Rock Walk

When you hear the phrase "rock walk", what comes to mind?


My peer language tutor told us that he was in a club called "Save the Rocks Society" that aims to protect the beautiful natural boulders found across the region, and even right here on campus. He said he would take us on a "rock walk" one day to see them, and we all thought that would be cool. Maybe we would walk around campus and he would point to interesting boulder configurations and explain how they got that way. Or, maybe he'd tell us about what was endangering these natural beauties and how his club tries to save them. Maybe we'd take some back roads and see pretty boulders hidden from view on the main streets. Thats what I thought I was getting myself into when I headed out around 2:45 pm yesterday to meet the group at the sports complex.

To our surprise, around eight other Indian students showed up to come along, so we had a very solid group of about 15 by the time the monsoon had passed and we were ready to take off.  The walk began on a very overgrown trail that required stepping over huge piles of cow droppings, bending under branches, and maneuvering around thorns. After about ten minutes of such trekking, we found ourselves in more open terrain-- a mixture of tall grasses, scattered trees, occasional thorns, and absolutely breathtaking boulders. They came in all shapes and sizes-- some were partially buried and so they appeared to be part of the earth, and we couldn't grasp just how large they really were. Others were stacked on top of each other in ways that looked like someone had strategically plopped them down.. it was so hard to believe this was all natural.  There actually was one spot where someone had cut the rock and created an amazing little temple (no one knows who or when). And, then from the tops of the peaks, we could see the fifth largest city in India, right there!! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so the photos you see here are all downloaded from friends. I may post more pics later as I get them. 

We hiked around this wilderness, yet still technically on campus grounds, for an exhilarating and exhausting 4 hours! So, it turns out "rock climb" may have been a better descriptor for this afternoon activity. When we would get to a rock configuration, my tutor Tariq would say "Ok, everyone find a way up!" We would stare at the huge boulders in front of us and start finagling into tiny spaces between stacked boulders, pulling each other onto huge ledges and sprinting up 70 degree angles. Once on the tops of the peaks, we were literally up in the clouds, looking out at the campus and city and looking down at the treetops all around.  


I could not help but think... In America, we would have been required to wear long pants and hiking boots (not to mention, probably helmets), carry 2 liters of water each, and sign all sorts of waivers and liability forms. But we were not even told what we would be doing! There was one girl who climbed incredible peaks in fashion sandals that had absolutely zero traction! I kept thinking.. if there is an emergency, there is no way for us to rush to a hospital or get immediate medical care. Sometimes it feels like, in India, anything goes-- So, I embraced that mentality and got climbing!!

The Indian students in this "Save the Rocks" club do this kind of thing all the time. They don't need a Wii gaming system to simulate bowling... they have go find adventures on their campus. It was really incredible to watch these fearless guys climb a peak knowing the only way down was to jump 12+ feet to the next closest rock. I often found myself cringing and looking away, scared I was about to watch someone pancake onto the ground. But, we all made it through the afternoon alive! 


And the scraped up ankles, shaky weak muscles, and mosquito bites galore were all well worth this incredible experience. Did I mention... we saw wild goats, boars, dogs, snakes, poisonous lizards, and 8-inch centipedes (which an Indian student proceeded to capture in a water bottle and carry around all afternoon). Yes, there were multiple occasions when I had to cringe and look away. But hey, why go across the world if you're not willing to push your limits a little and try new things!

By the end, we Americans were starting to lose it. We were tired, hungry, and getting nervous about the quickly approaching monsoon clouds. Not to mention, my family didn't know where I was because I left my bag safely waiting at the dorm! It was a bit disconcerting that we literally had NO idea where we were in relation to main campus. So, by 6:30 we convinced the Indian students that we should walk back. Tariq led the way, and we could not believe that he knew where he was going. Everything looked the same, and it seemed like he was making arbitrary turns. But somehow, after 40 minutes of brisk hiking, we popped out by the mens hostle, around the corner from where our journey had begun that afternoon.  


