I am safe and sound in the Indian hotel, which will be home for the next three weeks. Right now, I am a little confused on the day of the week; but, the time change has not been too bad. It will probably hit later in the day. All of our flights went well without interruptions. I slept most of the way from London to Hyderabad as I figured that was the more important flight to sleep on. We arrived in Hyderabad at 430am local time. Immigration and customs was easy to get through. The hotel where we are staying is fine; nothing remarkable. The most important thing is that it has free wireless. We arrived at the hotel at around 6:30am. From there, we signed and got settled in our rooms. I tried to go to the "gym" with Tina but was unsuccessful as they are remodeling. This attempt to exercise gave us the opportunity to watch the end of sunrise over a portion of the city.
After this unsuccessful attempt to stretch and do a mini workout, I showered and then we had breakfast. Breakfast is on the top floor of the hotel, which provides a nice view. Breakfast consisted of rice, bread of some sort, a sauce of some sort, and fresh fruit (all fruit that has peels). Maybe by the end of the trip, I will learn exactly what I am eating. So far, the food has been fine.
After breakfast, several of us and our professor walked to the grocery store. There are no sidewalks and it seemed as though there were not any street signs, such as stop signs or yield to pedestrians. We walked along the side of the road with the cars being closer than what I would normally consider a comfortable distance. It appeared to be a strange dance that the various types of transportation interacted on the street.
The layout of this city is different than I expected. Not sure why, I expected something different but I did. From the window of our room, you can see families living in make shift shacks. There are lots of roaming dogs; yet, they don't seem to bother you if you stay away from them.
Lunch is yet to come and so are pictures. Right now, the challenge is to stay awake until tonight so we all sleep like babies.
Local Date and Time: 05/01/2011 1030AM
Good to hear that you arrived safely and are having a good experience on day 1! It should be great to learn all about a different culture. Keep writing about what you see, the food, people, your work. Anxious to hear all about it!
ReplyDeleteAunt Lori