Here are my initial observations/reactions from when I first arrived in India:
(I am posting prior entries that I recorded before being able to get to the internet)
I arrived yesterday at 5 in the morning. It was the longest day of my life. We saw the sun rise twice- once in London and then in Hyderabad. It is all a bit overwhelming at this point, but everyone on the trip seems very nice. They make me feel much more comfortable being here, although my goal is to remain out of my comfort zone as much as possible.
It’s unbelievable how well we are treated as Americans. The Indian hospitality is almost uncomfortably subservient, although obviously very appreciated. At our guest house we are cooked and served delicious meals from scratch and we can’t even clear our own dishes.
We had a ten-minute romp in the local city, Hitech City, which was incredibly intimidating. People everywhere, cars everywhere, and we stuck out like sore thumbs and earned stares from every passerby. Ten minutes was a great big baby step into this radically different environment, a brief and progressive transition from yesterday’s calm campus tour.
This evening we got the amazing privilege to have a renouned Indian fusion band, Unity, play for us. The music was magical..moving, and beautiful! The sitar is a fascinating instrument with about 80 strings, and the tabla is this bongo-like drum played with the fingers very quickly and with many ranges in tones and beats.
Tomorrow we get to register with the police and then go shopping at a nice Indian department store where the program will buy us traditional clothing.. so we can “fit in” a little better. It’ll be a start!
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