Link to videos:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=470714019847#!/video/video.php?v=470699844847

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=470714019847

http://www.facebook.com/amandafacemire?v=app_2392950137#!/video/video.php?v=471678944847&ref=mf

Arrival!

I have been trying to load videos into this entry, but unfortunately it hasn’t been working. I can’t tell if this is Blogger’s doing, or the connection here. I mean, if I had to take a wild shot in the dark I would guess that it’s the latter… So I will be using facebook to provide links to videos.

Electronic things here are strange, to say the least. The power goes out in the hostel randomly. The switch for one of the hallway lights is located inside my room, so I control whether or not people have light. In essence, I have the ability to give a catty “Fuck you” to anyone at the water dispenser.

The weather here is beautiful right now. Monsoon season has started in India, but Hyderabad is in a region that comparatively does not receive much rain. When I arrived Saturday morning it was raining pretty hard, but Sunday morning was sunny and beautiful and after awhile it turned overcast, which really helped the heat.

I’ll say this about the heat in Hyderabad- it’s still not as bad as Hotlanta. Just as humid, but not as hot.

A few details about the trip:

I left mid afternoon Thursday from Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, and finally arrived around 8 AM in the Hyderabad Airport Saturday morning. I felt the grossest I have ever felt, tired, and generally just worn down and pissed off. I would never have even made it had it not been for a financial analyst from Dallas named Jean that I found in the Mumbai airport. We navigated the terminals together and eventually found our separate flights. The Mumbai airport is a nightmare, and if you can ever avoid it you should feel lucky. There are small passages expected to allow traffic for passengers coming and going, as well as luggage and staff members. There is a nicer terminal that I flew out of, but you have to take a bus because they are under construction to connect the two.

My roommate came in Sunday! Her name is Megan and she is originally from California. Cheerful girl, liked her the moment I saw her. I also met a ton of kids the first night who are in a different program. They invited me to go into town with them yesterday, which was perfect because I needed to pick up more converters. I had been using this kid named Rob’s to charge my laptop so I can keep in touch with all of you back home.

Speaking of which, I should mention that I am 9 and a half hours ahead of you all in the States right now, so hopefully that will provide some insight into appropriate skyping times ;)

A few things about my living conditions:

-I have a pretty good sized room. About the size of a normal room in Hughes at UE.

-I have hot water for showers after all (in my video I mention that I don’t, but it’s actually solar powered.) I can have hot water if I shower sometime in the afternoon…

-The AC in my room is surprisingly nice. I have a remote controlled LG air conditioning unit. I also have a fan that, I believe, goes the speed of light.

-I am in a temporary room downstairs in the hostel right now. There are still summer students here that have yet to leave, and once they are all out Megan and I will be moving upstairs, where I will be able to have internet in my room, as opposed to just the common areas.

-I have 3 meals a day and the food is actually pretty good. An average meal for Lunch and Dinner might be curry, spicy potatoes, rice, vegetables, fruit, and curd (yogurt). Breakfast is more American, with cereal and pancakes and such. Always toast and marmalade, good ol’ colonization.

Whenever you go abroad, I think it’s always the little differences that tend to throw people for a loop. Not the big things. Most people expect that they won’t be able to show their shoulders and knees, and that they’ll be surrounded by poverty, but they don’t realize things such as, say, that wiggling your head from side to side is the Indian way of nodding. I thought people were just saying “maybe” to me for at least a good two days.

“So my laptop is set up to the WiFi now?”

head wiggle

“Um, so do I need to keep it with you a little longer?”

Then they’ll stare at you like you’re an idiot, and you just sort of tentatively take the laptop and walk away quickly.

The dress here is expectedly conservative, as well. No cleavage, no shoulders showing (for men and women), no knees showing, no tight fitting pants and shirts. I’ve seen younger Indian women rocking tight American style jeans with loose fitting Indian style tunics (called a kurta). There are also things called Salwar Kameez, which are leggings-style pants paired with tunics. I’ve seen those more often because they are more traditional.

Older women are more often seen is saris (which I have bought material for, and will have specially tailored for me tomorrow for about 150 rupees). There are tons of different ways to wrap them.

Today I went into a traditional Crafts Market a little outside the city (University of Hyderabad is about 20 km out, so we didn’t have to take a taxi too far). I bought a full Salwar Kameez outfit, as well as loose fitting pants (the name of which I can’t remember, but will report once I do). I am now having major electronic regret because I forgot the card reader for my Nikon Coolpix, so I’ll have to hope that someone in the Hostel has a chord. Between that and how long it takes me to upload Flip videos, I think I will be doing way more actual writing than I originally intended.

As soon as I find a way, I will upload videos. Even if this means I have to buy a card reader at one of the malls here, which are very Americanized.

I also had my orientation today, so we picked out our classes, talked about the rules of the hostel and UH, and got my bike! It’s a pink one with a basket and a little bell J I’ll be getting a lot of use out of it. They don’t want us to drive it off-campus (a wise decision, as Indian road laws are virtually nonexistent and their driving is death-defying), but the campus is huge, so tomorrow I plan to explore around with a few people and see what can be seen.

The amount of people Indians can cram onto a bike or motorcycle is awing. Whole families of 5 can be seen riding along auto-rickshaws on highways. Sunday when we went to the city mall we saw a man texting on his motorcycle, while another was holding a full-length ladder riding on the back.

And SPEAKING of the mall, if you want to talk about a sexually frustrated culture, then you’ve come to the right blog. Victoria’s Secret and cellphone ads featuring beautiful (light skinned) half naked women riddle the walls, juxtaposed alongside covered women in burkas. Men are not allowed to touch a woman, but Indian radio plays music with lyrics such as “Let’s get together baby, just me and you. You know you want to.” India seems to be a nation of blue balls, and I am not sure if this fairly new media is making it worse or better.

Being white in India is like being a celebrity, or being the only skinny kid in fat camp. You walk down the street and people stare, probably thinking, “What are YOU doing here?” Sometimes they even ask to take pictures with you.

So for now I’m just sort of muddling my way through, getting used to India time (which is almost the same as stoner time) and trying to get registered with the police department so that I can get a SIM card here. But surprisingly, I am acclimating very well and very quickly. During our orientation today, the director (a very beautiful and intelligent woman) told us that the phrase “culture shock” is virtually outdated. And I believe it.