I haven't had much time to write, as we've been pretty busy, or at least occupied. There is a certain amount of waiting around time that is inevitable when trying to organize a jeep full of 8 people, especially when many of those people are doctors with patients. Five minutes become forty-five, and you don't have time to start anyththing, or so you think.

The scope of the issues the people at JSS are dealing with are incredible, as there is widespread poverty, malnutrition, and lack of education. Even at the clinic, I am insulated from most of it. The patients are lined up and waiting quietly, and you can't see hunger or pain, but the doctors discuss their cases with each other on the rides to and from the clinic, so we hear glimpses of what is going on. Meanwhile, we amble around, take meals and tea, discuss agriculture and politics and poke at the computer like we're counselors at an activist summer camp.

Tomorrow we're travelling to Orissa if we can find train tickets. The plan would be to stay about a week at a research center there where they have had success with getting SRI adpoted. Still no monsoon, though there has been some rains.

Saturday is a work day in India, and we went out to the Ganyari clinic again, except this time we did not hang around for long. Instead, we jumped into an ambulance with one of the doctors and some lab staff and headed out to a field clinic, about 30 km away, which is run on a weekly basis. This was a small building, with two main rooms, and a large closet area that serves as a pharmacy. Like yesterday, a number of people waited patiently to be seen by a doctor.


After a few minutes touring the facility, Jacob, Dolly, and I continued on even further to a village where farmers are practicing SRI. About 200 families, around 1000 people live in this village. We stopped in the center, where there is a "people tree" and a small stage-like platform and patio which serves as the meeting area. A number of children, some of the younger ones naked, ran about. They are not naked from neglect or poverty - it is hot and they bathe and cool in the water. Most families own some livestock and cows and goats wandered around.

Jacob quickly found one of the farmers, who was skinny and had difficulty farming due to a handicap in his arms. Soon, another farmer showed up. This one is more successful - his yields are four times the state average. This village is lucky to have good soils, and they are located next to a river, so even though the riverbed was dry, wells a few meters deep provided easy access to groundwater. Even though the rains have not started, they had planted some of their rice fields about 10 days ago because they are able to irrigate.

We walked down the dusty dirt roads for a few hundred meters to the fields. The fields are surrounded by fences made of sticks and thornbushes, and are each around a half acre to an acre in size, subdivied into smaller plots. In the center of this farmer's field was a small hut next to a well which was pumping cool water.

Today was the day when weeding is scheduled, according to SRI principles. Some of the farmers looked very strong and musular, but not this one. He was a bit older, and his body sagged in places, but he was strong and energetic in his movements. He did a few rows of weeding to demonstrate for us - probably more for Jacob, as we advises them on their SRI practice. It looked like hard work, and to do the job properly involves doing every row, both horizontally and vertically between the plants spaced at 25cm. To do a 20mx20m plot involves over 3km of linear weeding. All the fields in this village had too much water according to Jacob, but the farmers assured us they had "improved" the method. This is apparently a common phenomena in the adaptation of SRI practices; a farmer will not feel comfortable giving up their traditional approach - in this case, flooding the fields, and will not adapt the SRI practices completely.

We saw a few more fields before returning to the ambulance where we went back to the clinic and eventually to Ganyari. We attended a brief coconut smashing ceremony (the local equivalent of a ribbon cutting) for a new structure constructed to serve as a covered cooking area for when it rains. A number of people currently cook with small brick stoves out in the open. These people or patients at the hospital, and their families, and they will now have a better place to cook when it rains.

This morning we woke up early and went to visit the JSS campus to get acquainted with the organization and the staff. JSS is a rural health care organization founded by 5 couples, all of whom are doctors. They provide medical services to underserved areas at rates reasonable for the local populations, a large number of which are tribal peoples and marginal farmers.

The staff ride out in the morning in a pair of Jeeps, and we joined them along with Jacob. The JSS clinic is in Ganyari, a village about 30km outside of Bilaspur, and it took about 40 minutes to make the drive through fields and villages.

The campus itself looks a lot like what I imagined it would, with sandy red soil in the shade of sparse trees, and simple buildings spread around. Three days a week, including today, they have what amounts to a walk-in clinic, so the main buildings were surrounded by a crowd of people waiting patiently for their time with the doctor.

There are currently twelve doctors full time at JSS, and each has their own speciality. The facilities are simple, but modern, including small hospital ward, and a new surgery building with two operating rooms. There is a mess where food is served, with a wood fire for most of the cooking, and everybody washes their own dishes - including the doctors. There are also office buildings, a conference room, an IT building (with wireless broadband!), pharmacies, some housing for workers and doctors who may spend the night. There are a number of support workers besides the doctors, though I don't know how many.

There are also a few fields, covering about an acre and a half, where SRI methods are practiced and researched. A number of animals wander the grounds, a few sheep (whose blood is extracted for some kind of serum or media) a cow, and the ever present stray dogs.

We spent the day touring the grounds, talking with Jacob about SRI, and generally trying not to get too hot. Temperatures here hit around 43C... I don't even want to know what that is in Farenheit, so you'll have to look it up yourself. It is supposed to get cooler when the rains come... but the monsoon is long overdue.

