Crap.

My travel agent wouldn't tell me what the status of my flight was. This irritated me. I spent over two hours calling the travel agent and the airline, and Tom's airline, without being able to get an answer out of anyone. Since I live close to the airport, I just decided to go and find out what was up. Turns out my flight is cancelled, and the people at Tom's airline couldn't tell me anyhing about when or if his plane would make it to Bombay (I'm worried he's going to be diverted to Delhi or something.) The people at his airline were also really unfriendly, but I was also flipping out a little, so they might not have been totally out of line. Actually, yeah they were out of line. So... the people at my airline said they could put me on a flight at 1:40, but it was already 1:15, and since my flight wasn't until 5, I hadn't brought my considerable pile of luggage with me. As it stands, I might be able to get on a flight at 8, if it doesn't get canceled. The website of Tom's airline isn't working, and no one is picking up the phone at their office. I ate lunch with my roommate and am trying figure out what to do, while knowing that the only thing I can do is wait and see.

I procrastinate...

and yet, this time, knowing it's Tom's first trip to India, I decide to meticulously plan ahead. All train tickets were booked well in advance. Our hotel reservations are made. I did not, however, think of the possibility that Mumbai would get the most rain any part of India has seen since 1910. Apparently his flight is getting in at 2:30 in the morning, and that's from e-mails from his mom and a friend in San Francisco. My travel agent keeps telling me she'll call in 15 minutes, and never does (this has been going on for 2 hours), and no one picks up the phone at the airline. Seriously, this is the land of bloody call centers, and the airlines' phone numbers are always either busy or no one answers. I am a little worked up, even though I know things will work out. Eventually. So tha's it. I will post again when I get to Bombay, and post pictures of my last day in Hyderabad when I get somewhere with a USB port.

Another Charminar run

Me in Lad Bazaar
Originally uploaded by Maleaji.

Since no one was in the office yesterday, my coworker and I decided we would get bangles for her sari to wear to another coworkers wedding today. So, where else should you buy bangles but next to the Charminar? So, this is me bangle shopping it was fun, although my friend complained that the prices go up when you're shopping with a foreigner. I'm finishing up last minute things today at work, but hopefully I'll be done soon, and can enjoy my last full day in Hyderabad.

Less than three days...

Country Club
Originally uploaded by Maleaji.

Oddly, in the last few weeks I've actually broken down and joined a gym. At the Hyderabad country club. The gym is not great (the pool is cool, but it's always raining these days, so I haven't used it), but it's close to my house and since it has the allure of hot showers, which my house does not, I have been going regularly. The main building in the picture used to be the house of the prime minister of the Nizam's government, and while walking past its tiger skins on the wall makes me kind of sad, I can't deny that it's atmospheric. There are even silly-looking white geese waddling around the lawns.

Last few days in Hyderabad...

legislative assembly
Originally uploaded by Maleaji.

This is the Gandhi statue in front of the pretty legislative assembly in Hyderabad. I've always liked it. I would've tried to get a picture without those wires in the foreground, but I couldn't tell if they were electified of not. I mean, if they were I would have expected a sign warning me about it, but why else would there be high tensile wires on the other side of a wrought iron fence? People don't seem to be worried about cow's getting out here. I didn't feel like risking anything by putting my hands through for a better shot.

Um,

Gun Park
Originally uploaded by Maleaji.

I've walked past this little park probably a hundred times without noticing the name. It has some very cool old cannons, but seriously, the worst name for a park I've ever seen. I would also like to mention that it's near a big billboard with a picture of people holding hands that says "WE RESOLVE TO FOLLOW TRAFFIC." There are lots of sort of ineffectual signs by the roads here, my favorites being "traffic police: we lead you safe," "wear helmet, care life," and "speed thrills but kills." However, I find this billboard unsettling, first because people are resolved, not "there will be actual repercussions if you don't follow traffic rules," and that they're called "rules," not "laws." In my head there's a big distinction.

Mosaic

Mosaic
Originally uploaded by Maleaji.

So, I've decided I'm going to update every day this week, since I don't know how often I'm going to do it once I leave Hyderabad on Sunday. I went to a park by the lake in the middle of the city today, thinking I could get a good picture of the Buddha statue in the lake to post. However, once I got to the park, I realized that you can only see the back of the statue. However, you could see this big mosaic mural. From further away you just see dolphins, but as you get closer, you ask yourself, "is that a shark eating the dolphin? And who thought that was a good idea for a mosaic?"

Not much to say...

new sari
Originally uploaded by Maleaji.

