The End....?

Guess where I am....back in the United States of America! It's good to be home, even if it's still cold. : ) And it was GREAT to see my family again! After almost six months, photographs, emails, and telephone calls are just not enough.

But---before begining this final post, I apologize for not putting up those pictures from my travels. After writing that initial, culturally-shocked entry in Oxford, I proceeded to spend the rest of my time in England recovering from jet lag (aka sleeping), taking snaps of geese (hey, I hadn't seen them in awhile!) watching an entire season of Friday Night Lights and getting lost in London. : )

But--before I get to that, some final thoughts on my travels. I don't feel that I've done justice to this past semester, so this is my attempt on bringing some kind of closure to what has been an indescribable experience. Literally. One of the professors that spoke to the American students during our orientation in Delhi told us, "Whatever you can say that is true of India, the opposite is also true." And it's true! My time there was amazing, and challenging, and difficult, and easy, and eye-opening, and stereotypical, and unique, and , and, and....after five months I can only say that I just barely began to learn the tiniest bit about a country and culture I was privileged to be a part of for one semester.

I'd like to say thank you with everything in my heart to the incredible family that opened their home to me. I can't imagine my semester without Aunty and Uncle, Sowmya, Bharat and Alok (see, I spelled your names right this time!!). I think you know this already, but you guys are amazing and I love you!!

Also, thank you to my own family for all of your thoughts, prayers, emails, telephone calls and the countless other ways you supported me. I definitely could not have made it through the semester without you! I love you guys, even if you didn't send me any snail mail....haha just kidding.

I'd also like everyone to know that I mailed most of you postcards from India. It was supposed to be a surprise in your mailbox, but after asking a few people if they ever got them, I am beginning to suspect that they still haven't left the desk of the post office official I handed them to in March...so, a few years from now, when you finally get that postcard, I WAS thinking of you when I was in India!! Thank YOU also for your support while I was here: emails, facebook wall messages and posts (even if it's recently turned stalker-sketchy, you must admit that it's useful for SOME things) thoughts, prayers.

And now, prepare yourself for some cheesiness--and don't say that I didn't warn you.

Even though I have left India, it still hasn't left me. And I'm not just referring to my recovering digestive system, or the parasites that might be lurking in my stomach. When my plane pulled out of the Delhi airport and into the sky the first thing I thought was--"I have to come back."

Actually, to be honest, I was crying. The very nice woman who was sitting next to me offered me tissues and mentos and pictures of her children until I stopped crying, when having to come back was the second thing I thought. I hadn't realized how much India had shaped me and changed me and how hard it would be to leave, until I left. And even now, sometimes I wake up in the morning and open my eyes expecting to see Sowmya and Brittany sleeping next to me on the floor, and the familiar landscape of Gachibowli outside my bedroom window...okay now I'm think I'm waxing a little TOO sentimental. So let me just say that I expect to, no I WILL go back. Not just because I have worlds left to learn, but also for the friendships that became so much more than friendships with everyone there. And of course, for Sowmya's wedding and our Munnar reunion in twelve years when the hills turn blue!!


First day in Munnar: we climb a mountain!













It took us about an hour and a half to get to where we're taking these photos from.

Now I'll end with the really exciting part of these posts, and probably the only part that people actually look at: pictures! I've scattered them throughout the next few paragraphs, while I explain my travels and where I went: I left on the 4th of May after my last final for Munnar, as mentioned in an earlier post. Munnar was AMAZING. I think those were some of the best days I've spent in India!! There is no way any photo can capture how beautiful it was. My time there was spent trekking up mountains, swimming in "Pandey's pool," a natural waterfall created pool discovered by Ashok Pandey himself, (group pic below) trekking in Ervikalum, a huge national park (about a twenty mile all-day trek that included stumbling upon a herd of wild elephants, making lunch plates out of leaves, and getting eaten by multitudes of leeches) and in the words of Viroop, "just chilling." But it wasn't only about what I did, it was also about who I was with: a group of (most) of the people I have come to know and love best while in India: Sowmya, Bharat, Alok, Andrew, Viroop, Shriya and Steve. And of course, new friends: Alok's brother Ashok, his wife Pinky, and her brother. It was so good to be with them, and in our words, lots of "good fun!!" I was there from the 4th to the 9th, when I left again to return to Hyderabad. Below: group pic (minus Alok taking the photo) of us before starting our epic Trek, above Andrew and Viroop look out over a valley in Ervi.

On the 11th I left from Hyderabad for Mumbai (Bombay) to meet up with fellow travelers/co-international students Allyson and Megan to spend what we expected would be three days relaxing at a beach on the Konkan Coast (the coast of Maharashtra),

(above, Ashok fishing, below, the clouds come in over the mountains in Munnar)but what actually turned into 24 hours on the beach followed by a frantic five hour speed-trip back to Mumbai to take Allyson to the emergency room of the Breach Candy Hospital because of a serious infection in her foot. We spent the next six or seven hours in the hospital getting Allyson treated....and then the next two nights crashing on the floor in the apartment of Allyson's generous friends in Mumbai. (I know you don't read this, but THANK YOU!!!)
(above: hills, trees, and tea bushes in Munnar)
(to the right, view from the hills of Ashok's house where I stayed in Munnar)

On the 17th of May we parted ways: Allyson and Meg (Allyson mostly recovered) went north together to Varanasi and I traveled solo to Aurangabad, home to the nearby world-famous, world-heritage sights of the Ellora and Ajanta caves. My solo travels were quite exciting in both good and bad ways. The caves were amazing, but as most of you know, but while I was there Hyderabad suffered from a bomb blast in a mosque. Because I was staying in a budget hostel with no television access I found out much later than the actual event occurred, but thankfully, everyone I knew was okay.

(to the side: my host brother and me at Pandey's Pool)

As fewer of you know, I also fell quite sick. However aside from a night of hell in which I supposed myself to be suffering from every possible illness: malaria, parasites, dengue, yellow fever, etc etc I battled through it to the end and came out feeling stronger--what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

On the 21st I returned to Mumbai to spend a few days with my good friend Avanti, from Columbia. That was fun, I had more exciting adventures there of b0th the good/bad sort, and ate lots of wonderful food! By the way, Avanti has co-edited an amazing book which I think all of you should check out--proceeds go to CRY (Child Rights and You).

