19-hour Intro to Thailand: Part One

My flight landed in Bangkok at 5:00 am and my flight to Japan was at 12:30 am Wednesday…19-HOUR LAYOVER!!! So, I made my way up to the immigrations desk so that I could do whatever it was that I needed to do to be able to leave the airport as a transit passenger. It felt really good to be able to leave the airport without luggage. I went to the tourism desk to check out the transit tour packages they had. There I met a little Thai man named Nat who coordinated the tours. I looked through a book of like 50 tours, of which only like 7 were available. I chose the Bankok Temple Tour and that’s where the adventure began. He went through the map of the tour and told me about the English speaking tour guide, air-conditioned car, etc (both of which were necessary because I don’t know any Thai and it was HOT!) Then we started discussing the price and here is where things got interesting.
The original price he gave me was somewhere near $150 US, so I looked at him like he had lost his mind. Before my trip I had already researched the cost of that company’s tours so I knew what was up and I let him know that I knew what was up. So this fool leans in on the desk, lowers his voice and says, “OK, well let me tell you what I can do.” RED FLAG! Is it just me of or do those actions usually mean something shady/illegal or the hook-up (also usually shady and illegal) is about to ensue??? If your answer was YES then you guessed right. He says, “We can book you a hotel so that you can have a few hours to eat breakfast and rest. The tour guide will pick you up from the hotel. And this is the price.” He punches it into the calculator and turns it in my directions…$75. WHAT?! Now let me get this straight, by including a hotel room the price is cut by half…Um…does that make any sense? NO, didn’t think so. But I took it after interrogating him about the integrity and legitimacy of that company. He assured me that because it’s an office that is contracted by the airport that it’s safe. He also mentioned that I would have a female tour guide. So, I said sure. He wrote down all the information about the hotel, tour, and airport for me in Thai and English and took me down to the taxi stand so that he could negotiate the price for me.
On the way down, two other airport employees looked at him, said something, and they all giggled. So I looked at him like, “Would you mind letting me in on the joke,” because some things are universal and recognizing that you are the subject of someone’s conversation is definitely one of them. So he turns and says, “Oh, they were just asking if you were my girlfriend.” I looked at him like, “P-lease, “ trying my hardest to hold back a major neck/eye roll. It was really strange that the taxi area consisted of a row of cars, a neat line of drivers waiting for their next customers, all being conducted by a number of men in uniform. My driver stepped up and I automatically felt a sense of alarm because he bore a remarkable resemblance to my ex-boyfriend from college…creepy. Luckily, we bypassed all the raggedy taxis and stopped in front of a bright orange one that had the new car smell and black leather seats. I got in and we headed for the city. The driver drove like the cops were chasing him up the highway. As soon as we hit the toll road, his foot hit the floor. I was sitting in the back freezing because the air was blasting, staring at a mosquito that I didn’t want to bite me, while telling myself over and over that I will ok and he would not wreck the car killing us both. Just as I was starting to calm down and get used to swerving in and out of traffic at no less than 90 miles per hour, he pulled over on the side of the road and got out…WHAT!!! He went to the truck, got a white rag and a bottle of something. Trying to be cool about things, I sat there thinking, "Ok, maybe he's Muslim and about to pray." All the while, I was scanning the dashboard covered in Buddhist stuff. Then he opened the hood...WHAT!!! If that taxi was on the fritz it was all his fault for riding down the highway like a maniac! On his way back to the trunk after closing the hood, he peeked into the car and grinned...looking like a psycho! He gets in and we continue the journey...

To Be Continuted...hehehe

Hyderabad: Day 8

My flight was at 11:55 pm on Monday so Jostna, Cate, Sohil and I spent the afternoon going back and forth to the tailor to pick up the clothes that I had gotten made…each time we went they weren’t ready…and I was cutting it pretty close because Cate had secured a ride with Taj to get to the city, and ultimately the airport. I made it back in time and Jostna even went to the grocery store to pick up some Chai for me since I was tied up and the tailor’s and hadn’t gotten it earlier. That was really sweet of her.

The Swedish group left today. So Cate and I hitched a ride in their bus to exchange money so that I could get in some more last minute shopping and to search some more for a black Kashmir shawl for my aunt. We didn’t find the Kashimiri shop that folks were claiming was in the area and I wondered if we were going to be able to get any funds because we showed up to the bank during the afternoon prayer and the man who exchanges currency was Muslim. So we waited until he came back. Since it is my last night here, Cate treated me to dinner in Banjara Hills where we ate more Biriyani, shrimp something, rice, naan, YUM! The soccer (uh football) game was on so the other guests and the servers were are all preoccupied, craning their necks toward the TV screen in the restaurant. The servers were so busy, in fact, that when Cate asked for something hot to drink they claimed they didn’t have any. She even asked for hot water, and even that took a while to make it to the table.

