Bangle Street!

We went back down to Charminar last Sunday afternoon (26/06/11). There is a huge bangle market with of course bangles but there are also pearls and fruit and henna and just about anything you can imagine. Eight of us went down there by public bus. First we get on the bus going the wrong way... Then the correct bus was pretty full but we all got on standing room only. The sweet thing about these buses is that when people want to get on or off they have to hit the bus usually the top when you're inside and the back if you're outside. But most of the time the driver doesn't stop... So, people are constantly jumping on and off. Scary. (don't worry the bus stop for us).

We got off at the correct stop, Koti. Then, we had to get a couple rickshaws to take us the rest of the way to Charminar. We bargain the price down to 50 rupees and he drops us off in the middle of the shopping market right outside of Charminar. The first thing we look for is a pearl ring for Lindsey. The first shop we go into she finds this gigantic pearl and it is only 400 rupees.. I was a little upset because I had bought my pearl ring in a different market for 700 rupees, and mine is about 3 times smaller. Oh well, I bought a pearl in the City of Pearls so its fine. Still a lot cheaper than a pearl in the States. Anyways, Lindsey was so surprised at the price she didn't even try to bargain.

The next thing we needed to buy were bangles. And let me tell you there are SO many shops for bangles I was already overwhelmed and I hadn't started shopping yet. We go into the first store with absolutely gorgeous bangles. Except Indian people have small hands and most of them didn't fit on my wrist.. (and I think I have pretty small hands/wrists...) The salesmen are very persuasive though it took us at least 30 minutes to leave that store.. Not buying anything there, we went to the next store. They were less quality but more quantity.. Don't get me wrong they are very nice just not as nice as the 1500 rupees each at the other place. This time we fell in love with a few and ended up getting ripped off, like usual, in price. I need to learn how to bargain so they take me seriously.

After we spent too much money at the bangle store Lindsey and I started wandering around, saying no to everyone who asked if we needed something...  We were minding our own business when Lindsey says, "I could really go for an ice cream". I nodded in agreement and kept walking. Less than a minute later a women taps me on the shoulder and offers Lindsey and I FREE ICE CREAM! Best day ever. It was mango and cold and delicious. It made up for the extra money we spent at the bangle store. :)

Child Labor Rescue Camp

We went to a child labor camp on Saturday, June 25th 2011. We got there and the leader brought us up into one of the empty classrooms to explain and answer any questions about the camp. It is a privately funded camp for girls. They have volunteers that emerge themselves into urban and rural cultures and find children who are not going to school and then they educate the parents and/or employers about the benefits of an education and once everyone agrees they take the child back to the camp. This camp in particular (there are about 10 in Hyderabad) has about 85 girls. It is almost like college where the children have a place to stay and eat and shower and go to school. The facility was very nice and the children seemed to love it.

After the leader answered all of our questions we split up into 2 groups and went into different classrooms where different age girls were learning. The classroom that I went into they were sitting on the floor reading. Obviously all of the foreigners take out their cameras, bad idea. I took about 5 pictures before I was swarmed by children and my camera was taken captive for about 500 pictures :)

When I finally got my camera back we sat down to eat lunch. My first meal where I had to eat with my hands!! Thank God someone had hand sanitizer... Even so, I tried not to think about what was on my hands as I was eating.. Anyways, while we were eating the children were laughing at us because we couldn't get the food in our mouths! I finally figured out the art of eating with my hands with 5 easy steps :
Step one - mix up the rice and the curry.
Step two - ball up the rice into a bite sized piece.
Step three - with the ball in your fingers lift it to your mouth and use your thumb to push it into your mouth.
Step four - chew and swallow.
Step five - repeat until food is gone.
:)

After lunch we had another hour of camera attacks, this time I tried harder to take more pictures myself. But, as usual I gave into their big eyes and pouting lips..

Still this afternoon was one of the best days in India.. :) I loved it!

Tour of Hyderabad (pg 2)

Chowmahalla Palace was next on the list. This place was extraordinary. I had an infatuation with all the chandeliers and the elaborate decorations inside. We got to see all four palaces that make up the Chowmahalla and explore the gardens outside. People were setting up tables and chairs for what looked like a wedding. Ha! I wish.

The last thing we saw was Golconda Fort, hands down the most gorgeous place of the day. We got there just before sundown so we didn't have a ton of time to explore, but we were able to climb up a little ways and again look out over Hyderabad. There is something so magical and mysterious about ruins and ancient architecture. By this time I was exhausted so Lora and I sat atop what used to be a roof of sorts looking out at the city. We talked about India and what we wanted to get out of this trip and why we came and how we liked it so far (FYI I absolutely LOVE it here.) This is the second time this trip that I have had an internal realization that my life is perfect, and this peace washes over me. Like I am doing exactly what I should be doing at this moment in time.

