One of my favorite parts of the guest house is that we have full reign of the entire building. I have been in the habit of going up to the roof to reflect and watch the sun slowly disappear in to the smog below it, burning a hot tangerine edge to all of its surrounding clouds. The chemicals and toxins make sunsets just a little bit more interesting. I like sitting up here and absorbing all of the foreign smells, sounds, and sights. There is constant banging and truck engines growling and people shouting from the perpetual construction going on a hundred feet to my left. The scaffolding is made of sticks and large metal wires shoot into the sky instead of iron support beams. There is ongoing construction EVERYWHERE- in the slums, in the city, on our campus, everywhere. There is usually a smell of burning, as people seem to just light fires wherever they want. Occasionally I think it might be a tactic to cleaning up trash when enough of it piles up in a given area. Then there's the occasional whiff of sewage, or the delicious aromas wafting from the kitchen. From the roof I can look around and see rocks, power lines, and rolling hills for miles. Our campus is a good 15 miles out of the City, and it feels much more rural. Hyderabad is known for its "mushroom rocks," which are large round-ish boulders, often placed in such a way that they look like giants picked them up and balanced them on their edges on larger rocks. They pile up precariously and get in the way of the various construction sites, resulting in large dynamite blasts to break them apart. At least that's what I think those noises are..
Yesterday we met with our language tutors and they taught us how to navigate the bus routes- which was very intimidating considering none of the stops have signs or are announced, and depending on how crowded the bus is, you may not even be able to see out of the windows to get your bearing. But they cost about 2 cents… I think the 216/217 go from our campus to Koti, and the 8’s go to Charminar. Beyond that, I don’t remember much. We made stops in Medhiputnam, Abids, and Koti, followed by viewing a wild Indian Bollywood film, Gaghini. It was basically a remake of the American film, memento, only in mostly chronological order and with a happy ending. The acting was good, but there were definitely a few things I missed because it was in Hindi. (The dance sequences are easy to understand.. they are ridiculously over-the-top and hilarious.) The best part of the movie was listening to the crowd cheer and whistle when the main character, played by the famous Amir Kahn, took off his shirt to reveal his 8-pack abs and stab his enemies in the gut. The crowd also went wild when he kissed his lover on the cheek- very scandalous for Bollywood standards!
It was interesting to see the westernization of the dress and even the movie themes and special effects- but most of all how “white” all of the major movie stars look and dress in comparison to the average Indian person. This phenomenon is seen across cultures, and I would assume affects the body-image of the youth of a given people.
Today was the first day of shopping for classes, and it is causing me much anxiety. There is not much of a system here- at all. Course times change constantly, and professors don’t show up to class. Apparently the classes won’t really start for a couple of weeks because the students take time at the end of their break to celebrate a few more holidays before returning to school. I had to fight my way into an art class, and I am losing hope that I’ll be able to obtain any of the credits I was hoping for. The experience alone is fascinating, and I plan to visit the Psychology center, the first one established in the country, to see if there is anything I can do or learn there.
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