I feel like you either have to be pretty brave or pretty dumb/naive to study here. My stomach has decided to be the latter today, but hopefully that doesn't last too long, since I have to eat things in order to live (a thing we lifeforms must do). I'm the latter hoping to transition to the former. It will be terrific.
There is no hot water, really, unless you fill up a little pitcher with water from the little water cooler, provided because sometimes the tap water isn't so great for putting in your mouth. This is less of an issue than I initially thought it would be. The power went off for the first time! I assume this is because we all turned on the air conditioners in unintended concert. And we got computers and internet set up, it was mostly easy but pretty impossible to discover independently. Other than that we walked around campus and kind of got to know each other in a super-nebulous way. I may remember a few people's names tomorrow! Progress. And the buildings are kind of shabby and facilities/resources are not to the standard we have in the US, but I doubt anyone expected them to be. Everything seems really tranquil with a minimum of students around, but I have no idea what it will be like for classes. Oh, and my luggage is coming maybe soon. Might have to get new sandals. These are really nice, but really 1/4 size too small, so I guess my feet swelled in the past twoish days.
Talked to one of the girls downstairs, TJ. She's from Guyana, and she seems really friendly. Most people do, it's just disconcerting to be stared at (mostly by men, because this is what Indian men do is stare at women).
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Notes from a series of airports
Stuck in airport. Airlines suck. Have not seen a United Airlines rep in a couple hours, my flight is gone from the arrivals (presumably because it’s circling the airspace), and everyone has been simmering or watching DVDs or whatever else they feel like doing for the past two or three hours. I started playing Prof. Layton and got like 1:30h in before deciding that maybe I should also look for flight updates.
Anyway, it was boring. Surprise. Most of the other people did not make their connections, but it’s about ten minutes before Dubai takeoff and everything is working so far. Fear of flying doesn’t make that big an impact because I just zone it out. I am not really scared of flying, just of either the relatively fragile shell puncturing or a wing ripping off or something equally likely going on in the general area of my person. And what a weird and irrational fear that is.
I am having SECOND THOUGHTS I guess it would be referred to as but really I wanted to do this to deliberately make myself uncomfortable for Greater Personal Growth, so if that doesn’t pay off I will hopefully just send huge quantities of bangles and textiles back and make lots and lots of money, because that is what happens when you hawk customs-checked imported wares.
Guy next to me on the flight to Dubai was involved in some charity work for students involved in exchanges to/from India. I don't really know anything about it. Anyway, he was excited that I was doing this craaaazy thing, totally nuts, very odd. And he got me a little excited about it, too. Recommendations: place outside of Agra, some temple within the city (or its environs), also highly recommended visiting the Telugu film studio. He hasn’t been to India in 30 years or something crazy, so roundabouts the not so great time. He was also very nice and interested in Smithsonian cultural outreach events and other things.
Dubai from the sky kind of looks like a giant LiteBrite, but the only discernible pictures are guitars and scorpions. I don’t know how I feel about Dubai in an existential way, not that it particularly matters how I feel about it. But it does.. to me. Saw some gossamer towers, saw a lot of excess— the entire airport is basically a shopping mall. I walked past a kiosk where they were selling lottery tickets. Be a double millionaire! Or win a new car. In my mind, a migrant worker weakened by the midday sun wept. It was very poignant. Also, the airport is so huge, and I had to walk from the middle to the end and with the speed-up strips it took 20 minutes of very brisk walking. Intense. To some extent it looks like a futuristic hospital. It would be cool if it weren’t so ostentatious, but then it would not be in Dubai.
There have been so many unnecessary stressors in the past 24ish hours. The first flight was delayed two hours, the second flight I ran to catch, the third was in the furthest gate possible, it seemed, and it was overbooked or something so some people couldn’t get boarding passes because they weren’t technically on it. I walked on the plane and saw approx.. 100 Indian faces staring back at me and dumb as it seems, that’s what it took to make me realize what an irregularity I will be.
I was trying to think of American stereotypes. Or not even American, just white-people. America is, I gather, viewed as the fading captain of industry, particularly in India and China, where we’ve exported a good deal of our work. But apart from that, I feel like the only Hyderabadi stereotypes for white people are that they’re kind of liberal (relative), kind of decadent (also relative), and usually there for business. I’m not even entirely sure what liberalism is in India, apart from a departure from their traditional values, which is kiiind of a universal. What specifically? The way we dress, behave towards men, talk, generally comport ourselves? Ideas we espouse? Everything? Are liberalism and conservatism just broad universal categories? Yeah, I guess so. Vikings!
Anyway, it was boring. Surprise. Most of the other people did not make their connections, but it’s about ten minutes before Dubai takeoff and everything is working so far. Fear of flying doesn’t make that big an impact because I just zone it out. I am not really scared of flying, just of either the relatively fragile shell puncturing or a wing ripping off or something equally likely going on in the general area of my person. And what a weird and irrational fear that is.
