We left Hyderabad (8 of us) around midnight on Thursday to catch a plane to Mumbai. That plane didn't wind up leaving until about 2, getting to Mumbai about 3:30. Then we hustled to the train station in Mumbai and caught the 5am express to Ahmenabad, all 10 hours of it.
I think its important to ride a train while your in Indian because they are a major theme in almost every Bollywood movie and important piece of literature in Indian culture. It was decent.
They played "classic" movies which are 70s bollywood flicks with even more longing sidelong glances then their modern equilvant and lots of panoramic shots of mountianious Rajaistan and Kashmir in technicolor. Played incessiantly along with its high pitched soundtrack. thank you ipod.
once we got there Ishani's family picked us up and took us home.
they have a "joint family" house which means they live with their grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles and everyone in one place. to that end, its a big house. lots of beds and bathrooms and a big seating area in the living room. we girls on the trip all slept in the room on the big room on the third floor and had a bathroom to ourselves.
Akshardham
Its a temple! It's an amusment park! Its India's first imax! Its the site of a 2002 terrorist attack! It's... Akshardham!
It's a holy place for the order of BAPS movement, an order of Hinduism (sort of) that follows a spirtual leader Yogi that lived in the early 1800s. They respect divinity in all religions.
I know because I saw several movies about it.
The place is sort of like disney land because you move in order from museum type exhibition to epic movie to simulated experience sort of diaoramas with wax models and effects like rain and moving walk ways and music.
the place exhibits the divinity of india, so it says, and it sort of does but it was distracting to us as well because it also was so intensley bizzare at some points. it tells stories of some hindu epics emphaizing the otherworldly creatures involved. picture Ram's monkey army, complete with side effects and lighting, placed in wax models in a simulated cave.
it was intresting, but also extremely disorienting. we were there for 4 hours after we got off the train but we could have been there 4 days.
Saturday we got up and went to a cool temple in the city. Then we went to Gandhi's Ashram. Its a very well done museum (the first ive seen in India). They also have a library and a reading room.
Outside they have a big open area, which is the best part. Its not in a great part of town, right next to the river, but it opens itself up for kids to play on it and they provide a few things like balls and badmitton nets for them.
Therefore it is packed with kids, aged about 6-12 playing all sort of games. they wanted us to play and so we did. they then discovered that we had cameras and made us take lots of pictures of them because they like seeing them on the digital displays from the back. they were very cute.
later we went to dinner at a traditional gujrarti place. we ate our dinner off banana leafs sitting on the ground. it was great! no utensils and we didn't even notice. thats how you know youve been in india a while.
there was a puppet show later. a puppet show you say? indeed. and it was really funny.
also they had music. tablas and harmoniums and cymbals. awesome. we danced in a circle after the sun went down and ate pistacio ice cream.
Sunday we got a late start. Hung out around the house and watched Ishani's family cook. later went shopping.
went out to dinner at a really weird place with great american achievements decorating the menu. in case you are wondering these are: charlie chaplin, marilyn monore, jazz, martin luther king, the moon landing, and muhammad ali. they served mexican food. seriously.
Monday I took my turn losing the health game.
Almost everyone has been moderately sick at some point. I had got away with minor ailments until that morning. i woke up dizzy, nauseous, and fevered. word of my demise spread quickly and the family made their inspection of me within minutes of getting up.
i maintain that if the determination of my progonsis had waited half an hour id have got away with sleeping all day, but as it were those were the worst 10 mintues of the ordeal and i taken to the doctor straight away.
the doctors office was gray tiled with precious moments calandar pictures on the wall. i sat on a bar stool while ishani's mom translated my symptoms into gujarati. the doctor, who wore a "USA" golf shirt and no shoes looked and me, frowed, and said "pale", one of his few english words. indeed i was.
the whole meeting took about 6 mintues. then i was shown the solution to my problems. there were 12 pills wrapped up in a piece of old newspaper. 5 for now, 5 for after lunch, 2 before bed and the same thing tomorrow.
now what were these pills? their dosages? did he ask about allergies or medical history? other medications? nope.
back at the house i was made to swallow a metal dish of seeds and salt for some unknown reason. then 5 pills with a little cup of chai. then i fell asleep.
when i woke up i realized i hadn't told him about my malaria pills. nor did i have any idea at all what i was putting in my body. i took the rest of the days dosage, but haven't taken todays.
im feeling much better. im going to take it easy this week and this weekend too.
so another week in hyderabad and time to get more serious about classes.
this weekend, Mumbai again? We were only there for a few hours. Or else stay here, do school work and Hyderabad stuff in our last weekend before the trip and save money and possibly health? remains to be seen.
