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I have now been living in India for about one week. There is SO MUCH going on in my mind... sensory overload every day. It's a healthy one though; I just need to decompress at some point during the day/night, to sort things out thought-wise. For this post, I'll relay significant moments I've experienced so far in Hyderabad.

Crossing the street - This seems like a simple thing to do, but of course, not in India. At least not as a clueless foreigner. My first experience going at it alone (without an experienced person by my side) was as a group of us were visiting a craft fair at Shilparamam. It was dark by this point and we had just been dropped off by a cab. Cars coming in every direction, we decided to go for it... some more confident than others. I can only imagine what we looked like to the locals... one of my friends here compared it accurately to the game "Frogger". People were dashing across, the cars/motorbikes/rickshaws weaving around them. A crossing guard was yelling at people not to go; we did NOT hear this until after our first adventure. We all arrived safely in the raised middle section between the two streets and applauded ourselves, literally. We then realized what the guard was yelling about... he could have taken us across and consequently did so for the second street... at a much calmer pace than the first sprint. A hilarious learning experience... my adrenaline was pumping, no joke. Now I mostly just wait for locals to cross the street and follow them... I feel that works best.

Sights: We've seen so much in the past few days! Our CIEE coordinators, whom we love, took us to the Qutb Shahi tombs, where the seven Qutb Shahi sultans/kings are buried. We also visited the Makkah Masjid mosque, one of the oldest in Hyderabad and one of the largest in India. Another famous place in Hyderabad is Chowmahalla Palace, which is gorgeous... we even got to have lunch there! No big deal, we just ate in a palace. Golkonda Fort is another must see place. Only the ruins are left, but it was once the capital and fortress city of the Qutb Shahi kingdom (16th century). We also visited Charminar, the area (there is a famous monument/mosque by the same name, which we saw as well). Here many bangles are sold, something found very commonly in Hyderabad (along with pearls).

This last photo has a great story behind it. So people LOVE to take photos of us/with us, or just stare intensely... for good reason... we are a spectacle here, a gaggle of American college students dressed in Indian clothing. For the most part, everyone is very friendly. I feel as if this is how celebrities must feel! At most times, it's a big ego booster hah. These boys loved one of our friends, they would not stop shaking his hand or asking him questions, it was very sweet, and very funny. At the point of this picture, they were singing/chanting some sort of song (they were some sort of school group), I wish I would've asked what it meant!

I'll finish my significant moments tomorrow... there are certainly many of them, and I am tired! Bedtimes are early here at the moment... every day is packed full of things to do/see! I need to learn the phrase "good night" in Hindi...