(to the side again: Alok and me on the Trek through Ervi)

On the 26th I arrived in Hyderabad to spend a last, few, precious days at home before I flew out to Delhi on the morning of the 28th. On the 29th I flew out of Delhi to England. And that's all of my post-semester travels! And that's also it for India. Or not...because, in the words of The Terminator: "I'll be BACK." Namaste!

Culture Shock One Oh One

Well. I've left India, and arrived in England, specifically, Oxford. The first thing that popped into my head stepping off of the plane from India and into the West was: "It's COLD." England is, to put it mildly, FREEZING. : ( When I left Delhi, it was 38 or 39 C. Hyderabad was around there, a bit warmer (40?). Here, in England, it's (ready? ready?!) THIRTEEN DEGREES. And it's strangely quiet. And no one stares at me. And everyone wears jeans. And the signs are all in only one language, and that's English. And everyone is WHITE. Basically, I'm completely disoriented, I don't know what to do or say anymore, and I miss home and people in India. The minute I sat down on the plane I wanted to run off it and jump on the nearest train back to Hyderabad. Specifically, 9 Lakshmi Enclave...

Okay, I'm done complaining. Oxford is actually a beautiful town. I'm staying with one of my close friends from Columbia, Caitlin. And it has been SO GOOD to see her again! It's been great to catch up with her. : )

But, how to update you on everything that's happened since I last wrote? I think that's kind of impossible. But some say that a picture is worth a thousand words. So, I'm going to post some pictures here (next post) from my travels around south India after the semester ended. I actually only have pictures from my trip to Munnar, where I went with a lot of people from my host family (whom I feel I should refer to as just "family" because that's what they are to me). I only have pictures from Munnar because, as I wrote in an earlier post, my camera broke...so these pictures are actually pictures I've stolen from the camera of good friends : ). (Thank you Viroop, Sowmya and Andrew).

I'm home in nine days. New York, here I come....for better or for worse : )

Post Scriptum

PS. to yesterday:

After writing that entry I went home, and on the way out to the edge of campus to catch a bus home (Andrew came with me to pick up his bike) we spontaneously decided to climb the water tower!! The water tower on campus is an old structure which it is quite exciting, and by exciting I mean dangerous, to climb. The steps are inside but they are just a skeleton of a stair case that goes straight up the inside of the the tower, with no sides (there's empty air on both sides of you as you climb) and only one small rusty railing to cling to on the left side. Then, when you've climbed this (it's pretty high at the top so it's difficult to not feel dizzy even if you're not scared of heights), there's another, even scarier ladder that goes all the way up to the top that's inside the place where the water is itself...so this ladder is swaying and threatening to come loose and the air is humid and dank from the water, but then....when you finally get to the top....BREATHTAKING VIEWS. It's incredible. One of the best spots on campus. : ) A scenery worth dying for : )

Amazing.

In the spirit of scenery, here's a great snap taken
from the CIEE excursion to Bangalore. I'm on the far right, in the white t-shirt. We had just climbed up a HUGE flight of stairs to reach the top where an enormous statue of a deity whose name I no longer remember awaited us. But this view was better, and the picture doesn't do it justice.

These Days and Nights

Today was quite the day. Among other things, I went to Google India for lunch, was reported to the police, and met the director of an orphanage in Kerala. So Google first, Kerala last : )

My host sister Sowmya works for the AdWords project for Google India. Basically Adwords controls and reviews the ads that show up on your browser when you're searching for something with Google. It's pretty interesting, but actual work aside, their food is AMAZING. Let me explain: Google lunch is famous throughout Hyderabad. There's something called the "Google 15" which is the fifteen kilos you're required (it's not optional) to gain when you first join Google. This is why: Google lunch consists of regular Hyderabadi food, AND all the juice you can drink, all the ice cream you can take, REAL lettuce, and UNCOOKED vegetables, hard boiled eggs, a stand where Subway makes you any sand which you want, a "breakout room" where you can go for snacks all day with free chocolate, drinks, FRUIT, biscuits, chips, etc. Okay, maybe that doesn't look so amazing to your American (or Western) eyes, but that's only because you don't understand how amazing fresh vegetables and free fruit juice and unlimited ice cream and fresh fruit are here. YUM : )

Okay, enough with food, haha. Maybe you're wondering how/why I was reported to the police? Well, let me enlighten you! On the way to the Google office (in Silicon Towers) I caught an auto-rickshaw from campus with Gabriel and Leslie, two awesome people in the SIP program. When we got into the auto, we asked him how much to HiTech City (Silicon Towers is right before HiTech City) and he didn't respond, so we just climbed in and went. Once we got there, I handed him Rs 40, which is what I've usually paid to get to Google from campus. He complained as some auto drivers do when they want to get more money from us, but we kept walking to the main gate where I proceeded to sign us in for Google. While we were signing in, the auto driver came up to us and gave the money back to Gabriel, explaining in Telagu/English that he wanted more money. When we said no, and tried to give the money back, he wouldn't take it. After trying three or four times, Gabriel just took the money and we went inside the building.

We were there for lunch at least an hour if not more, when we came out, the guards signaled to us to come over and told us the driver had reported us to the police for not paying him Rs 60. While we were explaining to the guard what had actually happened, the auto driver came back even angrier and madder (thank God Gabriel was with us, haha) and demanding his money. We explained to the guards that we had only come from Gachibowli, and upon hearing that they agreed with us that Rs 60 was quite excessive and that Rs 40 was more reasonable (and even at that rate, he was still making money). They called the police and told them not to come, and then tried to help us talk with the driver. We ended up having to pay him Rs 50 because he wouldn't leave. Just when you think you've seen everything in an auto, something new happens that proves you haven't : )

Finally: about the orphanage in Kerala: I went to the humanities library to return Snow (I've raved about it in an earlier post if you're interested) and while the book was being entered back into the database, a guy sitting in the library asked me where I was from. After preliminary introductions (I'm from New York, I'm doing my BA in English at Columbia University, etc etc) I ended up getting into a conversation with him. He explained that he works for an orphanage in Kerala that is looking for any college students interested in teaching to come and volunteer for a few weeks. He's particularly looking for international students with good English skills. He gave me his card, I gave him my email ID (not CU but gmail) and he's going to send me more brochures. It looks pretty awesome. (Haha, any takers?) I'm merely relating this because I love chance encounters like these. I think that I am most definitely coming back to India, and so I'll keep this place in mind, and of course if it seems legit, recommend it to anyone who's coming as well.

