Flight and First 36 Hours in Hyderabad

My blogs over the next couple of weeks will focus on my time in Hyderabad, India.  As my body continues to heal from my bike crash a few weeks ago, I've begun ramping up my training again in anticipation of the Du at the Dam race taking place on June 25.  Incidently, I'm returning to the States June 24, so the next day race should be a very interesting one!  Can you say jet lag???

My colleague and I left for Hyderabad on Thursday morning.  The journey was relatively uneventful, though I did receive a rather panicked call at 9 AM that morning informing me our flight had been cancelled out of Rochester.  I was told to get to the airport immediately as they were still holding the 7 AM flight and leaving on a moment's notice.  We were about an hour late arriving in Chicago, but managed to make it to our gate with a little time to spare.

I wasn't particularly looking forward to the 15 hours to Delhi.  To be quite honest, after boarding, I wasn't looking forward to it any more.  The plane was absolutely packed - every seat full.  There were tons of kids and I think we were practically the only two white dudes on there.  Now I know what it's like to be in the minority.

Before we boarded, I'd taken a couple of Tylenol PM to try and sleep part/most of the way and get my body used to the time zone change.  The plan worked beautifully as I was asleep before they even closed the cabin door.  I don't remember any of the take off or much of the first 5-6 hours.  The flight turned out to not be so bad - I was able to move around a little when I needed and had plenty of shows to watch. In all honesty, I've taken domestic flights that seemed worse.

We arrived in Delhi, got through some checkpoints and back to our new gate to leave for Hyderabad.  The flight was about an hour late departing but we made it.  Our check through customs was a little tricky in that we hadn't brought the address for the company we were visiting.  After some work, we finally got it and they let us through.  Then the craziness started....

Upon exiting the airport, it was madness.  People all over the place yelling and greeting other passengers.  The best way I could describe the feeling was like being in a cattle yard.  You literally walk out the door to the outside with a fence all around you.  There are people all standing along the fence talking and yelling to people they know.  Of course, we are the only two white guys in the whole group.  We were able to find our host and driver...off we went to the city.

Driving here is nuts.  They have lines painted on the streets but no one uses them.  Drivers communicate by honking - it's the way they let others know they are close and waving someone into a merge or turn.  When you're out on the streets, it's really loud with all the honking.  People aren't doing it because they're mad like in the US, it's just how they talk to one another.  The drivers also go really fast and there are motorcycles whizzing in and out of lanes all around you.  People are also crossing right through the lanes of traffic.  Some of the younger people are doing a kind of frogger move not to get hit while the older men/women simply hold out their hand and everyone stops.  It's really kind of neat.

We made it to our service apartment in one piece, though we did almost hit a cow.  By the way, if you hit a cow in India, you're better off to flee the scene.  Apparently, you can get beaten up or killed by passer-bye's if they see it....

Fortunately, with the way we'd timed our sleeping on the flight, the first night wasn't too bad.  By 1 AM local time, we were ready to sleep.  I was up pretty early (around 7 AM) and couldn't sleep anymore.  I decided to go for a run in the area (I'd been convinced it was safe).

Man, was that an experience!  The sidewalks are limited here, but everyone just walks on the streets anyway.  I think I got about 50 feet from our apartment before I realized I wasn't in Kansas anymore.  People weren't just looking at me, they were staring.  I wish just for a moment I could read their minds.  Everyone was very polite - some would stare then smile, some would just stare like they'd never seen a white person before. I never felt threatened or fearful - most were just plain shocked.  I ran along a stretch of road parallel to our hotel.  I had to play frogger quite a bit with traffic, people walking, potholes, water, etc.  It was actually a pretty wicked workout trying to avoid everything.  And to put it in perspective, this was Saturday morning at 7 AM - not a peak time of the day for traffic and people. 

The run was really interesting.  Their upscale here is very different than ours.  I ran through what I'm told is a fairly upscale part of town, yet saw lots of poverty, people without arms/legs, beggars, street vendors, etc.  There was one area with a half block of street vendors with flowers.  They were absolutely beautiful fresh cut flower arrangements.  Amazing.  All along the way, people just stared in amazement.  Again, not threatening, not yelling, not saying a word, just watching curiously.

Eventually, I turned a corner into a more populated and what I'm guessing lower scale area.  The only reason I believe it was lower scale was based on the architecture and quite frankly, the smell.  If you've ever been to New Orleans, it smells like Bourbon Street at 8 AM the next day.  About this time, my stomach started to complain a little.  I'm unsure if it was something I ate on the flight, the smells around me or the humidity (it's super humid here), but I knew it was probably time to turn around.

I ran back with the flow of traffic (people walk all directions and even through traffic, so there are no rules).  It was interesting how much right of way people walking (or me running) have with vehicles.  Even though they honk at you (more as a head's up they're there), they are good about getting out of the way.  At intersections, people have full right of way.  That was difficult for me as I'd run up to an intersection.  The policeman would wave me across as there were cars whizzing at me.  I would pause and everyone would stop.  The funniest part of the journey were the service (dump) trucks.  These guys had various types of horns - one even had a Dukes of Hazard sounding one.  They would wait until they were right up on me (regardless of which lane they were in) and honk loudly.  Then I'd see a head poke out of the side looking back at me.  They'd just stare in amazement until I waved.  Then they'd smile like a shy little girl and wave back.  Hilarious.

I made it back to the apartment but man was my stomach a wreck.  In fact, it was most of yesterday and I hadn't really eaten anything Indian yet (other than over on the plane ride).  I'm not entirely sure what was going on, so hopefully my run in a couple hours will go better.

We did a few hours of work at the apartment before going to lunch at one of the Taj hotels nearby.  It was an Indian buffet - thankfully - because the menu they offered us meant nothing (I couldn't understand what any of it said).  The buffet was pretty good - a little spicy - but not terrible.  After our meal, we went to visit CATT Technology, the company we're working with for a couple weeks.  Again, the drive was crazy.  They drive so fast and all over the road - I have no idea how they don't kill each other.

Our colleagues at CATT are some smart dudes.  It's always interesting to observe different cultures and nuances.  I have to admit, the first few minutes of meeting them was sort of awkward.  Their mannerisms are different then ours - sort of hard to explain.  The best way to describe it is shy.  They really want to talk but don't always know what to say.  Therefore, they don't say anything and there's silence.  They are very accommodating people - they really want to help you feel comfortable.  When you ask for something, they jump up to do it.  It's interesting.

We met in a larger conference room for a few hours.  The man they describe as the "VP of Operations" was clearly the ring leader.  As some of the programmers and other people filed into the room, he would make head and hand gestures to them rather than speaking.  They always seemed to understand what this meant.  He'd tell them where to sit, when to stand up, when we needed "tea" (which tasted like a really awesome creamy beverage from Caribou), even when to exit the room.  It was really interesting to watch.  The other mannerism I noticed is the way they move their heads.  When the say "yes," they shake their heads as if to say "no."  This is really confusing at first - you don't know what they're saying.  After awhile you get used to it.  Also, when they don't know the answer to a question, they roll their heads sort of like a bobble head.  It's entertaining!

After meeting with CATT a few hours yesterday, we returned to our apartment.  We ended up laying down for a bit and never got back up for dinner!  So, needless to say, I'm up this morning very early.  So much for getting my body clock set up right.  I'm going to wait a few hours and do another run.  Hopefully my stomach is in better shape today.  I think I've found a slightly different route that I'm going to try, though I get nervous about getting lost.  We'll hope for the best....

More to come as my adventure continues!