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Sunday, March 17: Sightseeing

Thanks to the alignment of time zones, I was able to reach my parents this morning as they were sitting down for dinner Saturday night and Donald as he was getting ready for bed. With consistent hotel WiFi, I've been able to keep up with e-mail and keep down the work awaiting me when I return.

Today was another day devoted to tourism. After breakfast, our guide from yesterday joined us, and we boarded the bus to Golconda Fort. The sprawling ruins date from the 12th century and served as a citadel for a Persian ruler in the 16th century. Situated on a hill and surrounded by two rings of walls, the fort protected some 2,000 members of the royal family and retinue. It was not hard to imagine the stone walls covered with colorful stucco and the vaulted ceilings covered with mosaic.

Our tour guide points out a feature of the fort.
The tour lasted about an hour and a half and took us up to the highest point for a view of Hyderabad. In addition to the vestiges of a mosque that served the original Muslim inhabitants, a Hindu temple greeted us at the top. Hindus worship some 30 million gods. It's been difficult for me to grasp the religion other than admiring the colorful shrines and floral offerings that poke out of the streetscape. The heat felt like the height of summer to me. The locals, however, wear long pants and long sleeves, and many women wear body covering, black burqas.

View from the top of the fort


Breakfast ended just three hours prior when we arrived at Paradise Restaurant for lunch. I had heard back in Mumbai that this region of India is known for its biryani, a dish of fragrant rice and meat. Paradise is a local chain that specializes in biryani. With two employees from the Hyderabad office of the USIEF to guide us, we ordered several dishes and somehow found our appetites to devour them. The portion sizes defeated us. Without a microwave or a free meal between here and Delhi, it didn't make sense to ask for takeaway bags.

Two fellow Fulbrighters getting ready to order
The waiters serve from a large platter onto our plates.

The last stop was in a neighborhood called Cyberabad in honor of the high-tech industry based there. We drove past India's only Ikea store, a forest of pillars under construction to support an extension of the Metro, and an Audi dealership to reach Shilparamam. The itinerary called for two hours at this market, an artificial crafts village. Most of the group members balked at devoting that much time to shopping, but when they saw the tidy rows of shaded stalls, they stopped complaining. We ended up spending over an hour winding past vendors of silks, jewelry, paintings, and woodwork.
The entrance to the handicrafts bazaar
I refrained from purchasing anything after I saw a "made in China" label on some of the merchandise. My colleagues, on the other hand, bargained with the vendors and filled bags with gifts. We all felt depleted from so much time in the sun and headed back to the hotel around 4 pm. To my surprise, a few of the Fulbrighters planned to walk to the mall next to our hotel to continue shopping. I opted to take a nap and prepare for tonight's dinner.

The Consul General (middle) addressed the group.
Somehow everyone in our group received the message to dress nattily for dinner. Many of the women and one man went to Fab India, a kind of local Gap, to buy colorful dresses and a Nehru jacket. I and the other men wore a jacket and tie. The Consul General of the U.S. in Hyderabad gave her welcome and then sat at all the tables to get to know us. She shared how one in four people in Hyderabad count a family tie to the U.S. and that for many of them the connection came through higher education. We lingered over dinner almost as if it were Labor Day, the last holiday before the start of school. Tomorrow we return to our routine and visit two more campuses.

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