One of my classmates who had been in the peace corps gave me some really good advice once—when you move somewhere, take all your pictures the first week. The first time I came to Hyderabad, I was a little wary of looking more like a tourist than I already did, and therefore waited to take pictures of the city until the end, and didn’t end up with as many as I would’ve liked. This time around, I took tons in the beginning (I've taken more photos now then I did the whole nine months I was here beofre) and now… not so much. So sorry I haven’t been updating very frequently. Anyway,this is me in my new sari. It's too blurry to see, but it has little batik butterlies on the border. Very cute. Tonight I'm having dinner with my old Telugu teacher's family! I'm really excited. Her mom made some of the best food I've ever had.

cookies.

cookies.
Originally uploaded by Maleaji.

Well, this is what happens when you try to make chocolate chip cookies in an Indian kitchen, even if it is eqipped with an "electric tandoor". I was so sure I could do it, but then the chocolate chips in the batter melted, and the tandoor only has an on or off setting, so the heat wasn't exactly under my control. i was a little demoralized about this.

Summer in DC

I am missing DC in the summer, just a little bit. Then I remember how miserably hot and sticky it is, how big my hair gets, and how nice it is in Hyderabad right now (oh, and how the tax on a burrito at chipotle could buy me a thali here, but I digress) .

One of the nicer aspects of DC summers is Screen on the Green. These are the movies for this year:

July 18 -- "The Way We Were"
July 25 -- "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"
Aug. 1 -- "Suspicion"
Aug. 8 -- "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
Aug. 15 -- "The Big Sleep"

I will be in town for the last one, which I'm extremely happy about, although it remains to be seen if I will be sufficiently de-jet-lagged to enjoy it. While I was looking up the schedule, I came across this reader comment on the Washington Post site:

Well Planned, Poorly Executed
Posted by chbaker on Jul 07, 2005
It's a great way to spend a Monday night in DC anyway, but how much better would Screen on the Green be if they occasionally chose a good, modern movie? It's not supposed to be an event for film snobs. How about A Few Good Men, Apollo 13, Air Force One, Election, Forrest Gump, JFK, Silence of the Lambs, War of the Roses, etc etc?

The whole point is watching good movies that you probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. If you want to watch Shrek outsidea, you should go sit in the backseat of your SUV with the little DVD player inside. I bet they're the kind of person who brings high lawn chairs that people on blankets can't see over...

homestretch

Buffalo
Originally uploaded by Maleaji.

I finished my week in the field, and now I'm back in Hyderabad for my last three weeks in the office. After that, travelling for two weeks, and then back to the US, and Chapel Hill. around two months is a pretty nice chunk of time to spend in a place... it's long enough that you can settle in, short enough that you don't start missing things too badly (e.g., cheese, bagels, and the dailly show) and thus spend mental energy wishing you were someplace else, rather than enjoying where you are. I have so many plans for the next few weeks. Oh, and as for the picture, this was on the way to one of the program sites.

Black light poster of Balaji

Black light poster of Balaji
Originally uploaded by Maleaji.

So, this is what I did on the fourth of July-- went to a big temple, where this god lives. Since I got to wait in the car for a few hours while some people tried to get tickets for us, I found this stall to get my picture taken. Notice I am not wearing shoes-- I got yelled at for leaving them on by someone who looked really upset. This is the god you go to if you want success in your career or to have children, so it's a bad idea to piss him off.

I'm back

write the caption
Originally uploaded by Maleaji.

Anyone care to take a crack at this?

In Tirupati

I’m at a business center in my hotel here in Tirupati. This is my first real business trip, really, and it’s nice. However, the internet connection is very slow and I can’t upload my pictures from the weekend.

I met up with someone from my program for the weekend in Chennai, which was really really fun. I didn’t know how it would turn out, because although we knew we liked each other, we’d never really had much interaction. It was also nice to find someone who also had a horrible, soul crushing year. We saw a temple, went sari shopping, and drank filter coffee. We also saw a salsa band made up of Columbians and Brazilians at the tapas bar we went to. I kissed a Polish man on the cheek, because it was his birthday, and because Indian beers are very large and the waiters fill your glass when you aren’t looking.

For Luke—I bought two Madurai saris, one with elephants and one with butterflies. I am going to wear the elephant one for my training tomorrow. Pictures when I get back to Hyderabad.

When was the last time your Starbucks cofee talked to you?

at cafe coffee day
Originally uploaded by Maleaji.

Hmm, haven't posted in a while, since the power has been out most days here at work, which is a huge pain. Tonight I'm taking the Charminar Express to Chennai/Madras, which I'm very excited about, so hopefully lots of new pictures next week that aren't of Hyderabad.