The delayed monsoon season is a subject that gets a lot of inches in the newspaper, and is the topic of much discussion. In the short term, it means that farmers get a late start in planting their crops. In the longer term, it means that at this time next year, at the cusp of monsoon season, water levels may be dangerously low, if the rains do not fall long and hard enough to replenish the ground water supply. This makes our work with SRI and water management even more important and immediate than we had expected.

Almost four weeks after arriving in Boston, we have finally made it to Bilaspur! The trip was long and difficult, due to our heavy pile of luggage, but we'll only have to do that once more on the way out.

We started on Wednesday afternoon, taking a cab to the bus station, where a number of coolies (porters) started trying to charge us ridiculous rates to move our luggage a few feet. Unfortunately, we didn't know where our luggage was supposed to go, where to load in onto the bus, etc., and we ended up paying them more than we paid the taxi driver for the 10km air-conditioned ride. The sitution was made difficult because of my whiteness, which identified me as "rich," or at least able to afford their inflated rates.

The bus ride started out well enough. It wasn't AC, but it was comfortable, and the open windows provided enough of a breeze. However, after a couple hours, the driver started letting on more people than the bus could hold, and as best we could tell was pocketing the extra money. This meant the once comfortable bus was now overcrowded, and I was getting face fulls of butts and bellys. The driver also got into fights with a number of the passengers along the way.

India does not have the equivalent of our interstate highway system, so many of the roads were small and bumpy. At around 4 AM we drove down a road that has to hold the record for worst potholes, as every few minutes we would slow down and drive over a huge bump or hole, jarring me from my sleep.

After fighting with more coolies and cab drivers, we made it from the Nagpur bus station to the Nagpur rail station (where even more coolies "helped" us to the platform). Credit goes to Dolly and her language skills for dealing with these agressive men as well as she did. As the early morning sun rose, Dolly once again made things easier by finding the air conditioned waiting room for the "upper class" passengers, where we escaped from the heat for the few hours we waited for the train.

We were in a 3-tier AC sleeper car, where it was cool and comfortable once we dragged our luggage in. We were hungry as neither of us had eaten much due to earlier intenstinal difficulties, and we were tired, but we played cards and slept and watched the other passengers.

The train took two hours longer than scheduled to arrive in Bilaspur due to construction delays, and by the time we got there we were exhausted. Luckily, JSS has a van, and two of the members met us and helped with our luggage, and brought us to a hotel where we arrived about 30 hours after we started our journey. We will be staying here for a few days until Jacob cleans his house - and we will stay there until an apartment is found in the colony where Jacob and the doctors stay.

We ordered a huge meal from room service, and Jacob came to meet us. After he had left, the boy working as the bellhop came with the bill. When he left for change, he left the door slightly ajar, which I did not notice at the time. When he returned, the door to the bathroom where Dolly was showering was open, and so I ran to the door to stop him before he came in too far. In doing so, I slipped on the wet floor, wiping out completely, and taking out a chair on the way down. I'm pretty sure that I heard him laugh a little while I was in midair.

Yesterday we met our contact at JSS, Jacob, for the first time. He is on the younger side of middle aged, with greying hair that looks like it is still youthfully dark underneath and a mischievous smile. He knows a lot of people working on SRI, and has been doing agricultural work in the rural areas for many years, and we will be working with him closely and learning what he knows. He seems to be an experienced and light traveller, arriving with just large laptop bag, which contains everything he needs, including the laptop. His train arrived at 2 in the morning, and he didn't think twice about sleeping in the train station (apparently there are simple accomodations for travellers, so at least he wasn't sleeping on the platform). He came to meet Dr. Gujja of the WWF, along with us, and other than that he was calling people he knew on his cell phone and setting up meetings shen he could. His mannerism and habits reminded me in some ways of a vagrant, travelling without a care with minimal possessions. His default expression is a sly smile, and in the short time I've spent with him I haven't seen any negative emotions like anger or being upset.

Our return to ICRISAT was to find if we could work with them. Short answer, no - long answer yes. ICRISAT is a large, multinational organization, and there are a myriad of procedural hurdles to clear to get an ICRISAT employee badge, so it is not feasible to work for them. However, they do have a budget, and discretion to partner with other organization and fund certain projects, and it was clear that they were very open to that possibility of funding us through Jacob and JSS. So, we will be going into the field and getting our bearings and putting together a specific proposal. JSS does not have the resources of ICRISAT, and the supplemental income will be very welcome. JSS is looking for a place for us to set up house in their neighborhood, and until then we will be staying at Jacob's house.

We leave tomorrow night - a bus to Nagpur, and then a train to Bilaspur. It will be over 24 hours of travel, and I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, we are here to experience India, which we will be doing, but we are novices at Indian bus and train stations, and will have as much luggage as we can carry as we set out to establish our new home. And the travel time is as long as it took to get from Boston into Bilaspur, so our butts might just fall asleep.

We will have Internet there, but it will be dial-up, so posts may come more infrequently from here on out... but I will keep posting.

In London, a taxi driver must pass a difficult test called "The Knowledge" in order to be licensed. They must know all the streets and the best routes from one place to another, and study for years to become an expert on the city. The average driver needs 12 attempts over 34 months to pass. In Hyderabad, you barely need a running vehicle.