Taj met us in Banjara Hills and before going to the airport he took us to a couple stores so that I could try again to look for the shawl. I didn’t find it so I left the money with Cate and she said she would get it for me and send it to Japan…so sweet! I was really sad to leave and when I got to the aiport I just wanted to just get on the plane so that I wouldn’t have time to sit around and think about how much I didn’t want to go back to Japan. Too bad for me that there was over an hour of sit around time before my flight.

Hyderabad: Day 7

Here's Raju, the caretaker's dog, looking sad to see me go. Luckily, for him and me, I still have one more day here. It's Sunday, and everyone went church this morning. Four of us hung around and slept in. With the institute empty we had to find something to do. Cate had a headband and everyone was feeling energetic...perhaps from the tea that I love so much.

So, we did some Richard Simmons style workouts in the courtyard. FUN! I really love the picture of Cate...she looks like an old school capoeirista with her head band and gold jewelry...hehehe

When everyone returned from church, we changed into some Indian clothes and headed out for some more sightseeing. Our first stop was the Qutub Shahi Kings' tombs in Secunderabad, on the other side of the city. The architecture is absolutely amazing. Oddly enough, one my favorite things there were the paths of sand that were littered with pieces of glass bracelets. Those things are dangerous...beautiful, but dangerous. So, of course I had to take a picture of the ground. We made a pit stop at a vendor's stand and bought chips and drinks. I bought the Masala Lays because I wasn't feeling quite adventurous enough to try the Mint Mischief Lays...doesn't sound too appetizing but they were probably good like everything else here!

After the tombs we headed over to Golconda Fort. That place must have been something back in the day because it's ruins are a sight to behold. I'm sure people don't think much of it, but how amazing would it be to live next door to such a beautiful piece of history. We walked up to the top and stopped every now and then to take advantage of the vista for photo ops. As the sun began to set we headed back down to the base to watch the light and sound show. As some of you may know about a month before my arrival, there had been a bombing at a light show in a park. So, everyone was a bit uneasy. After the light show, we all headed to one of the more upscale restaurants in the swanky party of the city called Banjara Hills. The Swedish social workers took care of the tab after dinner, which was really sweet of them.

As was the case every time we boarded a bus, there were dance parties throughout the day. On the way home we passed through a neighborhood where the men were doing their nightly celebrations of Ganesh. Our bus driver decided to take the back streets home in an effort to avoid the traffic and we ended up stuck in the middle of the street for about 15 minutes. Their statue was mounted on a big truck and our bus was pretty big so there was a nice little bottle neck. So the celebrants took the opportunity to try and get us to get off the bus and dance with them. They looked like they were having so much fun. I know that I'm going to miss the sound of singing, drums, and laughter when I get back to Japan.

Hyderabad: Day 6

Today was another temple day. First, we visited a mosque where one of the professors was giving a lecture on Islam and the importance of reading the Quran. Outside, we took off our shoes, washed our hands and feet, and covered our heads. I know that women and men are separated inside the mosque, but I was a little surprised to see that there was white cloth over the carpet where the men were seated and the strip along the back wall where the woman (us, there were not other women there) were to sit was bare. After the lecture, we formed a circle, or two semicircles that divided the men and the women for a short question and answer session. It was interesting. Of course, all the questions that the women asked had to do with the separation of women and men in Islam. For example, someone asked why women aren’t allowed in some mosques. “Women aren’t called for, so they can pray in the home or wherever they are.” I'm not sure if the true meaning of that was lost in translation or not...but, oddly enough, I didn’t feel at all offended by any of his answers.

We also visited the only Buddhist temple in the city. It’s so odd that even though Buddhism was founded in India, there really aren’t that many Buddhists are a minority. The temple was really beautiful. One of the Monks came out to talk to us. He talked about how Buddhism is not so much about a religion as is about living a good life and never harming yourself or others. Don’t kill, lie, drink, steal…you know, the usual stuff. In Atlanta, I met a Baptist preacher who was also a Buddhist monk…blew me away…that’s some serious East meets West type stuff. After hearing what the monk had to say, it’s not so far fetched after all.

These elephant statues are to pay tribute to Ganesh, the god of success. During the Ananta Chaturdashi festival these statues are built and displayed all over the city. Every night the statues were uncovered and men danced to drums until all times of the night. On the final day they are all thrown into the lake. Prayers and chants are said and it's all to ask that Ganesh returns early the next year. The statues are really beautiful. They are made of plaster and the tallest this year was over 30 feet tall I think.