Speaking of chance encounters, and this didn't happen today, but last week I met Mr. Andhra Pradesh (as in, Ms New York in the US). He's friends with one of my friends in the CIEE program, and so that's how I met him. Haha funny, right?

Last pieces of news: I'm leaving on the 5th of may to travel down to Munnar, in Kerala. Munnar is called the "Himalayas of the South." It's basically a lot hills, a lot of tea plantations, and (hopefully) a lot of fun! I am travelling with Bharat, Sowmya, Shriya, Alok, Steve, Andrew and Viroop. The first four are all from my family here, the last two are fellow international students. Alok's brother lives in Munnar on a tea plantation, and has generously offered/agreed to host all eight of us for a week. YAY!!

On typing out who is coming I realized I haven't said anything yet about Steve: Steve is the newest arrival to the Ramanans. He studied here through a study abroad program two years ago, and since then has been travelling/teaching in South Asia. So now you know who Steve is! On a side note, he's been to Cambodia. I'm not sure what that means exactly for our friendship, but it's definitely a good thing : )

My last two finals are Thursday and Friday. If I haven't replied to your email (and I'm almost 90% sure I haven't replied to any emails over the past two weeks) it's because I've been studying/running around like crazy/working around Internet problems at home & school. After Friday, I leave for Munnar, but I'll be coming back on the 10th and will get to back up email replies then!

Finally, before I end this entry, you should check out the Bengali poet Jibanananda Das. He's amazing. I picked up a slim volume of his poetry at a bookstore, and really really like it. I was going to post the poem that I've been ruminating over for the past three days, but the mood is a bit dark, and I didn't want anyone to be in a funk after reading it. So instead, here's a poem I've also enjoyed. (The title of this entry comes from another excellent poem by J. Das)

Evening Comes

It is evening. There is quiet everywhere.
Wisp of hay in its mouth, a sparrow flies quietly home;
A bullock cart winds its way down the village path
The courtyards are full of tight piles of golden hay.

All the world's doves
Are cooing among the clumps of hijal trees;
All the world's beauty
Has spread itself on the grass;
All the world's love is in our two hearts;
The sky has spread its peace out among the skies.--'Sandhya hoy', Rupasi Bangla

Mango Season. Stop. Bangalore? Stop. It's almost time to leave... *sigh*

I can only apologize for how long it's been since my last post. There are no excuses, I just got busier and lazier. Sorry!

Soooo....how to catch you up on my life over the past few weeks? I don't even know where to begin. So I'll start with food. You can never go wrong if you start with food : )

MANGO SEASON HAS BEGUN!!! About one week ago I bought my first mango in India from Shop Com (officially the "shopping complex" on campus, but everyone calls it Shop Com) and it was DELICIOUS. The mangoes on the tree outside my house are getting bigger and bigger, and will probably be ripe soon! Except for the fact that we've had a few unseasonal monsoon-esque rains recently, which have caused the untimely fall of some of the aforementioned mangoes. Their absence was sincerely mourned by all the stomachs in my house ; ).

Speaking of stomachs, and this has nothing to do with them, last Friday was the SIP Cultural Show!! SIP stands for Study India Program, and it's the department myself and almost all of the international students on campus are registered with here at the University. Every semester towards the end of the semester, the SIP students put on this cultural show. It was a night of many, many firsts for me, and it was SO MUCH FUN!!! Let me explain: I was co-MC with Viroop, an awesome guy who's also in SIP, I sang the Black National Anthem with Andrew (another great guy in CIEE), I read two poems, one of which was in the previous post, I acted in a skit, and I danced bhangra with the CIEE bhangra team. I have never been MC in any capacity before, never sung on stage like that before, never read my poems for an audience which is larger than my poetry workshop classes or my sister's wedding, never acted in any sort of play, skit, or theater production, and never performed on stage....needless to say I was nervous but I had an AMAZING time and from the feedback from people in the audience I think we put on a good show if I do say so myself ; ). Haha.

What else? I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to Bangalore this weekend to learn how to cook Indian food from this chef we met on our trip to Bangalore. Pros: it's going to be really fun and as all travel experiences, I'm going to learn a lot from it and I don't mean just about food. Cons: it's my last real weekend at home with my host family + Brittany (finals start next week, go until the end of April, and then I leave), and I don't want to miss any time that I can spend with them because (and I am honestly saying this, not just because certain people have found my blog and are reading it *cough* BHARAT *cough*) I have really grown to care for them all during my time here. Seriously. The other day I made a list of things that I've felt I've learned/gained/don't want to forget from my time here in India, and everyone from my host family was on it in some capacity. : ) A good capacity, haha.

*Sigh*

Mmmm. Before I get too emotional, I'm going to move on to other things. Have I had any adventures recently? Yes. Life is an adventure!! Haha don't roll your eyes, I'm only twenty-one. : ) I also said that because for some reason I've forgotten what my adventures were, and so I'm going to have to create another post in which I write them all up. I would promise that this post-of-recent-adventures is going to happen, but finals are looming on the horizon, so I'll just say that I will try my best.

I miss all of you. I miss New York. Sarah, I'm wearing something which I've bought for you as a gift and I hope you don't mind. I just wanted to make sure that it works. So far, the verdict is yes ; )

If it's worth a dream, it's not worth a compromise

I've just returned from our weekend away at Bangalore! Which actually turned out to be a weekend at Mysore (where we stayed) with excursions into Bangalore and other cities. For those who are world conscious, we couldn't do much in Bangalore because of the water protests/riots that have been happening for the past month or two. Short briefing on the background to the riots here.

This weekend turned out to be...prepare yourself for my favorite overused word...amazing. I just tried to spell favorite with a "u" and the blogger wouldn't let me. Anyways. We had a great tour guide who was an art historian and as it turns out actually did her MPhil and PhD at Columbia!! One of her thesis reviewers was the husband of one of my profs last year, and I had read his book for class. So we had some great conversations about NYC and Morningside Heights that made me realize how much I miss Columbia and everyone there.

This weekend also turned out to be one in which I did a lot of writing. Partially because I am reading Orhan Pamuk's Snow, which just won the Nobel Prize in Literature where the main character, Ka, is a poet. In my humble, not-so-widely read opinion, his writing (Pamuk's, not Ka's) is brilliant. Let me quote the New York Times Review when I say "[Pamuk is] narrating his country into being." My roommate Brittany and I have a running joke on the NY Times book reviews. They seem to be excellent at producing these vague, grandiose statements which somehow manage to tell you nothing whatsoever about the book itself. My personal favorite, and a classic, is their review on the front of James McBride's The Color of Water "[A] triumph." I love that "A" is in brackets. They also specialize in brackets.