To be fair to the taxi drivers, many of the streets don't even appear to have names, and so formal addresses are mostly useless. Even a GPS system would be foiled by the lack of proper naming. Getting somewhere often involves getting to the neighborhood, and then either calling the store/restaurant you are going to, or asking people on the street until one of them knows where the place is. And sometimes, they point you in the wrong direction.

Additionally, the taxi drivers themselves often do not know where certain neighborhoods and landmarks are. Sometimes you have to flag down several autos before finding one that knows where you're going, more or less, is willing to take you there, and is willing to do so on the meter, not at an inflated price that is usually about twice what it should be. And sometimes, even if you agree to their price there are difficulties. Last night after agreeing to the auto drivers price, he had trouble finding the place and wanted more than he had said in the first place, even though he knew there would be some driving around to find the place.

The taxis sometimes are not in the best condition, and struggle to get up the mild inclines of bridges, and their engines stop while idling at stoplights. One taxi we were in recently had the most pathetic sounding horn, a sickly wheeze that no one outside our vehicle could hear. The taxi itself was not much healthier, and the driver puttered along, honking now and then anyway as we took our slow ride home.

To be fair, the drivers have a hard job, and we've always found what were looking for in the end We know ahead of time when they may not know exactly where something is, and the cost of the ride is usually less than what the tip would be for a taxi ride of the same distance in America.

We went to the Ayurvedic Doctor, located down a back road full of potholes. We passed the first domestic cows I had seen. There was an empty lot with a trough where they were sitting out, and there were two "farmers" milking the cows. Around the corner was a milk spot, where I imagine they sell very fresh milk.

The doctor proceeded much like a western doctor, asking some questions, taking some vitals, looking in my eyes and throat, and then prescribing some medecines, only they were herbal medecines, and I am to take them for 5 days. They are supposed to boost my immune system and alleviate my allergies. I'm also supposed to avoid alcohol and meat and eat many cooling foods for the next 2 weeks. Dolly got a blood purifying potion that is similar in smell to cough syrup. We tried asking questions about Ayurvedia and what the medecines are, but all we got was "Ayurvedia means 'science of life'" and "the medecines are herbal medecines". We were hoping for some education around Ayurvedia and our conditions and treatments, but in that respect we left disapponted. On the drive back the auto driver took a detour through a Muslim neighborhood, and I saw some cows being kept that looked like eating cows - along with a few beef shops.

Today and tonight we are in a hotel to get some space and time on our own. We are in a 3-star hotel, which is nice - the room is on the small side, but the bathroom is clean and stocked in a western style (shampoos, conditioners), there is central AC, a shower with hot running water, and the bed is big and comfortable. We had a buffet lunch at the restaurant upstairs, and it was an "expensive" buffet (720 ruppess - about $15 for the two of us, including tax and 2 bottles of water). They had a variety of foods, from salads to deserts, and even though it was Indian food, it was the most Western meal I have had since I've been here. I had (tandoori) chicken wings, along with spicy fruit salad, lamb vindaloo, chicken briyani and only a little rice.

Right now there is a movie on TV and in one of the dance numbers we recognized many of the locations from Ramoji Film Studio where we visited a few weeks ago.

We've been mostly sitting around the house this week, and I finally got up early enough to watch Deepika make a few curries. The secret to the cooking is a house blend of Garam Masala, made from salt, chili, coriander, and garlic. That, and more salt. I'm still not sure how healthy my diet is here. As I've mentioned before, its mostly white rice. The small amount of curries taken means that salt content probably is ok overall, but it also means that the nutritional and fiber contribution of those vegetables is low.

Deepika usually has the TV on as she does her morning chores, watching either the music channels or soap operas. Especially in the commercials, the actors are very light skinned, to the point where if I walk by during the middle of a commercial, I can forget that they are Indian. They look hispanic or even white with black hair... not what the people on the street look like. As for the music, the videos all come from movies, and they get played to death, just like on MTV. They aren't as overtly sexual (or conceptual - they are almost all choreographed dances, like they're from a musical), but because of the focus on dancing, and all the hip shaking, they are as sexually charged as anything on American television, just not as dirty.

This afternoon we're going to an Ayurvedic doctor, to check out some traditional medicine. Homeopathy and Ayurvedic medecine are popular here. Homeopathy, based on the idea that like cures like, isn't crazy in that base idea, but in practice it is basically treatment with magic water, and I don't believe in it. Ayurvedia is a more traditional approach, based waaay back in the vedic scriptures, and focuses on whole body heath and balance, and seems much more plausible. It will be interesting to see what how the appointment goes.

First off, Dolly is feeling much better today, and even by yesterday afternoon she was able to accompany me on a long auto ride across town to the FRRO office, where I need to register if I want to stay more than 180 continuous days. Its a 20km trip, about 12 miles, which might not sound so bad, but its continous traffic, top speeds of about 30 kph, and air so thick with exhaust that you can chew it. It took and hour to get there, including a ridiculous traffic jam where the cars and buses and autos managed to get wound into a deadlock where no one was able to move forward. Eventually, the police came and backed up individual cars to create space to let the knot untangle.

