After arriving back at the resort, many of us decided to go to Koti. Koti is a large area of Hyderabad where there are many outdoor shops, and it's also about 30 minutes of a bus ride away through traffic. Walking to the bus, I remember a group of boys maybe of ages 13-16 run up to me and say right away *Hah-lo! How arre youh?* I'll always be admiring of how friendly and outgoing some of these people are. After I responded some of them asked if I was married, a common question to ask someone my age. After I said no, they smiled and said *oh, so youh arre batch-el-or!* I walked away laughing.

On these bus rides, I always find a way to meet someone, whether by effort or just by answering questions people ask me. The back of the bus is quite conducive to that, the seats are benches around the 3 sides of the back with a space in the middle for standing room; you can easily face others for conversation, or at least acknowledge the stares. The buses have no doors; that would be too cumbersome, as people always are jumping in and out of them. I remember seeing a conductor yelling at a kid through the window to pay as he stood on the bottom step but rested his body on the outside of the bus. Half the time the bus is moving when people are getting on and off. I think while boarding this bus I had to jump on, grad hold of a bar as tight as I could, and push my way in the crowd of the bus to avoid losing the group which was already on.

Walking through Koti was like nothing I had ever seen. Shops at all angles and filled to the brim with goods lines the streets, indescribably packed with carts and people. As my group of 9 walked through the street, though, everyone nearby would turn to face us and part as we walked through. Half of them would jump on the opportunity and run up to us to start selling. There was one child with a box full of white...ball things that continued to follow Ben practically the whole time we were there. We could never figure out what those things were, maybe candy or possibly moth balls.

On the way back, Ben and I got off the bus too early again, having to walk a while to catch up to the rest. It was quite difficult to coordinate with the girls at the front of the bus when exactly to get off. I got some Maaza mango juice at a road stand, and excitedly almost bought packets of what I thought were shampoo (but turned out to be tobacco). That evening I skipped dinner (my average meals per day for the past week has averaged at about 1.5), but was just fine chatting with everyone else while they ate; we ended up playing games and such around the table late into the night.

The next morning Dr. Rao gave a seminar. We discussed different things that individually had brought us to India, and talked a great deal about being a "global citizen," who's home is everywhere and who is acquainted with all sorts of cultures. It is a rosy concept which many aspire to become; we read an essay though that complicated the matter. The author was a study abroad student who was traveling around India, Tibet, and Nepal. She ended up being very disappointed that her identity remained the same to everyone else, whether or not she had changed inside as a result of the experience. To everyone she met, she was different, and this precluded her integration into the cultures in which she stayed that she so deeply desired. This really struck me because I, like her, was hoping to become as "Indian" as possible. Dr. Rao put it well: *You can choose to lose yourself by being a vacuum and filling yourself in order to become the other, or you can retain yourself and understand the other.* There are inevitable differences between each of each of us and those of this culture, but those differences don't have to be barriers. Such differences make us unique and contribute to the color of interpersonal interaction, becoming another and painting over all of that wouldn't make me unique but someone else. These conclusions made me doubly excited to be here on an emotional level, realizing all the opportunities I was going to have, and had had so far, to meet so many kinds of people. By the end of the session, I could barely contain myself.

That afternoon we toured Ligampally, an area by the school and where we'll probably end up spending a lot of time shopping and such if we choose to during the semester. In one of the stores I went into, several saried women followed me around staring at me while I wasn't looking. As soon as I'd glance at them, they'd smile and turn away.

After returning to the resort, I and a few others went rock climbing and ended up getting great views of the resort and gated community grounds, much of Hyderabad, and even the Golconda Fort in the distance. We all cooled off in the pool before dinner.

At dinner, somehow very heady discussions got started. I remember Amanda beginning a lecture on stopping light by passing it through super-cooled fused atoms and creating black holes by crashing particles into one another. We ended up talking about the differences between science and math and other academic fields. This led to a discussion/debate on empiricism that lasted at least 3 hours. There were arguments on the existence of subjectivity and how the motivation behind science and limited manners of observation clouded pure objectivity. We ended up much of the time in semantic argument, but I suppose that was what it was all about, how we define such things. We ended up distinguishing between the Object, the object, and even later on an object with a middle-case "o". It's difficult to explain, I'm not even sure if I could re-explain everything, but interested parties can inquire further for more information.

