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.