Suddenly - On our own

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Hi Guys,
We have been dreaming for a couple days now of taking a day of rest, sitting at some fashionable internet cafe. Of course it would new trendy and clean, and we would sip tiny cups of sweet tea while lounging in front of the finest equipment. Instead I find myself sitting in a little dirty geek hole in a tiny cubicle with an insanely cludged old computer running XP and the fastest net connection yet, better than our office at home. American pop music is blaring and the spring action keyboard feels dynamic under my finger tips. These guys may not have much to work with, but they have optimized everything for internet access. Okay, part of me is loving it. I wish Mark and Jonathan were here to see this. I am trying to download some pictures off the cameras, but the processor and hard drive are so slow/small that this may not work. Our blogs may be mostly written until something changes.

We made it to Hyderabad. We took a night sleeper train and arrive this morning at 7am. We had been saying we were going to leave on Sunday. That stretched to Monday, then Tuesday when we realized we still had a long list of key things to accomplish. In the early afternoon I got with Armstrong (real name Parakam, Joseph's youngest son) to clean some viruses off his laptop and make travel arrangements. The internet was down, so not much was done computer-wise but we had fun chatting. Over the course of the conversation I discovered that express busses and trains run mostly at night. Furthermore advanced reservations are absolutely necessary for travel, and that bookings close 8 hours before the departure time. (maybe more of the formal thinking culture we have been experienced) We really did not want to take an "Ordinary" train or bus that would make many stops and take all day. Neither did we want to wait until Wednesday night to travel. With everything done, we were ready to go, any longer and leaving would really be tough. The kids were starting to express real sadness at our leaving. Anyway, we were beginning to feel like an imposition. I am pretty certain that feeling was one sided, but none the less it was time to go.

I explained to Armstrong that in the USA we often just go to the station to travel on standby. At first he resisted, but eventually he warmed up to the possibility. We packed, as the bus comes though at 11pm. That evening he presented the idea to his family at a birthday party as his own. Ouch, he went out on a limb and thought like an American but got criticized soundly by everyone. Once again we had to exercise patience and wait for the idea to become theirs. The compromise was that we would take the train so that we would not have to relieve ourselves in some field along the route. Suddenly we were exchanging good-bys and hauling luggage over-stuffed with gifts to the station. We were given the regular "family" style escort to the door of the car, with explicit instructions on how to interface with the ticket-taker. Sure enough we experienced the travel grace that has been with us all along. Yes, there were two empty berts available on the 3-tier sleeper car, no we did not have to pay an outragious amount, yes we had a peaceful night ride across country.

Since I was a young girl living on our farm by the railroad tracks, I have watched trains go by wishing I could ride them. The trip from Paris to Barcelona had it's moments, but it was not romantic. Instead it was a long trip in a hard seat. Traveling from Chennai to Ongole we stepped out on the landing between cars and stood perilously in front of the open car doors with the wind rushing in, watching the baked countryside go by. This trip I spent hours watching the village lights pass as I lay in my berth by the window. Okay, so several people were snoring and there was a light glaring in my eyes from the next compartment. Facing out the window, I was riding a sleeper train in the moonlight wearing an extravagant punjabi dress covered for privacy by my large scarf. For the first time I felt like I was finally doing what I had dreamed so long ago.

In the morning I was just one of the travelers again. We wrangled our luggage to the door a few minutes before arrival as Vicky taught us and disembarked like pros. Bargained for a autorickshaw successfully; thought we would need two because of the amount of stuff we are carrying, but the driver stuffed it all in one. We took a wild ride down the highway going through red lights and weaving through fast traffic in the mostly open air three-wheeled motorcycle cart. Made it to the hotel that the Kodavatikantis recommended without a scratch. They did not have record of the reservation Armstrong was to make for us, but a regular room was available, more travel grace. We at breakfast in a beautiful outdoor cafe attached to the hotel. It was nice, but not Sweeties. We went back to the room for a few minutes then set out for the internet. To our suprise we found a film crew was setting up in the very spot we had just been eating.

Christina got permission to film and ran for her camera. I lounged around gawking and ignoring the guys doing crowd control like a true Indian. Christina, with the easy poise of an experienced documentry film maker made her way around the shoot asking questions and looking approachably charming. I wached a woman dress the leading man in jewelry, later I caught up her being interviewed by our girl. Seems she is a child psychologist, the man's mother, and spoke of her love for the city. Now we are stoked to see it all. And my two hours are up. Love you all, more later. Sheryl

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Comments

[Vicky]

Have fun in Hyderabad
Hi Guys This is vicky, Just want to let you know that I went to College in Hyderabad in 1993. It was only for one year to get my Physical Education Degree. Hope you will have a good time there. God bless