Long tour, big update

I usually end my posts with a shout out to the Red Wings, but after that game...wow.  This team is resourceful.  Missing one of the best defensemen in the history of the game?  Datsyuk scoring fewer goals than the amount of times he's scored with the ladies thanks to his Rahmani Eye Institute commercial?  No problem.  Turns out Dan Cleary is a beast.  And Darren Helm...wow.  First finals rematch in 25 years and I'm stuck in India without a way to watch.  I don't miss tv too much here, but this is a different story.

Now, on to India.  Yesterday Anne and I went on an adventure to Hyderabad Central, which is a huge mall.  It's not like a mall at home with different stores though.  It's more like Macy's on steroids.  Just one five story department store with a whole conglomeration of different things (including traditional Indian garb, which I tried on...stay tuned for a Facebook picture).  After Macy's McGuire we traveled across the city to this open-air bazaar with lots of cool statues and merchants.  And a giant!  (Again, expect a picture on Facebook).  There were so many awesome crafts that I realized that I am not prepared to think about shopping for gifts for people back home.  I got a few ideas, but I think I'll wait until later in my stay to start making purchases.  

Today I went on an all-day city tour of Hyderabad.  And when I say all day I mean all day.  I'm quite exhausted now, but it was definitely worth it.  I woke up at 6am and ventured out for my first auto ride and bus ride by myself.  I was a bit nervous about whether or not I was making the right maneuvers, but it turned out fine and I got where I needed to be with time to spare.  I was also somewhat anxious about doing the tour con solo, but I figured I could always ask some trustworthy looking stranger with steady hands to take my picture.  As it turned out, I got something much better.  As I was trying to figure out which tour bus to get on, a woman asked if I needed help.  She was with her 13 year-old son and we ended up spending the day together.  She was the sweetest lady, always explaining things to me and making sure I was ok.  She even bought me breakfast and wouldn't hear one word about me paying her back.  Yet another in a long line of brushes with Indian hospitality and generosity. 

The tour started at 7:30 with a trip to the Birla Temple, which is made completely out of marble, with some gold accents.  Unfortunately they don't allow cameras inside so I only have a few paltry shots of it.  I was actually stunned by the intricacy of the work and the pure devotion that it must take to construct such a magnificent building.  After that it was on to the Salar Jung museum, which includes a collection of art and artifacts dating back to the first century.  One of my favorite things in the museum was the ivory section, which contained carved tusks.  Again, the ornate, detailed work was astounding to me.  

One thing that I didn't quite understand (chalk it up to cultural differences, I guess) was the "great" musical clock.  This is a six-foot-tall clock with a two-inch-tall man inside who comes out every hour and dings a bell x amount of times, corresponding with what time it is.  Now this is a fine thing to keep in a museum.  Don't get me wrong; I'm as big of a cuckoo clock fan as the next guy.  The thing that I had a hard time with was the pomp and circumstance of the clock.  It's set up in a huge room with maybe thirty rows of seats, which people start filling up to a half hour before the "show".  When those chairs are full people sit on the ground.  It gets to be a packed house pretty quickly.  For those who can't see from way back in the cheap seats, monitors are set up to broadcast the little man doing his thing.  Starting one minute before his appearance, two guards stationed on either side of the clock demand silence from the crowd.  With all this build-up I was expecting a spectacular display but it was actually quite anti-climactic.

Next was the Nizam palace, which was hot and had more carved tusks.  That's all there is to say about that.  After that we went to another palace, which looked beautiful from the outside.  I decided not to go in because they charge an extra 150 rupees for foreigners.  They charge 25 rupees for locals, but our tour covered this cost.  Somehow, non-Indians were forgotten in the deal.  A couple of places had already charged extra and I paid the fee, but add in sore feet, dehydration and the overall injustice of it all, and I decided to sit that one out.  It was a good thing I did too because I ended up meeting a pretty cool person.  The only other foreigner in our group decided to hang back as well and we got to talking.  She is from South Africa and now lives in New York.  She is a very worldly person with a laid back attitude and was easy to have a conversation with.  Hooray for new friends!  We ended up spending the rest of the day together, along with my Indian family.