Into the early morning, Tori, Julia, and I talked about our families, pasts, hopes for future lives, and differences between India and the States. One of the most interesting phenomena that I've picked up on so far is the difference in how the poor are regarded. What I'm concluding is very subjective (ha) and generalized, but I see the homeless/those in poverty who are in the states very much looked down upon. Questions arise like How do we eradicate homelessness? There are countless jokes about the poor and homeless. I see them being regarded as a burden, as low-lives who haven't made it for themselves. In the States, things are very linear, there is a path of accomplishment, and how far you travel on that path is supposed to be directly proportional to how hard you work (I'm not going to get into the fallacies of the American Dream though here). The media portrays the wealthy, healthy, and beautiful as objects of aspiration, goals to reach if we can just put our minds to it. We never seem to be good enough. There is always something to do, something to accomplish/achieve/meet/be better at. Those without money who live without basic necessities are those who haven't been able to travel down such a path, and being all the farther away from the ideal makes them all the more undesirable. How I feel poverty and such is observed here us that such living conditions are simply the way they are. People exist in disparate styles of living, side by side. This is the way it is, and whether or not it is the way it *should* be, it works and fits for everyone. Those who perform meager work (slaughter houses/funeral pyre construction) may or may not see it not as undesirable, but probably do see it as necessary for society. There is no unreachable to achieve, there is only your life to live (granted part of living such a life is dominating the caste below you). It is what it is, not it is what it will be, like in the States, always feeling the urgency of meeting an objective that is just one step away. Tori felt sorrow when she saw no one acknowledging an old woman cleaning out garbage in the airport. I would too if I saw that in the States, but I feel different here somehow. Things like that are seen all around here; there is no need to acknowledge it any special way because it is just the way things are. Such a woman would be acknowledged in the States; she'd be scorned or observed with pity, a side effect of the system. People would feel bad that she hasn't been able to accomplish the necessities, whereas those same people are embedded within a system that precludes their accomplishment of their respective necessities, as there is always always always at least one more step to reach happiness. Poverty and such here seems less a side effect but a part of the system, a part of the whole and not so much an exception to the rule. Such observations of mine are only preliminary and may be totally wrong, but it is how I feel at present. I'd like to investigate further how each caste regards the others or themselves. Aspiration seems to be such an integral part of life in the States, does it play such a role here as well? Also, it would be interesting to investigate how blame is placed; it may be prevalently seen that present misfortunes are the result of a cause in a past life and will be resolved in the future. Therefore, to what extent are people blamed for their present living conditions, and to what degree is an individual expected to have agency over changing those conditions?

The next day I was up at 7 for this police deal. By the way, the day I went to Koti, 11 people had been registered, a process that required nearly 7 hours. By 9 am we were sitting in the office which felt like waiting for a driver's license renewal. It was slightly darker and more hot though; the power went out often and randomly, sometimes for hours. It was exciting when the fans and lights came back on though. Prishanthi says that the recent lack of rain is causing these power outages; the dams are drying and without water replenishment they can't continue to supply energy demands (you'd think though that monsoon rain would contribute to these power outages). I remember waiting, reading, being called up to sign something, waiting, reading, photographed, waiting, signing, waiting, irises photographed, called up, told to wait etc. I'm not exactly sure how much of the waiting is what the police intend for or rather just maybe an attribution of disorganization and unpredictability that I'm not used to.

I also remember speaking to Prishanthi about the role of women in India. Everyone's heard of the "way" they're treated, being maybe dominated by the man (occupying the home for a job) or more restricted, sometimes being fully covered in public. Such mannerisms are in part true, but there is another facet to the situation that I was not aware of: women are also treated with utmost respect. Bus seating arrangements are in fact the result of such respect: The front is indeed more desirable, and is reserved indeed reserved for the women. Women are also given special queue lines to shorten the time they need to wait and priority coaches sometimes for comfort. I remember seeing such a queue line for security at Mumbai airport. What I thought to be a discriminatory action (alluding to black/white segregation about which I was accustomed to learning) was a respectful one to help the female, not exclude her. Here seems to be another contradiction to States' linearity; a spectrum of good-bad treatment gives way to an entirely different situation. That's what I see more and more about India; it may not be better, it may not be worse, but it sure is different.