Hyderabad: Day 5

Jyostna and I walked with Sohil to the hospital so that he could get his finger checked on. After the hospital, we had chai at a shop near the hospital. Sohil decided to get a haircut so we went with him to the barber.

I’m glad we did because the sky remembered that the monsoon season was not quite over just yet and it poured.

The barber gave us tea and by the time he was finished the rain had stopped.

So, we headed to the small shopping plaza across from the institute.

I had intended to go and buy snacks and tea to take back to Japan. However, I ended up with three scarves and a henna tattoo on my left hand. The woman only took like 10 minutes to do it freehand and it cost about a dollar!

I love how teatime and body art are a part of everyday life here...and I've gotta get the recipe for the tea here...IT'S SOOOOOOO GOOD! Hmmm...I hope that's not the caffeine coursing through my veins doing the talking.

Hyderabad: Day 4

Vaneetha was so nice to let us wear her saris. A whole lot goes into wrapping 6 meters of fabric around you! I had no clue that there was an underskirt and three safety pins that went into keeping things in place.

We got dressed after breakfast and took a couple of pictures with Sohil in the courtyard. That afternoon, they all had class so Thelma took me out shopping for saris. I think it’s weird that nearly every store I went to during my trip only had males working there, including the sari (women’s clothing only) stores. I can’t wait to have a reason to get all dressed up in mine when I get back to the States. I wanted to get some of those flat sparkly leather shoes to go with them but Thelma looked a bit tired so we headed back after the sari shop.

Hyderabad: Day 3

At devotion, I couldn’t help but notice how HUGE the ants are here. SHEESH! My timing for my trip to Hyderabad was perfect because they had scheduled trips to see different sites around town for all the people in the various programs…and I got to tag along. Today was a temple day. First, we went to a Hindu temple. We weren’t allowed to take pictures in/on the temple (it was more like a terrace with several shrines neatly arranged on top). So, I got this shot of the staircase that led to the top. As you can see, the colors are BEAUTIFUL!!! We took off our shoes downstairs and walked around to all the temples. Some chose to receive blessings by the monks seated in each. I kept thinking to myself, “Don’t drink that…your belly’s gonna be rumbling tonight!!!” Folks asked questions then we were off to the second temple. If ever you see a man walking around with a beard and a turban with a bump on the top (his hair in a bun under the turban), he is probably a Sikh. Their temple was being rebuilt across the street so they set up shop in an open room on the second floor of a building. To enter the temple we had to wash our feet and cover our heads. The basin can be best described as 3 inches of murky water in a cement trough built into the floor. Once again, my mind was racing with thoughts of how parasites live in water and can ever your body through your feet. Once I had thoroughly freaked myself out, I quickly stepped in, stepped out, and shuffled my feet to the door in an effort to leave any uninvited guests outside. They told us before we left the institute that we would need to cover our heads but apparently the men and one of the women forgot so there were given squares of material as we entered the temple. I’m still trying to figure out if this was coincidence or not, but the woman who forget hers was given a raggedy, dirty, smelly piece of cloth that she perched on her head while sitting there frowning and saying, “Oh my God, it smells so bad. Why does it smell so bad?” Meanwhile, the rest of us are on the floor cracking up. The guys looked like the cast of a cheesy Egyptian themed high school musical because their pieces of cloth were hot pink and orange with gold toile around the border. They pushed the corners behind their ear and the sides stuck out making it look like a pharaoh’s headdress. We got to take a picture with the head priest (in the middle). In front of him is their holy book under a cloth and in front of that is the weaponry that we never really got a clear explanation about….hmmmm. On the way home from the temple visits, we had a little dance party on the bus. We hit a bump and Sohil went to catch Jyostna and ended up cutting his finger open on something. I told him he was going to need stitches and he was like, “No, no. That’s what I’m afraid of.” Cate and I left and when we came back he was gone. I guess he had gotten enough of bleeding half to death and they took him to the hospital.
Not that everyone else doing something is justification to do it, but I hopped on the back of Cate’s scooter helmetless and we went out to have a lil bday dinner for me. On the way, we sang at the top of our voices, laughed, were rained on, and saw various wildlife…like this random camel! We had chicken, fish, shrimp (all in different amazing sauces) and naan. Then we walked down to Baskin and Robbins (3rd to McDonalds and Wal-Mart when it comes to global domination…we have all of them here in Japan too) for some ice cream. One of the guys who worked there had the most beautiful eyes and Cate pointed out to me that he was wearing eyeliner so we asked him about it. I forgot what it’s called but he’s Muslim and it’s holy powder. I don’t think that I mentioned that it’s currently Ramadan. Despite the fact that most of the Muslim folks we saw were fasting, a large number of the men didn’t see anything wrong with shaking hands and being extra friendly with the foreign ladies…tiss tiss tiss.