After that we went to the local zoo park (which turned out to be more park than zoo).  We did see a white tiger though, so that was pretty cool.  My first tiger in India; I hope there are many more sightings in the coming weeks.  Finally, after a long day of walking and seeing and picture taking, we ended our tour with the most physically exhaustive segment of the day, the Golconda Fort.  The fort is a vast ruin made entirely by hand with stones.  It was quite a hike to the top, but we did it, pausing several times for pictures along the way.  This was my favorite part of the day, without a doubt.  Just thinking about the history of the place and marveling at the architecture could have taken up all of my day.  Unfortunately our tour director was a bit of a stickler for time, with a bad attitude besides, and we only had an hour and a half to explore.  At the very top of the  fort I was taking pictures when I was approached by a large group of Indian teens who all wanted their picture taken with me.  That was a surreal moment.  Another surreal moment was when I realized that a guy on my bus was wearing a U of M hat.  He lives here in India and it turns out he just bought the hat because his name start with M, but it was still pretty cool to see.

Finally done with the tour, I squeezed my tired legs onto a bus and made my way home.  According to Anne, I am now officially an Indian.  Tomorrow is the debut of Brad Dembs: Party Liaison, so wish me luck.  Hopefully my lessons will lead to a whole generation of Indians playing beer pong and flip cup.  Now I'm off to get a mango juice and a chicken roll from my local market and then take a shower before going to bed.  I'm going to take such a long shower, you might as well call me Andy Perault.  Namaste, America.  Talk to you soon. 

We are the champions!

The Deccan Chargers won the Indian Premier League Cricket Championship!  I was watching the match at T.G.I.F., which here I think stands for Thank Ganesh It's Friday.  People went crazy, pouring out into the streets, screaming chants and jumping around.  I fell asleep that night to the sound of fireworks all across the city.  I took a video of the fracas, but it's too big a file to post here and it didn't work on facebook either.  Any ideas on how I can share it?...Matt?

Other than that it has been a fairly calm couple of days.  I finally figured out the bus system, with the help of a friend.  We traveled to Secunderabad, the sister city of Hyderabad.  That is where PAMENCAP is.  I went to the school and spoke with a teacher for a while about their curriculum and schedule.  I also read a few case files on the students.  Other than that, there wasn't much to do there and I don't anticipate going back until closer to June 8th, when the kids return from break.  That leaves me with two weeks to get to know my surroundings.  For starters, I think I'll do some tourist activities around the city.  I may even take a few days to travel to Bangalore, which is almost 600km south from where I am.  From what I've heard it is a beautiful place with a lot of awesome sights.  Hopefully I can see this waterfall.

I've gotten into the habit of walking to the AIESEC office to use the internet, since we still don't have it back up at my flat.  It's probably a mile walk, but both places are on the same street so there's not much chance of getting lost.  As I travel down the road I get a good glimpse of daily life in India.  There are a lot of street merchants selling fruit piled so high on carts that it seems inevitable that it will all fall down and cause a crazy traffic jam.  I've also seen donkeys and oxen being herded around.  Some of the weirder things that I have come across are a street barber and a street tattoo artist.  There was a guy just squatting on the sidewalk getting inked up as cars and bikes surged past, maybe three inches from clipping his heels.  I could only imagine what would happen if he got hit.  That would be an interesting tattoo to explain to people.  Also, I stick out very plainly here.  I am the only non-Indian person that I have seen while walking.  People are not used to seeing someone like me so they frequently wave or yell out "Where from?".  Last night our power went out as I was reading so I decided to take a walk to the neighborhood market to get a snack.  On the way, I saw a guy riding his bike, struggling with a huge block of ice.  Seconds later the block fell and shattered into six or seven pieces all over the street.  He was in a bad spot and traffic started piling up and honking around him.  I felt bad so I ran out and helped him gather his ice so he could be on his way faster.  Hopefully that will bode well for me.  I am in the country of Karma, after all. 

Also, check Facebook for pictures of my time here so far.  And cheers to the Red Wings for a sweet blowout game.  I wish I could have watched it.

Hooray for the internet!