(pictures to be coming soon!)

Tour of Hyderabad (pg 1)

Our Indian mom, Bhavani, took all of us on a tour of Hyderabad of Saturday June 18th 2011. We piled into a school bus and went to the Salarjung Museum, Kamat Hotel (for lunch), Himalaya Book World, Charminar, Mecca Masji, Chowmahalla Palace, and Golconda Fort.

The Salarjung was a pretty spectacular ancient Indian art Museum. Besides the fact that the display quality was not up to standards the art itself was breath-taking. There were old photographs of Indian kings and political leaders that were fascinating to look at. The mere fact that India still had kings in the 19t and 20th centuries astonishes my naive little mind. The world that they lived in, even today, boggles my mind. The richness of its history yet India's independence happened in 1947.
At 12 o'clock we gathered around this musical clock (not only our group but probably 80 other people) to hear and see the clock strike 12. Our group had no idea what was happened but at noon sure enough this little drummer comes out and hits the drum 12 times and then gets the door slammed in his face. Everyone else was so excited and we were all sitting there confused. This museum is known for the singing clock and people come just to see that. I thought it was kinda strange but entertaining altogether.

After the museum we went to lunch at the Kamat Hotel. I don't really know what I had to eat there I can't tell you the names of food except for rice. There was rice and some red spicy stuff, and some green spicy stuff, some green really spicy stuff, some more spice, and naan. :) One thing is don't like about Indian food is that you don't know how spicy something is before you try it and then you're sweating and your mouth is on fire and you can't do anything about it.

We went to the Himalaya Book store after lunch and I bought a notebook for my Hindi notes and a Hindi to English dictionary. You have to be able to read Hindi in order to figure out the translation. So far I am doing pretty well I can read the words by sounding everything out slowly :)!

Then we went to Charminar, which in English means four towers. It is the most famous monument in all of Hyderabad. We climbed to the top and got to look out over the city, the busy streets and the crowds of people; you could see everything up there. When we were being the tourists that we are and taking pictures we would have an audience of Indian men taking our pictures with their cell phones and watching us intently. I am getting used to it because it happens everywhere we go.

Next we went to the Mecca Masji, which is one of the largest and most impressive mosques in South India. We had to take off our shoes and cover our head and ankles. Only Muslims are allowed inside the mosque but we were able to walk through the outside "hallway" and the courtyard. In the courtyard I was asked by at least 10 people to take pictures with them. I said yes, of course, because it is so hard for me to say no to people. And let's be honest, it's flattering.

Police Station

Before I mentioned having to get an HIV test, no worries I do not have HIV. In order to register with the police in India you must have an HIV test and results done, along with other various paperwork, within 14 days of arrival. So, last Friday, June 17th 2011 22 of us went to the police station in Hyderabad (which used to be the old airport). It was a very long drive about an hour or so in a 9 passenger vehicle which we crammed 11 in each car.. (Also, remember that these are not big, spacious SUVs they fit 9 snugly.) non-air conditioned car. The police station was packed and we didn't really know what we were doing.. our director was frazzled and we were confused. It was very unorganized but we got through it. Although, I didn't technically have to register with the police. There was a mis-communication between teh police and our director saying that if our visa was more than 180 days we had to register, mine is 183. But the way the police see it is that 6 months is 180 days. Only about 6 of the 22 had to actually register...
While we were waiting for everyone to finish up we took out a set of cards and started playing Kings in the Corner. People kept looking over at us and pointing not so secretly. Then our director runs over and tells us that we cannot be playing cards, it is illegal to play cards in public. An officer saw us doing this and was going to do something but the director went to talk with him. So, basically we were considered to be gambling in a police station and almost got arrested for doing it.

Sri Lankan Village

Today, Lindsay and I went out into a Sri Lankan village that is just outside the campus gates. We took our cameras and were just walking around snapping pictures of different things, animals, and people. We went down this alley that roads the front yards of some houses. There were people outside doing various things and this little boy and his mom are standing fairly close to the road in the back of their house. We say hi and try to communicate with them, again not doing the best job of it, and we start taking pictures of the two of them :) he gets bashful and hides behind his mother and starts giggling.. So far this is the best picture of the trip:

We say goodbye and keep strolling around. Then these two little boys run by with their tires and sticks!! The cutest things I have ever seen. They are laughing and playing and trying to get us to play with and follow them.