After all of that, we were at the wrong f&^%ing office. Its difficult to figure out what to do and where to go and with what forms. I am now past the 14 day mark, after which there's a fine, so now I'm just going to wait until Bilaspur, where it won't necessarily be any easier, but some of the paperwork (especially proof of Indian address) will be easier to come by.

Last night Dolly and I both drove the Deepika's scooter for the first time. It only took a few minutes to get the hang of the controls, and it was easy to drive on the side streets. It was much more stressful when we had to go a few dozen meters down the main road - a right turn across busy traffic, and then another U-turn to get to the shop where we were going. Between the new controls, driving on the left, and traffic it was a stressful few feet. Leaving the store, we couldn't figure out how to get the scooter started again and had to ask for help.

After that errand, Dolly took a few practice passes up and down the road. She started out slow and cautious, and got better. She was wobbly at first when she tried to ride with me as a passenger, but she got the hang of it. There was one close call - when she went to turn around at the end of a narrow alley, she gave the scooter a little gas to help turn (turning the right handle accelerates), and it started getting away from her. The scooter pulling away caused her to turn the handle even more and she almost drove the scooter up into someones gate. We have videos, but the house internet is down... we may post some later.

We're mostly just hanging out these past couple of days, taking care of errands, occasionally sleeping in.

Last night we had water consistently, which is kind of a rarity. The household is setup to handle irregular water - drinking water comes in 10 gallon bottles and is put through a filter and there is a giant barrel for storing bathing/washing water, but its just sooo much easier to do dishes when water flows from the tap, and even washing your hands is a noticeably smoother process. At least there's running water sometimes, and we don't have to haul it from a well... though I have noticed the women downstairs pulling water up from undergound in a bucket.

There's a building across the street thats been covered in tarps since I've been here, about 4 stories tall, obviously under construction. The other day, I noticed that the tarps had been removed and people were on the scaffolding applying stucco. What stood out is the scaffolding - long wooden poles about 4 inches thick lashed together with rope to create a giant structure outside the building. Its a pretty common sight around buildings, going 4 or 5 stories high with these rickety wooden scaffolds. It seems very unsafe, but they're doing what they can with the materials available.

Dolly is feeling sick today as well, so send her some love if you have a few minutes. Medicine is cheap and largely unregulated, but she doesn't like pills, so she's just sleeping it off.

I will leave you with something a little cheerier, some drummers we saw on a truck yesterday:

Here's a short youtube video of what the main street in the neighborhood (AS Rao Nagar in Hyerabad if you want to Google) looks like. Image this repeated for 10 km, and thats what it looks like in most areas, except for the downtown and the Army base, which we have to drive through to get downtown.

I haven't had Internet access for a few days - the connection to the house isn't working, and we haven't had time to call the company to tell them to fix it. I followed the line that comes into the modem to figure out where it comes out of the wall. It actually came in through the window, so I followed it up the stairs, to the roof, where it went over to the roof of the building two houses down. This wasn't a thick cable line either... its basically a telephone line going off who knows where.

On Friday, we went to ICRISAT, a non-profit organization whose motto is "Science with a Human Face". All of the other non-profits we have visted have been small offices above stores and apartments, and we assumed that we were heading to another such place, but when we got off the bus, we found ourselves at the gate of an enormous 4000 acre complex.
The campus had a very international feel. We were told the water was safe to drink, and there was clearly lots of money involved. Four villages had been cleared to make room for the complex, and there were four lakes and and a variety of soils (the reason the location was chosen). After all the small places with shoestring budgets and an activist feel, it felt odd to be in comfortable air conditioned buildings and seeing displays touting collaborations with multinational corporations and the World Bank.

The reason we were there was to meet with Dr. Goad, who is heading a partnership between ICRISAT (which focuses on crops suited for semi-arid conditions) and the WWF. Rice is not one of the crops usually focused on by ICRISAT, but the fact that it is grown in semi-arid climates brought their attention, and the WWF is interested in the water saving aspects. We are trying to find some work we will be able to do with them, in order to get down to Hyderabad occasionally to visit with Dolly's family.

We spoke with Dr. Goad and his team, and joined them for lunch in the cafeteria, where I had lamb briyani - my first red meat since getting on the plane! The director of the whole project is going to be flying in from Geneva next week, so we have postponed our plans to travel to Bilsapur by about ten days in order to meet with him. It is a bit of a letdown to be staying around so long here. We have some unfinished business that we will be able to take care of, but not a week and a half worth. We have discussed with Jacob, our contact at JSS the possibility of some field trips, so we may be out in the rice patties soon anyway!

We went and visited two other non-profits in the afternoon/evening, and drove home in a downpour, getting soaked in the open auto rickshaw. The rains signal the start of the rainy season, and the end of the hottest part of the year, at least in Hyderabad - weather.com says Bilaspur will remain hot for a while longer.

Deepika took the day off of work and we went on a day of tourism. We drove an distance outside of the city, where the landscape slowly changed from city blocks and stores to industrial areas to mostly open spaces. The natural landscape is similar to red rock areas of the American southwest - dry, dusty flatlands with rock formations rising above the plains.

