mmm, delhi (and goodbye india)

News flash: Delhi is an awesome city!  We only spent three days there, but it was a great time.  The grounds of the city are a lot nicer than any of the other places we've been, with beautifully landscaped boulevards.  And there aren't (huge) piles of trash everywhere you look.  Delhi has a nice mix of old and new, with monuments and ancient forts springing up in the middle of modern areas.  There is a lot to see and we tried to fit in as much as we could.  On our first day in Delhi, due to how late it was once we arrived, we couldn't tour any of the main attractions of the city.  We decided to look for a teashop that had been recommended by Lonely Planet and ended up finding two little shops positioned right next to each other.  The first shop was much more posh than the second, and they offered us a free cup of tea.  John picked an Oolong and I chose a fruity blend.  We sipped our delicious tea and reveled in our brief escape from the hustle of the street outside.  Afterwards, we walked out of the first shop and into the second.  This store was more cluttered, with tall shelves full of tea.  However, we ended up having a much more personal experience here.  The owner, as soon as we walked in, said, "Hello, may I share a cup of tea with you?"  He was a very kind man and we enjoyed a cup of his favorite tea, which is actually quite rare.  It is called Sikkim and is only grown on one small plantation in India.  We had a nice conversation over tea about tea as well as America and our education.  After an hour or so we stepped back out into the world and took an auto to a local shopping area.  We were looking for one shop in particular (again, a Lonely Planet recommendation) but it was closed by the time we got there.  A friendly young Indian man helped us find the store and when we saw that it was closed he took us to a good restaurant for dinner.  It was nice to spend the day talking with several different locals who were genuinely interested in talking to us, instead of harboring ulterior motives, like angling for some rupees.

 Our second day was spent sight-seeing with two of our flatmates, Kasia (from Poland), and Esteban (from Colombia). They were both excellent companions, and if we had more time together we would have undoubtedly become excellent friends. The first stop on our tour of Delhi was Humayun's Tomb. It is the burial ground of about 150 members of the royal family of the Mughal Empire. We spent at least an hour taking pictures at the first tomb we spotted before we realized that it was only a minor, secondary tomb. The main structure was a sprawling building, not unlike the Taj Mahal in design. In fact, the construction of the main tomb marked the beginning of Persian influence on Indian architecture.  We were lucky that our tourmates shared an interest in taking awesome pictures.  We had a lot of fun posing in ridiculous ways and even managed to get a sweet jumping picture.  Delhi was unbearably hot that day and we got extremely tired and hot wandering around the grounds.  After a few hours we grabbed some much needed pani (water) and moved on to our next destination, Smriti Gandhi.  This is a museum/landmark that is built in the house where Gandhi spent his last 144 days.  It is also the place where he was murdered.  They have footprints in the sidewalk leading from where he stepped out of his house to the point where he was gunned down.  At this spot is a monument.  It was kind of eerie walking down that path and standing on the spot, thinking about what an important and honorable figure was lost to the world right there.  The museum, inside the house was very inspirational, with quotes from Gandhi on the wall as well as pictures.  I got chills reading some of the eyewitness accounts of the tragic scene that took place right there.  The house also had very nice landscaping and it felt very calming to sit and gaze out at the tranquil garden.

From Smriti Gandhi, we walked down the road to the street where all the government buildings are located.  Delhi, if you didn't know, is the capital of the country, so they have an impressive collection of government buildings.  Think of Washington D.C. but all the buildings are off of one long street.  The designs are somewhat similar, with big columns and domes, but these structures are brown, probably sandstone, and have intricate Indian designs.  We walked all the way up and down the street, looking at the Parliament, different party offices, and the President's house, which kind of puts the White House to shame.  We were all exhausted and hungry after our long walk so we decided to head back to the flat and order some pizza.  That night we looked over all the great pictures we had taken that day and talked about and exchanged music.  The next morning we woke up and took an auto north to the old city.  We saw Jama Masjid (an epic mosque) from the outside as well as a giant goat that was bigger than the motorcycle it was standing next to by a good foot and a half.  We had lunch at Kareem's, which was picked as one of the best restaurants in Asia by Time magazine.  They weren't kidding either, because the food was outstanding.  John and I shared some mutton masala with the warmest, fluffiest roti I had throughout my entire stay here.  After lunch we started off on our main quest of the day, to find Ali Baba pants.  These are the really thin, draped, flowy pants that Aladdin wears.  Esteban had a pair and said he knew where to get them so we followed him to a huge bazaar.  It was essentially one long street with hundreds of shops squeezed in.  We walked the whole thing looking for the best pants and I am happy to say that we found them.  John and I will now be infinitely more comfortable than you when we wear these pants, which should be often because they are awesome.  We got some other little gifts and clothes and continued to overheat.  After the bazaar, we stopped at the Lotus Temple, which is basically a building in the shape of a huge lotus flower.  It was Sunday so the temple was closed, but we got too marvel at it from outside the gate.

For our last dinner in India, John and I sought out our favorite dish, Chicken Tikka Masala.  This is boneless chicken in a delicious spiced tomato cream curry.  We will hopefully learn to make it at home, so everyone can share our love.  We found a place that had it and filled our tummies with some of the best food we've ever had.  Then we went back to the flat and packed up our stuff.  Even though we had only known Esteban and Kasia for three days, it was hard to say goodbye.  I have experienced that with a lot of people since I've been here.  Honestly, on this trip I have gotten to know so many awesome individuals that I know will be good friends for life.  It's great to know people all over the world, because I know that I will have a place to stay if I ever go to any of those countries.  Speaking of different countries, John just got on his plane to Frankfurt and I am waiting for my flight to start boarding.  I'm getting pretty tired sitting around this airport, which is good because I will hopefully sleep through most of the trip to Germany.  Being in the airport doesn't really feel like being in India anymore, but it will feel completely final when I step on the plane, and especially when we take off.  I am so grateful for all of the experiences that I have had in India, all of the people I’ve met and the things that I have seen.  However, I am getting more and more excited to be home as time goes by.  I can't wait to see all of you and share my stories.  Hopefully you have some stories for me as well.  Boarding should start in about a half hour.  Here's to hoping I don't fall asleep before then...