Anyways, so this was one quote which I found to be particularly insightful in Pamuk's novel, which I also copied into my journal:

"You're deceiving yourself! Even if you did believe in God, it would make no sense to believe alone. You'd have to believe in him the same way the poor do; you'd have to become one of them. It's only by eating what they eat, living where they live, laughing at the same jokes, and getting angry whenever they do that you can believe in their God. If you're leading an utterly different life, you can't be worshiping the same God they are. God is fair enough to know it's not a question of logic or reason but how you live your life." (Pamuk 204)

I'm not sure that I agree with it, but I'm turning it around in my mind as "food for thought." On the same note, the title of this entry is something that was painted on the side of a building we passed in our bus on the way to Mysore. Yet another thing I am turning around in my mind.

I think I'll have to post about what I actually saw in Bangalore in a later entry. I still have writing on the mind. And speaking of writing, I have decided to post the first poem I've written in India, about India. Not that I wrote other poems outside of India about India, but this is the first one that I wrote here about here....okay you get the idea. It's still in revision mode, but it's been sent to the CIEE newsletter, the Hyd Times for publishing. The editor has lavish cutting and slashing rights, of course, but only because he's a friend of my friend. ; ) It's centered/inspired both on the concept of circular (as opposed to linear) time that exists in India, as well as many of the visual/sensory experiences I've had here thus far. Here goes:

Familiar

I never travelled here,

I was reborn the moment my feet

touched dusty earth,

stamping the beat of an unknown drum

to unknown steps.

Nothing, everything’s new

under this Indian sun,

deja-vu in the best

and the worst sense:

Time flows with the sweat that rolls

down so many different skins,

speaks through the tongues that curl

around a thousand different scripts,

hangs with the human smells that tang

burning summer air.

Night skies reveal stars I’ve seen before,

but the streets that shimmer

beneath their light are unfamiliar.

Still, somehow I find my way home.

Copyright Anna Hunt 2007

Hoo! Ha! India!! HOO HAA INDIA!!!!

The title to this post is from the cheer that is now in 95% of the commericals on television, because the ICC World Cup has just started. The ICC World Cup is the world cup for cricket. It just started this past week, and the games have dominated our television at home ever since. Although I must say, it's pretty interesting to watch, in fact, I might be turning into a cricket fan/addict For the uninitiated, the ICC is being hosted in the West Indies this year, which means that even though I'm in India, 85% of me is rooting for the WI team. (Jamaica, anyone?) Don't tell my host family, though. ; )

Sooo....I'm going to blame my lack of blog postage on the horrible internet that's been happening for the past two weeks. Actually they had to replace the internet box (that's what I'm going to call it because I don't know the real name) and it just started working again yesterday. Apologies for the many backed up emails I haven't replied to yet, I'll be getting to them soon.

Coming up, in the Times of Anna (knock-off of a newspaper here called the Times of India) is a trip to Bangalore this weekend. Actually, it's Bangalore, Mysore, Shravanabelagola, Melukote, Somnathpure, and Sriangapattana. Don't ask me what all those places are, I don't know, hopefully I will by Tuesday, which is when we return. One of the best parts about this trip, or rather, our tranportation there, is that CIEE has decided to fly us!! Hurrah!! Unfortunately, that also means we're leaving at 4 am Saturday, which is in 4 hours. So much for sleep!

Previously, in the Times of Anna, last weekend was the festival of Holi. Holi is an Indian holiday that involves eating sweets and ambushing your friends by yelling while dumping coloured paint and powder on them. (With the occasional raw egg thrown in for variety). It is great fun!! Included is a photo, thanks to a fellow CIEE-er, of the aftermath of Holi. L-R me, my host sister Sowmya, my host-brother's girlfriend Shriya, and my roommate/fellow CIEE-er/dost(friend in Hindi)/sister Brittany Jordan. I think Brittany is pretty awesome, in case you couldn't tell.

The snap at the top of this entry is a picture of me from my last trip at Hampi (thanks to Britt), or as I like to call it, me falling in love with India.

I should probably go now, because even though I have only four hours to sleep, I should probably take advantage of those four hours. Last bits of updates are that I am now travelling for three weeks in India, then flying to London, visiting a friend there for ten days, and then coming home. Travel plans will be elaborated on in my next blog. But one of the best parts (again, involving transportation) is that in moving my special student ticket with a fee of only $25 for a date change--yes, I realize how amazing that is--I was bumped up to middle class for an additional fee of only $50!!! WHOO-HOO!!! Buisiness class from Delhi to London should be BEAUTIFUL. I might not sleep just so I can order special food and watch special movies and stretch my legs in all of the extra leg room I shall have. Okay. I'm off to get 3 hours and 45 minutes of sleep now.

I can't think of a creative title so this will have to do

This is my fourth or fifth attempt to post since coming back from Hampi. The internet has been pretty spotty this week, it usually cuts out right when I'm about to save a document or send an email or upload some pictures...and then everything gets lost. The internet-man has a cruel sense of humour. Still, I'll try again...

The most exciting news of late is that I now have a volunteer position with an NGO near Hyderabad!! Let me explain how this happened. Last Monday (before Hampi) I had an appointment with the Concern India Foundation, an NGO that funds other NGOs around India. I found CIF before I left America, when I was searching for Hyderabadi NGOs online. I called them a few weeks ago and took an appointment, and it was through them that I was connected with one of their beneficiaries near Hyderabad in Kukatpally, the CHORD project.

Chord is a school for children taken out of child labour, slum children, and destitute children. This Monday I went and met with the director, a very inspiring man who single-handedly started the project (there are now four schools throughout Andhra Pradesh). As we were speaking, he expressed his heart for the children, and he explained that he directs the schools completely on his own, for no payment, while supporting his own family.

Because my Telagu is EXTREMELY limited (note: non-existent: I know how to say, "hello" "come with me" "a little bit" and "enough") I can't really help out in the classrooms so much. However, what they need right now is someone to help them with the letters they send to foreign donors and grant organizations to get funding. I was more than happy to agree. I will get to interact with the kids some, too. Next Thursday I'm going back to basically sit in on some classes, play with the kids, and do a little internet research in their office.