Hello world, it's been a while. The day I made my last post also happened to be the last day I had access to the internet at my apartment. Unfortunately, problems like this aren't as easy to fix as they are in the good ol' U.S. of A. When the internet goes out at home I usually unplug the router and the modem and then plug them back in and voila, problem solved. Here, on the other hand, there is a lack of a modem. Instead, the router is plugged into a cable that runs through the apartment and out the balcony, where it disappears, never to be seen or heard from again. It is weird and convoluted, but oh well, enough venting. I only have this computer for one hour if I don't want to pay over 20 rupees (although double that charge would still be less than one dollar u.s.)

A couple of nights ago I went to an office party where my flatmates work. It's in Hi-Tech City, which is where all the big IT companies have headquarters. There is some really cool architecture out there. The party was to say farewell to a colleague who is leaving for the U.S. and it turns out that he is American and his wife is from Ann Arbor. After a week of only meeting two other compatriots it was quite an exciting shock to run into someone from the same state, let alone the same city! We talked for a while about the maize and blue which made me properly homesick. Luckily I was distracted by an intense dance circle that started up in front of me. I thought it was probably rare to see such extreme moves at an office party, but apparently that is the norm in India. People here are much less abashed about dancing than they are in the states. It helps that all the songs come from Indian movies that everyone watches. (Look for a video of part of this melee soon...if I can ever get internet on my own computer again.)

After the office "show" the party continued at one of Hyderbad's cooledt clubs, called Excess. This is a popular place because of the decor and the lighting, but also because it stays open until 4 and most, if not all, other clubs close by midnight. When we got there everyone was caught up in a cricket match that was about halfway over. As it turned out, the local team, the Deccan Chargers, were facing off in a sudden death semifinal round against the heavily favored Delhi Daredevils. I quickly received a crash course in cricket and watched with everyone else as the Chargers pulled off the upset. Everybody was super stoked and it has been the talk of the town ever since. Tonight, for the championship, Deccan will play the Bangalore Royal Challengers who also won in unexpected fashion. I'm looking forward to a good match. If the Chargers win maybe I can get a champions t-shirt.

Yesterday was Saturday, which meant it was time for AIESEC's weekly meeting. Everyone gathered at a local school to discuss business and socialize. I have quickly come to realize that AIESEC is a very close-knit group. It could be equated with some of the youth group meetings of my past, except much more professional. In one rather unanticipated turn of events I was called up to the front of the room. After talking the other day with Akhil, the president, it was decided that I will be the Party Delegate for AIESEC's upcoming weekend conference. Apparently I am tasked with bringing the American college party "scene" to Hyderabad. I plan on teaching everyone how to play beer pong, kings, quarters, etc. I will do my best to channel the spirit of Van Wilder. As a part of my Party Planner status I was also given the privilege of choosing my date to the "prom night". Five or six of the AIESEC girls were chosen to come to the front of the room and convince me why I should pick them. This turned into a talent contest of sorts in which I was danced with and sang to. It was a lot of fun, but now I have a very hard decision to make. I don't know how I will pick one girl since they were all so great. I hope I don't end up hurting anyone's feelings.

Well, that's all for now. I hope everyone is doing well and missing me terribly :) Good luck in Game 4 to the Wings (who got hosed by the refs with that call on Kronwall, but still almost pulled off the game). I hope they set things right this time so we can come back to the Joe to put it away. Peace from the far east!

This place is on fire! (in more ways than one)

As I was sitting down to write a new post, about a half hour ago, I thought that the first sentence I would write would be "Today has been a very uneventful day".  At that same moment, however, I heard a shout from the other room: "Oh shit! Fire!"  I ran out of my room to find Anne standing by the laundry machine which was emitting a toxic black smoke.  From the smell I could tell it was an electrical fire.  Flames were coming up from under the machine.  I snatched a wet towel and tried to smother the fire but that didn't work.  Iko grabbed a bucket and poured water down the back of the machine as I tilted it to make the flames more accessible.  We got the fire out pretty quickly and now just have the smell and the wet floor to deal with.