Oh, and check out the pictures of Jaipur on Facebook.  100 pictures! Enjoy.  

Jaipur and Agra

We two kings in the orient are

Bearing gifts and traveling far

Have you seen the Darjeeling Limited? You know the beginning, with Bill Murray chasing the train? Well, when leaving Mumbai, we were Adrian Brody in that scene.  We had to rush to the railway station to catch the train and we got there right as it was about to leave.  We walked up and down the train looking for our compartment, but we couldn't find it.  Indian trains don't have very good signage, they just expect you to know where to go.  Finally, after five or so minutes of panicked searching, with huge bags on our backs, the train started to move and we dove on to the closest car to us.  As it turned out, this was the "Ladies Only" Car and the ladies inside were none too pleased to see two foreign invaders in their space.  Luckily, the train stopped again before taking off for good and we were able to find our proper place.  We were officially on our way to the Pink City, Jaipur.

The trip to Jaipur was mostly uneventful, although our cabin had a resident mouse that reared his tiny, ugly head a few times. John almost screamed like a girl a few times, but he maintained. Jaipur is an interesting city, mostly pink...well, entirely pink...and it is HOT. Seriously, obnoxiously hot. And, per usual, the AIESEC people who we contacted to get us a place to stay were unreliable and put us up in the tiniest little room imaginable. No A/C, one bed, and a thin-as-a-pancake mattress on the floor. Plus we had to pay to stay there (only 400 Rps. total, which amounts to about $8) for two nights.  Plus cows for neighbors! (They were nice though, never too loud and they brought us a pie as a housewarming gift).  After sorting out our accommodations, we ventured out to the old city to find a restaurant.  This was when we realized just how pink Jaipur actually is.  All of the buildings are washed in the same pinkish-red color and it creates a very strange yet picturesque scene.  We wandered around, enjoying the architecture, until we came across the Hawa Mahal, or Palace of the Winds.  Since the whole thing is pink it kind of appeared out of nowhere and took us by surprise.  It is a beautiful, five story palace, with ornate and intricate windows and molding.  Also, it is only one room thin.  As we stood in awe, staring at the building, a man approached us and invited us to his shop on the second floor for a better view.  We went up the stairs and, indeed got a great view, without all the merchants on the street barking at us.  We also ended up buying some things from the man's shop, so I guess it was a good business plan by him.  He also gave us free beer and we chatted for a while, so it was a fun shopping experience.  After that we walked around the bazaars for a while longer, but we were pretty tired from our travels so we retired to our sweatbox for the night.

Hawa Mahal

In the morning we set out for Amber Fort, one of the coolest and most beautiful palace-forts ever.  It is a centuries-old building that sprawls across the mountain.  There is another fort above it as well, with a big Great Wall of China style wall around it.  We wandered around for several hours, exploring different rooms and taking a ton of pictures.  There was a garden that was especially cool looking and a room with the walls all mosaiced with tiles and mirrors.  It's hard to find the words to do this place justice.  We will just have to let the pictures speak for themselves.  After Amber Fort, we went to the water palace, which was built in the middle of a lake.  You can't go inside it, but we walked around the promenade in front of it and took a lot of pictures. Very beautiful. Again, wait for the pictures. During our picture-taking, we met two Indian guys who of course wanted to talk to us because we are foreigners. These two will come in to play later in our story. Our very exhausting day culminated with some American-style indulgences: McDonald's and a showing of Terminator (which is way awesome, by the by).

Day three in Jaipur was the craziest day of all. In the morning we received a phone call from one of the Indian guys we met the previous day. He invited us to his music shop to hear him play his instruments. We went to the address on his business card, which turned out to be his house. It was in the back of some winding streets and down an alley, so naturally we were a little skeptical. There was no music shop, but rather his whole family's residence. They showed us a video of their performances, and then played a bit on their Sarangi and Tablas. It was a weird, but interesting and certainly a non-touristy experience. Like everyone else in this country, they wanted money for their performance, but did not give us a hard time when we refused. Following our departure, we visited the Jantar Mantar, which is a large collection of astronomical instruments. It consists of a vast courtyard with about twenty objects of various shapes, colors, and sizes which are used to make measurements of astronomical bodies. It was very cool to see, but not the most interesting aspect of our journey. On our way out, we chanced upon Dana, a friend from Bangalore.  When I visited Bangalore we had talked about traveling together, but the timing didn't work out.  I never expected to see her again, but while we were walking down a random back alley she appeared out of nowhere.  It's crazy how these things can happen.  She was on her way somewhere else though, so we decided to meet up for dinner later.  After that, we met up with another friend, from Hyderabad, and had some lunch.  The waiter was doubtful when we said we could handle spicy food, but he made us one of the best chicken masalas that we've had so far.  

Once we were properly satiated, we traveled to the easternmost point of Jaipur to visit the monkey temple.  By climbing a huge mountain and then descending into the valley between two granite peaks, we found an ancient temple that has been overtaken by monkeys.  As we gazed at one rock wall, it looked like it was moving because of the hundreds of monkeys climbing down it.  Again, we took a ton of pictures of monkeys and the scenery, which will be available for your viewing pleasure in the next few days.  On our walk back up the mountain from the monkey temple we noticed another temple at the apex.  We climbed the rest of the way up to the peak and found ourselves at the Temple of the Sun God.  This is a typical Hindu temple, but with a stunning view of Jaipur.  We got bracelets from the caretaker and looked around for a while.  You have to take your shoes off when you enter a Hindu temple, so we left ours outside by the door.  As we were leaving, we noticed that John's sandals were missing.  The caretaker told us that they were probably snatched by monkeys.  Given my past experience with monkey theft and our close proximity to hundreds of the little devils, I was not surprised.  We searched around the grounds of the temple for a few minutes, but found no sign of the flip flops.  It was only after we had given up and I had given John my socks to wear that the caretaker discovered that it was no monkey at all, but his little girl who had stolen the sandals and hid them away in the closet.  Relieved that we didn't have to walk down a mountain in just socks, or in shoes without socks, we made our way back to ground level.

