Warangal & Vijayawada

It has been a while since I've written anything. Last week we were shopping for classes (if they were happening at all) and this week we begin going to class for real. Classes are really interesting here because in the beginning of the semester a class might or might not meet depending on the professor yet we have no way of finding that out. So we end up just going to the class room and waiting for hours and only to realize that class is clearly not happening. Hopefully all will work itself out eventually. I'm trying really hard to approach all problems I face with an Indian attitude: that is, just going with the flow and seeing where I end up. This is so different from back home though, that it really does take active mind control NOT to try to fix each problem and plan everything out. Through the process of dealing with classes it has become so apparent how dependent we are to schedules and rules in that they give us a structure and guidelines that here just are either unimportant, or unnecessary. Anyways, if nothing else it is good lesson for me in self control and relaxation.

Now for this past weekend...

The stars have aligned themselves so that today is the Sankranti kite flying festival in India. School was cancelled yesterday and today (maybe tomorrow too...who knows really. That's how it works here.) so last Friday we decided to take advantage of our time off and go exploring the area around Hyderabad. Because of the festival all trains outside Andhra Pradesh were booked so, putting all our faith in the writers of the "Rough Guide" and "Lonely Planet" guide books, eight of us jumped on a 3 hour train heading northeast to a town called Warangal. We had all hoped that during this weekend adventure we would be able to get out of the city and see some beautiful nature and countryside. While we definitely got away from Hyderabad and did see some open spaces, it is becoming ever more clear to me why people say this country is overpopulated. Beyond the city, areas are less populated but by no means are the small towns in the country empty or really small for that matter. Taking trains is interesting in itself of course because you literally have to elbow and shove your way onto the train the second it stops (though many people prefer to run and jump onto the train as it is pulling into the station, I opted out of that option). If you don't get on quickly enough you end up standing for the entire train ride, packed really like sardines. And it's hot. (side note: of course this is actually the winter here, so the best part is that while we are all sweating our butts off, the Indians around us are all bundled up in sweaters and even a few coats. It is probably about 90 here right now at the hottest par of the day, fyi.) Anyway, trains are also an awesome way also to see the countryside. It really felt amazing to get out of the polluted city and see what the landscape of India really looks like, even if I was smashed against smelly Indians for 3 hours. Luckily we found a spot on the floor of the train which was right next to a window, which ended up being a fantastic seat to see the country fly by.

Once in Warangal we found a nice hotel (total for everyone costing a staggering 600 rupees, which is about $16...) and went in search of the Thousand Pillared Temple, (which the town is famous for). The temple was really beautiful, though not exactly what we had imagined since it was in the middle of the city. We happened to arrive at the temple at the same time as a group of school kids on a field trip (at least, I presume it was something like this). I need to preface this part of the story with a few important facts about being a white traveler in India. The best way I can describe it is something close to a celebrity. Walking around everywhere to anywhere, groups of Indians just follow us. Everyone stops what they are doing to stare, and when we stop to sit, a crowd of spectators form a mass around us just watching and staring. It is exhausting and it makes you feel like an animal in a cage. I would say about 25 times each day (at least) people come up and ask to take photos with us. It is really hard to deal with because while you know they are just interested in you, by the end of a day of staring and pictures, it is really hard to be nice about it. So, in the temple that first day, the schools kids all stopped and stared, then got bolder and came near us, giggled and laughed, dared each other to touch us, and then started asking for photos. We were literally squashed up against a corner of the temple with a crown of about 150 kids all talking and touching and flashes. It was really overwhelming and made appreciating the actual temple really hard because I just wanted to get out of there. Luckily we managed to have a few minutes at the end after the kids had left to really see it. It is a Hindu temple dating to 1163 and dedicated to Shiva, one of the three main Hindu gods. I will be putting picture of everything later today.

We walked around Warangal's streets which are packed with street vendors as always and vendors with fresh fruit and strings of flowers. The next morning (Saturday) we got back on a train and went southeast now to about 4 hours to Vijayawada where we stayed for two nights. Both Waragnal and Vijayawada are not hugely known for either their monuments or temples so finding the important places was definitely a challenge. The eight of us were had planned the weekend all on our own so it really was up to us to find places to eat and places to sleep that were safe and comfortable. Eating here when traveling is tricky because we can't eat street food because it our stomachs aren't used to the spices and also we don't have the immune systems to fight off some of the germs/parisites that live in dirty street food. This means we can only drink bottled water and eat at nice restaurants where food is prepared for us right then. Luckily nice restaurants here are insanely cheap so it was not a problem, but I can say that I'm getting sick of curries, rice and daal and could REALLY go for a salad with uncooked veggies right about now!!