Here's the truly incredible part: after the director expressed their needs, he said if I would help them he would give me a job for the rest of my life there. !!!! Not only that, but while I work with them they're going to pay my transportation!! I tried to turn him down, saying that I wasn't expecting any payment. But he said that he understood I was a student and things were tight, so I should at least let him make a timetable for the time I spent with them, that would cover my transportation.

So after writing all this of course I have to give you the website. Here it is. If you are at all interested in sponsoring a child, please do so. It's only $30 a year for one child's education and support. : )

My weekend at Hampi was perfect, marred only by the occasional person trying to rip us off, accidental fall into the river, and sketchy 8:00 pm walk through a dark banana grove. I'll start with the banana grove: on tour book and local recommendation, our first night in Hampi Brittany, Ilana, Pareen and I decided to eat at this restaurant called The Mango Tree. When Pareen was reading us the description of the food in the Lonely Planet guide to India, she quoted them as saying, "Even the walk is delicious!" However, by the time we returned from our temple excursions and set off for dinner it was already dark. We didn't think this would be a problem because our hostel was right in the center of all the shops and restaurants, but this particular eatery was quite a walk, as we soon discovered. The Lonely Planet "delicious walk" quote was repeated sarcastically several times as we gingerly picked our way through a dark abandoned street, a wood, and then finally a banana grove. Thankfully, we arrived safely and the food was worth the walk.

My slip into the river occurred as our group set off to climb to the Hanuman Temple in Hampi. Hanuman is the monkey god, and this temple was perched atop a high hill/mountain that was separated from main Hampi by a river. So, we asked a boatman to take us across in his boat, aka a large straw circular basin covered in tar. I fell into the river just as I was carefully climbing into this boat, explaining to my friends how, in order to safely climb into a boat without falling, one should keep one's weight low and centered...pride does indeed come before a fall.

Despite this early blow to my pride, I insisted on trying to "row" us down the river, even though we were paying the boatman a very nice price to row us there himself. I say "row" because my paddling attempts merely resulted in spinning our basin in circles, giving the boatman/guide a good laugh and my friends queasy stomachs. Anyways. We eventually made it down the river, alighting at an extensive banana grove (our weekend was full of banana groves) which our guide led us safely through, then some more fields, and finally to the base of the mountain, which was looking less and less climbable the closer we got. However, we made it up the 600-odd steps, (pausing every few feet to admire the AMAZING views) to the temple, where we had a nice chai break chilling with the swamis in the temple, before climbing down again.

There were many other adventures in Hampi but the internet is still working and I don't want to push my luck, so I'll only include this last bit of news: I'm now training to run the NYC Marathon this fall! Some of you may know that last year, with two of my friends, I ran the Queens half-marathon. Anyways, one of these friends sent me an email with information on an organization that raises money for cancer research, which we could run for in the NYC Marathon. We were both very interested in this, because my grandmother passed away about three and a half weeks from cancer, and my friend lost also her grandmother to cancer last year.
So, we've decided to run! I'm looking forward to starting training again, because I really enjoyed my long runs last spring, although running in Indian heat will certainly be a different experience. But there are a few runners in the program that I can run with, so at least I'll have company!

That's it for news, hopefully the internet co-operates when I try to post this!

More Pictures

These four photos are from one of the first monuments we visited in Hyderabad. It's called Charminar. The views are looking out from the top of Charminar, and the stone is the ceiling and from the inside. Upper right: behold the autorickshaw!!





These next four are from my house!!! Upper left, my room, which I share with my roommate Brittany and my host sister, Sowmya. Upper right, the room outside my room where the recently departed Dane Thor slept. Alok, the MPhil student, also sleeps there. Lower left, the balcony outside our living area, lower right, Brittany standing at the top of a set of stairs to yet another balcony. More pictures later, I've got to leave for class!

Good Morning, Chennai!!!!

This past weekend CIEE took the whole group of us minus two students to Chennai, Pondicherry, and other places whose names I can't spell. The trip was....guess what word is coming next....AMAZING!!! Amazing basically means adventures and mishaps galore, but *almost* all ones that can be laughed over afterwards.

I've decided that I love sleep-over train rides in India. There's just something incredible and exhilarating about standing in the open doorway of your train car, watching India flow past you...and then returning to your bunk to read, or eat, or whatever...and then falling asleep to the rocking motion of the train and the click of the wheels on the tracks.

But back to news of my trip. So this past Thursday evening, the lot of us boarded the overnight train to Chennai, and disembarked Friday morning. We have been lucky in our campus location in that Hyderabad, while hot, is not humid. The same cannot be said for Chennai. When I stepped off the train, I felt like I was back in the midst of a New York summer!

Once we had dumped our stuff in our hotel, our group boarded a bus to go see some temples at Kanchipuram. The highlight of this day was seeing two elephants at one of the temples, who would touch your head with their trunks if you gave them coins. Unfortunately, I had no coins on me, so I was left watching.

The next day was really when the action started: our trip to Mammalapuram (sp?) and Pondicherry. Mammalapuram contains these breathtaking rock formations, with temples carved out of them, as well as walls and walls of relief sculpture. Here I had lots of fun leaping over rocks and taking landscape photos from high up positions. Mishap number one happened here, as I was happily taking pictures from high up positions...I kept my camera safely around my wrist at all times until I was climbing down from one particularly steep rock, at which point I turned to try to transfer it to the camera bag. Something went wrong during this transfer and it slipped off my wrist. Fred, who had been taking pictures with me (and who is my hero of the week), courageously or foolishly (depending on if you're his family or his friend) leaped off of the rock in a futile attempt to save my already doomed camera. I stood and watched in shocked silence as they fell together...thankfully Fred ended up safely but my camera did not. I am currently working on replacing it. The memory card is safe but the software was damaged in the fall, so I will not be able to access my pictures until it's replaced.

* * * * * *moment of silence * * * * * *

On to mishap number two. After my camera broke, for some reason I decided to test my luck again. So I set off to climb up some "stairs" that had been carved into a steep rock face because they led to the highest point at Mammalapuram: a tiny temple perched atop this rock. I made it up the stairs safely (barefoot for better traction) and had great views once I got there. After a bit I noticed a large group of male Indian tourists approaching the same way I had come, so I decided to descend, or try to, before they clogged the main stairwell. Unfortunately, this was also the day I had decided to wear my new skirt...I think you know where this is going. Unhappily for me, but quite happily for all the guys climbing up below me, a large gust of wind blew up right when I started to descend...from all the Tamil/Hindi/Telagu exclamations as I struggled to simultaneously hold down my skirt, hold my shoes & camera, and climb down safely, I think I was their favourite American that day.

