Hyderabad

I'm in Hyderabad, India at Central University of Hyderabad. The campus is huge and wooded. It reminds me of Washington. It is monsoon season, so everything is wet and there are huge puddles/ponds of water everywhere. It is a lot cooler here than in Delhi (thank god!). We have our first day of "shopping" for classes today. I'm going to a class called "Interrogating Dalit Religious Beliefs and Practices." It's listed as an English class, but there is no Religious Studies department, so the religion classes are spread throughout different departments. "Dalit" is another name for the "untouchable" caste. I think it is the preferred, politically-correct word. I'm staying at the Study India Program Guest House temporarily, before I move into a room in one of the women's dorms. Most people in the program are staying in the Guest House, but there isn't enough room for everyone. The women's dorms are across the street, though, so it should be okay. I'm hoping to be able to rent a bike for the semester (my favorite mode of transport!). We went to the campus hangout spot last night and one of the guys tried this concoction called "pon." It consists of several forms of betel nut (a stimulant that tribes in Papua New Guinea chew--thank you Cultural Anthropology class)--shredded betel nut, fried betel nut, powdered betel nut. It also contains lime (the mineral, not the fruit), sugar, cardamom, clove, lots of anise seeds (they have some other name I can't remember). Sometimes they add tobacco to the mix. Then it is all wrapped up in a betel leaf and you chew the whole thing. I didn't try it and I don't think I will! I think that's enough for today. More tomorrow.