By this point, it was storming and dark out.  My bike is broken, so I borrowed my friends, only to discover that it was way too small and had a flat tire. So, my bone-tired legs rode that impossible little thing through the rain, in the dark, back to Tagore to get my stuff... only to realize that I had no way to get to the gate (3 kilometers away) where I would get a bus or rickshaw back to my homestay! Wet, exhausted, and a little fed up, I swallowed the cost and called a cab. Sometimes, security and peace of mind are priceless, and I had had enough adventure for one day. You can only imagine how great it felt to arrive home safely, get clean, shovel down dinner, and sit with the fam.

He then pulled himself up onto that rock on the right, and stood in that great big monsoon cloud before jumping across that gap, back onto the boulder on the left, still above all the trees.

Home Away From Home

This week, I moved out of the Tagore International House and into my homestay. I am living with an English professor, his wife, and his mother. They have kindly taken in Suzanne, Kyla, and myself, plus a PhD student who has been living here for a while. The house is both spacious and homey, and the family is better than I ever could have imagined. They are a traditional Indian family, but have traveled in the US a bit and have been hosting students since 2000, so there aren't many real cultural barriers. We call them "Uncle" and "Auntie", which feels so endearing and adorable. Adorable is truly the best way to describe this lovely, generous couple. They have been married for 36 years and are clearly so in love. They share a great sense of humor and have already been very helpful with teaching us about Indian culture and helping our Hindi pronunciations. Every day, we have breakfast and dinner as a family, and after dinner, we sit in the living room in a yoga position on our knees.  The posture is supposedly good for digestion, and its definitely good for some quality evening family time. Suzanne, Kyla and I are very quickly learning to eat with only our right hand, a messy process when dealing with the rice-based diet. And, I am also officially supplying my own toilet paper :) All and all, I could not be happier with my choice to live in a home!

I made a little video tour of our part of the house. I didn't want to disturb the fam and walk around video taping the whole house like a freak, so this is just a taste. Not included is the downstairs floor, which features the kitchen, living room, study, 2 bedrooms, the prayer room, and the laundry room. Just use your imagination. Also, it took around an hour to upload this 2 minute video.. cool internet connection, India! Hope you all enjoy!!

My name was drawn out of a hat for the single!! I am so fortunate and grateful be here!

Exploring Hyderabad

This weekend, orientation ended with a bang! 

On Friday, we had a "mock drill," and no one really knew what to expect. Basically, we were split into groups and raced to different locations across campus. When we got there, a volunteer gave us a card that said it was a code red in the city and on campus, which means we have to call our directors and tell them we are safe. But, the card also specified that two of the team members could not use their own or their group members' phones, just for an added twist. So these individuals had to run around trying to find land lines and asking people on campus to borrow their phones. Once we had all checked in, we had to race back to the Study in India Program building. Everyone got pretty competitive, but we definitely had a good time, and my team got second place! 

You see this everywhere.. "Andhra Pradesh" crossed out and replaced
with the state that the movement hopes to form, "Telegana."

The idea of the exercise was to have a fun and memorable lesson on the importance of calling the program and reporting our whereabouts during periods of high risk in the area. As some of you may or may not be aware, there is a good amount of political turmoil in Hyderabad, as a movement called Telagana fights for independence from the state of Andhra Pradesh. Sometimes, the whole city goes into strike-- public transportation stops, roads are blocked, stores close, etc. The University doesn't close during one of these lock downs, but our program discourages us from going off campus, and most professors aren't able to make it through the city to school. Based on my experiences, the Telegana movement is much more present than any political cause in the United States.  I had protestors interrupt my class, asking students to join their march through campus, and signs cover the city. It's very interesting living history, and I am excited to learn more about the movement while here!

