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.