Next adventure/mishap, same day: Pondicherry! Pondicherry is personally most famous for being home to Sri Aurobindo's Ashram, the place where he produced a large bulk of his writings, of which I am a great fan. Check out The Foundations of Indian Culture, if you have a chance. Pondicherry is also by the sea, and ALSO near this small experimental village called Auroville. I loved my time at the Ashram as well as at the sea, where I saw humongous crabs, so if you're interested ask me sometime later, because right now I'm going to focus on Auroville as that's where adventure/mishap #2 happened.

Auroville sounds interesting, but it's actually rather weird, in my opinion. Read on the website and decide for yourself, I suppose. It's set up like a galaxy, with this giant golden orb at its center. By the time our group arrived, the orb was already closed to the general public. But being the adventur-er that I am, I bought a town map for RS 10 and jauntily set out with Brittany and Gabriel in search of the orb. At first we were on the main road, down which a lot of Aurovillians were coming all at once, for some reason. They all looked rather odd, kind of Ithaca commons hippy-esque...and whenever I made eye contact, which was probably not a good idea, they gave me this strange smile. After several such encounters I suggested we move off the main road onto a side road to avoid unnecessary contact.

Fifteen minutes later, we still hadn't found the orb and it was about time to turn back. I decided I was just going to quickly explore this one little path leading into the brush. B & G followed, and after a short while we arrived at a fence and some trees, and through the trees I saw a building. After determining that the building wasn't a private residence, I crawled under the fence, (B & G watched and took pictures) and found myself on a well-trodden mud path leading up to what looked like some rock gardens. After climbing the path, which ascended a small hill, I saw........ THE ORB. Or rather, a corner of it, as it was to my left. It was HUGE. And very golden. But there was something odd about it too.

Anyways, instead of continuing, as I should have, I jumped and waved to B & G to signal that they should come. They were coming, but slowly, so I finally shout-whispered to them to come. That was a mistake. This small man came running out of a little hut on the side of the path, very agitated and upset, saying in broken English that this entrance was only for insiders and we weren't allowed to be there. When we turned to go down the path that said "WAY OUT" he wouldn't let us, but forced us to go back under the fence and around a different way (following us the whole time to make sure we wouldn't try to get back in) and over this other fence covered in thorns and worms....we were quite scratched up by the time we got to the road. And even when we were IN the road, he stood in the road and watched us walk down it, just to be safe.

Of course, my curiosity and over-active imagination got the better of me and as we walked back to the bus I figuratively beat myself over the head for not keeping quiet while at the same time imagining all of the strange things that could have been happening at the globe which I wasn't allowed to see (sacrifices, chanting, meditation, anyone?). None of which were too far off the mark, as it turns out, because once we were on the bus and leaving Auroville I read a rather disturbing pamphlet describing what it is like and what one must be/do in order to become an Aurovillian, one of which was that they are "preparing for the new species." Next to this statement was a picture of Aurovillians sitting around the globe, with a fire lit in front of it, into which they were all staring......I'm pretty sure I had my first cult experience.

Next and last major adventure of the trip happened in Chennai. Right before we left on Monday, we visited a museum of East India Company artifacts, among others. (I read original letters from Robert Clive there!! Crazy!!!) The museum was housed in a old building, which was Fort St. George during the colonial period. Next to the museum was an old church, Santhome Church to be exact, where Elihu Yale, the founder of Yale University was married. (They had his marriage records on display there). This church still had the original organ, and it was in working condition. Brittany, who is an amazing musician currently taking a break because of tendinitis, asked one of the wardens if she could play the organ. He said yes, and as they were heading over, I spotted them, and to make a long story (and blog entry) short, Brittany and I played the organ!!! It was GREAT. My first organ experience!!! I played the upper keys and Brittany did the pedals. We used one of their original hymn books, too, and played at least six or seven hymns before we had to leave. I think the organ was the overall highlight of that trip.

I also made several gift purchases this trip, and by several I mean one, which was Ruth's sari in Chennai. (Chennai has some of the nicest silk in India, by the way....) There is the chance that my Dad might come to Bangalore on business at some point, and if he does, I am planning (please?) to send some of the gifts I've bought home with him so that I can still fit everything into the original duffel bags when I head home.

So that's it. I think this has been my longest blog entry! In other news, health wise, I have been doing very well. Early on I had a slight cold that I think was just the after-effects of a very stressful semester. Otherwise, I am pleased/surprised to discover that after my Cambodian experiences, I have a very strong stomach. I can drink the regular water that everyone drinks, (filtered water) and be totally fine. I even had tap water by accident (we said regular water at a restaurant and they brought us tap water) and had no stomach issues. I've also had fruit juice on campus, street food, and several coconuts which are DELICIOUS. Aside from the odd 1.5 and stomach pain that makes me wonder how *gone* my former friendly organisms really are, I'm doing great. This coming weekend (ie, Thursday night, returning Monday morning) I'm travelling to Hampi, in Karnataka. So stay tuned, more adventures to come!!!!!

For Shuli

This last picture is of my first sunset in Hyderabad! Some friends and I decided to explore campus before classes started, to get an idea of where our buildings would be. As we were exploring, we came upon these huge rocks, which we climbed, and at the top was this amazing sunset. I tried to post it in the other entry, but it wouldn't load.

Some Lovely Snaps

So, here goes for some photos of where I'm living now!! Thank one of my fellow program-ees, Rachel, for some of the snaps of campus, which I have unashamedly stolen from her facebook account.

So, these first few pictures are where I lived on campus the first week I came here. I lived in the Ladies Hostel, LH IV, to be exact. above you can see the sign to the ladies hostel where I lived, as well as a corridor in the Hostel. my room is around the corner. Oh, and bikes are the main mode of tranportation around our campus. I have a bike which I ride everywhere provided I haven't forgotten my key somewhere : ).

This next picture is of where I called home every day from, before I had my own cell phone, that is. It is right outside the gates to the ladies hostel. The booth with the international phone is called the STD booth, because the phone is an STD phone. Yes, the jokes have already been made, re-made, and gotten old. I can say, "I'm off to the STD booth" now without even cracking a smile.

