26 Aug. 2010. Thursday.
My current state is one to which I think my Swedish roommates might respond, "OYoyoyoyoy." I haven't updated in almost a month! And my! how the frequency of eventfulness has oscillated off the charts!! Oh and yes, I did use the plural form of "roommates," because I no longer have just one roommate as I did in ol' Tagore, but rather I have found a cozy lil' apartment just outside of the south gate, in DiAmOnD hEiGhTs!~!~! It's one hundered percent as classy as it sounds. Only the best for my delicate lily arse! But seriously, Natalia, a fellow UC student (from Berkeley), and Hanna and Desi, students from Univ. of Gothenberg in Sweden, moved in just Monday. This accomplishment was a long time coming, though; we finally found, after almost 3 weeks, someone willing to rent to a bunch of "bachelorettes" (aka unmarried Western floozies with loose morals). But like everything else in India, it worked itself out--not how anyone could've anticipated-- but it worked out for the better, actually! I love having to swerve around the cows on my bike and following the sounds of the frogs to find my way home after dark! In the daylight, my journey home finds friendly children waving to me calling me "auntie" (!!!!), women cooking curry and chapati, and pigs at play. Even a "gorra" (white person) like me can feel at home here! And right now I'm waiting for four familiar gorras to arrive at the building with their belongings to become my new neighbors! In the meantime though, I shall scramble to recount all the happenings of the last four weeks...
The weekend after my last entry I went with Liz, Colleen, Alexis, Rob, Tucker, and Elliott, to Vishakaphatnam, aka Vizag. We bonded to a familial degree! It was a 700-km journey to the northeast, and it ended for us at the shores of Rishikonda Beach on the Bay of Bengal. My skin was a worthy sacrifice to the sun for my reunion with her unbridled beauty. The water was warm and clear, and we made no delay in suiting up and jumping in. Then the beach patrol scolded us and we had to get out. At the boardwalk I met a camel, a horse named Ladyboss, and some mermaids. We stayed at the ashram of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (the official Hare Krishna society). The next day we took an early train to the beautiful Aruku Valley inhabited by tribal villages. Once there we saw the Borra Caves, had a delicious lunch made by local women and served on a banana leaf, wandered through coffee plants, and scampered down a hill through rice plant terraces to a beautiful, beautiful waterfall! Alexis and I ventured out to the edge of the cliff to marvel at the lush valley below and green, rolling hills above. It was easily my favorite part of the trip. We caught the train back to Secunderabad at 6 AM, after arriving 2 hours early and the train leaving 1 hour late. Here is my diary entry written during this agonizing wait time:
Rats scurry about the dim & dingy railway station. It's 3:38 AM but oddly enough (or not) time has no feeling of rightness or wrongness. Cockroaches crawl across crates and carts and cookie packages in shopfronts. Some rats may be so bold as to venture between the pillars of my shins, while the roaches only retreat at the reproachful stampings of my feet. A train rolls in and those sleeping on the platform do not take notice. Clutching my thanda pani I can only hope the hours will pass sufficiently fast for an escape from the damp floors and watchful eyes of every passerby. In a place like this one can't be surprised by the multiple encounters with green slimy sludge. My first came in Yamunotri where I lost my new wool socks to a puddle of stagnant toxic waste green in color and encrusted with brown and yellow floating froth. Run in #2 came on Friday at the beach when, again, I mis-stepped while trying to traverse the rocky intertidal seashore. Waves and algae made for a dangerously slippery union as their wedding bed sent my feet from under me and left the love potion all over my backside. In a place like this it's also not surprising to confuse station stench with that which eeks from deep within the bowels. And the sleeping sleepers still sleep.
The following week was uneventful until I went to the history-rich Hampi that
Thursday. The open-air cafes inspired awe at the towering temples and holy rivers.
We rented scooters, got lost for 40 km, and rode around the beautiful beautiful town
visiting temple after temple. Also got to see the town pet, Laxmi the elephant receiver her morning bath! That night I peeked into the lives of so many Indian people. What a way to experience Hampi, as a small community going on as it always does, making no exceptions before the eyes of foreigners. We caught the Naga parade as we were leaving. Our bus just so happened to follow the scuttling sputters and croaking grumbles of engines laboring over hills and curves. On the bus the tension surfaced in the battle between old, the traditional, the sounds of sweet serenades with a rolling , easy beat beating leisurely along; and the new, the global, the World Cup, and Akon. Missed the train home and had to take a bus with a blacklight and minimal suspension over the unpaved roads. We got back to Hyderabad in the early hours of Independence Day. Delighted in the ceremony held on campus but wasn't allowed to go into town because of unfounded warnings of terrorism against Americans.
I'm finally closer to catching up now, phewwww!! Now I'll describe the previous week:
- went to a less-than-happenin' bar called Suraj on Tuesday night with my new roommates and Eric, Ray and Kotte
- took the local rain into town with Natalia and our Indian friend, Anjali, to patron the famous Karachi Bakery, Vindu Restaurant for a yummy lunch of butter paneer tikka, and then rode in the ladies' car on the way back to Lingampally station by campus. Spent some time at the craft village that I hate, Shilparamam, and bought a cool Madhubani painting of Ganesh and some sandals that proved to be dangerous and shitty on Saturday.
- Ate a pesto(!!) sandwich at Hard Rock Cafe Hyderabad and listened to an Indian Dio cover band...
- Saw Inception at IMAX for $USD 4 on Friday
- Went on a tour of the Lonely Planet-recommended sights in Hyderabad: Golconda Fort (SO cool!!! until I lost a chunk of my toe to a sharp rock...), Birla Mandir (great views of the sister cities!) , and Lumbini Lake, which separates Hyderabad & Secunderabad and is punctuated with a large statue of Buddha. Walking along the lake we got caught in the rain of course, and when we finally caught an auto-ricksa traffic was fierce and our particular auto died in the midst of it. The next hour or more until we got to our destination wore down on our wet bones only to be built up again by stiff drinks poured by a fire-juggling South African bartender. The ride home was by far the funniest yet...
This was Saturday, and goodness gracious, it's already Thursday today! Time flies when you're taking care of business on all fronts! Yesterday was a good day, since Hindi was cancelled I got to attend tea time! And from there set out on a short-lived hunt for sheets so I wouldn't have to continue rolling myself in my saree , when a big black zeppelin of condensed water vapor drifted over all of Lingampally and Gachibowli (neighborhoods near the university) and dumped its contents mercilessly and unprecedentedly. I can feel the pneumonia setting in. I was ankle deep in puddle within the first 3 minutes of downpour and lizards were swimming in the new river. I just can't even describe how it felt to be in the midst of nature's drama just after the sun had set, so insignificant and impotent and helpless against these ruthless forces. It was a good three and a half hours until the rain stopped go I could go home. BUT! twenty meters before the turn down the road to our apartment, the road was flooded so much that when crossing the puddle--on my bike-- the water was up to my calves. I couldn't understand what my neighbors were instructing me to do, I couldn't tell if the water was getting more or less deep, and I could barely pedal fast enough to keep my bike upright. It was NOT okay. I haven't left the house yet today for fear or reliving the horror. Still waiting for my companions to come move in, and Menomena is reminding me much too much of Sacramento life right now. All this remembering and recounting and time traveling is messing with me. I should really get back into reality with a good ol' smatterin' of studyin' for Human Rights...
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