aman Shanti

We went on a field trip to the Henry Martin Institute. HMI is a center for interfaith relations. It's an excellent example of an organization with an original negative goal (converting Muslims to Christianity) morphing over time into an organization with an admirable goal (creating interfaith understanding in a multifaceted community).

They had a school, a health clinic, and a vocational school.


On an unrelated note, there are a few cautionary nibs I'd like to throw out.

Don't get hit by a bus.


Don't loose your ears in a dog fight.


And don't go see a majestic 17 meter statue of Buddha, which was painstakingly carved from one piece of granite by 40 sculptors and then brought to and dropped in the center of a lake only to be recovered five years later if you are really really tired.


Today's Meal- chai three times a day

Today's Deal- Aman Shanti school and cats in trees

Today's Reel- a solicited photo of a girl from the Aman Shanti school

Thank Joyce for Araby

School has started. I'm learning an alphabet and going to classes and riding an orange bicycle and frequenting the yoga center.

But that's not interesting. What is interesting is festivals.

Festivals here are scheduled according to the lunar calendar. (A lunar calendar which disappointed me by forcing the biggest solar eclipse of the century to appear during a monsoon). We went to Bonalu at a Hindu temple that was 1000 years old. It's the celebration of Mahakali, which includes making food and animal sacrifices.

This was interesting because technically, Hinduism does not condone killing animals or eating meat. Kavitha explained to me that it was a traditional practice, which really had little to do with religious premises and everything to do with tradition.

Regardless, it was interesting. We went in one room at the temple which was made entirely of mirrors with lights in the mirrors. In the center of the room was a silver swing which was said to be a goddess's bed. We also learned about leaving bangles and coconuts to make a wish.

Today's Meal- Dosa Day. (please, no comments about having a double dosa)

Today's Deal- The solar eclipse of a century was hidden behind clouds.

Today's Reel- Animal sacrifice

You can make much electricity from this

In the past few days, I've been all over the city, registered with the police, seen a one woman play about being transsexual in India, and viewed Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

We had a touristy day and went to all the main sites in Hyderabad. A quick history of the area shows that Hyderabad traditionally had a Hindu population with Muslim rulers until power changes happened with the Mongols and the British.

First we went to the tombs of the kings. They are called the Qutb Shahi tombs and each ruler had a huge monument built to house his body. Here's an example.
It was really windy for awhile. We tried to walk against the wind but got stuck for a minute.
After the Qutb Shahi tombs, we went to the Chowmahalla Palace. It was sweet. There were lush decorations everywhere, and it was set on huge grounds. There was even a collection of antique cars. We had lunch inside the palace dining room. The people there were really nonchalant. When it came time for tea, we were sitting outside, so they just brought it out.

We also went to see the city's biggest, oldest mosque as well as the Charminar. The Charminar was a monument built by the rulers when they moved from Golgotha fort to the more spacious old city in Hyderabad. Here is a picture of Charminar.
We also went to Golconda Fort, where the sultan lived until moving to the old city. It reminded me of London Tower a little bit. We watched a historic light show there. It was sweet. There were lots of people with cameras there since it was a historic sight. It became blatantly obvious that white people are a spectacle because the Indian tourists took pictures of us. It was pretty funny. Some of the groups asked to take a picture with us, and I felt a little bit as though Golconda was Disney World and I was in a Gene costume.

Here is a view from the top of Golconda.
Anyway, Harry Potter was awesome, sightseeing was sweet, and one woman plays are always a favorite.

So...

Today's Meal- lunch at a legitimate palace

Today's Deal- Sightseeing and Harry Potter

Today's Reel- My roommate Sara and I getting ready to go out in our Salwars.

Transportation Nation

Transportation is probably important, so yesterday we decided to figure it out. There are three types of transport for local ventures: autorickshaw, tuk tuk (a smaller autorickshaw), and bus. We practiced by taking the bus, although some in our group practiced by taking the other two transports.
I got to sit next to some characters on the bus. One man asked me my name and then told me his was Bond. James Bond. Then I got to sit next to two little girls who smiled and giggled with me. We tried to talk, but I ended up just entertaining them with my camera.

After figuring out the transportation system, we went to see a Hindi movie called Morning Walk. It was a romantic dramady with lots of song and dance. The movie theater we went to was niiice. There were cushy velvet seats and no rubble on the floor, despite everyone leaving their trash at the end of the show. I've rarely seen such a nice cinema in America. I don't think I've ever seen so much security though: five checks on the way in.

We also went to a swanky restaurant, heavy on the swank. I met a Catalan woman on the plane who told me that at first glance, India isn't nice because the government hasn't finished completing efficient, clean roads and buildings everywhere. However, she said, India is nicer than much of the rest of the world when you look at privately owned and cared for facilities.

I think she was on to something.

Today's Meal- swanky food at a swanky restaurant

Today's Deal-figuring out navigation and transportation

Today's Reel- Sumitra (one of our peer tutors) and myself on a bus--compliments of Lucia Maldonado-Medina

Jet Lagged and Sultry

Sultry means humid here, in case the title wasn't clear.

Today we went on a bus journey through Hyderabad and listened to an Indian-Western fusion band play. The tabla player could move the beats faster than I have ever seen.

I took a few pictures in the city.

Also, groups of white people get stared at a lot. Feeling like a minority is a strange sensation. One bus of high school students were waving at us.

Today's Meal- Riiiiice (and ice cream)

Today's Deal- I got to see the city for the first time.

Today's Reel- Gandhi in the sky

So I'm in India

I've just arrived in Hyderabad twelve hours ago, and it already looks like this is going to be fun. The plane rides showed me many things including the movie "He's just not into you" which actually kind of prolonged the flight. I kept meeting people who hung out and helped me in all the airports. It seemed like everyone and their mother were heading to India (or Frankfurt) from Louisville. And so, two days (in date, not time) after I left, I arrived.

This morning some other CIEE students and I went to explore the campus. I saw a curly horned cow with a heron sitting on top of it. That struck me as awesome. The buildings look very nice, and on the way back, we passed a school of children. They asked us to play throw ball with them. It was really fun. I had never played. Two teams stand on either side of a volleyball net and hurl the ball to the other side. If it hits the ground, the other team scores. My team won, but definitely not because of my own athleticism. Then the kids asked us to sing them a song and teach them a dance. We sang some Jackson 5 and some Smash Mouth and then they sang some songs in Hindi as well as some church songs. Everybody could disco. The kids all had awesome names that I had trouble pronouncing. They said we could come back and play with them another day.

All in all, a good first twelve hours.

Today's Meal--breakfast (oatmeal/banana better than camp food) and airline food (also better than camp food)

Today's Deal--sweet throw down sport session with school kids

Today's Reel--sorry I didn't take a picture yet.