After a brief stop at a temple where we had a great view of the surrounding areas, we travelled onto Ramoji, the largest movie set in the world and a tourist destination. The 400 rps entry fee was surprisingly high for a moment, and then I realized that I usually pay more just to get into see a movie. We paid and then boarded a bus to take us to the actual attraction.
Ramoji was a combination of Universal Studios, Six Flags, and India. In many ways, it was a controlled, corporate experience with fiberglass faux-ethnic surroundings. However, budgets and standards are not the same in India as in America. Attractions included air hockey and cricket batting cages, and many of the areas were well designed, but with little to do - imagine Adventureland at a theme park, except with no rides, games, or vendors, just scenery. The rides would have been small for a church-parking lot carnival, and the shows were a little cheesy, but it had a fun atmosphere and lacked the relentless corporatism and consumerism of Disney or Six Flags.

What really stood out were the movie sets and the grounds. The grounds were beautifully landscaped, with lush gardens and large fountains, and replicas of tombs and palaces. There was a bus tour of all the sets, and there were an impressive number of buildings, alleys, and city squares. Many of the large buildings were different on each face so from one side you could shoot a hospital, and then on the other a courthouse. The backside of the mansions that lined the posh London street were a Bombay slum.

One thing that stood out was the relative lack of rampant price-gouging associated with American theme parks. Bottled water was the same price as anywhere else, and the restaurant lunch we ate was priced the same as similar meals in outside restaurants. Many products have a Maximum Retail Price (MRP) printed on them, and so are priced the same everywhere. For example, bottled water is 14-15 rps depending upon the brand, and so there is no price comparison between stores. This doesn't apply in the same way to items with clothes, where there may be a MRP, but these items are often on sale and not as interchangeable as a product like water, soda, or shampoo.

Today we had our first meetings for work related purposes. We were unsure of what to expect in the meetings and what our agenda was, so we decided that the best course of action would be to view this as a networking opportunity, and to absorb as much information as possible. These people had years of experience to draw from, and we were on day 1.

The first meeting was with Kiran from Deccan Development Society (http://www.ddsindia.com/www/default.asp). They are concerned with natural resource management, and they work at the village level with the lowest castes to establish control over food sources and markets. Because of government subsidies for rice (which is not the traditional crop in these areas), it has been more economical for people to seek outside work and buy rice instead of farming traditional crops. With loans from Decca, fallow and underutilized land has been used to farm millet, which is more nutritious than rice. The loans are repaid mostly in grain, which is then sold below market prices, providing cheap grain for villagers, and a source of funds for the organization.

Decca also runs schools for children who would have normally not gone to school for economic reasons. They are housed in hostels and given both a traditional school education and training in jobs skills like tiling, agricultural work, electrical work, etc. Upon graduation, the students will have the equivalent of a high school education and an employable skill.

Very interesting, but not very connected to SRI, our area of work.

Our second meeting was with Dr. Ramunjaneyulu of CSA, Community Sponsored Agriculture. He knew we were there to talk about SRI, and jumped into an rapid-fire, extemporaneous criticism that would have passed muster as a conference presentation if he had had a powerpoint presentation behind him. I mean "criticism" in an academic sense here; he clearly shares values and goals with proponents of SRI, and works closely with them in other areas. His criticisms centered around how it was implemented in AP - the recommendations were adopted as gospel, and the difficulties farmers encountered were not acknowledged.

He believes that these types of issues are present in most systems of Indian agriculture. Something works on a small scale, under certain conditions, and that approach is then spread without concern for adapting to local soils, climate, and topography. SRI, he said, works best for small plots of land in hilly country... luckily these are the conditions that are present in the areas JSS serves.

This has been more of a work log than a travelogue, but I know many of you are interested in the social justice/poverty alleviation/resource management issues that we are over here to work on, and I hope you appreciate the change of pace!

Yesterday we went with Deepika to her workplace, Sai Deepa Rock Drills (http://www.saideepa.com/). The general manager gave us a tour of the facilities... or at least he gave me a tour while Dolly and Deepika followed. He pretty much ignored Dolly and spoke only to me.

They had two large warehouse buildings filled with machining tools. The drills they make looked a lot to me like missile tubes or large bullets. They had dozens of machines, many computer controlled for drilling, threading, polishing. Some of them looked high tech, and some of them looked like drill presses from high school shop class. Probably pretty standard for that type of operation. They are even ISO9001 certified.

They would certainly not be OSHA compliant though. No safety goggles and people wore sandals while operating heavy machinery. I was able to get as close to the machines as I wanted, and could have stuck my hand into any number of belts or moving parts if I was stupid or masochistic.

This evening we will be having our first work related meeting, and I am excited to find out more about the details of what we will be working on. We will be meeting with someone from Center for Sustainable Agriculture (www.csa-india.org).

I also got a haircut last night. I know I am getting used to the local prices when I was a little surprised off that the haircut in an air conditioned salon cost 100 rps (about $2.50). Part of it was that I had been told a haircut was about 25rps, and I guess that's more like the price you would pay for a street haircut.

Dolly has spent a day in terror, and now we have eggshells placed strategically around our room. Last night we saw our first chipakali, or wall lizard. They are similar to the "iguanas" I had as pets as a kid, and they don't bother me at all. They are harmless and eat bugs, and are even considered to be lucky. Dolly, on the other hand is terrified of the sight and thought of them, and we have spent the past 24 hours trying to figure out how to deal with the chipkalis.

