Sunday, August 22, 2010

I have arrived!

I arrived in India on August 15th, which would have been exciting as it is Independence day but I arrived at night so I missed all the excitement. All the Fulbrighters that could make it were housed at the Park hotel in Delhi. We were then put through a very long (2-day) orientation session, which I found to be a little helpful. The best part was meeting the other Fulbrighters and getting to know them. Since I am going to be in Hyderabad there wont be many of them around =( .

I feel honored to be part of this group. I've met engineers, scientists, economists, painters, sculptors, writers, anthropologists, etc. You can tell when people are really into their research or are already experts in their field. It is great to see! Most importantly I need to note that the best part of my day is when I'm eating. I forgot how YUMMY food in India is, especially butterscotch icecream. Here is the recap of my time in Delhi:


On Monday (Aug 16th) night there was a dinner reception at the Fulbright house. Here is a picture of me with Adam Grotsky, the head of the USIEF.

On Tuesday (Aug 17th) we got some free time so some of us traveled around Delhi. We took an auto and went to India Gate (Thanks to Karthik and Debalina we chad Hindi speakers). From India Gate we proceeded to Humayun's tomb, which was spectacular!

You may have noticed that it looks like the Taj Mahal in red. It was built before the Taj Mahal and the Taj was modeled after it. After the tomb we went to Lodi Gardens, which were nothing special.

On Wednesday (Aug 18th) I met up with my mom, my mom's cousin and my aunt's daughter. We went to Qutub Minar which is a really tall tower / ruins built during the Muslim rule.


Thursday (Aug 19th) morning I left for Hyderabad. My parents recently bought a flat here so now my mom and I are running around trying to furnish it. Hyderabad is long story so I'll save that for another entry!