Beginnings of a Birthday and New Year's Day

(Notes from previously recorded entries, prior to internet access)

Jan 2

 

Today is my 21s birthday!  India is a great place to be- regardless of the birthday’s cultural significance.  The past few days have been surreal.  We have been on so many amazing adventures without even leaving Hyderabad.  Our orientation has included a wonderful dinner in the city at Southern Spice with authentic Andhra style in Banjara Hills for New Years, followed by cheering on the roof of our house watching the fireworks.  The people in the slum behind our house were cheering with us, and it was a very unifying and special way to enter the new year.  We experienced our first blackout at exactly midnight. 

On New Year’s Day, we took a bus tour past monuments in the “old city” of Hyderabad like the state legislature, police headquarters, museums, and other important structures.  We made a stop in the old city to see a famous mosque, MeccaMasjid, Chowmohalla Palace, Charminar, and 500-year-old Mughal tombs, followed by a trip to the top of Golconda fort.  At the mosque I was wacked multiple times by a man with peacock feathers and then expected to pay for the experience.  Charminar was neat, but we basically ran past it swept up in the crowds of people rushing around.  My favorite part was the tombs- they are comparable to the pyramids as far as cultural significance and grandeur.  Kings built the tombs for themselves, their wives, and their doctors.  The tombs themselves look like huge domes with pointy tops and the acoustics inside were planned for chanting within.  We wandered inside one, and as we stood listening in awe to the man chanting in the corner, someone stole our friend Keiko’s shoes from outside where we were supposed to have removed them out of respect.  She was a little disappointed, but wandered in socks for most of the time after that until sandals could be found.  My camera batteries died as soon as I stepped into the park, so I decided to sketch what I saw instead- a very good idea!  I remember things so much better if I draw them, and I was really able to examine the architecture better, and feel like I got to know the shapes and curves of the structures more intimately.  I am looking forward to examining this new world through an artistic and psychological lens, and portraying it in my impending painting class!