Five Senses

If I remember right, I tried to do this in Prague when we first got there, and I don't think I ever finished. Now you will get the full sensory experience (from Krissy's point of view, of course) with pictures as I get them. I'd like to add sounds too, but I'm not sure I have the technology to figure that out yet.

First: Toucing/Feeling (I'm really not sure what to name this sense). What I feel all the time is hot. Thankfully, not sticky hot, but it is much warmer than I had anticipated. Fortunately, I checked the weather before we left LA and decided not to bring my heavy fleece. I have not yet regretted that decision. Women here wear clothes that cover their legs, so the shorts and short-ish skirts I brought are fine for campus, but I don't wear them off campus. I have a few long things, but I'll probably be getting some new stylish Indian clothes too. Anyway, it's been about 85 F (30 C) and overnight it's about 60 F (16 C). It's nice, but I don't want to overheat yet...it's only going to get hotter. At least we'll be gone before the sticky season starts.

Second: Sound. Three noises come to mind. One is the sound of airplanes. I guess we're one of the landing paths for the airport. Planes fly overhead frequently (4-10 per hour, night and day) and they drop their landing gear on top of our building. I wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not. Two, I think of horns. Beep, beep. Every vehicle on the road has a horn. The last auto-rickshaw we were in had one that had a SONY label on it, but I'm pretty sure it was a fake. I don't think SONY makes rubber horns for rickshaws here...They make distinctive noises so there is quite a symphony to listen to when you're out in the roads. Horns can mean so many things, like "beep, you're in my way", "beep, I'm here but I want to be where you are" and "beep, the vehicle in front says on its rear bumper to please sound horn". Okay, whatever. It's so noisy!

Third: Sight. The campus is a beautiful sight. It's well designed and beautifully landscaped. One thing I've noticed is there are a ton of butterflies. They're all so pretty and different. I won't mention the other types of bugs we've seen around (thankfully there are not too many of those pests). Also, Hyderabad is full of boulders. Everywhere you look, there are gigantic rock formations. Many of them are being blasted out of the way for all the new construction going on; I learned today there is a society for rock preservation. But the formations that remain are a sight to see!

Fourth: Taste. Definitely my favorite. Who knew Indian food was so good? Really, I have a very limited knowledge of Indian food...only what we've had in restauants at home. Now I know there is so much variety. It's all using the same basic ingredients (potatoes, chickpeas, tomatoes are the most common ingredients) with some type of sauce, served with rice and bread. The rice varies from meal to meal though, sometimes flavored with lemon, or saffron, or other unknown flavors and the bread is usually some sort of flat bread cooked in some sort of oil. It's delicious! We've had naan only once (it seems to be the only type not cooked in oil so far). There is usually some sort of sweet dessert, although fruit is the most common. For a few days now, we've had trays of watermelon, pomegranate, and grapes offered. Today for lunch they took the fruits and layered them with pudding and cake (a trifle, how delicious!) I actually haven't bought any food yet for the apartment. It's so cheap and convenient to eat at the dining hall, for now I see no need to worry about cooking. Although I'm sure I'm going to gain weight, everything is heavy but so delicious.

Fifth: Smell. Both Geo and I have been congested for nearly a month. So our sense of smell is definitely a bit off. Which I actually think is a good thing. The campus is very clean and doesn't smell at all. But for some reason, our sheets have a strange odor...not bad, but strange. I think I'm getting used to it. Maybe it's the smell of the detergent. No worries, it doesn't keep me from sleeping! The most powerful smell is noticed around dawn and dusk when there are fires burning off the campus. Depending on the direction of the breeze, you can smell that from time to time. And of course, there is incense. Not so much on campus, but the guy in the convenience store on campus burns it and they sell boxes of it there too. It gives me a sore throat, so we'll stick to candles if we need to cover up any unpleasant scents.

Sorry this got so long, but I hope you get a good "sense" about what we're doing here at ISB. If I notice any changes in my sensory evalution, I'll update this post.