So, back to my weekend. Saturday was the first day so far when we have had absolutely nothing scheduled. I had a GREAT run in the morning, and then decided to get off campus for the afternoon. So, a large group of CIEE students headed to a coffee shop and hookah lounge called Mocha. It took us a little while to find it, but when we got there, it was well worth the journey! They had dozens of different coffee brews, and an extensive offering of milkshakes, fruit smoothies, and homemade juices, not to mention all kinds of food! We were seated in this private-ish room on the second floor with huge windows, so it felt like we were in a treehouse overlooking the city. We immediately ordered drinks and some food and camped out for the afternoon! We had good eats, good company, great ascetics, and even brought our books-- what could be better!! 

Nom Nom Nom

While hanging out, the waiter came in with this amazing looking chocolate dessert and we all stared as he set it down a table where two young men were sitting. We couldn't help but subtly eye them as they devoured the incredible looking chocolate concoction. Eventually, one of my friends got up and asked them what they had ordered, and said it looked good, and maybe we'd have to get one ourselves. The boys left about ten minutes later, and after another ten had passed, the waiter came in with another "Chocolate Avalanche" and set it in front of us. Apparently, we hadn't been so subtle! The waiter reported that the men who just left had bought it for us! A second later, they called the restaurant to confirm that it had been delivered-- we took the phone to thank them ourselves, and they wished us a great stay in Hyderabad. Our group of nine girls consumed this dessert in approximately 30 seconds flat, but we felt simply over the moon with happiness all afternoon. The men had not spoken to us or asked for our numbers.. it was truly an 100% act of human kindness, from one sweet tooth to another! No strings attached, just chocolate!! One girl just couldn’t get over it, and kept spontaneously announcing, “This is the best day of my life!!” for the rest of the day. We stayed at Mocha for a while longer and kept ordering more snacks, soaking in this hip Indian hang-out. We got back to campus using the very crowded and intimidating public bus system, and I was so proud that we navigated the busiest part of the city without CIEE hovering around!

Sunday brought another adventure-- Khojo Hyderabad, meaning "Search Hyderabad."  CIEE outsourced to an organization called Travel and Trek that planned an all-day, amazing-race-esq scavenger hunt across the city.  They were really building up the competition, and some of us were starting to feel nervous and uncomfortable with the pressure and excessive cash prices. So, before the day began, we decided that no matter who won, we would split the prize money and just have a good time. While our coordinators would not be thrilled if they knew our scheme, we ended up having a very bonding day! 

My team was myself, Karen and Suzanne, and we had to bargain for rickshaws to get from location to location, gaining points for speed and haggling skills. At each location, we had a task that usually involved exploring the given tourist attraction and interacting with tour guides and locals. We went to a school where widows, historically ostracized in Indian society, are taught to weave and their children are sent to school. The fabric is so incredibly intricate that it takes an entire day to do just two inches! We also went to a school to learned Indian “tie and dye”, a train station to practice buying tickets, a Heritage House to see a beautiful 150 year old Indian home, and the giant Buddha statue in the middle of the lake.  It was an interesting and exhausting day.  

At the Heritage House. Note the excited expressions.

Unfortunately, we all had to wear matching tan polos and listen to a barking woman about the “game” and “rules” and “points,” so everyone was ready to quit when we finally made it back to campus before dinner. They announced winners (and the very strange scale used to calculate points), and we all secretly split the money to get 1,500 rupees each. That’s a free $34 in my pocket, and it will go very far in India. What’s up kupa/communal-living values all the way in India!?!

On one hand, I need a-whole-nother weekend to recover from this one! But on the other hand, I feel much more confident and comfortable in my new city, Hyderabad!

Meet Tanvi.

Tanvi is the three-year old daughter of my Hindi teacher, who lives in the Tagore International House as a Resident Coordinator. She's the sweetest lady and does henna for all the girls on Friday evenings. She basically lets Tavni run wild in the dorm all afternoon, evening, and night... making for one independent, entertaining child. We have so much fun playing with Tanvi and she is going to have GREAT english skills by the time she hits kindergaden. We had fun with Photobooth last night....  

