Hyderabad

Sorry for the lengthy gap in posts, I've been keeping pretty busy out here in India! I've been back from Hyderabad for

about a week, and its been a super busy week! But here's the story!

We took a 'sleeper train' there on Sunday night, and not gonna lie it was pretty nifty. It was air conditioned which was glorious, and we each had our own little bunk against the wall. It was so much fun!!! It was like the knight bus combined with the hogwarts express, and on the way there I was so excited about the train that I took forever to fall asleep. Our hotel was good; very clean, air conditioned, not a whole lot of decorations or foofiness, but definitely clean and safe. We spent our days going around the city, led by one of our group's two boys (John). He actually spent six months of his mission in Hyderabad, so he knew the city really well and knew a lot of people living there. The whole city is built around this man-made lake that was created in the 1700 hundreds, and in the middle of the lake is a giant rock with a giant statue of . . . you guessed it, Buddha! We went to a park right at the edge of the lake and part of our group went out on boats and got to get off at the rock the statue is on and walk around for a while, but my stomache was feeling a little unsettled and I didn't think a boat ride would help much. Later that day we went to another Hindu temple, but this one was way cooler than any of the other ones we've been to. It was a really big temple with lots of different levels and stair cases, and when you went ot the very top you could see the whole city spread out around you as far as the eye could see. I was really upset that we weren't allowed to bring cameras into the complex, but when the temple guards carry ak-47s you tend to do what they tell you to do. The whole temple complex was built of pure white marble, and it was amazingly clean! Usually the temples are just as dirty as the rest of the town, but this place was sparkling clean. Granted, we did have to take our shoes off before we could go inside. And on our way from the park to the temple we walked past this huge castle and it turned out to be a Best Western Hotel! On the other days we did a whole lot of shopping and eating (the food there was SO GOOD!!!), and went to a few museums. But the coolest thing we did was to go to the Old City District, to visit Charminar (look it up on wikipedia, its pretty cool). It was really cool because we got to go there on the last day of Ramadan, when all of the Muslim people were celebrating and gathering with their friends and family to celebrate. We went back again a few days later. The streets were packed with Muslim men, and most of the women were dressed in head to toe black burkas. Some of them even had black veils on so you couldn't even see their eyes like you normally can. The city was built centuries ago by Muslims who had conquered the Hindu Indians at that time, and it is considered the Islamic center of India.

Anyways! I bought four fabulous pairs of shoes, so I'm fantastically happy! I also bought a whole bunch of perfume, becasue in Hyderabad they make it in a special way so its unique throughout the world. Because Muslims aren't allowed to drink alcohol, some of them take it further and say that no alcohol should even touch their bodies, so some Muslim men started making oil-based perfume instead of alcohol-based perfume, and he set up shop in Hyderabad and people there have been copying him ever since! The don't really sell perfume the way we think of it either. They sell individual scents, like I bought Jasmine, Sandalwood, Amber, and this wildflower stuff, but they are all in their individual bottle. I got a couple others but I can't remember what their English names are. I just liked the way they smelled! ALSO! I bought a pearl necklace. Like a real string of pearls that came with a certificate of authenticity, ivory/cream colored, round pearls. Its just a single strand, very simple, very elegant and classy, they're not too big and they're not colored funny and they're glorious!! I feel like a grown-up lady now, and it makes me very happy. Thats the update for now! I'll post pictures next time, probably later today.