The other kind of fire, of course, is the heat.  I think that is the hardest thing to get used to here.  I've always thought that being hot is better than being cold, but that doesn't apply when trying to sleep.  I would much rather be bundled tight or cuddled up to another warm body than laying without covers, in only boxers, and still be shvitzing uncontrollably.  The power outages have been getting longer as well.  We had no fan most of the night and all of this morning.  I asked someone why that is and they said that it's because in the summer there is less water to run the turbines.  One more reason to bring on the monsoons!

Yesterday, my buddy Abhiram picked me up and took me to Pamencap.  I met the people who run the organization and got a tour of their facilities.  As it turns out, the children are on holiday and won't be coming back until June 8th.  Until then I will meet with the teachers and learn how the school works as well as relaying my experience to them.  The office is a bit far from my flat though so it looks like I'll have to ride the sardine can of a bus sooner or later.  After the meet and greet we went to a great lunch place where I had a veggie pastry called a Paneer Puff and met the sister of one of the other guys that was with us, Siddhartha.  Abhiram and I had a lot of fun riding on his motorcyle, taking turns singing songs from our respective countries.  He is hoping to come to U of M next year for grad school.

Last night I went out to an awesome restaurant with Anne, Iko, and her boyfriend Joe (who is from Chicago), and their friend Jane (from Philly).  The atmosphere was great, all outdoors with couches and candles.  Unfortunately there aren't many stars to see in Hyderabad due to pollution.  I counted two while we were at the restaurant.  Once we were sated by delicious grilled chicken and Kingfisher beer (local brand) we went to a nightclub called 360.  It was someones birthday that someone knew so we got free drinks. 

Today I have been sitting in my bed, reading a book about a buffalo hunt in Alaska.  That has helped keep my mind off the heat.  Thanks for all the comments on my previous entries.  As much as you guys seem to like hearing about my trip, I love hearing from you, so keep the comments coming!  And good luck to the Red Wings tonight, who can really squish Chicago's chances by turning a must-win for them into a did-win for us. 

First few days

Hello friends and family.  I have finally moved into the trainee flat here in Hyderabad and figured out how to connect to the internet (it was a tricky process).  But let's start where my last post left off.  After writing, a couple of AIESECers and I went to see a movie at the new mall.  It is very modern and well air conditioned, which is very important.  The theater itself was pretty standard.  Halfway through the movie though, the lights came on and the reel stopped.  I thought the projector was broken but it turns out they have intermissions in their movies in India.  This way they can sell more snacks and give everyone a chance to stretch their legs...Not a bad idea.

Later that night, I did a homestay with Rishwin.  He (along with everyone else that I've met so far) is an extremely gracious and generous host.  We relaxed at his house and he showed me a great view of Hyderabad from the roof of his apartment complex.  The next morning we went out for Indian breakfast, which again, was delicious.  (From now on I'm not going to write how good the food is.  This should be assumed.)  I had a dosa, which is a crispy shell full of potato, onion and spices.  You dip this in different sauces.  Afterwards, Rishwin and I went back to his place for a few hours.  I watched some cricket on tv but I still don't understand it.  Hopefully I will learn how to play while I'm here.  My plan is to learn cricket and teach ultimate frisbee.

After stopping by at the AIESEC office and meeting more people, some of us went to a cafe.  To get there I had my first ride in an autorickshaw.  They are like little open-air pods with room for three in the back.  At the cafe we smoked hookah and talked about American movies and tv shows.  Luckily for me, a couple of the guys watch Lost, so we had a lot to talk about.  When we left the cafe it started to rain.  What began as a refreshing drizzle turned quickly into a massive downpour.  Within a minute or two the streets were like rivers and traffic was at a standstill.  Fortunately one of our friends who met up with us had a car so we were sheltered from the elements.  The plan was to stop by the office, pick up my suitcase and drop me off at the trainee flat, but we had to delay for an hour or so since we didn't want to go swimming.  We waited at another new mall and had dinner at McDonalds.  Hyderabad is a quickly developing city and there are several new malls and restaurants.  One of my new friends commented that he can't keep up with all the new establishments springing up seemingly overnight.