Below is a picture of the typical squatter. These toilets are actually healthier than Western toilets, or the name for the above ground toilet we use in America. The posture you have to take to use them is medically better for you. I have also recently mastered the art of using the bathroom without toilet paper. There is no toilet paper in an Indian bathroom, unless you're in an expensive restaurant or the guest house. Or unless you buy it yourself. What you use to clean yourself (for those interested) is that small bucket you see on the right, which you fill with water from the orange bucket and use to rinse and wipe yourself off, left hand only.
Down here are a few other campus snaps. Most buildings have courtyards in their center. Pictured here are the courtyard in the ladies hostel, where I hung my clothes to dry, the courtyard in the Social Sciences building, and a wall in the social sciences building, which I thought was really pretty. Many hallways are lit by natural light.























Below is the general store, known as ghops (pronounced GO-PS, I know I'm spelling that wrong). I buy AMAZING mango juice here, and sometimes biscuits.




I think that's going to be it for campus pictures, for now. I was trying to upload a few more (some buildings, a sunset photo I took from these rocks) but the internet is being slow on me, and I'm afraid it will cut out before I've even posted these. So I'm just going to publish as is : ) And in the future, I will try to be a bit more regular with my blog entries...once a week is my goal.

Of Rats and Men

To those *cough* Sarah *cough* who have been asking if I'm going to ever post here again, the answer is yes, I am. A lot has happened since I last posted. My room, for one, has been inhabited not only by my host sister, my roommate Brittany, and I, but also by a few rats who have either been chased out, killed with brooms, or killed with rat poison. I consider my role in capturing and killing the rats to have been a crucial one: I stood on top of our mattresses and yelled every time they ran out from some corner or pile of things, thus alerting the people doing the chasing and killing as to the rats' presence. Without this, they might never have known where it was. From now on, you may address me as The Rat Master. Anna is also acceptable between family members and close friends.
In other news, this coming weekend I and the 31 other American students in the program are travelling to Pondicherry, in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is a state in southern India. Here's a map if you're interested. Tamil is also the state that my host family comes from. We are taking a bus to Pondicherry on Thursday, and from there we will also travel to Chennai, Kanchipuram, and Mammalapuram. We'll see temples, the Ashram in Pondicherry, five Rathas, a museum, a beach, a church, a dance school...among others. I'm really excited, it's the first excursion (other than coming from Delhi by train) that I've made out of AP. The other trip which I posted about was cancelled last minute because all the hotels were full. Which just meant I had other adventures in Hyderabad that were equally exciting, even if they didn't involve huts and swimming out to abandoned forts. The following weekend I am travelling independently for the first time, yayy!!! By independently I mean with a group of four other girls. We are going to Hampi, in Karnataka. No last minute cancellations, either: we've got train tickets, room reservations, and everything. All for about $20, total. I love travelling in India.
One of the exciting things which happened the weekend I did not travel, was that I was on television!!! My host brother Bharat and his girlfriend took Brittany and I to the opening of this new hair place in Hyderabad. The press was there, and they filmed us and took lots of photos, and a few days later, there we were in the daily news on TV!! Haha I never thought I would be on TV, least of all in India. Today after class I'm going to the Industrial Baazar, an exhibition of work and ware from all over India, all in one place. Next week I also have an appointment to call an NGO, the Concern India Foundation, and "take an appointment" (a perfect example of Hinglish) with them for that day or the next. One of my classes this semester is called "NGO's and Development" and for one of the internal assessments (basically midterm) I have to work with an observe an NGO of my choice. Which is perfect, because it's what I would want to do anyway, while I'm here. I found this particular one online, and luckily for me they have a branch in Hyderabad!
I also am hoping to work with this foundation. I heard about them through a summer program I applied for in Guatemala. My interviewers sent me the link to it in an email (my acceptance email!!!). However, even though I was accepted into the Guatemala program I'm not sure if I can do it (I'm trying to get funding from Columbia, we'll see how successful that is), but I hope to be able to at least work with their branch in Hyderabad while I'm here, if I have time.
And that's it...or rather, in the interests of time and posting some pictures, this entry is now closed.

Newsbites

This is going to be quick because I have to head home in the next twenty minutes. So whatever I can write in that time is what you're going to get. : )

Okay. First things first, there's not a Norwegian staying in our house, he's actually a Dane (from Copenhagen, and my family calls him "the Dane" which I think is hilarious).

Now, adventures: we have a five day weekend coming up and I'm going to Maharashtra with three friends!! I am soooo excited. We're going to be staying in this small fishing village on the coast. Yes. I am going to the beach. HOORAYYY!!! At this village we'll be staying in these huts on the beach and there's apparantly some abandoned fort in the ocean that we can take boats to and explore, and swim in the Indian Ocean (yay for the Indian Ocean!!), and swing on hammocks in between palm trees, and such. Yay. I'm ready for a break : )

We went to see a Bollywood movie! It's called Guru, and it was great, completely in Hindi with no subtitles but I was sitting next to my language tutor who explaned everything I didn't understand. Also, first Hindi quiz today, and when I was writing out words in the script I felt very accomplished that I can write things like "today" and "morning" in Hindi. Haha lets just hope I wrote them out correctly...

Mishaps: There's an auto-rickshaw strike in the city today, I'm not sure why, but there is. Our campus is slightly outside the city area so I've seen a few on the roads, but not many. The buses are PACKED. Getting home is going to be interesting, to say the least. On the buses, the way it works is the women sit in the front and the men sit or stand in the back. If a women gets on and there's no room to sit, if a man has a seat, he'll get up and give his seat to her. I wish it worked that way on the subways in New York.

The weather is heating up quite quickly, it's hottest between the hours of 12 and 2...not humid wise, just temperature wise, and the sun is pretty intense. The hotter it gets the less Western clothing I'll be wearing. Salwars, Kurtas, etc. are much cooler than pants and shirts. And much more colourful, which is always a good thing : ).

I think I'm actually going to head home now, because I want to catch a bus before the end of day rush home begins. Namaste, everyone!

The Taj Mahal and The Ramanans

Yesterday I officially moved in with my host family! (As opposed to unofficially, of course). I am living about a 15 minute auto-rickshaw ride from the University with Brittany, another girl from my program. Our family seems really nice thus far, and as they have said themselves many times, a bit crazy, which of course makes me feel right at home ; ). We are sharing a house with our host families, Mr. and Mrs. Ramanan, their daughter Somnia, their son Baharat (I think that's how you spell his name) and his girlfriend, Mr. Ramanan's father and mother, Mrs. Ramanan's father, and two other guests, on an MPhil student at our school and the other a Norwegian friend. Along with 2 servants, a dog, and various other guests that filter in and out every day (the latest feature is their "Spanish friends" who arrived last night). In other words, the house is constantly bustling with a flurry of activity and people. Also, because of the visitors, Brittany and I are continuously plied with various foods and drinks, none of which I mind, of course, haha.

