Welcome to India

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This is the end of my second day in Hyderabad, and I have a lot to report. I suppose I'll start at the beginning. My flight to Newark was fairly uneventful, and when I got on the Air India plane any worries I had about the flight went away. However, in between Newark and Paris I got rather sick and threw up three times. Once we left Paris though I was fine. The flight went well and I landed in the Mumbai airport. Mostly I spent my layover sleeping, and getting to Hyderabad was quite easy (although my flight was delayed for four hours). Once I got to Hyderabad, Venki Uncle's secretary, Shyam, and his driver, Ramesh, were there to pick me up. We drove to Venki Uncle and Sue Aunty's house, which is quite lovely. I guess the jet lag caught up with me then and I sacked out at about 3:30 in the afternoon. Unfortunately, that meant that I woke up at about 4 this morning. It was actually quite nice though because that's about when the monsoon rains started, and since the windows were open I could fully appreciate the storm. Today I spent with Nandy's cousin Smitha doing some shopping in the Old City, near Charminar. Charminar is a four hundred year old set of four minarets surrounded by Laad Bazaar, which is famous for its bangles, and I did a fair amount of damage in a short time there. The Old City is predominantly Muslim, and most of the women wear burquas. I even saw a few burqua-clad women riding around on the back of Vespa scooters. The driving in Hyderabad is absolutely crazy. People are always crossing into oncoming lanes of traffic, and there don't seem to be any traffic regualtions. That, however, is just part of India's charm. I was a little worried that I would get to India, and it would not be at all what I expected and that I would hate it, but I have found that to not be true at all. If India differs from my expectations, it is only in that it is more than I could have hoped for. For example, today Smitha and I sort of stumbled onto this wonderful 220 year old palace of the nizams, the title of the traditional ruler of Hyderabad, right in the middle of Laad Bazaar. Apparently the palace had just been opened to the public in January and no one seems to know that it's there. Smitha and I were the only ones in the whole complex, which was amazingly beautiful and peaceful. There were lots of gardens and the security guards were quite bored, so they gave us quite a nice tour. At any rate, the whole day was quite lovely and I'm having a wonderful time. Another thing that is different from what I expected is the level of poverty. I have seen a few beggars and been hounded by a few young kids selling trinkets, but it's certainly not as bad as the things that I read led me to believe. Tomorrow the day is reserved for clothes shopping, since I didn't really bring a whole lot with me. At any rate, India is lovely and Venki Uncle and Sue Aunty and Smitha are wonderful and I'm having a great time. I'll let you know more soon.
Jenn

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Comments

[Dad]

I'm very glad
Sounds like your introduction to India is going great. I'm very proud of you and can't wait to hear more. I love you Dad

[Abby]

oh my god, it all sounds so fabulous! well, except for the part where you threw up 3 times. i'm glad you're having a good time, and don't forget your malaria medication! you don't want to end up like rocky. ;)