First Night Out!

Well, after a somewhat overwhelming and intense weekend Hyderbad is starting to have the beginnings of that good ole' home feeling.

Today was my first day at work, and I had the chance to meet my roommates who had just finished vacationing for the weekend in Chennai. Two pretty cool cats, Scott and Greg, who definitely helped me feel at home half way around the world.

Made it into work which is only about a 3.5 minute walk from my apartment, including the 5 flights of stairs (I'm only on the third floor, but the first is -2). Everybody I that I work with is super nice and very welcoming , but I do feel a little bad that I don't remember about half of their names. I'll get them all eventually, just give me some time.

After work, I had a really great evening. Went out with my flatmates and a few other expats to a restuarant called Serengeti. My first dinner out! Aren't you excited?!

Getting there was an adventure as always. I don't think I can describe to you how insane the traffic here is. It is something you have to experience to believe. It really is like organized chaos. People going every which way, honking, and on everything from bikes to cars to autorickshaws to massive dump trucks. Somehow everything just works fine. I really think it has something to do with the timing of the honk. I think that is the key.

Anyway, Greg and Scott had ventured out to get a haircut before dinner so I met up with a few other expats (Suzie, Anna, Alexa and Liz) all of whom have much more India experience than I. We took one of the Google taxis to Serengeti where we had a sumptuous dinner of lobster, prawns and chicken. Ohh yes... and of course naan bread. I love naan bread. Soooo good.

Now, back at home, it's time for bed.

I made it!

This is going to be a short email, because my computer is about to die and I am soooo tired. I won't go into details, but suffice to say there were at least 2 children screaming for 19 of the 22 hours of flying. Thank god the Google doctor prescribed me some Ambien.

My layover in Singapore was pretty cool, but I was kind of disappointed with the tour I took. I took the free Singapore airlines tour, and although we did get to see a decent amount of the city, it was mostly from a bus or a boat so I didn't get to walk around at all. Plus, since our tour was a guided tour put on by the airport, we never officially entered the city and I never got a stamp on my passport. :(

However, if I had wandered off on my own, I would have been soaked by a tropical storm, so I guess I can't complain.

Getting off at the airport in Hyderabad was pretty crazy and I can definitely say that I haven't been to any place remotely like this. Even in the most rundown parts of Europe that I visited, nothing was as run down as this.

The airport looked like it was built in the 1940's and there hadn't been any changes made to it since, and when I walked outside there were like 500 people just crowding the exit waiting for new arrivals. Luckily my driver was there right at the front and I didn't have any problems.



Even after midnight there was still a lot of traffic, and traffic here is crazy. No rules, but nobody seems to crash into each other. If you want to get an idea of what it is like, go to youtube.com and search for 'India traffic' and take a look at the first video that pops up. I swear, it is just like that.

The driver took me to my place which is actually pretty nice. I share a flat with two other guys who are not here at the moment (I think they are in Nepal), but I have my own room with my own bathroom. We have a downstairs and an upstairs living room, a balcony, kitchen and marble flooring. Pretty cool, except it kinda smells like mothballs.

Well, I must head off to bed. Tomorrow, when I am recovering from my jet lag, I will upload the pics I have taken so far, so everybody can check them out. Since I will be adding them as I take them, I won't be filtering or labeling them, and it is highly likely that there will be a bunch of sub-par photos that you will have no idea what they are. However, I'll send out the link so you can feel free to take a look if you like.

Time to catch some zzzzz's on my rock hard slab of a bed.