I should’ve written this blog on Tuesday or Wednesday because I literally did nothing for those 48 hours. See, there was a taxi strike because the drivers wanted to raise the rate per kilometer so they all refused to drive for two days and all the stores and shops were shut down because they were afraid people would rebel and wreak havoc all over the city. Thanks crazy Indians for two days in lockdown! I did get some well-needed sleep and went on some nice runs around the neighborhood and planned some trips, but I was quite antsy. So, this is a 3-day work week, which is bittersweet: work is hard and tiring, but I love the kids and I realize my time in the orphanage is going to be up before I know it!
I’ll start by telling you what we did this weekend…
Teresa has two Portuguese friends who work for AIESEC in India: Sofia who works in Bangalore and Ines who just arrived and is also working here in Hyderabad. Sofia came to visit this weekend and we rescued Ines for that disgusting cockroach-infested apartment to go on some Hyderabad adventures. On Saturday, we went to the Birla Mandir Temple, a Hindi temple completely made of white marble! We had to leave everything behind before entering the temple – shoes, cameras, phones, and underwear. Kidding about the underwear, but unfortunately, cameras seriously were not allowed so I have no pics. But google it! It was absolutely beautiful and the view of all of Hyderabad was amazing! Once again, WE were the tourist attractions, but I’ve really gotten used to it at this point. That night, I was feeling very tired and a little bit sick (some of you know the reason behind that one!), so I ate some food at the apartment and went to bed early.
On Sunday, I got up early and went for a run around the neighborhood, before Teresa, Sofia, Ines, and I headed out for Charminar. Charminar (means “four towers”) is this great little market centered around the Charminar, a beautiful building actually with 4 towers. After a great adventure getting to Charminar that included a broken taxi, some walking, a few failed attempts at negotiating with taxi drivers, and a few bus rides, we made it and climbed the curly stairs of the Charminar to see an amazing view of the city. See the pictures for proof! We bought some samosas for lunch, some scarves to cover our shoulders so we could go in the temple, and then spent the rest of the day in the market. Honestly, it was not as amazing as I had hoped or as great as everyone made it out to be. Yes, it was a huge market with everything, but everything was tacky and breakable and every store had the same crap! But still, it’s a must-see in India so I am glad we went.
On Monday, Teresa, Sofia, and I showed the kids the movie “How to Train Your Dragon”. The kids are still adorable and hilarious, but man, they can be annoying! It was nice to have Sofia there - one more person to draw little pictures in the children’s notebooks! After the taxi strike on Tuesday and Wednesday, we went back to work on Thursday and it was kinda a weird day. When we arrived, all the kids were sitting in perfect rows, perfectly quiet, in clean clothes with combed hair, and the orphanage looked like it had been swept and organized… definitely not a normal occurrence! We found out that the men who built the orphanage were coming to visit, so everything and everyone had to look their best. I asked the leaders if we could sing and dance while we waited for the builders to arrive, and they looked at me like that was the most absurd question ever. Yeah how dare I suggest the kids be having fun when the orphanage builders arrive?! So we waited for the men to get there and when their car pulled up, the leaders scrambled around the orphanage and started passing out chalkboards and new reading books to a couple children here and there. It was so…what’s the word… disgusting and awful? … to watch the orphanage put on this show for the builders. But the kids got some bananas and chocolates from them, so I guess it was kinda worth the fakeness? After the weird visit from the builders, we did are typical routine of stretching and dancing. For some reason, they love to stretch and think it’s the funniest thing when I make those “getting out of bed and stretching” noises. They also love dancing to Justin Bieber’s “Baby”. We have this funny dance and seeing Indian kids singing the lyrics to J.Biebs is awesome, in my opinion.
Friday was a special day. After working at the orphanage, Teresa and I went over to Rada’s house – she is one of the women who works downstairs and calls India all day asking for donations for the orphanage, and she loves us. She took us to her house where her daughter was waiting… she didn’t go to school because we were coming over! Then Rada tried to kill us by way of over consumption: first, it was oranges, apples, and other fruits, then vegetables, then a massive pile of noodles and veggies, then a hunkin portion of rice and sauce, then more fruit. She had noticed that I didn’t finish my lunch the day before at the orphanage and made a comment that I don’t eat a lot, but I guess she didn’t get the picture, because when I said I was extremely full before I finished the pasta AND rice, she seemed surprised. Indians eat A LOT. And they serve their guests EVEN more. And they get offended when you don’t finish your meal. That was bad news for me and I apologized numerous times for physically not being able to fit more food in my stomach. After the feast, she took us to a little market store where she insisted on buying us earrings and bindis (little forehead dots), and then dressed us up in her sarees! It was fun to play dress up, but at the same time I was a little uncomfortable. Not only because her saree was cutting of the circulation in my muscular man arms, but also because I just felt too too pampered and waited on hand and foot for the entire day. Two hours after the time we said we had to leave, we finally left. It was such a nice day with Rada, but we had to run home, quickly pack our bags, and by 9:45 pm we were on the bus on our way to Hampi – my first weekend excursion in India!
Great. I love India and it's culture. It's maybe one of the greatest civilisations ever. After Builders Cleaning.
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