Erika in India: Archive

Phoonk II

I went to go see Phoonk II, a Hindi horror movie. I hadn’t seen Phoonk I, and I hadn’t seen a trailer about it or even knew what it was about. I get scared easily in movies so I don’t watch scary movies but I felt like I had to see a Hindi horror movie, at least just once. I enjoy the movie theaters in India. There are a few differences though. You have to buy...

Jun 4th

Jaipur

I’ve always wanted to go to Jaipur, even before I knew I was going to India. Also known as the “Pink City”, Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan. It’s well known for its shopping and as a good place to consult astrologers. Luckily I got to do both! Jaipur was the last place we were going to visit, and by that time, I was pretty exhausted. We had difficulty finding a hostel...

May 29th

2 notes

Jaisalmer

After visiting Agra we headed back to New Delhi for one day. We went to well known Khan Market. We took it easy since we were preparing for our next trip. Later that day we took an auto rickshaw to the train station. The problem was that there are three train station in Delhi and we couldn’t figure out which one we were supposed to go to, and non of the locals seem to know either. We had...

May 24th

Apr 19th

5 tags

Delhi

We arrived in New Delhi around noon on Thursday. We were tired from our long train ride and I had very little sleep during those 22 hours. We weren’t sure of where we were when we arrived. From a friend, we heard about a small area where backpackers go to called Pahar Ganj. We didn’t have reservations anywhere so we hopped into an auto rickshaw and headed to Pahar Ganj. The photo is...

Apr 12th

10 Day Trip

I spent the last few days backpacking through northern India. I went along with two classmates, Caroline and Abby. It was an interesting trip and it had its up and downs. So much happened so I can’t possibly fit it into one post. I’ll break up the trip into pieces and I’ll post a new part of the trip over the next few days. The Train Ride We rushed out of kuchipudi dance...

Mar 29th

kikuidee asked: take/post more fotos please. I get inspired by seeing them sometimes.

Mar 29th

Weekend at Rashmi's

This past weekend I was invited to stay with my friend Rashmi’s house with her family. She is in my political theory class and has already taught me a lot about Indian culture and politics. This weekend she took me to several historical sites around Hyderabad and I had an intensive history lesson of Hyderabad. I went to so many cool places in one weekend, I felt like I went on a trip, but I...

Mar 15th

1 note

3 tags

Hampi

I took my first train down to the state of Karnataka to visit Hampi. It was the capital of Vijayanagara which was a huge empire of the Telugu princes in southern India. This empire flourished from 1300’s to 1500’s and was a major trading place. It was destroyed and plundered by the northern Sultans and it was left in ruins. Most of the temples were destroyed except for a few. The main...

Mar 6th

Happy Holi!

Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, is a holiday celebrated at the last full moon at the end of Winter. Usually people throw colored powder and water at each other and if you are unlucky, you might also get an egg or tomato thrown in too. I had my first Holi celebration today and it was a ton of fun! I looked like a monster by the time I was finished playing but it was worth it. I had...

Mar 1st

4 notes

Feb 19th

Feb 11th

Kuchipudi Dance

I’ve never taken a dance course nor have been interested in learning dance technique. Although I’m not too coordinated and I don’t remember steps easily, that didn’t stop me from signing up for a Kuchipudi dance class. Kuchipudi dance originates in the state of Andhra Pradesh and it is a classical dance form. The hand and facial gestures all carry meaning. It’s a...

Feb 4th

Beginning of February

Since January is over, I thought I would post a few random pics that I have taken throughout the month. I’m sad that it went by so quickly because it means my time here will also go by quickly. At least I’m enjoying it. I took this one day on my way to class. It’s a long walk. I was walking near my dorm and I saw this girl wave at us, so I clicked a picture. The designs...

Feb 1st

Palolem Beach

When I was planning my trip to India, I never thought that I was going to go to the beach. I know India has beaches, but I wasn’t planning on visiting one. I usually don’t like to go, but I wanted to go outside of Hyderabad and see a different region. A few other students and I decided to go to Palolem, which seems to be the happening spot for traveling Europeans. The people were nice,...

Jan 26th

Telangana

Things are heating up here with an increase of violence in Hyderabad from the Telangana supporters. If you have read my previous post “Civil Unrest”, you already know that there is a division between the people in favor of the formation of the state Telangana and the people in favor for a united Andhra Pradesh. A two day bandh was called starting yesterday so the city is shut down and...

Jan 21st

Watch

Pandu is giving the flute player rice for his cow. It’s supposed to bring good luck.

Jan 18th

Sankranti

January 14 was the festival of Sankranti. It marks the beginning of the harvest and it is usually celebrated with spending time with family, a feast, and lots of kite flying. I spent the long weekend celebrating it with my friend Meghana and her family. On Thursday morning when I woke up I heard drumming and a flute playing a tune. At first I thought I was dreaming but then I realized that...

Jan 18th

Jan 12th

Jan 10th

1 note

Sambar

I had my first embarrassing moment in class today. The topic of my political theory class was about how social constructs shape our decisions and actions. A girl asked a question so the professor made an example. He told her that if she came to my country (he pointed at me), she might be offered beef. She would find it wrong and offensive to eat it but in the US it’s alright. Then he said...

Jan 8th

Food

I heard South Indian food was spicy, luckily I was prepared. Two of my roommates in the US love spicy food and they cook for me often so I am more accustomed to it. Several students in the program have difficulty eating the food and usually drink loads of water with their meals. None of the meals have been too spicy, to the point which you can’t even taste the food. Most of what I eat is...

Jan 7th

First day of 2010

What a way to begin a new year. I was really sad that I couldn’t talk to my family right when the clock stroked midnight. Luckily I did lots of things to occupy my mind. I went to a Hindu temple for the first time, I road on an auto rickshaw and a moped for the first time, I also had my first home cooked meal in India today. I enjoyed today so much, I hope that today will be an indicator of...

Jan 4th

Welcome to the Tagore International House

I spent the first two days in India stuck at the Tagore International House. I couldn’t leave for two reasons, first there is civil unrest in the city and a bandh (a complete halt of public transportation, shops, and activities) was called, and secondly I had no transportation and no where to go. The Tagore International House is my dorm, and it’s not like any other dorm I’ve...

Dec 31st

Arrival

Plane rides are always uncomfortable, especially ones that are 16 hours long. They feed you too much and there is no room to really move around. I stopped in Dubai to change planes and I ended up missing my plane to Hyderabad. We were about an hour and a half late so it turns out that most of the people missed their flight to India. So I ended up meeting some really nice people and chilling for a...

Dec 28th

3 notes

Dec 26th

Civil unrest in Hyderabad

I’m not too familiar with Indian politics but I have tried to follow what is going on in Hyderabad right now. In a quick summary, Hyderabad is the capital of Andhra Pradesh but several political groups (headed by the political party TRS) want a separation of the state. They propose the creation of the state Telangana which is currently a region in Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad is located...

Dec 24th

Funding my trip

In a few days I will be leaving the comfort of my routine life to study for a few months at the University of Hyderabad. I don’t have family or many acquaintances there and I can’t speak the language, but why would that stop me from going? I may only have a few opportunities to travel in my life, so I wanted to travel somewhere outside my comfort zone. That meant going to a country...

Dec 7th