We moved in at the perfect time for sampling amazing Indian desserts as well, because today marks the first day of the Pongal Festival, essentially a harvest festival that marks the throwing away of old things and the begining of new things. Last night our host parents visited the temple of their family god (I think it's Ganesh, the Indian god with the elephant head) and had him decorated with butter and fruits as an offering, I think. Today we had various symbolic desserts with lunch, and promises of more with dinner, yayy!! Tomorrow is a holiday off from school, and hopefully there will be even more festivities (and sweets!).

But back to the Taj Mahal. As I mentioned in my earlier email, it was amazing to be there but a little strange in the light of our previous accident. When we got off the bus at the Taj (Indians call it the "Taj," which I feel very cool saying as it sounds like a nickname for a close friend--ie, "the Taj and I," haha) I was still a little depressed from the accident, but cheered up when I overheard two ladies waiting in the line ahead of me speaking in Italian. What a great chance to practice! I tapped the nearest one on the shoulder and asked, "Scusi, di dove sei?" which means, as you probably guessed "excuse me, where are you from?." They responded "Milano" or Milan, and then we talked for a short while in line. (All in Italian, hooray, my Italian was better than I thought!!) While we were waiting I noticed they were unaware that some items are prohibited when entering the Taj, such as mobiles, water bottles unless they're the Taj officially issued water bottles, and any food. So I got to act as interpreter for them when they approached the entrance, which made me feel quite important. Once inside, we parted ways, and I walked past the gate to finally see, right in front of me, the TAJ MAHAL. (you can't really see it until you get inside the outer wall area, as some say, it's like a "hidden jewel").

Maybe I said this before, but it doesn't hurt to say it again: there is absolutely no way to convey the grandeur of these structures through pictures. It was overwhelming. There are grounds like parks surrounding it, two symmetrical mosques on either sides, minarets, well, I'm sure you've seen pictures. But if you haven't (and even if you have, I guess) here are some of my own to enjoy!

My orientation roommate, Allyson, and I on the way to the Taj!!! We had to park the bus some distance from it because they wouldn't allow large vehicles up close. Our whole group took these, auto-rickshaws, from the bus to the Taj. Incidentally, Allyson is from Croton-Harmon, a town about 15-20 minutes from where I live. Her mom taught my older sister Ruth, in middle school! How crazy is that??! Haha it's a small world...





The grounds inside the Taj Mahal.


Above right: the gateway outside the Taj.

Above right: and here is the stereotypical Taj Mahal picture, taken at a slant and slightly out of focus because I was trying to avoid all of the people in front of me.

to the left: me + the Taj Mahal!!! What I am wearing is called a "salwar kameez," it's basically a long tunic top worn over VERY COMFORTABLE pants-of-sorts. We call them "Jasmine pants" because they sort of look like the pants Jasmine wears in Aladdin, haha. As far as I can tell from observation, more younger girls wear the salwar kameez whereas older women seem to wear saris. I have not yet attempted to wear (or buy) a sari, as the wrapping technique seems rather complicated. However, my host mom said something today about Brittany and I getting some, so we shall see : ).


And even more Taj. It's illegal tow wear shoes outside the Taj, so here's a pile of shoes, and my feet, shoeless!!! I've actually got to go now, so I'll post more pictures in a "pictures-only post," sometime later!!! (Stay tuned...)

Persian Pistachios and FabIndia

These pictures are all from the Qutub Minar, the tallest minarete in the world, I believe. On the left is the whole Qutub, to the right of that photo is some detail from the Minaret. Behind the Qutub is the Quwwat Al-Islam Mosque, which is what the the other pictures are from. It was the first Mosque built in Delhi after the Islams conquered India. Did you know that Delhi has the second most monuments of any city in the world?






But to back it up a little bit: On my way to India, I had an eleven hour layover in Heathrow, the international airport in London. Originally, I had wanted to try to venture out into London, however my family *cough* my parents persuaded me to stay in the airport. Admittedly, I wasn't feeling too adventurous when I did finally reach London, I just wanted to find a nice bench to sleep on. Thankfully my luggage had been checked all the way to Delhi, so I only had my backpack and laptop to worry about. Heathrow is a very nice airport if you are not going to be there for eleven hours and you are not trying to find a place to sleep. I ended up moving from lounge to lounge (there was no secluded benched area like in Singapore last summer) and sleeping for maybe 30 minutes at a time in each one...it wasn't fun.

At one of the last lounges, about three hours before my plane came in, I sat down to sleep and shortly afterwards was joined by an older man who looked to be around sixty or seventy, and appeared to be Middle Eastern. After he sat down, he started shuffling through some papers in his briefcase, and as he was looking through them accidentally dropped a whole sheaf of them. I bent down to pick them up for him because his hands were full, and he thanked me profusely. Five minutes later, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a Ziploc bag of pistachios, which to my surprise, he offered to share with me! He said that they were excellent Persian pistachios from Tehran. I tried some, and they were as good as he said. They were spicier than the kind that's normally sold in the states, and they were also lighter in colour. Anyways, so we shared the pistachios for awhile, and then when his plane came he offered me to take more because he said he was going to Tehran and would be able to get much more there. Those pistachios were the best thing I ate in Heathrow the whole day. If I were to judge English cuisine from their airport food, my report would not be favourable, haha.

Now on to the rest of my sights in India: This is Humayun's Tomb, the precurser to the Taj Mahal. Can you see the similarities? Our guide for this day was an amazing professor who knew more than I could ever hope to learn in four lifetimes. She told us everything from the significance of the trees on the grounds around this tomb to the bricks that are on the walkways leading up to it. This picture is us climbing up the staircase into the tomb. These stairs were not half as steep as the ones I had to climb to get up Angkor Wat, haha.

There is no way to convey the grandeur of of these tombs, even with pictures. It's just one of those things you have to see for yourself. The following pictures are more details from the tomb, although what looks like a marble coffin is not in fact where Humayun was buried: his remains are in the ground. You can look down this open grate in the floor to see where he was actually buried. I forget why the Mughal's buried their dead in the ground now; google it if you want to know, haha. Anyways. So I think I'm done with pictures for the day, uploading them takes FOREVER. The Taj Mahal and FabIndia will have to come sometime later....stay tuned!! ; )

Anna