In this one, you can kind of tell that she's a closet terror child. 

The Art of Haggling

Since arriving in India, I have done A LOT of haggling. Taxis do not have meters and many shops do not have set prices, resulting in a sometimes thrilling, sometimes frustrating game between the vendor and the patron. From storeowners to rickshaw drivers, everyone is trying to rip off clueless foreigners.

As strange as it sounds, there are a lot of perks to being Caucasian in Hyderabad… excellent service and lots of compliments and positive attention.  Until coming to India, I did not fully realize the extent to which whiteness is seen as ideally beautiful in many parts of the world. Women in India try to stay as fair as possible, and even have bleaching lotions similar to our rub-on tans.

So, there are lots of positives to being White in India, but haggling is NOT one of them. As soon as a street vendor sees my face, they start screaming at me to come look at the merchandise. “Come look!” “Looking is free!!” “Discount for you, Ma’am!!” Rickshaw drivers have literally driven next to my friends and I while we walk down the street, yelling, “Where you going ma’am? I take you!!”  If I am actually interested in what a vendor is screaming about, they really try and sell it. “All cotton, ma’am! All real cotton!!” “Hand made! I made all of these!!” “Excellent prices!”  If I ask what an item costs, I immediately get the tourist price, which is around 2-3 times what a local would pay. I then say that it is way too much, and name a lower, more reasonable price. This starts the game.

Sometimes I walk away, because they will not lower the price enough, or I am not interested in the item. Occasionally, they let me go, but other times, they chase me down the street yelling that they will take my price.  Walking away can be a great ploy in haggling, even when my real intention is to terminate the transaction. But, other times it is easier, and we reach a settlement somewhere between each of our original requests. This back and forth can still get a little painful. “My family must live off of this, ma’am, I cannot go below 200 Rps!!” “Only one item? I will give it for 150 if you buy two!”  As an amateur haggler, I often made the mistake of naming a reasonable price to start. This means that our settlement will be between my reasonable price and their outrageous one.  Don’t worry, I am learning quick!

This weekend, me and some friends went to this big shopping arena called Shilparamam (say that five times fast). Artists and vendors rent out little tent spaces that go on as far as the eye can see. You pay 25 rupees (around 50 cents) to enter the center so that beggars will not be inside the premises stealing or bothering customers. This shopping experience really put our haggling skills to the test. I did a lot of talk, but didn’t go through with many purchases. I want to do my real gift shopping after I have been here for a while. That way, I can haggle in Hindi and they will take me more seriously. And, I won’t just buy the first cool-ish thing that I see. For the two items that I did buy, I think that I probably got ripped off, but not too badly.  It was harder than I expected. I do not want to be taken advantage of, but I also do not want to rip off a starving artist, especially when I know that I have so much more than they do!

Yesterday, my friend Suzanne and I were headed to the mall for the afternoon to pick up a few things, and we were determined to pay a local price for the rickshaw ride. We figured it was a fun challenge, and there is much less guilt in ripping off a sleazy rickshaw driver. On the way there, we squished in with two Indian men headed the same direction, and paid 50 rupees total—a record deal! We were so proud of ourselves! And, we had a great afternoon at the mall… I got liquid detergent, a watch, some school supplies, etc.

On the way back, all of the rickshaw drivers outside the mall would not go lower than 100 Rupees to take us back to campus!  They could see that we had no other way to get back, that we only spoke English, and that we had enough money to be shopping at the mall. What’s worse is that there were around twelve or more rickshaws around, but all of the drivers came over to us at once when we indicated that we needed a ride. So, it was Suzanne and I haggling against twelve aggressive Indian men. We kept insisting that we had gotten to the mall for 50 rupees and that it was only two of us, but they said that the number didn’t matter because it was the same distance. We couldn’t believe it—drivers have ALWAYS charged us extra per-person in the past! We tried walking across the street to start over, but the drivers were screaming to each other in Telugu (or could have been Hindi) and conspiring against us!

