American Movies

We went and saw the movie Hitch last night. Let me tell you about the movie theatres here. First off, there is assigned seating. About 20 people from our office went, and we basically took up an entire row. When you enter the theatre, the first thing you see is a corn salesman. And, I don't mean popcorn. I mean they sell "American Sweet Corn," hot, in a small bowl, with the option of a few different kinds of sauces.

There is also an intermission. Half way through the movie, it comes to a bumbling hault (any by that I mean it basically skips around a bunch), and then a really tacky slide made in 1983 comes on the screen that says, "Intermission."

Anyway, I just thought that was funny and different. Other than that, still have not had the chance to look around that much in Hyderabad. I am slowly getting acclamated. It is funny, but much like the winters in many states, where people stay in on really cold days, people do the same here. In fact, people really like to hang out inside because it is so hot outside everyday.

Two Week Recap

Hello hello,

Well, I am two weeks into my stay here in Hyderabad. I figure I should give a summary of what has been happening so far. Here it is: Work. I haven't had a change to experience much else other than working and sleeping so far. I have had a chance to explore a tiny bit on the weekends. What I can say is that the Indian food in the states pales in comparison to the richness of the food here. I really can't stress that enough. The food here has been outrageously good.

I think one of the biggest differences I have seen here is the traffic. There is very little semblance of traffic laws, and even less of people obeying them. One of my coworkers said it best just the other day, "it is a war of nerves." It is not uncommon to see a car heading straight for you in your lane, or to see cars going the opposite direction on your side of the road. It is honestly like playing "Pole Position" times 10. Drivers must account for pedestrians, they are everywhere, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, push carts, rickshaws, trucks, busses, and stray dogs. And everybody and everything is darting out into the road at once. American drivers would get creamed here.

There are tent cities everywhere, or shantees. I am still learning about how the caste system affects these living arrangements. Other than that, one can see people on the side of the road by day and night begging for money and food. It is very common to see people doing number 1 and number 2 on the side of the road, or in the fields that we overlook from out balcony. This is the reason it is still unsafe to drink the tap water here.

Yesterday, we visited the Charminar. A famous Muslim site in the center of Hyderabad. It is filled with adults and children alike. I was surprised to see so many children, as young as 7 or 8, selling goods to anyone they could. We were followed by a ten year old boy, Mohammed, who was trying to sell us Q-tips. He was persistent, as he walked with us in the hot sun for almost half an hour. He originally asked us for 200 Rupees, $4, for about 50 Q-tips. By the time we left, he was only asking for 2 Rupees, or 4 cents. This was the first time I felt uncomfortable in Hyderabad. Just the sheer number of people around us was incredible, as well as crossing very busy streets, dealing with the very hot weather, and sticking out like a sore thumb. What makes it worse, is that not only am I 6' 3", but Matt, another colleague, is 6' 6". People would literally just stare at us as we'd walk past.

Aside from this experience, I have felt very welcomed and extremely safe wherever I've gone. I will write more soon. Please feel free to comment or email me. Hope all is well.

Our group seated atop the Charminar.

Check out this traffic. The yellow three wheelers are called rickshaws, or autos. Notice the mopeds, motocycles, bicycles, and pedestrians everywhere.

View from the Charminar

Inside the Charminar

The Charminar

Our group walking down a street to the Charminar.

This Sri Lankan band plays every Sunday at the Taj Krishna hotel where we eat brunch.

The group of new arrivals after we picked up all of the necessities for the next six months. And, yes, I am not in any of these photos.

Here is our group at a fabric store. These are very common throughout the city. Once you pick your fabric you can then have it tailored to be whatever you'd like for a very good price.

I was surprised to find a Bali-Wood movie being filmed on the rooftop of our neighboring building the very next morning.

Here is the view from just outside my front door of the apartments we live at. Hi-Tec city, where we live, is on the northern outskirts of the city of Hyderabad.

Russel, Alix, and I at the top of Mt Fabre. Alix just had her baby last night. Congrats to them.

View from the Top of Mt Fabre in Singapore--It was pooring rain. They have a cable car to another island.

Outside of Russel and Alix's place in Singapore

First Day

Well, I was right. There is, in fact, no skiing in Hyderabad. But, what there is, are lots of very large rocks that I can go rock climbing on. Except for my fear that at any point they might throw a stick of dynamite into the rock formations to make way for a new building of some sort. So, I am holding off for now.

Anyway, I was greeting at the airport by Saamra (my former roommate in the US) and Ismail, one of our drivers. He had stopped at a market beforehand and picked up a tradition Indian Garland. Basically, imagine the largest leigh you have ever seen that you might get in Hawaii. Now extend that leight down past my knees. That was it, and it smells amazing.

My room and apartment are wonderful. I have my own room and bathroom. And the air conditioner is amazing. But, it is not even that hot out yet. I was quite surprised to find it very pleasant indeed. Most importantly, it is very dry. Sort of like Utah.

The next morning I headed into the office at 8:30am and was greeted by the many people in the office. I can only say that it will take me quite a while to learn everyones names out here. But, all of the people are amazing. I will be posting pictures as soon as I can of the area.

OK…so please let me start by saying how sick Singapore airlines is. I am on an Airbus 340-500. As you all know how ridiculously lucky I am, it continued today as I was seated in a bulk head row on the aisle (34H). No joke, it is like flying first class on any American carrier. The ride started with a hot towel, quickly followed by a full bar. The dinner was a steak, green beans, and roasted tomatoes. Quite mmmmm.

Not to mention, there are individual screens at every seat and you have the option of over 60 movies on demand. I have been on the plane for three hours so far and already watched meet the Fockers, and I plan on watching a couple more throughout the flight. I am now gonna take an hour or two to do some work.

At the Airport

Here I am at the Daily Grill at LAX waiting for my flight. I am using my last few minutes of american television to watch the final four, and am hoping I will be able to see the end of the UNC - MSU game. By the way, the international terminal at LAX is pretty bad. I would not choose to fly through here again.

I am ridiculously tired, especially because I was notified by United airlines only a few hours before my flight that it was canceled. So, I had to run out the door and was extremely flustered. I fell asleep on my SFO to LAX flight before I even left the ground. Anyway, I will have more to write once I arrive in Singapore