I have tried to talk her through her fear, which is based on the thought of them falling on her and walking across her. I have told her that they have no interest in messing with an animal 1000x its size, and that they eat the insects which we really don't want around, but that has been no help. At least she no longer believes that they are poisonous. The Internet, her mom, and the neighbors told her that eggshells repel them (something about the smell), so now we have eggshells under the bed, on shelves, and hanging from nails. It may be true; shortly after placing the shells in our room, a small black chipkali which we had seen run under the door earlier came scurrying out, where I swept it up and tossed it outside. Hopefully, she will be able to sleep tonight.

Chikus, on the other hand are small fruits which I had never encountered before. They are a little bigger than golf balls and taste like strawberry shortcake, like the poundcake soaked in strawberry/sugar juice. We eat lots of fresh food and fruits. In the last 2 days I have eaten chikus, pomegranate, fresh pineapple juice, apples, and lots of mango. Deepika tells me not to eat too much mango, as it is a warming food, but we visited two of Dolly's cousins yesterday, and both offered mango. I accepted from both, and ate Dolly's as well at the second house.

Food is a lot fresher here in general. I have had only small amounts of sugar, a little bit in tea, and a few mango popsicles and small bottles of soda. I don't think I've encountered any preservatives. Food is made fresh, and a curry will usually last a few meals before it is gone. The staple of the diet is white rice, which seems a bit unhealthy to me, especially in the quantities in which it is eaten. From what I know of nutrition, white rice doesn't add much to a diet except calories and a high glycemic load, but its what a billion Indians eat every day. Its probably due to the fact that white rice stores better than brown rice, especially in heat, coupled with generations of tradition. Piles of rice are eaten with small amounts of curry - one curry at a time, at least in Hyderabad. The curries are flavorful enough to infuse the rice with taste, and the neutral taste of the white rice may be another reason it is preferred.

Meat is not a priority in the diet, and it seems like most protein comes from dal, a lentil or bean dish cooked to a mushy consistency. I am allergic to dal, so Deepika had only made it once.

The fruits and vegetables themselves are a bit different here as well. The lemons and limes are the size of cherry tomatoes, the tomatoes, potatoes, and onions are not much larger. The pomegranate I ate was a quarter of the size of the ones I am used to seeing. I assume its a combination of smaller scale, less industrialized agricultural practices and consumers not expecting baseball-sized bright red tomatoes.

Also... an update on the chicken curry from the first post: Deepika thought it needed more salt, more chili, and needed water to make it more tender (I usually add water and tomato paste for gravy... no tomato paste, so I didn't add water). Yesterday she made some chicken curry that kicked the butt of my chicken curry. I will have to learn her secrets, if I can wake up early enough.

While I have many Indian friends, and in America often found myself the only white man in a Desi crowd, it did not prepare me for the differences in culture. During those times, I was still an American, in America, surrounded by people who were comfortable with American culture and who had mostly adopted American attitudes.

I am staying in what I would characterize as a working class home, in a working class neighborhood, run by traditional ways and attitudes. One thing that has struck me is the absence of disposable goods. When we entered the home, the only disposable materials were small plastic bags used for vegetables or produce, and even those were reused as trash bags. All the dishes are metal (like in an Indian restaurant), except for a pair of ceramic tea cups. There are a few bottles of soft drinks in the fridge, and those are in glass bottles which will get reused. We have brought in tissues, teabags, and bottled water (though we reuse the plastics bottles a few times), so the house is no longer "pure". On average, we produce about a sandwich bag worth of trash a day, most of which is food scraps like chicken bones or onion skins.

Another difference is what I will call the head waggle. Instead of nodding in agreement, people wiggle their heads. They don't turn their face from side to side like an American "no", instead shaking loosely while looking forward. However, it is close enough to the "no" shake that I find myself misinterpreting it as a lack of comprehension or a polite dismissal of what I am saying, when it means understanding or agreement. I getting pretty good at the hand gesture for "no" which is shaking the hand from side to side. I have found that gesture accompanied by a lack of eye contact is generally effective in warding off beggars and street merchants.

There is also the issue of me being a white male, the most privileged class in the eyes of may here. Privileged not only in the real sense of having advantages due to my background, but privileged in the sense that they believe I must be treated special. Deepika asks Dolly why she doesn't serve me food. If I ask to help in the kitchen with cleaning or chopping, I am met with sharp words and looks. If I ask what I can help with, I am told "no no no." I believe some of this is general hospitality, but I don't think its the whole story. I know Dolly's mom is very concerned about me in India, and she had an AC unit installed in the bedroom we are staying in. I think she is concerned about me experiencing hardship, which is sweet in some ways. I don't know if she knows about things like camping and backpacking where (white) people intentionally expose themselves to this. I am certainly prepared for some level of discomfort and lack of luxury while I am here.

They laugh at me putting on sunscreen 2 or 3 times a day. I asked them if they know what sunburn is - they don't. They are also suspicious of my allergies... they have never heard of anyone who can't eat dal or yogurt or wheat, and I think they think I am just picky. Also, I have not seen one drop of alcohol while here. I asked someone if he drank, and he laughed and said yes, two or three times a year.