Finally, one driver beckoned us over and said that he would take us for 80, the price that we had been demanding. We were grateful (and running a little late at this point), so we hopped in and hit the road. But soon, we found ourselves on some strange back roads, and realized that this driver had no idea where he was going! And we couldn’t get his attention, because he was BLASTING Hindi pop music in the back of the rickshaw and didn’t seem to understand English. When it became very clear that he was lost, he turned back to us and kind of just shrugged. At this point, we were really nervous. We told him to go to Gachibowli Stadium, a huge sports complex near campus that most people in the area know. He understood that, and set out in the correct direction.

When we got to Gachibowli, he tried to kick us out of the rickshaw! We attempted to explain that we were going to direct him the rest of the way, but we ended up just screaming “Keep going!!” and pointing forwards aggressively. We directed him another 2 or 3 miles that felt like the longest stretch of my life. He kept pulling over and trying to kick us out or raise the price… apparently, he agreed to 80 rupees without knowing how far we needed to go, and at this point he wanted 150!  Eventually, Suzanne and I were getting scared, so we had him pull over and let us out on a dirt road most of the way to our dorm on campus. You can imagine his confusion when, after all that, our final destination had no actual buildings in sight. But, we handed him a 100 rupee bill, and BOOKED IT back to our dorm!

Thankfully, he didn’t follow us! On the walk back, we discovered that we had both been silently thinking over possible worse case scenarios and potential escape routes. Good thing I have emergency numbers in our new cell phones and Suzanne was carrying a pocket knife! And, we are both water polo players and decided that we definitely could have taken him! But I don’t think he was actually dangerous, just angry that he wasn’t making bucks off the tourists.

So, in the end, I learned that it feels stupid to pay too much, and feels scary to pay too little. With lots of practice at the art of haggling, I am hoping to start getting it right!

From Bollywood to Bonalu!

Woo, second post in one day.. look at me rock the bloggin!

Yesterday, my CIEE group went to a matinee showing of the Bollywood film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, meaning You Won't Get Life Again. However, its unfair for me to give you the English translation, seeing as we watched this entire Hindi movie without subtitles! Even so, I got the main points of the plot, and our peer language tutors were dispersed throughout the group to answer questions and explain jokes.  

The movie was about three best friends that go on a 'male bonding road trip' to Spain. There were a few amazing scenes of scuba diving, the Tomatina festival, the running of the bulls, and even sky diving. And, of course, there were some over the top dancing/singing scenes as well.  All and all, I think it must have been like a 3 hour movie! But, as in Israel, there was an intermission half way through, and we all got Pepsi (sorry Emory) and popcorn.  The halftime interlude is not the only odd thing about the India movie theater experience... the theater and screen are about three times the size of those in the US, each ticket has an assigned seat, crying babies and answering phone calls are acceptable in the theater during the movie, and the crowd cheers/whistles when famous actors make their first appearance or the plot takes an exciting turn. Then again, you would cheer too if you saw this HUNK and ROCKING dancer, Hrithik Roshan (center stud)! He is my first Indian celebrity crush! So, even though we missed some of the humor and plot, all agree that this definitely will not be our last Bollywood experience. 

Today was another, more spiritual, experience of Indian culture. We went to the Jubliee hills Peddamma temple to celebrate the Hindu festival of Bonalu.  Basically, it is a holiday dedicated to the goddess of power, to appease her by saying thanks (offerings and sacrifices) and making vows (that  you will be devoted if you get certain wishes granted).

At the temple, we took off our shoes and waited in a long line that reminded me of waiting for a ride at an amusement park. I have some photos of the outside, but we couldn't bring cameras into the actual temple.  You'll just have to believe me when I say-- the interior of the structure was amazingly colorful and ornate. When we got to the front of the line, we entered the little shrine (maybe 12 by 8 feet).  The lightbulbs shone red and the whole place smelled like incense and candles. It was pretty cool, and so interesting to see the locals praying to the goddess and celebrating the festival.