We stop to take pictures of these ugly looking goats and when we turn around there is this little boy standing at attention about 15 feet behind us. His dad is looking on and smiling and telling him to stand there for us to take his picture. The dad tells him to go thank us and he comes marching over to shake our hands. I almost died of overwhelming cuteness. When he comes over more people start coming out of their houses another little girl stands at attention and poses for us. Then a mother and child and the boy and girl all pose together. They made my week. We tried to communicate with them and they knew some English but all the Hindi I knew at that time was the alphabet...

The Train, The Buddha, The Temple

This weekend has been surprisingly busy. On Thursday 6 of us decided to take a day trip to see the Buddha. Adventure number one. We all hopped into one rickshaw and they took us to a train station. We jumped on the train for 3 rupees (about 7 cents). The trains here are still segregated so the 4 girls got into their car and the guys got on theirs. On the train we met a few beggers, a family with precious children, and my first real smells of India. The first 3 images are the beggers.

This is the little girl who would pose for me :)

 and this is her older brother

This family helped us get off the train at the right stop. If they hadn't been able to communicate with us we would've gotten off at the stop before. Thank God they are teaching little children English in school... I feel so uneducated when I try to communicate with the locals. (Which is why I just bought an English to Hindi dictionary - that's another day though)
We get off the train at the correct stop, Necklace Road, and two girls have to go to the bathroom. So, while they paid 2 rupees to go to the bathroom the rest of us are just sitting in the train station waiting for them. One of the ladies who is collecting money for the bathroom comes over to me and tries to talk with me. Motioning and trying to use body language to communicate. It wasn't doing any good. I had no idea what she was saying, what I got out of it was that she wanted either chocolate or money. I don't really know.. another reason to get a Hindi-English dictionary. So, I gave her 2 rupee and we went on our way.
One thing that I have noticed about this country is that the contrast between old and new, rich and poor. There is a shack next to a nice house or a out of date car next to a brand new ford. A horse buggy and a rickshaw. Tradition and modernization are living hand in hand. That is what I love about the people here. They, my friends, have things together. Their priorities are right. I will probably write a whole blog about this topic but back to my adventures.
We walked around Necklace Road to find the ferry that would take us to the island that housed the Buddha. We found a little amusement park and went inside for no good reason other than to explore :). Little did we know it was there where we get on the ferry to the Buddha. We found some other amusing things to do while we waited for the boat.
We got gelatto :) yummmmmm, (Scott, Lindsay, Rachael, and Lora)

Ryley rode a bull,

and Scott rode the spaceship?

Once we had our fun the boat arrived and we all got on. It was looking like it was going to rain so we hurried onto the boat for cover.

Right as we got onto the boat and sat down the rain started. And it didn't just start sprinkling it  poured. Out of no where the sky opened up and dumped the rain on Hyderabad. It poured the entire ride to the island and while we were there it let up a little bit. So, we had to run out of the boat and situate ourselves to get pictures and then run back to the boat.

Once, we left the island the sun started to shine and the rain stopped.. just our luck. But oh well we got our pictures and that's all we really needed on the island. A little better than my family trip to Mount Rushmore :). Our next adventure was trying to get a rickshaw to take us to the temple. We flagged one down and tried to haggle our price down and we finally got it down to 70 rupee when it should've been 20 rupee but we're foreigners so we must pay extra.

We got to the Temple and had to hide our cameras and shoes in our purses so we didn't have to check them. Barefoot and camera-less the 6 of us went in the temple. The entire thing was marble (very slippery surface) beautiful. Standing on one of the bridges of the temple over looking the entire city of Hyderabad was the most majestic view I have ever seen. The sounds of the city were drown out by Hindu prayers and I was able to tune things out and just reflect on the fact that I am in India. India the place I have dreamed about but never thought I'd go, I am here. Finally.

There was a market on the way up to the temple and I got a few bangles and things there. But the view was gorgeous on the way down the sky was the prettiest colors.

After a very exhilarating rickshaw ride back to the train station, we were almost home free. At the train station, as in most train stations, there is a line that you're not supposed to cross when a train is incoming. Well.. my friend Ryley had his back turned to the incoming train standing over that line. The train comes whizzing through and a man grabs Ryley and yanks him out of the way. If this guardian angel was not starting at us because we are white Ryley's head wouldn't have exploded on the side of the train! Too close of a call. I am sure that won't happen to any of us ever again.