On our way to meet Dana for dinner, I asked for directions from a guy on the road.  He was very helpful and directed us right to the restaurant, but he had one request in return.  He wanted me to write a letter for him to a friend in Australia.  I told him that we would be eating and that I had no time, but he said it was no problem, he would just come meet us at the restaurant.  He was a nice guy and did help us out, so I consented.  When we got the restaurant it turned out to be a pretty cool place, on a rooftop.  We had a great view and enjoyed some delicious food.  Our new friend actually came up to the roof and joined us at our table, where he proceeded to dictate a love letter to me.  I wrote his words down and then read them back to him in a dramatic voice, really putting on the yearning fervor of long-lost love.  He ended up staying with us through our entire meal, which was OK because he was an interesting fellow, with a lot to tell us about Hinduism.  After dinner he wanted to do a favor for us since we had helped him out with his letter (Karma and all), so he took us to his jewelry shop and let us pick out one gem each, for free.  Then he gave Dana a private Astrology reading while John and I waited outside, growing more impatient as time passed.  Finally, around 11:30, they finished their meeting and we said our goodbyes.  Then we went back to our sauna, packed up and left for the train station and for a short trip to Agra, where the Taj Mahal awaited us.

The train for Agra left at 2 am and arrived at 6 am, so our first course of action was to find a hotel and go back to sleep, which we did with great vigor and enthusiasm. The hotel we found ended up being very cool and cheap (again, only 400 Rps.). On the rooftop was a small restaurant with a view of the Taj Mahal. This constituted our first in-person glimpse of the building, and it most literally took our collective breath away. Following an early-afternoon All-American breakfast, we left for the Taj (as it shall henceforth be referred to). As we found at other attractions, the entry fee for foreigners was significantly higher than for Indians...we paid 750 Rps., while natives pay only 100 Rps. It was completely worth it. Imagine every picture you have ever seen of the Taj. No matter how beautiful the photo, it could never capture how wonderful it is in person. One enters the grounds through a magnificent gate that could pass as an attraction on its own. Through the gate, a long pond stretches between green grass and beautiful gardens right up to the steps of the Taj. It is similar to the Mall in Washington D.C., but much more impressive. It is difficult to put into words what it's like to see such a marvel of design and engineering in person.  The intricacy of the monument and the beauty are mostly indescribable.  We spent hours there, simply gazing at the building (and of course taking pictures).  As we walked up to the Taj we were in awe and not quite convinced that it was actually real.  It was only when we touched the marble with our own hands that we realized it was more than a dream.  As we walked around the gardens and auxiliary buildings, it was easy to forget that the Taj was right there.  Every time we would turn around and see it again, it stopped us dead in our tracks.  I hope that everyone reading this has a chance to see this building in person at some point in his or her life.  They didn't make it one of the Seven Wonders of the World for nothing, you know.  Unfortunately, we did not get a beautiful day to go along with the beautiful scene.  It rained on and off the whole time we were there and towards the end it began to monsoon.  The rain was coming down so hard that it stung when it hit our skin and we had to run for cover even though we were already soaked.  We had put in a good three or four hours at that point anyway, so we decided to call it a day and walk back to our hotel.  The trek got us even more soaked than we thought possible and the road up to our hotel was flooded so we had to wade through shin-high plague water to get back inside.  Once alee from the storm we promptly scrubbed our feet, legs, and sandals in order to eradicate any parasites or poop particles.  We spent the rest of the day on the covered roof in our boxers, airing out and gazing at the Taj.  It's impossible to grow tired of the sight of it (I even went back up on the roof in the middle of the night and was captivated by its silhouette in the darkness).

We slept well that night, knowing that the most anticipated day of our trip had been just as incredible as we had hoped.  This morning we woke up and boarded a train to Delhi, where we are now.  It is a bit strange to realize that we are at our last stop before returning to the good ol' U.S. of A, but we are also very excited to be home.  See you in a few short days (the 13th to be exact).  Get excited!

Warning: This post will be long

Hello America! Happy belated birthday.  Brad and John here with an update of our recent exploits.  Since the first day that John arrived we have been way busy doing a lot of interesting things.  On that first night, we went out for dinner with some of my flatmates to a place called Paradise.  If you come to Southern India you have to have biryani.  And the best city for biryani is Hyderabad.  Within Hyderabad, the most delicious biryani is at Paradise.  It is an historic restaurant that has been around for 60 years.  We all loved the food, of course, and after dinner we went across the street in search of a bar.  After walking down a shady alley and through a long corridor with arrows guiding us, we found a local dive bar.  It was really cool to sit in a dingy little run-down pub.  It was really cool to be immersed in the local flavor.  We had a few beers and talked with Hauke, our German friend, about all of the great places for beer in Ann Arbor.  Hopefully he will come visit us and we can share a pint (or seven) at Ashley's and ABC.  He also informed us that there is a different, Czech version of Budweiser that is apparently much better than the brand we know as the "King of Beer".  We will have to look into that.   