We got up early this morning for a day of sightseeing. We had an AC taxi (a car with air-conditioning as opposed to the 3-wheeled, open auto rickshaws) set to arrive at 8:30, and he got there at 9:30, and we went off to our first stop, the fortress Golconda.

Golconda is the largest fort in the world, and we entered its outer wall through a road zig-zagging through a tiny opening. The road was the right size for a one way street, but of course it was a two way passage. Once inside, it was more of the same Hyderabad cityscape, small concrete stores selling general goods, meat, chicken, cloth, wood, or metal while street vendors sold mangoes and coconut water and children chased goats through the streets. Only some of the walls were hundreds of years old and part of a giant fortress.

The taxi dropped us off at the entrance to the inner fortress, where the central hill towered over us. Guides came up offering their services, but I declined, opting to wander. Deepika and her friend had been there a few times before, so Dolly and I explored on our own. The fortress was half in ruins, and we started at the bottom, poking into dark corners and winding hallways. From some of the darker depths, we could hear the chattering of rats or bats - we didn't go far enough to find out. In some of the areas, you could smell the ancient dust, similar to a musty old attic or basement, except if that attic or basement had been left alone for hundreds of years instead of maybe a dozen. We started climbing to the top, but Dolly wasn't feeling well, so we went back down for some cool AC and food.

After lunch we went to Charminar, which is in the center of old Hyderabad. It was built as a charm in a desperate attempt to fend off the black plague. It is in the center of a roundabout, like the Arc de Triomphe, but instead of being surrounded by landscaped expanses or sterile granite, it is engulfed by the teeming masses of the city. The fence surrounding it, mere feet from the corner pillars are lined by beggars and merchants selling jewelery, mangoes (there are almost always several mango carts in sight, at least at this time of year), sunglasses and other trinkets. It was amazing how the chaos of the city spilled into the landmark, as people wandered in and out of traffic and generally went about as if it was another busy intersection. The building consists of four towers in the corners supporting two upper floors, rising to a height of 160 feet. We got a tour guide inside, and he took us up and pointed out the landmarks visible from each direction. You could see most of Hyderabad from up there. At each lookout, he would take a picture. At the first stop, I sat on the edge, inches from the sheer drop down, and Dolly refused to sit next to me, so she kneeled slightly in front. We then went across the street to a large mosque, the Makka Masjid which contains bricks brought from Mecca.

We went back to the cab, where we startled the driver from his sleep. He was a very thin man, with a wispy beard that was grey in the side burns. He looked like a man who had led (and was still leading) a difficult life. The car wouldn't start, and so we waited as he attempted to fix it. I felt bad for him, as he looked a little wild in eyes, and scared. Dolly thought he was scared we would yell at him, and I thought he was panicked about the failure of his means of livelihood. I'm not sure of the economics of taxis here - I assume he owned the car, which would provide him a means of making a living, but if the car broke, he may not have much else. He drained the radiator and then filled it with new water, and eventually it was running. However, we only made it a few kilometers before it stopped again, and we had to leave him and squeeze into an auto rickshaw.

We then went to some gardens across from a lake where there is a giant Buddha statue. Deepika and I both got an ear of fire-roasted corn on the cob. I learned there is a 3rd side to the eat-across vs. eat-around debate... she popped out the kernels one at a time in neat rows, and ate them like corn nuts. By this time the sun was setting, and we went home, stopping on the way to pick up some chicken briyani from Paradise restaurant, established in 1953 and famous for its briyani. It was very good.

Unfortunately, I left the camera in the auto rickshaw. My pockets were very full, and it must have fallen out. We had it at the gardens, and I noticed it missing shortly after returning home. We are disappointed to lose our camera and the pictures from the day, so we have none to post. :(

We went shopping again today, this time with Dolly's cousins. They knew better how much things should cost and where to find them. I got 3 traditional outfits and a scarf for 900 rps., or about $20. I am going to start wearing the scarfs, even with western clothes, to protect my neck. The men mostly wear western style pants and shirts, though the women wear very colorful and fancy traditional outfits. Her cousins all look 3-5 years younger than they actually are. I think it has a lot to do with the way they act. Children here are fairly sheltered and innocent... no rap music, no R movies. Boys are mostly kept from girls, and there is a lot of social pressure to conform to traditional values and roles.

We took Dolly's cousins to Chinese/Indian food, and both the Schezuan chicken roast and the ginger chicken were tasty. That meal ended up being about 900rps for 4 (4 chicken dishes, Briyani, and white rice). It was a sit-down place with AC and linen napkins. Last night we got curry from a takeout place, and that was only 125 rps for 4 dishes. I am going to get a haircut tonight, and I'm told that costs 20-25 rps.

We are supposed to be going to Bilaspur in 10 days, and talking to some people here in Hyderabad sometime next week. I was hoping that Bilaspur would be cooler, being further north, but it looks like its 5-8 degrees hotter... so far I'm doing OK with the heat, and I think its only a few weeks until rainy season.

So far, so good.

I have bathed sitting on a stool while pouring water over myself from a cup.

