arrived

Arrived in Hyderabad at 4am Monday morning -- in the office by 9am.  Can already tell that work is going to be a little nuts, although the chance to be my own boss and start a new program on a topic I know relatively nothing about (nutrition) is still a pretty awesome opportunity. 

So far, haven't seen much of the city.  Staying in a hotel 100m away from the CHAI office, so here's 50% of what I've seen so far, other than the 5 min walk to the office:

View from the hotel room

(it's 6am and sunrise due to jetlag)

Currently: living out of a pretty posh hotel for 2 weeks (put up by the office), but with 3 of my 14 days gone, am now frantically on the hunt for a flat and friends/coworkers to give me advice.  Furnished, roommates, air conditioning are basic criteria, although went out to dinner with some coworkers from the Delhi office and one of their Hyderabadi friends, when asked "Do you think people will want to live with me?" -- "Ehmmm.... no.  Probably not.  Maybe?"

Am assuming he meant because I'm foreign, not based on a 1-hour snap judgment of my personality.  Yeesh.  Mostly though, trying to beat jet lag and going to the office:

On average, would say on the 5 minute walk to the office, I almost die 3-4 times while crossing the 1 intersection on the way.  I thought Zambians were aggressive drivers and honked a lot, but India blows them completely out of the water.  I guess Hyderabad, as an A1 city with a population of +4 million is a little more congested, but the streets -- even at 7am -- are a constant cacophany of honking and look like a development-world version of Grand Theft Auto with the way pedestrians, motorcycles, bikes, scooters, autorickshaws, and cars are all zipping through the streets and scraping by buildings.  Drivers take off the side mirrors on their cars to maximize their potential to squeeze through traffic, and no joke -- they really take advantage of those extra 8 inches of width.  Really want to take a photo to try and capture how insane the traffic situation is, but have realized I need all my wits about me to not get flattened.

Feeling a bit like a bumpkin coming from Lusaka and Sac -- Hyderabad, home of Tollywood (Telugu filmmaking) and the bustling IT capital of India, is cosmopolitan and modern in a way where I realize I've never really lived in a city.  My hotel is down the street from Benetton and Puma stores!  Google has a huge office here!  Google maps can give me directions anywhere in the city!

Best thing so far: Office provides lunch every day cooked by this Indian woman who has a catering service, but basically it's like having an Indian mom cook a delicious, hot meal with paneer, biryani, daal, and fresh chapatis etc. every day.