The next day we went to Golconda Fort, which is about 700 years old.  As has been previously mentioned, there aren't many rules here in India and that definitely held true at the fort as well.  We were able to climb all over the walls and explore secluded nooks and crannies.  We found some really cool areas that most people probably never see.  Unfortunately, the fort was also very dirty, with bottles and trash everywhere you looked, always accompanied by the smell of fermented urine.  It was really cool to explore the fort and feel like we were back in time by hundreds of years.  That feeling was interrupted occasionally when we ran into groups of Indians who requested photo sessions with us.  We met one guy named Wahid who was pretty nice about it, but some people would just snap pictures as we walked by.  One guy even took some video footage of us.  I felt like Sasquatch, John like an alien.  This amazement with foreigners is common all over the place.  People will walk by and shout WHERE YOU FROM!!? and ask to shake our hands.  It's alright up to a point, but we don't want to be shaking every hand that is extended towards us.  We only have so much hand sanitizer.  After the fort, we had some dinner, introducing John to one of his, and my, favorite dishes, Chicken Tikka Masala.  Then we headed back to the flat for my going away party.  At first not many people showed up, but after an hour or so the terrace was hopping.  Most of the people that I wanted to see ended up coming over and we had a great time talking and dancing all night.  I wasn't really all that sad to leave Hyderabad until the party.  Partying with all of my new friends made me realize how much fun I have had here with them and that we definitely did not have enough time together.  Every time someone left and I had to say my final goodbyes it made me sadder and sadder.  The party was still a lot of fun though.  I'm glad we had a last hurrah.

(John here)

The party that was thrown for Brad was really really great. That was the first, and last, time I got to meet most of his friends, and they were an amazing group of people. Everyone knows how I tend to get at parties with people I don't know (no, not drunk...anxious and the like), but I never felt uncomfortable around them. Everyone was so open and friendly and interesting...it was almost as though I had known them for ages. I left Hyderabad feeling as though I had made twenty new friends, even though I had only known them for a few hours. I met people from Colombia, Brazil, New Zealand, Mauritius, Germany, Greece, Mexico, Holland, England, Afghanistan, Turkey...the list goes on. One girl from Mauritius had the most hilarious accent (something of a mix of French, English and Carribean), and she pronounced 'laugh' as 'lawwwwff'. Honestly, I cannot get enoough of saying that word. I lawf about it even now, after 200 times lawfing about it with Brad. Watching Brad say goodbye to everyone was touching. I can tell he had a fantastic time with those people, and I have to say, I'm more than a little jealous that I did not have more time to get to know them.

On our final day in Hyderabad, we visited the Charminar, which is a very old iconic Mosque. It is one of those things that everyone says you must see before you leave the city. Much like Golconda Fort, we, being white, had to pay twenty times the price that locals pay. It sounds like a lot, but it still only amounts to about $2. The Charminar is an incredible piece of architecture. It is situated right in the middle of the old city, surrounded by huge bazaars. The molding is beautiful and intricate, and we were able to go up near the top and see a panoramic view of the city. The stairways that lead up to the viewpoints are so scary! They are super skinny, super steep and spirally, with gigantic and uneven steps. Everything in this country, even the stairways, is an adventure. Our visit to the Charminar was followed by some shopping in the crowded bazaars nearby where I learned the ancient Indian art of haggling. I really think Americans should adopt this practice. It is so fun to ask a price and act like it is intolerably high, demand an unreasonably low price and go back and forth until they refuse and you pretend to leave. Once you turn around they call you back and the deal is sealed.  You will get what you asked for at the lower price. It is great. Quite a fun game. 

Our day culminated with a goodbye to Hyderabad and a trip to the train station. We realized that getting there an hour early is far too early.  We could have arrived twenty minutes late and still would have been too early.  Once the train finally arrived we had to wait for the "Guy with the chart", as he was called, to come by and tell us which compartment was ours.  When he showed up he didn't say anything to anyone, he just wiped the wall of the train with some glue and slapped the chart to it before walking away.  We found our cabin and sat down on the train.  Quickly, we realized that having a First Class cabin doesn't mean you're going to be traveling in style like in The Darjeeling Limited.  Our compartment was much more sparse and bland, and we had two roommates that we didn't know.  Luckily they were nice guys and we were able to have a good conversation with them when we wanted and they minded their business the rest of the time.  Once the train started moving we got up to explore a little bit and found a door leading to the outside that was left open, with no rail or barrier to keep people from falling out.  The real reason for this is so that people can smoke cigarettes, but we were just excited to look out at the lush green mountains and valleys zipping by.  It was a rainy day and there was a heavy fog, so it looked like we were passing through some mystical world.  There were little villages nestled into the valleys below and mountains barely visable through the mist.  In the morning we sat in the doorway with our legs dangling out of the train and observed our incredible surroundings for a while.  For breakfast we were served bread omelettes, which are exactly what they sound like, and actually pretty good.  Then we arrived in Mumbai.

Our first order of business upon getting to Mumbai was to go to the airport to retrieve John's long lost luggage.  In order to keep ourselves from spontaneously combusting or breaking everything in sight, we won't discuss this experience much.  Let's just say John still doesn't have his bag and it's a miracle that we weren't arrested for multiple homicide/the destruction of an airport.  After that we came to the AIESEC flat where we were put up for the two nights that we stayed in Mumbai.  It is an amazing apartment on the 12th floor, overlooking the Arabian Sea.  The place is really ritzy compared to our previous digs and the trainees here are all very nice and welcoming (surprise, surprise).  As soon as we got to the flat they invited us out with them for dinner, drinks, and hookah.  We went to a really cool hookah bar that was decorated in Arabian style with gravel floors and billowing, lanterned ceilings.  The shisha was probably some of the best we've ever had and we had a good time chatting with our new friends (including one guy who is going to attend U of M Law School in the fall).  After the bar we came back to the flat and played Kings.  It turned into an hilarious evening, mostly due to one girl who, as we found out later, no one actually knew.  She came with the future U of M guy, but he only barely knew her.  She got pretty drunk and kept spouting off ridiculous phrases like "She's so jaded and faded" and "Riddle me that, riddle me this. Who's afraid of the big white BAT!?"  We didn't end up sleeping until around 4am but we did sleep well after such a long day.