I have been eating rice and curries without utensils, only my right hand.

I have been scolded for calling Dolly's sister by her pet name instead of her proper name (until then I didn't know her proper name Deepika).

I have been a little careless with water sources and whatnot, emboldened by the two types of antibiotics I have in my suitcase... but so far no need for them.

I have been out in the mid-day sun, and the sunblock has done its job. So far, no burns, but I expect to be a proper redneck very soon.


We took an auto rickshaw (a tuk-tuk) to some shopping areas today to pick up some things we needed. Driving 15 km cost about 110 rps - about $2.50. I finally saw some intersections where stoplights were followed - main intersections where police were stationed. There are signs urging people to follow traffic laws, but it seems a lost cause, and possibly unnecessary. The current system seems to work well enough.

At first it seemed like police and military were everywhere. Most of them turned out to be security guards and doormen to keep the riff-raff out of the stores with AC. Colleges look like military installations, with walls and guarded gates. Everything nice is behind walls... gardens and grass won't survive being tampled by the masses, I guess. I suspect that this is true of much of the developing world, that walls and police separate the haves from the have-nots.

Does this happen in America? Harvard yard is walled off, though not often guarded, and right next door Cambridge common is open from all sides. Beggars are free to roam Harvard Square, and everyone can enter the mall. However, America doesn't have the staggering amount of poverty that India has. If we suddenly had to accomodate 100 million poor and desperate people, what would we do? I guess our wall is at the border.

... even at night. Its often cooler outside, and its nice on the balcony in the evening. I need to drink so much water just to stay remotely hydrated. I'm sure my body will adjust. Even in Massachusetts the first heat wave seems unbearably hot, and by the end of the summer 85 degrees seems normal and fine. Except for now I'm dealing with 100 and humid.

I was watching some of the stray dogs last night, and even though they are not attended to, they look like awesome dogs. They are cute mutts, smallish and short-haired with (seemingly) friendly dispositions - I have not and will not pet them, as a bite could mean the end of the trip or at least a long detour to where they have a supply of rabies medication. But anyway, someone should round up some of the dogs and breed some healthy puppies, I bet they'd be wonderful pets. Dolly asked me how they get there, and quickly realized the answer (stray boy dog + stray girl dog = puppies). Now I am wondering how the stray cows get there... I don't think I've seen any stray bulls.

I am now on the ground in India, sitting in Dolly's sister's apartment in Hyderabad. Luckily, she has Internet, so I am able to let all my friends and family know I've arrived safely.

We got in at around 4AM local time, about 9PM EST, after 24 hours of travel inlcuding 2 red-eye flights. The weirdness of the eating and sleeping schedule, and 2 nights in a short period of time has been disorienting enough that I think I can stay up until evening and get a head start on beating jet-lag.

I was slowly eased into India on the flight, which was about 95% Indian, mostly families. Upon landing, we entered an airport that could have been anywhere in the world. Leaving the airport Dolly's sister Pushpa met us, and helped us to a cab where we took an hour's ride to where she lives in Hyderabad.

My initial impressions were to compare it to Mexico. Sprawling brick and concrete architecture, and dusty lanscapes with some scenic rock formations. The streets were fronted by small shops arranged chaotically to my eye. The roads were anarchy, in the sense that there were no formal rules, only a few agreed upon conventions. Cars, scooters, tuk-tuks, bicycles, people, and the occasional dog and cow shared the road, going where they pleased, honking as they went to say both "don't hit me" and "don't get hit by me," depending upon the size of the vehicles involved. The few stop lights were not obeyed, and only caused slow-downs and confusion.

We stopped for coffee and idylees on the way, and I was pleased that my presence as a white man was not causing the spectacle so many had promised. A few longer than normal looks was all that happened... no pointing, no crowding around, and no beggars. It may sound ignorant and conceited to expect that kind of attention, but people who's word I trusted had warned me about it.

Upon arriving home, Pushpa cooked us a nice rice dish for breakfast, and I accompanied her to the market for some vegetables and chicken. I rode on the back of her scooter through the small alleys to the market, which at first appeared to be a dark, crowded place. Once inside, it turned out to be an illusion caused by the bright sun outside and the cool shade inside, and it was much like any farmers market in the US, with a number of vendors all selling pretty much the same in season produce. The biggest difference was the smell from herbs, especially the curry leaves whose smell filled the place when the breeze.

So far, I have not smelled anything terribly offensive - a smoky smell now and then, and an occasional whiff of manure. Again, not the India some of my friends tried to scare me with. The heat they promised is here - my face is red, and my shirt is sticking to me, but only a few short months ago I was cursing the cold and the snow, and I don't have to worry about winter for a while.

After the market, we stopped for some sunblock and some chicken. I expected relatively fresh chicken, and was surprised when the vendor grabbed one from a cage and disappaeared into the back. I looked over the counter and saw the chicken get decapited and dropped into a small pen, where it thrashed around until the nerves stopped twitching. This will be the freshest chicken I have ever eaten.

I am going to end this post now, as I have to now make a curry out of the chicken. Dolly told Pushpa I make a good chicken curry, and now I have to make good on her boast as a white man in an Indian kitchen.