Once we were able to get my bags, the AIESEC Hyderabad president, Rishwin and I chilled for a while and had a few beers and some awesome Indian snacks.  Then they dropped me off at my new home for the next two months.  The flat is very spacious and has a good view of the neighborhood.  So far I have met two of my roommates, Anne from Kenya, with whom I share a room, and Iko, from Nigeria.  There are three more people living here that I will probably meet tonight.  After setting up my bed I was very tired so I tried to fall asleep.  The key word here is tried.  I have always had a hard time sleeping the first night in a new place, but the heat did not help.  There is a fan in my room, but India employs controlled power outages so it doesn't always work.  Also, there is a mosque right by my place and they broadcast prayers over the loudspeakers every five hours.  That plus babies crying, dogs howling, cats meowing, and roosters crowing made for a restless night.  Maybe I'll get used to it over time, but maybe I should just get earplugs. 

Today Anne took me on a short walk and showed me the ropes at the local market.  I bought some cereal, juice and mangoes.  Now I am waiting to be picked up to go over to the office of Pamencap, the company that I will be working for.  I am sitting on my bed, enjoying the cool breeze.  It turns out there are positives as well as negatives to the rainstorms here.  I miss everyone at home and hope all is well.  Red Wings up 2-0, woo!

 my room

 my view

Getting here

Wow. I am in India. After months of planning and discussing and packing, I am actually here. It's still a bit surreal, but I'm getting used to it quickly. I think I have adjusted to the time difference already because I didn't sleep much on the plane so I was exhausted when I finally got to Hyderabad at 11pm (1pm at home).

To get here I had to take two 8 hour flights. The first flight, from Detroit Metro to Frankfurt, Germany was uneventful. In Frankfurt I had some time to kill so I sat at the bar and ordered a genuine German beer, a Heifeweisen. It was very refreshing. On the second flight there were so many babies that I swear, there must be a baby convention in Hyderabad this week. There were literally babies in every row of the plane and they were not happy to be there. To drown out the cacophony I watched a movie. As is usually the case on planes the movies offered would all be classified as "films I would never watch unless I was stuck on a plane". I had to choose between Paul Blart and Marley & Me. I decided to go with the one with a sexy woman instead of a fat, mildly funny man with a terrible moustache. This turned out to be a bad choice as I ended up sobbing uncontrollably at the end of the movie. I'm a sucker for "boy and his dog" stories. Oh well, it took up some time.

When I finally got to Hyderabad and got my suitcase I walked outside and it felt like I was stepping into a sauna. People weren't kidding when they told me it was hot here. Outside the airport, three AIESEC guys, Anuraag, Shashank, and Prashanth, were waiting for me. Shashank was wearing a LeBron James jersey. We talked all about Michigan and Hyderabad and got to know each other as we drove to the Old City. We stopped at the Charminar, which is a 400 year old mosque/monument. I have seen so many pictures of it that to actually be standind next to it was a cool feeling. Then I went to the home of a family that was putting me up for the night. Their house is also a 100 year old mosque, built and run by one of my new friend's great great grandfather. Sanaullah, my host, and I spent a few hours eating mangoes and talking about music. I played Oh No and RJD2 for him and he loved it. He played some Indian music for me and then we we went to sleep.

I awoke to the sound of a family making breakfast. I left my room and found Sanaullah's mom, dad, and four sisters cooking cheese and onion paratha as well as mango ice puree and chai. It was one of the best breakfasts I've had in a long time, possibly ever. As I ate, Sanaullah, his father and mother and I talked about Indian and American politics. Everyone here loves Obama and they were happy to know that I was a big supporter of him. After breakfast I took a shower and then Sanaullah and I left his house to come to the AIESEC office. He failed to mention that we would be getting there on his moped. If you have heard that traffic is crazy in India you have no idea until you're actually within the swarm yourself. We zipped past autorickshaws, other motor bikes and pedestrians all over the place. People drive where they want, when they want, and just hope no one runs into them. I bumped a bus with my elbow as we drove past. A man drove up next to us to say hello and he shook my hand.

Now I am at the office, meeting a lot of people (I can't remember any of their names). I have been taking a lot of pictures that I will post to facebook when I have a full album. I don't know what I am up to the rest of the day, but I know I am having an amazing time already and I've only been here for one day!

Oh yeah, and Go Red Wings!