The next morning our hosts took us on a train trip to the southern part of the city (their flat is in the ultra-north). The local trains here are a force to be reckoned with. Our new friend, Abhishek, gave us some pre-boarding instructions: "You need to push your way on. I mean PUSH. If you need to hit someone, it's fine." We heard him, but did not fully understand him until the train arrived. Basically this is how it goes: Before the train has fully stopped, there is an explosion of people exiting, like someone poured water on a packet of Instant Mosh-Pit. There is a simultaneous counter-flow of people forcing, and I do mean forcing, their way into the train. You have approximately 30 seconds to get on board, or you will be left behind or killed. We made it on safely, and had no further problems. When we reached southern Mumbai, the monsoon was in full effect (the city is on the coast, so the rains are extra intense). We had no umbrella, and as such, our feet were soaked instantly and remained so for the rest of the day. Our first stop was lunch at Leopold's, one of the most iconic eateries in Mumbai.  We were unaware of this before arriving, but the restaurant was one of the targets of the terrorist attacks last year. There are still bullet holes in the walls, pillars and ceiling. It was kind of eerie dining there, knowing the horrors that had taken place only a few months ago, but the food was delicious and it was a cool place. Brad got to have a burger. Oh joy! 

After lunch, we walked a short distance (the rain continued) to the Gateway of India and The Taj Hotel (another site of the terrorist attacks). They are both beautiful structures, but the Taj was the coolest. It's a very fancy hotel, with traditional-style Indian architecture on the facade, and beautiful western-style architecture inside. We were told that we MUST use the bathrooms there, so we did. Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwww....nice bathrooms man. It would be amazing to stay in that hotel someday. As we were leaving the Taj we ran into a guy with a big block M on his shirt.  We stopped him and asked him if he went to Michigan and he said that he did.  We spent some time talking about Ann Arbor and met his wife, who went to U of M as well.  It was pretty surreal to randomly run into fellow alumni halfway around the world.  Unfortunately the weather precluded us from spending much time in the area, so we left after taking some pictures (as well as a brief and rainsoaked walk by the beach) and returned to Leopold's for dinner and drinks with more friends. There were more tourists in that restaurant than we have seen everywhere else in India combined. It was a comforting sight, as it becomes a little overwhelming at times being the only two non-indians around. The day was very interesting, despite the weather, and we were able to see a good deal of Mumbai, which is far nicer than Hyderabad.  Just like when I visited Bangalore, it made me wish, in part, that I had decided to come there for my exchange instead.  However, I have no regrets, since I met such cool people in Hyderabad.  After finally drying off a bit during dinner, it was back into the rain.  We did end up buying an umbrella earlier in the day, but it only helped superficially.  We went back to the train station and followed the same procedure as described above, however this time we were on the train during rush hour.  We were packed so tightly into the car that I felt like the guys surrounding me should buy me dinner.  It was one of the most uncomfortable experiences in our lives and we estimated that there were around 1,000 people in our car alone.  After around 30 minutes of life as a sardine we squeezed out of the train and became fully stretchable humans again.  To relieve our stress we went to a bar which happened to be having a free beer hour.  Also, one of our new friends was the coordinator of the event so we got free food as well.  It was a good time.  It was weird throughout the day to realize that it was the 4th of July.  This was definitely the most different Independence Day that we have ever had and we felt kind of homesick at times, thinking about hot dogs and fireworks.  This summer has certainly been a departure from the norm.

In a few hours we will board another train for a northward journey to Jaipur.  Then we will spend a few days there, getting to know another city.  Hopefully it will be as interesting as Mumbai and a lot dryer.  We will be home now in less than 10 days, which is strange and exciting at the same time.  We are definitely looking forward to the comforts of home.

Now, India, please welcome...John!

Thanks, John, for the lovely introduction.

Yes, I did actually make it to India.
Yes, it took forever.
Yes, they left my luggage in London 

Yes, India is CRAZY!!

Oh my goodness, this city is the most insane place I have ever been to. I don't know what I can say that bRad hasn't already mentioned, but I can say this: bRad's descriptions of life in Hyderabad does not do it justice. So far today he has taken me to see some interesting places and try some interesting foods. I got a taste of Frankkie Tibbs' Chicken Tikka Roll, which is indeed one of the finest snacks on the planet. We took a ride in an autorickshaw. I think it can be assumed that no American mother would approve of her son riding in one of those things. As !!! woould say, "There's no ****ing rules, dude". For any Sega Genesis fans, the streets are a bit like the game "Road Rash"....pure crazniness, no rules, total chaos.

There is so much to see in this city. It is incredibly overpopulated, so there are innumerable dwellings, some of which are nearly (or directly) on the street. Sidewalks hardly exist. Trash is literally everywhere, and indeed everything you have heard about the sewer systems in relation to the streets is true. BUT, inspite of the squalor, this is a wonderfully beautiful place. Outside of the downtown area things shape up a bit, and you can find some nicer stores and homes. I saw what are now 2 of my all-time favorite trees this evening. I really look forward to exploring more.

I think the most interesting things about this place are the subtle cultural differences, not the glaring ones. bRad pointed out that people tend to bob their heads as if saying "no" while they are listening to you. It is very odd at first, but quickly becomes a little endearing in a funny kind of way. Oh, and the Muslim prayers that are broadcast throughout the city every 5 hours. Super creepy sounding initially, but again, once you relaize it is just playing prayers it becomes much more interesting. I absolutley love the melodies the prayers are sung to. They use a music scale that has nearly double the notes of Western music, which creates the familiarly-exotic sounds of Indian music. I find this fascinating and I think I may buy a small guitar or Indian instrument to bring on our travels so I can experiment with the expanded scales.