Hyderabad: Day 2

The campus is beautiful. I expected the Telletubbies to pop up and roll down the hill at any moment. After a wonderfully spicy breakfast, everyone met at the prayer hall (that dome down there) for Devotion. Cate asked me to sing a song and help her lead the devotion. She chose some lines from the I Have a Dream speech and I sang We Shall Overcome with the help of the rest of the student’s and faculty. They do Devotion everyday and the students/visitors lead.
After Devotion, we met up with two other women who were there for a separate conference. Ester is from Holland and Jacinta is from Papua New Guinea. This was the first time that I’d met someone from Papua New Guinea and I’m still amazed that all those Black folks completely skipped South East Asia and Australia and are in full effect on the other side of Indonesia. It’s arguable that the Aborigines of Australia, the Maori of New Zealand, and some Indians are Black, but there’s a huge difference. Jacinta and I have the exact same hair type!!! Perhaps this is only exciting to me…hehehe.
Anyway, I had been told about he traffic and roads in Hyderabad but I guess I didn’t quite expect it to all be 100% true…but it was. WOW! We caught the bus and an auto rickshaw and putt-putt-honk-bump-honk-thump-honk-vroooom-hongk-sputter-honk-screeeeched into town. What an adventure! This picture does no justice when it comes to showing how much space we DIDN’T have in the auto rickshaw…let’s just say that they are designed for 2 small to medium people and they had stories about riding around town with 6 full sized folks...hehehehe. Our first stop was Charminar. From the top, we got a good panorama of the city. Then we walked around to do some shopping.
It’s amazing how cities in the same climate zone look so much alike. I’m sure the Arab influence in Senegal and India also contributes to how similar the cities look. There are also just as many beggars. I hadn’t exchanged money yet so I just browsed and tried to get a feel for the city. I felt bad telling people that I didn’t have any money…a foreigner, with a purse, in a shopping district, with no money…so I’m sure half of them didn’t believe me. This guy thought it was a good idea to follow us for 30 minutes... with Cate telling him off every 8.3 minutes or so! Every time we would stop to talk, he would stand there and nod as if he was part of the conversation. He finally left us alone after two separated sets of men yelled at him for following us. The area around Charminar is famous for its glass bracelets. Thank God that I didn’t have any money because I would have shopped up a storm, and then I would have been disappointed later because the bracelets break so easily!!! Two things amazed me while we were out…the brilliance of the colors this flower vendor was wearing/carrying and the fact that people actually eat these HOT deep fried peppers…brings jalapeño poppers to a whole new level…try eating an Indian chili popper!!! Looking at them, all I could think about were the words of my father…”HOT going in, HOT coming out!”

Hyderabad: Day 1

GOOD MORNING HYDERABAD!!!

As some of you may know, I am now 24! In celebration of this glorious occasion (hehehe), treated myself to a week in India. During my senior year at Spelman, I became friends with Cate who is from Atlanta but was on exchange from Scripps College; another women’s college located in Los Angeles. Long story short, she’s currently in Hyderabad, India as a Rotary Scholar and she’d invited everyone to visit her a whole year before she was there herself! So I took her up on her offer and we had a WONDERFUL TIME!!!

My flight left at 11:45 am and I reached Bangkok, Thailand after 3 pm. The Japanese woman sitting next to me on the plane kept kinda glancing over a few like she wanted to talk but wasn’t sure if I spoke Japanese. So, finally I took out my headphones and closed my book to see what would happen…and I was glad I did. She’s a university Japanese teacher who taught in the Ivory Coast for 2 years and she was on her way to meet a friend in Madagascar…RANDOM! We had a really good conversation about West African culture, food, and music. And we hung out at a restaurant in the airport in Thailand while I waited for my connecting flight and she waited for her friend from Tokyo to land in Thailand. In Hyderabad, I exited the airport and saw a tall white lady walking towards the street and I automatically knew it was Cate. Taj, one of the administrators at the center where Cate is studying, had driven her to the airport to pick me up. So amidst the “thank you”s and the “you look great”s we loaded up my bags and headed to the Center. Thelma, the caretaker, met us at the door and they showed me to my room. One of the buildings where the students stay is also a hostel, I got my own room. Then we walked around so that she could introduce me to whoever was still awake. The first two students I met were Malathee and Vaneetha; two petite/hilarious women from India. Next, I met Jyostna and Rebecca. Jyostna is also an Indian woman and Rebecca is a pastor from Tanzania. One of the first things that Jyostna said was that I could talk to Rebecca about her hair because she wanted to straighten it. What’s a Black woman to do in a far away land with no relaxers…hehehe. Cate showed me where to get hot water and the dining hall and we called it a night from there.