Saturday, July 28, 2012

My Week in Review


Salarjung Museum 
Last Sunday all of the ISEP and NCI(the Norwegians) went on a city tour. We had our own bus and the tour was led by our "student coordinator" Arpi. Arpi is a grad student here getting a degree in English or writing or something, but she's really great and helps us out a lot.
We started the day by going to the Salarjung Museum. We weren't allowed to bring cameras inside, which was really unfortunate, but it was still very interesting. They obviously had a lot of cool Indian art, but they also had a lot of European art that seemed like it could've been "castoffs" from all the fancy-schmancy Euro museums. Some of the Eurpopean sculptures and figures were my favorites. I mean, the Lourve is obviously too classy for small animal figurines of turtles and all the dwarves from Snow White, but not Salarjung! There were also incredible pieces of jewelry and the most intricate ivory carvings. Again, I was upset that I had to leave my camera.
For lunch we went to a nice, legit Indian restaurant that served everything on banana leaves and didn't hold back on the spices for our weak American/Norwegian palates. It was delicious, but also very spicy. However, the desert, ice cream with fruit, was fabulous.
Throne Room at Chowmahalla
Then we went to Chowmahalla Palace. I'm still not positive who built the palace or when it was built, probably by the Nizam of Hyderabad, but I really got a chance to play around with my camera. I took so many pictures, particularly close-ups of flowers. The palace had a lot of old artifacts and furniture from the Nizam's, kind of like a historical house you can take tours of in the states.
The big tower/structure at Charminar
Then we went to Charminar, which is the city's main bazaar with a big tower-thing and the city's largest Mosque. The day before, a few girls and I went to Charminar to shop, but it was raining pretty hard. It was fairly crowded, but not compared to how it was on Sunday. People and cars were everywhere. EVERYWHERE. There are only about 20 of us in the group, but it was so hard to stay together as we were walking to the big tower/structure. We got a great view of the city from on top, but since we were in such a concentrated space, completely surrounded by Indians, I felt like I was stared at a lot more than usual. This led me to feel uncomfortable, therefore I began to get irritated.
We braved our way back through the crowd to try and get into the Mosque, but women weren't allowed inside the gates without head coverings and not all of us brought scarves. I went in after someone with a scarf came out,  but it wasn't really that great. I was stared at a lot, no surprise, and as a general rule women aren't allowed inside of Mosques anyway, so a part from all the ethical wrongs I see in that, it wasn't all that exciting. Mostly I just felt very uncomfortable and I don't think that's how anyone should feel in a religious place.
We tried to end the day going to Golconda Fort, but we got there at 6pm and it closed at 5pm. However, me and some friends are going to go back today after lunch, so that will be fun!
For the rest of the week I really just went to classes, which I still don't have figured out, and hung around Tagore. We went out for drinks Wednesday night, but the bar/restaurant we went to was quite expensive so I didn't get very much. I did get a drink made with egg whites called "the perfect lady," which was very interesting.
Oh! I also got a roommate! Her name is Alana (which I learned last night after calling her Elana for 3 days). She's from Vermont and goes to some sort of military college, but she's very nice. She came with some friends and I yesterday when we went shirt shopping and I think she's going to come with us to Golconda today too.
We have a lot of down time during the week so I actually set up a Piccsy account haha. It's basically like Pintrest but less confusing (for me). I've been having a lot of weird dreams lately. Rollerskating and horse back riding has been prominent in a few. Next weekend we're (being me, Diana, and the Norwegians) going to Hompi, a very religious city for Hindus, to see the ruins of temples and stuff. I'm really looking forward to it, especially since we're taking a bus and not a train.
Now that I'm back in India I find that I'm appreciative of my experiences in the "economy class" of overnight trains, but this time around I'd much rather spend the extra rupees to bump up to second or first class. Maybe I'm high maintenance, but I prefer not to be touched by strange men while I'm sleeping...