I think that we are going to have a short nap (well, bRad is at least) before heading to dinner in an hour or so. I will try too, if I can manage to fall asleep in this heat (it is truly unbearable). Everyone please keep your fingers crossed that my luggage arrives as promised tommorrow. If not, I'm going to be in an interesting situation involving: 1 John, 2 tsp new Indian wardrobe, a pinch of no money, and 2 quarts fresh mango (for flavor). 

Peace from The East,

John

PS: bRad has adopoted a mild Indian accent, selectively. Pretty funny.

Vizag

I just got back from Vizag and I am exhausted.  The trip was a lot of fun though.  It started with a 12 hour bus ride from Hyderabad that got to the coast at around 9 am on Thursday.  Once our crew unloaded from the bus we decided on a hotel and organized autos for everyone to get there.  It was a bit cumbersome traveling around with 16 people, not to mention the stares we got everywhere we went.  I began to feel like I was in a parade.  The hotel we stayed at was right on the beach and cost $3.50 USD per person each night.  It felt like staying in a bed and breakfast because the manager kept walking into our room, bringing chai, making small talk, and just being generally paternal and kind.  After we settled into our rooms the traveling circus departed for a hilltop tourist park.  We had to take cable cars to the top where we got a great look at the city and the Bay of Bengal.  They also had interesting statues all over and we took some funny pictures.  This was a pattern that continued as we walked down the street to our hotel after leaving the park.  We came across several different sculptures along the way, including a really creepy giant baby.  There was another one of a life-size elephant in mid-trot so I got the idea that everyone should pose in front of it as if we were being chased down.  The picture turned out great (check Facebook).

That night we went for dinner at a place called Fishland.  Maybe it was the name, maybe it was just that I was tired and not thinking, but I downed a glass of tap water as soon as we sat down at the table.  Once I realized that it wasn't mineral water it was too late; my fate was sealed and I spent the next few days taking frequent meetings with the toilet.  I won't say any more about that, don't worry, but you really have to take the water situation seriously here.  One false step and you're going to be on and off the porcelain for a long time.  After dinner, some of us wanted to drink so we played some card games and had a lot of fun.  Two of our fellow travelers were from Mauritius, which is a small island to the east of Madagascar.  I think this is the place that people picture when they think of paradise.  The Mauritians on our trip were very awesome people and fun to hang out with.  That's turning out to be somewhat of a problem though: I've met a lot of people recently that make me wish that I could stay here longer.  Oh well, new reasons to travel to exciting places (and people to host me while I'm there).

The second day in Vizag, half of our group left to come back to Hyderabad.  I guess they just wanted a taste of travel.  Now that we were down to eight, it was a lot easier to plan excursions.  The beaches in Vizag, as is the case with much of India, is disgustingly polluted.  For every grain of sand there is one piece of trash.  I was shocked as I watched the waves ebb and flow, crashing on the shore with a variety of shoes, styrofoam, plastic bottles, and on and on.  I can't believe that an entire country would be so apathetic about protecting their environment.  No one even uses trash cans, they just toss their garbage wherever they like.  In a country that is so heavily populated, this is causing most streets and bodies of water to look like garbage dumps, from what I have seen.  So the beach was less than desirable, although we were able to find a nice one a bit further away from civilization.  We spent Friday there playing frisbee and wading out into the Indian Ocean.  We also got some really cute kids to play with us.  They were in it for money initially, but once they started tossing the disc around you could see them turn from beggars back into fun-loving children.  After the beach, we went for dinner at a place down the street from our hotel that had really good food.  We started talking with our waiter about nightlife in Vizag and he ended up inviting us out to the club with him that evening.  It turned out to be a great time, even though they never honored my request to pay tribute to Michael Jackson with a few of his songs.  Our new friend, the waiter, even picked up the tab at the end of the night and took us to a late-night seaside chai and snacks place.

On Saturday we woke up early and arranged for a van to take us to Araku Valley.  The drive itself was beautiful as we passed vast green fields and tall skinny trees.  But nothing compared to the views that we got in the valley.  Lush green mountains were all around us as we ascended and descended the winding roads.  We stopped at Borra Caves, which is a giant cave system that is believed to be 150 million years old.  It was pretty cool, but not the greatest caves that I've seen.  We did see some cute baby monkeys running around though.  We stopped at a few more tourist locations along the way, but the drive itself was my favorite part.  The drive back was less amazing since it was dark and we were packed tight in the van.  I was sitting next to the driver, who kept knocking my leg when he shifted gears.  When we got back we returned to our new friend's restaurant and he recommended a hookah bar for us to go to that night.  I was hoping for a relaxed environment where we could unwind from the long day, but the place was just a club that happened to serve hookah.  After a while, I decided to head back to the hotel, citing fatigue and stomach problems as my main reasons.  As I left the club I ran into the waiter, who looked like he was having an argument with the bouncers.  When he saw me he told me to go get everyone else and tell them that he was stuck outside.  I did so and when we all returned to the door things had heated up between our friend and the bouncer.  Now more people were getting involved in the shouting and shoving match.  It was a fine example of the assertive overreaction of the challenged male ego.  Finally, the waiter was allowed into the club, but he continued jawing at the owner and the staff until they forced him out.  Now I was in a tight spot because I didn't want to be there at all, but I wasn't about to let the two girls I was with leave on their own later, knowing that our enraged "friend" might be waiting for them.  They wanted to stay a bit longer which was fine.  One of our other travel mates and I sat and talked for a while, making new friends as well and enjoying a hookah.  By the time we left though, it was 4 am and I was kind of resenting the girls for dragging out our time there when they knew I was only staying for them.  It wasn't really a big deal though because we all slept in the next day.

