From the Guest House

As I type this it is 00.15am and a group of us volunteers are sat around a large table in the hall of a Guest House somewhere in Hyderabad. It's only the end of my second day here so I feel it would be wrong of me to try and tell you what India is really like- I've only seen two airports and the view from the bus as we drove through Hyderabad. 

I can, however, say that the flights both went smoothly. In fact the flight from London to Mumbai was the fanciest I've ever been on. It was massive (by Elena standards) with three rows of seats, each with TV screens in back of the seats and loads of movies and music to pick from. As the flight was at night we all huddled up under our blankets and watched movies before dozing off. This plane being the most fancy I have experienced made for a rather large contrast with my first sight out of it's window; slums. Doing Geography A Level these slums were things that seemed to be mentioned in every other lesson but there really is something very different between seeing pictures of them on an interactive whiteboard and seeing them sprawl along the side of the runway. No doubt there is an even bigger difference between that and navigating them from the ground. 

Slums by Mumbai airport

After a fairly painless trip across Mumbai airport to the right terminal we boarded a far less impressive plane to Hyderabad. Here we were met by Abhilash who bought us all Coca Cola as we stood around recovering from the wave of heat that had hit us and waiting for the bus to take us here. 

That bus ride was our first real (if restricted) taste of India. The first thing that struck me was how many people there were and how so many people seemed to just be... around. What I mean by that is that, as well as cars, autos, buses and motorbikes on the road there were also people wondering around. There were men in beige uniforms stood chatting under bridges, crossing the road and walking along the sides of the road- even in seemingly empty areas between the airport and city. 

White girls on the local bus also seemed to be a novelty to everyone who noticed us. Within seconds of leaving the airport we had men in motorbikes driving along side us using no hands to impress us. Getting further into the city there were more and more double takes and many waves. It's strange to think that while we were being amazed by families of 5 quashed onto mopeds they were equally in awe of us. 

At exactly 4.20pm the heavens opened, the roads quickly turned to rivers and it became impossible to get a clear view out of the window. It was heavy enough to bang on the roof of the car and, unfortunately, leak through the window and onto my seat. By 4.45 it had stopped and within ten minutes the roads that were rivers moments ago were back to being bone dry and even looked dusty again. 

The View from the Bus 

The Guest House is very comfortable, each of us pairs are in our own little rooms with on-suites as well as a bit of a view of the city skyline from a balcony down the side of building. 

Here we met Bharavi and, after having an evening of rest last night, we have been having a day of very specific orientation. We learned a little more about our projects and were each told how fantastic they all were. 

Lottie enjoying the Bed and an Apple 

Today was our first day with curry for breakfast- it consisted of something that looked and tasted very much like a savoury doughnut, idly and some curry and chutney (that didn't taste like any chutney I'd ever had before) which were both inside a little plastic sheet that was folded up and tied in a knot at the top. I only mention this because I had some strange idea that meals would come in bigger portions but also mixed together freely in a tub, kind of like how it would in and English Indian takeaway. Lunch was also curry cooked by Bharavi's wife- potato curry, dosa, more chutney (that tasted like a very spicy hummus) and some large pancake full of onion and other things (I didn't eat this one as I was too full by that point). 

Both evenings here, however, Abhilash has bought us pizzas for dinner. This has been in aid of fending off 'icky stomachs' before we get to our projects, however, the pizzas here aren't like the sort I would normally have at home. They are far spicier as well as small and had a thick, fluffy base. The plain chicken one as far from 'plain' as the meat was covered in spices- it was more like eating a cheesy curry on bread. 

Plain Chicken Pizza

Tomorrow we head to Devnar for the first time- a car is going to pick us up around midday and drive us for half an hour across the city to the school. I'm a little apprehensive about it but mainly excited having had a day of being told how wonderful the children were. I have a few butterflies, but they are good butterflies. 

Elena x