Here are some pictures:

A henna seller at Charminar with big piles of henna powder!
Another building at Chowmahalla



Inside the Throne Room at Chowmahalla


lots and lots of people and cars from on top of the tower at Charminar

I was 100% being a huge creeper, but this is cute picture
Lei Flowers
Red Flowers
OMG!! Some more flowers!!!!


Monday, July 23, 2012

Things I've Come to Terms With


1) I'm not going to shave my legs until I'm back in the states. 
It's going to be exciting. Maybe if my leg hair gets long enough I'll dye it cool colors and braid it. Expect updates.
2) I don't like monkeys.
I've never had an affinity for monkeys, but I think I truly began to dislike them when I saw the Chimps on Planet Earth. I didn't like seeing animals that so closely resemble humans do violent and unprovoked, "human" things. Things like eating their young and murder. It's even worse that Chimps, being apes, are even more related to humans than the typical monkey. I've generally always liked animals more than I've liked people, so this whole group of physically similar, thumb-opposable creatures just creep me out.
However, my dislike of monkeys is in no way comparable to my dis-like/trust and fear of frogs and toads. I can't even look at those amphibious bastards. In fact, just typing out their names' give me the creeps, but I digress. I still appreciate monkeys and think they can be quite cute. Therefore when I first came to Southeast Asia in the fall of 2009, I thought the prospect of monkeys trapeze-ing through the cities like birds was exotic and mesmerizing. If only I had known what I know now, maybe I could've saved myself from the imagery that still haunts me to this day.
Upon entering Thailand I found the monkeys to be cute and mischievous. They darted through the streets and traffic like thieves and ninjas. The babies clung to their mothers so tight, and they were even cuter when they ventured off on their own. I dreamed of finding (capturing) a baby monkey to adopt as my own and take back to America, where it could live the American-monkey-Dream and achieve great fortune and fame as a test-monkey in privatized space exploration or work in the cosmetic development industry.
Much to my displeasure, I soon found that monkeys were actually quite spiteful and indecent. The Monkeys would steal food and even attack people. Despite being so closely related to humans, monkeys had no qualms about cleaning their genitals and defecating in public. I tried to look past this. I tried to feed the monkeys and show them love, as I am convinced that is what most animals truly need. But after I was chased away from my bedroom door by a monkey, I could not look at the creatures with an unbiased view and I saw them in a different light. 
My young, budding relationship with monkeys finally ended on a pleasant day in Agra, India. We had visited the Taj Mahal earlier in the morning, so we were now on a rickshaw headed to the mall to see a Bollywood movie in the airconditioned theater. As usual, I was riding with my head out the side when I saw a monkey on the edge of a roof, standing on all four legs, with her baby clinging to her chest. Just as I was thinking, "Oh, how cu...", another monkey (presumably male) came up behind her and started fucking her doggy-style. That was it. I was done. Monkeys, you tried to steal my heart but you just couldn't keep it in your furry pants long enough for me to love you.
Now that I am once again in India, I find that I was rather dreading having to deal with the "monkey-problem" again. Lucky for me, it seems that Northern India is much more plentiful in monkeys than it's southern counterpart. I'd been here for officially one week and I hadn't seen a single monkey. Until today.
On my way back from shopping (What? No! I didn't have class this afternoon...) a friend and I saw a group, perhaps a family, of monkeys sitting on some rocks near the post office. She was thrilled to spot her first monkeys in India. I was not. 
So monkeys, know that while you may be fuzzy and adorable little ninjas, I will not seek out your love again. Not this time. 
3) I'm getting a roommate.
Remember when I said that "it was safe to say that I wouldn't be getting a roommate"? That was a naive lie. I've just have never had much luck with roommates, so I can't help but be worried about my upcoming roomie. Obviously, I think I'm a good roommate. I can be a little messy, but never dirty, and sometimes I can get a bit passive aggressive, but only in the most dire of circumstances. So future roomie, I wish you the safest of travels, just don't come early. Please. I'll probably need all of tomorrow to clean.
4) I am incredibly unsocial. 
I'm sure most everyone is saying, "Well duh. No shit Harper," but alas, it's true. Being thrown into a foreign country where you know absolutely no one really requires every ounce of "social" my body possesses to come out. It didn't.
I don't know what went wrong in my childhood to make me be this way! Sure, I have deep-rooted trust issues. No, I probably wasn't hugged enough as a kid. Yes, I'm generally described as "intimidating", but how am I supposed to fix what I don't even realize? Being a characteristic that I do not have is hard, especially when Sybil or Keli isn't around to do it for me.
Contrary to what I'm describing, I have actually made some friends and I have actually gone out some nights. But no matter what, I'd really be just as happy exploring alone or sitting in my room with a book... and a cat. I have come to terms with my unalterable fate as a crazy cat lady, and I am perfectly okay with that. 