After the bus ride home on Sunday night/Monday morning, I did some laundry and then packed my suitcase.  I took it to the cargo office at the airport so that I could send it home ahead of myself and therefore travel lighter for the next two weeks.  This turned into an all day project because the airport is around an hour from the city.  Also, the guy who was helping me out took forever to do anything and dragged the process on for four hours, disappearing occasionally to go to a meeting without telling me.  Once I finally got home from the airport it was 9 pm and I was tired as Firestone.  I watched a movie with Hauke and Ben and told them stories from my trip.  Then, I prepared to go right back to the airport to pick up John.  After finding out that his flight would be delayed for a few hours I laid down for some much needed sleep.  Then I woke up and took the same bus back to the airport.  I was worried about being late, but it turned out that I had nothing to worry about.  I stood there, waiting for John for two hours before I spoke with some airport middleman who told me that some people from his plane had had their luggage forgotten in London.  Of course, John was one of these lucky passengers.  Finally, after making a claim, he was able to leave the airport and we were reunited.  It felt great to see a familiar face and weird at the same time.  Even now, as I type this, I can see him getting his few hours of much needed sleep in the other room and I am kind of unconvinced that he is actually here.  It was hard enough to accept the surreal feeling that I was here, let alone someone else from home showing up.  Now I will go wake John up so we can go for his first Indian meal and pick up a few essentials that he's missing from his suitcase.  After that, who knows.  Maybe we'll go check out the Charminar.  That's all for now.  Brad out.

The next episode

And we're back.  Thanks to you, the viewer at home, for staying tuned to Brad's Indian Summer.  I'm your host, Brad Dembs and I look forward to telling you some stories of what has been going on with me this past week.  I hope you look forward to reading them.  Please follow along below.

So far my job has been great.  As you can see in my pictures, the kids are very cute.  It has been a lot of fun interacting with them and learning about kids with special needs within a different culture.  One thing that they have in common with their counterparts in the U.S. is that they are all very easy to love.  I don't know why there is such stigma about mental disabilities in India, when the children are all awesome.  Yesterday I spent most of my time with the preschool kids at the "special" school.  One girl, Madiha (right), became very attached to me and wanted to sit with me all day.  We played with blocks and plastic fruit and I showed her pictures of herself on my camera, which amazed her.  One negative thing about my job is that I probably will not be able to meet with government officials after all.  I have been expecting a call from my boss for the past three days to tell me when a meeting will be arranged, but I don't think she is going to follow through.  Just another in a long line of broken promises and flaky business here, but it's alright.  I had a great time working at the schools.

One day last week I heard about a park just down the street from my apartment so I went to check it out to see if it would be a suitable place to play ultimate frisbee.  It turned out to be a pretty cool place, with lots of little hills (sort of like the wave field on north campus at U of M, except more spread out).  As I was strolling down one path I came across four kids tossing a disc.  I ended up playing with them for a while, until a security guard approached us and said we couldn't play frisbee in the park (which doesn't make sense to me because I thought recreation was one of the main reasons for having parks).  It was fun while it lasted though.  The kids were skeptical of me at first but I proved my worth with a couple of leaping catches and long distance passes.  It started to get a bit rainy and windy around the time the security guard kicked us out so I wasn't too upset about it.

On Saturday, I came to the conclusion that my hair was too long to deal with any more and that I would have to bite the bullet and get it cut.  If you know me well then you know that I have gotten my hair cut by one person for pretty much my entire life.  The guy who gave me my first trim as a baby is the same guy that I go to 22 years later.   In college (it's weird to say that in the past tense) my friends always gave me a hard time when I would drive from Ann Arbor to West Bloomfield just for a haircut, but for me it was worth it.  Barry knows what he's doing with my head.  He's had two decades to get familiar with it so what's the point of changing now?  Unfortunately, India to WB is a bit further of a journey than from AA, so I had to go to someone new.  I found a salon close to my flat that I had gone to once before for a shave and seemed like a nice enough place (no chance I was about to go to one of the roadside barbers).  My barber didn't speak English so whenever I would give him some direction he would have to leave the room and bring back an interpreter.  When he actually started cutting my hair it was comparable to how you see someone getting their hair cut in a cartoon.  He was snipping away at rapid-fire speed, circling my head in a whir of scissors and comb and hair.  When he finished, it looked alright, but it's too short on the sides and too long in the front.  I could probably style it in an Elvis-like coif, but that's not my style.  I guess I will just wait for it to grow back (or have Barry fix it as soon as I get home).

Later that night, I met up with a friend from work and a few of her friends at a nice cafe.  Then we went down near the Charminar, which is the premier landmark of Hyderabad, for dinner.  It was the first time since the night I arrived that I went down to the old city.  That night, I wasn't there until very late at night, so this was really the first time I got to see all the bazaars.  The lights were on at the Charminar as well, which made it look really cool.  Of course, my camera lost battery right before we got there so I had no chance to take pictures.  It's OK though because I plan on taking John there when he arrives next week, so we can take pictures then.  After the Charminar, I went with a bunch of AIESEC interns to a party for someones birthday.  They had delicious punch that was more like fruit salad and they actually played American rap music (Nelly, Mystikal, Missy Elliot) instead of just House and Techno.  There were a few new trainees who had just arrived that day, so I had a good time getting to know them.  There is a guy from the UK, one from Afghanistan, and three girls from America, Mexico, and Azerbaijan.  They are all pretty cool people and good new friends.  Actually, I will be going on a trip with them to Vizag for the rest of the week.  Vizag is a beach town, right on the coast of the Bay of Bengal.  At first, it was just going to be the six of us going, but since we started planning the trip, ten more people have jumped on board.  Now we will be traveling in a group of 16(!)  I'm really excited to see a new place that looks like it has some beautiful sights.  It should be a great time.  Once I get back, it will be Monday and I will be going to the airport to pick up John.  Time continues to fly by like a laser.  I'm trying to get as much as I can out of every day before there are no days left of this incredible journey.  I'm sure that the best is still to come.  Stay tuned. 