After we left the physical temple, there were people all around celebrating with an infinite number of different rituals and traditions, each with a long history and rationale. Kavitha patiently explained soooo much interesting tradition to us while we gathered round (and Indians took this as an opportunity to take out their cell phones and get pictures of the big group of foreigners at the temple).  We opted out of some festival activities, like animal sacrifice, but engaged in a few others. I tied a special blessed piece of string around a special kind of tree to make a wish for good luck in my future! Then, all the girls got their feet painted with bright yellow turmeric. This tradition has both spiritual and biological value in maintaining good health (something to do with the acidic turmeric fighting bacteria or parasites on the feet of women wading in dirty water and working barefoot in the house/kitchen). Interestingly, you have to do all of these rituals with your right hand, as the left hand is seen as unclean and impure. It seems so wrong for me, having grown up in the leftist movement Habonim Dror that emphasizes using your left hand! What living anthropology!!

As you can tell, I am definitely loving orientation! Other exchanges students have been arriving from across the US and Europe. Its nice to have some new faces around the Tagore International House! Most of these students are on much larger, less structured programs, and ours has been described as doing too much "hand-holding." But, I am so grateful to have gotten here with nearly two weeks to adjust before classes, and I love that we have been able to familiarize ourselves with Indian customs and the city of Hyderabad with the security and wisdom of generous locals. The CIEE staff really is the greatest.. all three of them are caring and knowledgeable, each with a great sense of humor. Sometimes, I feel like they are our little camp counselors! And it has been so fun to be like a camper again :)

Indian Kids Do the Darndest Things!

Since being in India, I have seen some of the most adorable little Indian children! To the left is Kavitha, my CIEE program director, and her adorable 2 year-old, Happy. The residential director in the dorm has a 3 year-old daughter named Tanvi that is the literal princess of the Tagore International House. I'm sure I will get a picture of her soon. She provides us with endless entertainment and we wear her out before bedtime every night.

Besides our great new little Indian friends, I love seeing all of the adorable toddlers out in the city. Just riding on the bus, we see street kids playing cricket on the side of the road and little toddlers romping around pants-less between tents. At the Hindu temple this morning, the little girls were dressed up in the most beautiful tiny Indian outfits. For whatever reason, a lot of the babies and toddlers were wearing thick, black, dramatic eyeliner. I didn't want to stick my camera into the families' faces, but it was really different looking. The most common spectacle is to have a kid walk up to you, reach out their hand, and say "Hi, my name is _____."  We usually shake their hand and reply with our name, and their whole family looks on and laughs and snaps photos.  I think that they want to have conversation and take photos just because it is so strange/exceptional to see white people, especially girls, especially in such a large group, especially in Indian clothing.

My favorite thing to spot on the streets is small children riding motorcycles.  While this would probably be seen as abusive/neglectful parenting in the US, in India, it is just how some families get around. At first, I would laugh out loud and point every time I saw this goofy visual, and for the past two days, I have been trying to snap photos! So, here is a little photo series of Indian youngings on their motorcycles. (Sorry, most of these were taken while moving on a public bus.)

My cell phone is a BRICK...

....but it'll get the job done! My number is (916) 015- 8977, and first you have to dial India's country code, which I think is #01191. Its not too expensive for me to call and text, but it probably will be for you all if you do not have an international plan. So for the most part, call or text me (expensive) just to coordinate when I should call or skype you (affordable). It feels great to re-enter the 21st century!

One week, infinite observations!

I have been in India for about one week now, but I feel as though I could already post a novel about all that I have seen, heard, tasted, smelled, and experienced-- from meeting my fellow students, to learning my first Hindi phrases. In attempts to not write forever, I am going to post a few observations that stand out in my mind, to give you a taste for the miraculous world around me. Now, where to start?!