Friday, July 20, 2012

My Address

Harper Ganick
Tagore International House
South Campus
University of Hyderbad
Gachibowli
Hyderabad- 500046
India

And to all those rapists/stalkers/kidnappers/sex traders out there, we have 24/7 security with video surveillance.
So think twice before you buy that direct ticket from Creeperville to India!!!

Classes

Choosing classes in India is quite opposite from choosing classes back home, or at least at MC. Like always, you have to consider the class title/content and what department its under, but in India you also have to take into account as to whether or not you can actually understand the professor, find the classroom/building, or even if the class is going to be taught this semester, regardless if it was on the course list. The head of the SIP program warned us all of this at orientation on Monday, but I don't think any of us actually took her that seriously. That was dumb and a perfect example of American elitism.
We got a list of potential courses on Monday and had about a week to visit the classes and decide if we'd like to register for them or not, which is quite nice. However, its at least a 20-30min walk to nearest of class buildings.
I began my trek on Tuesday morning after breakfast and its already very hot out, which is not helped by the required dress (no cleavage, sleeves past shoulders, pants past knees). Once I get to the social science building it occurs to me that I actually have no idea where my classroom is. So I wander around... for a while. Finally I run into a friend who is going to the same class and she knows where it is; on the roof. So we took the stairs to the third floor/roof, walk across the roof and into a covered hallway that has classrooms off it. There were a few other SIP students there too, so we all sat together and chatted before the professor came.
Eventually the professor showed up, but once he started talking I immediately understood why we were warned about being able to "understand" our professors. I was able to decipher about a third of what he said, maybe. The class was called Developmental Anthropology, and after a 90min class I still cannot tell you what developmental anthropology is. At one point he apparently said something funny, because all the Indian students started laughing. There was silence on our side of the room, a part from the awkward glances we were exchanging.
After class we journeyed back to the Tagore House for lunch where everyone was laughing at one another for our similar, yet different, experiences of our first morning classes. I learned that some of the art students have a 45-60min walk to their building, but they got lost so they walked around campus for over an hour and a half before they found it.
I had another class at 2, so around 1:30 me and three of the Norwegian girls walked back to the social science building (where all of my classes are). I had planned on attending a History of Medieval India class, but I couldn't ever find it. We walked around for a long time, but when we finally asked someone who knew what they were talking about, they laughed at us and said all the professors were still at lunch and no one would be back until at least 2:30. Duh.
Once 2:30 came and went we continued to look around, but to no avail. A little after 3 we gave up and headed back to Tagore.
I had more luck on Wednesday and Thursday. I went to a Medical Anthropology class which is going to be really cool, and a Sexuality in Society class that focuses on LGBTQ issues in India. I learned a lot in that class even though it was only the first day, however, the professor/Indians? call the LGBTQ community "homoerotically inclined," which is kind of funny, but also kind of sad. It will take some time getting used to all the same.
I find myself spending a lot of time in my room. Alone. I think at this point its safe to say that I won't be getting a roommate, but I also just haven't really been in a social mood. I know you're probably thinking, "But Harper, when are you ever in a social mood?"
And to that I will repsond, "Fair."
Knock Out beer.
Legitimately the worst beer I've ever had.
While I know I should be "making friends," I'd really just rather read. And I think that is just fine! I've only been here for 5days, even though it feels more like a month. I'm having a good time, I'm just letting myself get settled by being a hermit. Whatevs! There's nothing wrong with that!!...
However, I did "go out" last night. 10 of us were going to try and go to a Western cafe/bar, but none of the tuk-tuk drivers would give us an acceptable price, so eventually we just got some beer and came back to Tagore. Getting the beer was incredibly sketchy. I'm not sure why it was necessary to do this inorder to get beer, but we went around the back of some shops, down a little path, and knocked on someone's door. A little old Indian woman came out and Mike (a flaming, neon ginger) asked for 10 beers. So she loaded 10 Kingfishers and Knock Outs into an old rice bag and we were on our way.
the view from my window
(some people were asking about it)