New job, new flat, good life

Isn't it strange how time can feel as if it has gone fast and slow all at once?  Thinking about it now, it seems like there is no way I have been in India for a month.  What a quick month it has been! And yet, at the same time, I also feel as though I have been here for much longer.  I've certainly grown into this country, getting used to customs and getting better at dodging traffic (which is like an endless, forceful river).  I'm starting to realize that before I know it my time here will be over.  Only two weeks (one and a half, actually) until John arrives and I have to say goodbye to Hyderabad.  I'm very excited to travel around and have incredible adventures, but I am not ready to let go of this city and all that it has to offer.  Especially since things seem like they are finally coming together completely.

I started my new job this week and it is exactly what I wanted to be doing the whole time.  I'm working at a school, or more accurately at a group of schools, interacting with children with and without disabilities.  The high school in which I work employs an inclusive education program, which means that kids with special needs are placed in the same classes as their general education peers.  I was very excited to see this type of policy in place because it is something that I strongly believe in.  The children with special needs benefit from the curriculum as well as the ability to learn through social interaction and the other kids gain knowledge about people with disabilities.  This enables them to be more aware and to understand that kids with special needs are just people like everyone else.  If this type of education were to be more widely implemented in India I think that a few generations down the line we would see a lot less shame and embarrassment in families of children with mental or physical disabilities and more acceptance and understanding overall.  

For the first few days, I have been observing the inclusive education in person by sitting in on classes.  Today, however, I went to watch a class in action and all of the children were just sitting around talking.  I asked them where their teacher was (oh, that's another great part about this job, the kids speak English!) and they told me that she was sick.  I asked another teacher if someone would be coming to fill in and she said no.  So I ended up being the science teacher for the day, explaining photosynthesis and how the heart works to two different classes.  It was pretty challenging because the kids were all so excited to see someone different that they didn't pay attention to the lesson.  Different kids kept coming up to shake my hand and ask me questions.  Also, I hosted a discussion with parents of students with disabilities.  The school arranged for them to come in and I asked them questions about their challenges and what they would like to see improved upon.  I think it went very well and I'm looking forward to trying to help achieve some of the goals they laid out.  It's really nice to finally feel like I'm doing something worthwhile here.  And the woman who runs the school is awesome.  She is very friendly and she has a lot of aspirations for the future of disability education in India.  She laid out a plan for me over the next two weeks where I will be interacting more with the kids as well as meeting with government officials and lawyers.  I may actually have a chance to talk to the Minister of the State (akin to our Governor) about disability rights.  I'm drafting a letter right now that will be sent to government leaders as well.  This is going to give me a great experience in advocacy which should go a long way, since I plan on doing that for a career in the future.  I just wish I could have been working for this organization the whole time I've been here.  But oh well, I'll just work extra hard now to make up for lost time.

Another thing that has gone from good to hectic and back to good is my living situation.  When I moved out of my old flat and into the new one there were too many people living here.  AIESEC had placed three Chinese girls in the flat temporarily, not knowing that I was planning on moving in.  Luckily, one of my flatmates, Ben, was away for a few days so I was able to use his space.  After Saturday, however, I was relegated to a mattress on the floor of another room.  Since renovations on another flat took longer than expected, the girls stayed here until Tuesday night.  Finally, last night I was able to assume my rightful place and have a real bed.  Now I've lucked into having a room (and bathroom) all to myself, so it was definitely worth the wait.  My new room even has better lighting than the other rooms (soft, warm lights instead of fluorescents).  I really like this flat because of the expansive terrace.  And my roommates are pretty cool as well.  There is a German guy, Hauke, who I get along with very well and is good to talk to.  Also, Ben from Minnesota.  The three of us have formed a pretty good group over the past few days.  On Sunday we ventured out to Secunderabad, where we were invited for a home-cooked meal by a friend of Hauke's.  The food was really tasty, an experiment by our friend and his father which was rice with different spices as well as cashews and raisins.  There was also some delicious tomato soup that we could pour on top of the rice as well as one of the sweetest mangoes I've eaten since I got here.  It was a Begampalli mango, which is a variety that has edible skin, like an apple.  

After lunch we had a nice discussion about politics, through which I learned a lot about Indian history.  Then we watched a totally strange Korean movie.  It seems almost comical that I have been in India for so long, wanting to see a Bollywood movie, and I've seen "Monsters vs. Aliens", "Angels & Demons", and "Oldboy".  I never thought I would see a Korean movie in India before I saw a Hindi movie.  After the movie we went up on the roof of our host's apartment complex and looked out at Hyderabad.  We could even see Golconda Fort off in the distance.  It was weird to have climbed so many steps to reach the top of Golconda and then to be on the same level as it just by walking up one flight of stairs in someones home.  We also encountered a group of kids on the roof who were playing cricket so we joined them for a while.  It was a lot of fun and overall a great day (check out pictures on Facebook).  When we got back to our flat we played chess and listened to jazz on the terrace.  As it turns out, I'm living with a couple of Bobby Fischers...but without all the eccentricities and anti-Semitic remarks...just the prodigal chess master part.  I have yet to beat either of them and I am not fully convinced that I will before I leave.  To put it in chess terms, you could say they are queens and I am a pawn (or maybe a rook, if I give myself some credit). 

Now I'll go get some dinner and maybe try my hand at another chess match.  Tomorrow I will spend the whole day at the "Special School", which is for the more severely disabled students.  I will try to identify some of the things that the parents mentioned to me and see if I can improve them, or at least bring them to the attention of the administrators.  Should be a productive and fun day.  I hope yours will be too.