• As you can see in my previous post, we already went shopping for Indian clothing. In fact, it was a built-in afternoon activity for the third day of orientation. We took a bus to a store called Fab India, and CIEE paid 3500 ruppees a student so that everyone could buy two outfits. Fab India has really nice, kind of Westernized Indian styles... definitely more expensive than shopping at the street markets, but you don't have to haggle for a price. We had so much fun in the store!! We were there for nearly three hours trying on different combinations of shirts, pants, and scarfs and having a little fashion show displaying our options to each other.  The colors are all magnificent, but we definitely need to get used to the different fit of the clothing. 
• The weather here is absolutely splendid. It is 70-80 degrees every day, sometimes with a nice breeze, sometimes with some afternoon showers. So far, we have only had one day that comes close to what I imagined to be monsoon season. We spent one day outside touring the city, and it did get pretty hot in our layers of modest Indian clothing, but nothing worse than a July day in DC!
• Since the weather is so amazing, the buildings around campus aren't completely separate from the outdoors, like in the US. Until my home-stay starts in a few weeks, I am staying where the rest of the students will spend the whole semester, in the Tagore International House. The building has several massive decks, and the entire roof is accessible! The Study in India Program building, where there are some special classes for international students, literally has a grassy square lawn in the middle of the structure. The University's School of Social Sciences (where I will obviously spend plenty of time) is also a half indoor, half outdoor space. I think it is so cool that I will be in class breathing fresh air and using natural lighting. While this openness does mean more mosquito bites (and a little lizard in my dorm room!!!), I really like feeling continually in touch with the environment. Here are some pictures so you can get more of an idea.

This is what most of the hallways look like in the social sciences building

You can see right through the wall to a courtyard, and then another side of the building

Theres just not wall at all here.. can walk down the hall and onto that roof

This is a courtyard on the ground floor- four walls inclose this little garden, but its open to the sky above!

Sorry to photo-bomb this one.. but cool, huh?!

• Besides exploring campus, I have also gotten a pretty good feel for the area surrounding the University, called Gachibowli. You can see stainless steal high-rises, with a neighborhood made out of bamboo and tarps right in front! Every building is so unique looking, and painted in bright colors, like orange and mint green. And there's a body of water running through the city.. which looks beautiful and smells horrific. We had the afternoon off yesterday, and we took a rickshaw to the mall.. which was QUITE an experience! Auto-rickshaws are these tiny little vehicles with one wheel in the front and two in the back, a windshield and roof, but no siding. Traffic operates differently here-- no speed limits, just go the speed you can to get by. There are no real lane lines, motorcycles, rickshaws, and cars of all sizes scoot by each other wherever possible, sometimes leaving just a few inches of space between vehicles. And the horn is used haphazardly, just to make all other drivers aware of your presence. Of course, i LOVED riding in the rickshaw.. kind of felt like we were on a roller coaster ride! The driver could tell that we were having the time of our life, so he weaved through traffic and abused his horn just to show off.  Unfortunately, driving the whole group in the tour bus in this traffic is much less enjoyable.  Once, the bus went over two HUGE bumps entirely too quickly. Two students in the very back of the bus actually hit their heads on the ceiling! 
• We spent yesterday seeing the big tourist sites of Hyderabad. Here are a few pictures of all we saw!

The Qutab Shahi Tombs

Charminar (Hyderabad's most well known monument)

The whole group and one "Peer Language Tutor" (translator) with Charminar in the background. (Heads are covered because we were at a huge Mosque called Mecca Masjid.)

Chowmohalla Palace

Golconda Fort

A view of Hyderabad from Golconda Fort

• Last night, we went to dinner at this amazing five star hotel for the official CIEE welcome dinner. Being in this fine restaurant was the first time in the whole week when we saw more than one or two other foreigners.  There was a ceremonial cake cutting by the first and last students to arrive in India, and then a very festive meal from an elaborate buffet! I haven't had much of an appetite since arriving, but I ate to my hearts delight last night :) 

Alright, thats enough for now! Hopefully, all of these tid-bits give you a feel for my world this past week.