I like India. Sketchiness is the acceptable norm of society. 

Monday, July 16, 2012

The First Days

After I got to my room on Sunday morning (around 2:30am) I attempted to find wifi for a while, failed, and then went to sleep. I continued to sleep for most of actual Sunday until I was woken up by a few indian men who were trying to setup/fix my internet. After that I figured that I should probably get up and shower, since I smelled pretty bad. My shower was cold, and therefore generally unpleasant. I then went about disinfecting and setting up my room. I'm really glad that I thought to bring things to decorate with, otherwise my room would resemble more of a prison cell.
My side of my little room
I forced myself to be social and went down to dinner and sat with some people. I was very hungry and the food was so-so. Then I really just went back to my room and FaceBook chatted some before I went back to bed.
Today was much more interesting. I woke up around 7:15 to take a shower and get ready before breakfast, which is from 8-9. My shower was actually hot and it was the greatest experience I've ever had! I was social again at breakfast, but so far everyone I'd met was either in a summer program or a semester program that doesn't just wish them luck and throw them into a foreign country. At 9:30 there was an orientation down the road and I was able to walk there with some other girls.
As far as I can tell, this is how the SIP (Study in India Program) works: Different programs, similar to ISEP, send their students to the University of Hyderabad, most with a lot more info that I had. Once we're all here it doesn't really matter which program you came here with because now we're all just working with the SIP office.
We got a lot of information at orientation and after lunch we looked over the available courses for this fall. You can choose as many as you want at first, but within the next week you have to visit all the classes, sit in, and narrow it down to four. I had planned on taking Urdu as my language, but they're not actually offering it this semester. If there's enough interest they might make a class, which I really hope they do. I really have no desire to take Hindu.
After we chose our potential courses I went with some people from orientation to this place that was supposed to be like a artisan community. We got to ride in tuk-tuks to get there, but it turned out to be pretty lame. Maybe it would've been more interesting on the weekend rather than a Monday, but it was just pretty touristy with a lot of overpriced, cheap stuff. I did get a cute top though, so now I have something new to wear to my classes tomorrow.  
Fresh chicken stand with a tuk-tuk parked out front
Getting back was rough. Our tuk-tuk driver got lost a few times, so we had to sit through a lot of traffic, but I didn't really mind. Riding in tuk-tuks is just so much fun anyway, its like an amusement park ride, but real life! Theres hairpin turns and sudden stops and turns. I'm usually terrified the whole ride, but this obviously doesn't stop me from hanging my head out the side the whole time. Its also a great way to see the city and I got some pretty neat pictures.
I really like my camera
Once we got back we went right to dinner and then I went to my room to rest. I really had every intention of just laying down for a bit and then going to be social in the common room, but then I legit fell asleep...
I am looking forward to my classes tomorrow, but I'm not too happy to see my summer end so quickly. So far I have yet to see any monkeys, but I can hear wild peacocks from my window and today I actually spotted one! Its only a matter of time before I begin to harbor a menagerie in my room...

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Take Three: Prelude to an Adventure

Technically I began this post on a note-taking app on my iPad yesterday, but I'm now unsure if I can even get that draft onto my laptop. Whatevs...