I am having SECOND THOUGHTS I guess it would be referred to as but really I wanted to do this to deliberately make myself uncomfortable for Greater Personal Growth, so if that doesn’t pay off I will hopefully just send huge quantities of bangles and textiles back and make lots and lots of money, because that is what happens when you hawk customs-checked imported wares.
Guy next to me on the flight to Dubai was involved in some charity work for students involved in exchanges to/from India. I don't really know anything about it. Anyway, he was excited that I was doing this craaaazy thing, totally nuts, very odd. And he got me a little excited about it, too. Recommendations: place outside of Agra, some temple within the city (or its environs), also highly recommended visiting the Telugu film studio. He hasn’t been to India in 30 years or something crazy, so roundabouts the not so great time. He was also very nice and interested in Smithsonian cultural outreach events and other things.
Dubai from the sky kind of looks like a giant LiteBrite, but the only discernible pictures are guitars and scorpions. I don’t know how I feel about Dubai in an existential way, not that it particularly matters how I feel about it. But it does.. to me. Saw some gossamer towers, saw a lot of excess— the entire airport is basically a shopping mall. I walked past a kiosk where they were selling lottery tickets. Be a double millionaire! Or win a new car. In my mind, a migrant worker weakened by the midday sun wept. It was very poignant. Also, the airport is so huge, and I had to walk from the middle to the end and with the speed-up strips it took 20 minutes of very brisk walking. Intense. To some extent it looks like a futuristic hospital. It would be cool if it weren’t so ostentatious, but then it would not be in Dubai.
There have been so many unnecessary stressors in the past 24ish hours. The first flight was delayed two hours, the second flight I ran to catch, the third was in the furthest gate possible, it seemed, and it was overbooked or something so some people couldn’t get boarding passes because they weren’t technically on it. I walked on the plane and saw approx.. 100 Indian faces staring back at me and dumb as it seems, that’s what it took to make me realize what an irregularity I will be.
I was trying to think of American stereotypes. Or not even American, just white-people. America is, I gather, viewed as the fading captain of industry, particularly in India and China, where we’ve exported a good deal of our work. But apart from that, I feel like the only Hyderabadi stereotypes for white people are that they’re kind of liberal (relative), kind of decadent (also relative), and usually there for business. I’m not even entirely sure what liberalism is in India, apart from a departure from their traditional values, which is kiiind of a universal. What specifically? The way we dress, behave towards men, talk, generally comport ourselves? Ideas we espouse? Everything? Are liberalism and conservatism just broad universal categories? Yeah, I guess so. Vikings!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
In the beginning, this was boring
It's not as though I'm really ready to go or have even begun to prepare, but I thought it would be a good idea to start this early since I am forgetful of such things. I may even update this at a later date, with deep thoughts and life-changing moments and things of this sort, which I have heard can easily be dug up in places such as India.
The name of this blog is not actually indicative of anything apart from this being the best pun I could think of for Hyderabad that didn't involve water, hydras or badness. It is unlikely that I will be rude, crude and lewd in the following pages, but if I am, it's probably the pun. Sometimes it gets out of hand.
Mostly I wanted to write this entry so that I could marvel at how unbelievably tiny this computer is with an assumed audience for my amazement. Because nothing is more exciting than reading someone talk about their tiny computer, not even as large as a baby's torso. It is a netbook, and I'm sure it will be super useful in the days to come, but every time I start typing, I either leave out letters, or shorten words, or accidentally change the font size. It is problematic. As long as I don't have to write for any great stretch of time, though, I think it will be dandy as hell. And it's got a pretty nuts battery life, which is mostly why I wanted one, since the most processor-intensive thing I plan on doing is play some roms. Hooray, technology!
Days to departure: 6ish. Things left to do: pretty much everything.
The name of this blog is not actually indicative of anything apart from this being the best pun I could think of for Hyderabad that didn't involve water, hydras or badness. It is unlikely that I will be rude, crude and lewd in the following pages, but if I am, it's probably the pun. Sometimes it gets out of hand.
Mostly I wanted to write this entry so that I could marvel at how unbelievably tiny this computer is with an assumed audience for my amazement. Because nothing is more exciting than reading someone talk about their tiny computer, not even as large as a baby's torso. It is a netbook, and I'm sure it will be super useful in the days to come, but every time I start typing, I either leave out letters, or shorten words, or accidentally change the font size. It is problematic. As long as I don't have to write for any great stretch of time, though, I think it will be dandy as hell. And it's got a pretty nuts battery life, which is mostly why I wanted one, since the most processor-intensive thing I plan on doing is play some roms. Hooray, technology!
Days to departure: 6ish. Things left to do: pretty much everything.
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