We returned to the resort at about 2:30 (the 5 or so hour registration time was a relief compared to the 6-7 hours it took the others). After getting our cell phones (making local calls at 1 rs.(2 cents)/minute and calls to the states at 7.5 rs.(20 cents)/minute), several of us decided to venture to Ligampally again. I searched some shirts (although didn't buy any because they seemed too short on me) and scarves; I also ended up purchasing pants at a tailor. I've always wanted to have clothes made exactly for me...just to see if it turned out right. I walked up to the tailor and asked about the process. *One month.* "It takes a month to make the pants?" *Yes, one month* "Ok, so you measure me and I come back in a month to pick up the pants?" [2 second pause] *Yes, yes, one week* "Wait, just one week?" *Yes, a week for pant.* "Ok, well how much are they?" *mm, this clott...790* "790 rs. for a pair?" *Yes* "Well, what's your least expensive cloth...less rupees?* "Oh, yes, this other clott* "How much?" *650 rs.* "This is the least expensive cloth?" *Yes, yes* "Hmm...ok, what about this cloth then?" *Yes, ok, this clott* "Yeah, how much does this one cost?" *...590 rs.* "For this cloth?" *Yes, that clott.* After some more conversation and measuring, I think that I'm supposed to go back on the 23rd with the receipt to claim them. I hope I can find that shop again.

Ligampally was just a buzz and ever-stimulating to the senses. Odors that would knock you over drifted from a small lake/trash dump we needed to walk over. Delicious food stands made you wish you had a stomach for it. An auto would zoom in front of you, you'd turn to the side to see a store that looks intriguing; a motorcycle nearly hits you as it grazes past honking; whipping your head around to get your bearings, a saried woman walks gracefully by, the bright colors of her garments entrancing you. That day I also got so many stares. It was as if whole sections of the city would turn to look as I walked past...Ben got many too, but I can't be certain if any in the group get as many as I do. Some would laugh, some would smile, I never quite knew how to react. It felt as if you were on stage. You knew dozens and dozens were watching your every move, but you need to keep on acting like normal, normal being the performance of walking down the street. Sometimes I couldn't help myself and I'd let out smiles too, sometimes uncontrollably laughing out loud; either I found the situation funny or else maybe I just had absolutely no idea how to react.

The next day we were tourists. We visited the Chowmohall palace, streets of the old city, tombs of old rulers, and the Golconda fort. We encountered lots of mosquitoes, and fortunately Prishanthi had reminded me to bring some repellent. "Good morning Prishanti" *Matt, you arre to have mosquito crream today* "Oh, ok--" *Please go get it* "Oh, well I have some repellent, is that what you mean?" *No, no, the crream to deter the mosquitoes, please make shorre youh brring some, therre will be mosquitoes today* "Ok, well I have some of this spray in my bag" *Oh, mosquito spray, ok, yes, please go to get it* "I have it here in my bag" *oh, wit youh?* "yes" *...oh, yes, yes ok.*

Although I couldn't quite understand our guide, I was able to piece together some history.
India existed of separate sultanates, and was being ruled by middle eastern powers like Turkey for some time. During that time European powers like the Portuguese and Danish were colonizing. About 1500, the Moguls started their way across India. By 1750, the British had complete influence over India but through a Mogul emperor; however, by 1850 the British declared India under the rule of the queen and for the first time India was united. The palace we first visited was built for a dynasty of the Nazim Mogul rule in the Andrah Pradesh area. During and before this time, many tombs had been built for the rulers (construction of a tomb was actually the first priority of a newly appointed ruler, as he never quite knew when he would be overthrown or killed). These tombs we visited later, each one having the middle-eastern influenced pointed dome on top.

For lunch we went to a restaurant that served either a South or North Indian platter. I opted for the South Indian one, excited for the spiciness that I was promised. Kavitha sat across from me, and we discussed marriage among other things. She claims that about 30% of marriages are not arranged and that the internet is a growing method of meeting a future spouse. When the food arrived, she told me all about South Indian cuisine and also how to eat with my hands. Most of the other students I had seen doing this, but I knew it would be very different for me when I was able to muster up enough courage (I love utensils, especially forks which seem to be hard to come by). Anyway, I sure did get my hands dirty! Basically what you do with South Indian food is pour selected amounts and combinations of dishes (vegetables, lentils, curries, etc.) over rice and mix it with your right hand. You kind of arrange it into mouthful-balls; with North Indian food you use naan and other breads to kindof scoop the food. It was quite an experience and I imagine I'll be trying to get good at it, or rather just more accustomed to it. Not only does this method of food consumption prelude overeating (you're not just shoveling it in, but consuming bit by bit), but also it permits formulating the perfect mouthful with just the right combinations of flavor.

That evening we toured around the Golconda fort, the initial establishment of Hyderabad that was created in 1518 and that functioned as the seat of power for many rulers. From all of the walking I did that day (and sweating as well), it was no problem at all to collapse into bed as soon as I could that night.