I know that I got to Hyderabad at 1:30am on Sunday. I know that I left Nashville at 8:30am on Friday. However, I don't know what happened to all the time in between. I spent at least 20hrs on a plane, but time zones confuse me.
Embarking on my adventure was hectic to say the least. I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday on the phone to Expedia, Air India, United, and Humana. A tip to my fellow travelers: Do not ever book through Expedia. They make an already fairly confusing process even more stressful. They also failed to give me all of the confirmations numbers I needed, and if you've even flown before you'll know how important confirmation numbers are.
I got to see all of my friends for a final goodbye before I left, and on Thursday my dear Keli drove up from Chattanooga to spend the day with me, even though she'd just gotten back from Guatemala not even 24hrs before! She spent most of the day playing on her phone while I was making all of my calls and watching me pack, but we still got a chance to catch up. Even though I'll miss all of my friends a ton, I'll probably feel Keli's absence the most just because we see/txt each other everyday, even if we're not at Maryville.
After she left I discovered that my brother had taken my iPod and deleted it's entire memory, which was a huge blow. I've had that Ipod since I was a sophomore in high school and its memory has been full for over a year, so I had all of my core music on it. I'm moving past it, but it was difficult and a real shame because it made me leave Nashville with a bitter taste in my mouth.
Speaking of leaving Nashville... I left at 8:30 on Friday morning and nearly missed my flight. Once I got to Chicago and was checking in with Air India I was informed that the woman at the United counter in Nashville didn't give me the correct receipt, which was required in order to send all my bags to India. So I had to go to terminal 1 (I was in terminal 5) to talk to the pre-security United counter. I got to talk to someone pretty immediately but waited around for a long time. While waiting, I was surrounded by adorable foreign babies, therefore sealing my fate that I'm meant to bring a baby back to America with me.
I was finally given the right receipt and was allowed to successfully make it through international security. I was really hungry so I paid $22 for a sandwich, OJ, Sour Patch, and Rasinettes at a Hudson News Stand. I finally sat down and discovered that you had to pay for wifi, which I firmly believe is a constitutional violation. Almost in tears, I ate my sandwich and made good ole fashioned phone calls until I had to board.
The flight was virtually uneventful. I watched The Prestige, which was pretty good, and tried to doze, since I can't sleep on planes. I was excited to get to the Frankfurt airport for our layover so I could grab my last Western meal and hopefully get some wifi, but obviously that didn't go as planned either.
According to Germany, its a security violation if passengers get off the plane and then reboard, even though they had been though security from wherever they took off AND if they ended up leaving the airport they'd have to go through security again anyways... I was already not overly fond of the Frankfurt airport due to my experience with it this past January, when my MC group and I had to transfer planes there on our way back from Dublin. I thought it was completely inefficient and housed embarrassingly inept technology, so this experience did nothing to improve upon my first impression of it.
Frankfurt airport: I will live a very happy life if I never have to land on your premises again. Good day to you. Good day!
I dozed/slept the whole way to Delhi. I had to transfer planes in Delhi but was faced with a 3hr layover beforehand. I was ssooo tired and not super comfortable falling asleep on a bench with so many foreign men around, so I paid $23 to rent a Sleep Pod for 2hr. It was awesome. I didn't take a picture, but it was just a small little room with a bed, desk, chair, and tv in the middle of the airport!
My personal sleeping area
I watched Moulin Rouge on the flight to Hyderabad and got through baggage claim and customs super successfully. I didn't immediately see anyone with a "University of Hyderabad" sign when I first got out, but the man holding it actually found me. He took my luggage cart and we left, and it wasn't until we were actually at his car that I thought, "Harper, what proof do you have that this guy is actually from the university? He didn't show you an ID, he just had a sign. What if you're kidnapped and sold into slavery? You better think of a plan!!"


Tagore International House
I threw caution to the wind and continued to get into the car. That is what over 20hrs on a plane will do to a person; accept your immediate and ultimate demise into the sex trade industry. Forty minutes later I was safely on the campus of the University of Hyderabad (although part of me wasn't convinced that's where we were actually going until I saw the gates). When we arrived at Tagore International House I was handed off to another, very unfriendly, Indian man and then shown to my room and left alone. Completely and utterly alone.