In Vijayawada we took a rikshaw out to the Amaravatti buddhist cave temples which are absolutely gorgeous. It dates back to the 6th century AD and is a multi-leveled temple that has been carved into the rock of a mountain. There are sculptures and pillars and the views are amazing. It seems that all rural India grows bananas and corn. We spent all afternoon there just sitting and relaxing, looking out at the Krishna river and the mountains that surround Vijayawada. Sadly, there is so much pollution even out in the country that there is never a "clear" day as we would say, it is always hazy and foggy and you can never see more than a few miles or so into the distance because of the smog. When we were leaving a group a school kids (less this time) was leaving as well and their teacher offered to give us a ride back into the city with them. None of the kids spoke English but we managed to communicate things like names and we sang songs for each other. They were so excited to have us on their bus and wanted lots of pictures. It turned out that the bus dropped us off actually farther from the city than we had been and so we got onto a public bus, only to realize 45 minutes later that we had gone the extra loop around a mountain. We did finally make it home, but it was perfectly Indian day in that when we asked if the bus was going to town, the driver said yes, except that actually that bus had to first finish it's round going the opposite direction and then turn around and go back...like I say, it is just a different way of life here.

Sunday we took a bus 2 hours into the countryside in search of a Buddhist temple. When we got there we realized it was actually in ruins, but there was a museum and small replica of what was once one of the founding places of the Buddhist religion. There were scultures dating back to the 2nd century BC, which was really cool. We ended up just coming back soon after, eating dinner, and going to bed while watching Jurassic Park dubbed in Hindi. We planned on taking a 6:45 AM train the next morning, so we had to get there at 5:45 to get seats, but the train was delayed...for 4 hours. We finally got back to campus outside of Hyderabad at 5pm...12 hours after we had woken up to start traveling. It was really exhausting.

I rode on a motorcycle into the city to get my cell phone fixed (which it isn't). I actually closed my eyes and prayed that I would not die. I am not kidding about that.

Coming back to Hyderabad and getting out of the city to the campus was so much better than i thought it would be. Just walking onto campus was so nice because suddenly people weren't staring at us and it wasn't over crowded. When I finally came home to my house I got such a great surprise because they finally finished all the construction and so I got to unpack and make my room my own. It has really made me feel great to realize that this place really does feel a like my home here in India. The trip itself was a grand success for half and somewhat of a let down for half. We planned it very last minute and as a trip to just get out of Hyderabad and see some of India I think we did a really great job, for cheap too! It was mostly successful because we got to see other parts of the country around where we are living, to see how the trains work, and realize how intense traveling is going to be. It also just made me so grateful for the oasis I do have of my room, my house, the university, and the people at CIEE.

There are a lot of things about India that I do not love and there are equally many things that I immediately or am growing to love very much. The beauty of the landscape is indisputable, and yet the pollution covers so much of what we could once see that it is hard to look out at a mountain range and know that it probably goes on for miles, but only be able to see one or two mountains. It is also hard to drive through the country and in one flash see a group of farmers sweating in the sun, deformed children tap you on the leg asking for money as they shuffle along the ground on their hands, or blind beggars call out to you. I know that 2 ruppees is nothing to me, and yet I can't give to these poor people because when I do, instead of leaving me alone since I am white, they just come after me for the rest of the day following us wherever we go and calling out more and more. There was a moment when we were walking through the streets in Vijayawada and a group of small boys cam running up to us, grabbing at our things, at our food and water, at our cameras. It was all i could do to just get them off of me and all I could think was how easily they could have brought me literally to the ground if they had tried. It was really scary and so sad because I want to help out the hungry and sick that I see all around me every day here, and yet their desperation has led them to desperate measures that terrify tourists. It is a hard country to live in day to day and I am growing to understand some of the contradictions that are present in everyday life. It takes time and a lot of energy to understand another culture and a lot of patience not to judge it based only on the negatives.