Early Hour Observations

I think one of my favorite things in the world is the quiet, not just any quiet, but the one found in the middle of the night. Those hours that that don't quite belong to the night, but are not quite morning are my favorite, even in most large cities that space is held like a poignant pause, like the world holding its breath before that energy is flung simultaneously in all directions as people launch into the rigors of life.

Hyderabad is magical in the middle of the night. Though as far removed from the sleepy town of Thun, Switzerland, where we used to live, as the moon is from the floor of the ocean. At 9:30 each night Thun went to bed - figuratively or literally, almost as though you could hear the switch being flipped off. Hyderabad never really sleeps, but it stills...dramatically. The cacophony of city traffic and of blaring horns pauses so significantly that you can hear the cooing of the pigeons in their perches. Like a sigh of relief from the frantic pace of life, warm breezes caress the branches of palm and bottlebrush trees and if you are particularly observant you can spot a flying fox/fruit bat winging its way through the night. But like most large metropolitan cities this respite is brief and just before dawn the call to prayer beckons from the minarets of the mosques calling observers to worship and heralding the first rumblings of tuktuks and motorcycles through the city streets. Soon melody is joined by neighbors sweeping their entryways with long-tendrilled natural brooms. The steady rhythm of swish-swish interrupted only by an occasional horn then punctuated by the crow of a rooster who surprisingly lives next door in this sprawling metropolis. Vegetable carts begin their slow and steady journey through the city and more and more traffic until layer by layer like a symphony the city fully thrums to life. Yet a potent reminder that this sprawling city is a composite of individuals came from the fragrant scents of biryani and freshly baked naan from my neighbor's kitchen.

Limes have seeds?

Perhaps the thunder and lightening called to me and woke me from my jet-lagged slumber or maybe it was just my sleep-deprived brain that decided I should be awake instead of asleep, it really doesn't matter. I was thirsty and there were no clean glasses, despite the alluring vision of a dishwasher in our new kitchen, regardless of how many buttons we pushed it just blinked at us. So I snuck out of bed and I padded to the kitchen intent on at least providing my husband a clean travel mug for his first day of work, and a clean glass for something to drink for me. I washed and rinsed until the drainer could hold no more.

It is now 1:45 a.m. We have been in India for just under 24 hours now. Despite the myriad of responses from friend when they heard about our next post and the wide variety of their commentary, I'm somewhat enchanted by my new home. As my brother aptly said, "You aren't in Kansas anymore." Well thank goodness for that. No offense to the State of Kansas. Those types of responses have become part and parcel of our lives. Six years ago my husband joined the US State Department and we joined thousands of families across the world by becoming the professional gypsies of the Foreign Service. We move, whether we need to or not, every 2-3 years. We love it, and so far (this is our third posting) we have yet to feel the need to recreate any of America's 50 great states wherever we land. Instead we have become a variation of chameleon that simultaneously tries to positively represent the US, we work to blend into the culture of our host country (or at least not disrupt it) while maintaining enough of our ethnicity to identify us as American. This "foot in both worlds" is a challenge and frequently has the strange effect of putting us slightly out of step with our fellow countrywomen and men. For many of them this lifestyle is beyond comprehension - we hear a lot of "oh I couldn't do that," "I wouldn't eat that," or "why would you want to live outside the US?"  But for us, we cannot imagine any other way to life and frequently ask each other in bewildered voices, "Why did we wait so long to join?" That, however, is another story.

A co-worker of my husband's stayed up half the night to meet us at the airport. Maridela, a complete Boddhisatva (look it up) met us at the airport in Hyderabad. Though our plane had landed after an arduous journey involving 12+ hours from DC to Doha, Qatar and at least a dozen babies who had decided to take shifts screaming and another 3 hours and 44 minutes from Doha, Qatar to Hyderabad, India with another 5 babies reprising the roles from the first leg of the journey, we didn't actually make it out of customs/immigration until well after 3:30 a.m. Maridela did not bat an eye at receiving two incredibly sleep deprived adults, a creaky 16 year old terrier and a mound of luggage. Instead with the help of an embassy driver shunted us into a van with the ease of a seasoned world traveler and guided us to our new home. Upon delivering us into our apartment and making sure we had what we needed (she had stocked us with basic to make us more than comfortable for the first 24 hours), she headed home to sleep briefly before heading to work mere hours after seeing to our needs - a blessing on her and her house, as they say.

For our part, bleary with fatigue, amazed at our wonderful accommodations, and armed with two  glasses of vodka and orange juice (it was breakfast after all, ha!) we landed on our patio to  watch the cityscape of Hyderabad awaken. The first tendrils of light entered the skyline just as the first morning prayers were called from one of the three mosques in our part of the city.
As morning broke in earnest two very weary travelers and one very tired terrier surrendered to sleep - at least for a few hours.

While I am confident that my husband felt the same, when the alarm went off a scant 3 hours after, I would have cheerfully handed over every Rupee in my wallet (and maybe a few of my credit cards come to that) for a few more hours of sleep. But having the extraordinary luxury of almost a full day to get settled before Barrett headed to work, we needed to get moving and begin to set our lives to order. We had our tea on the patio watching our new world unfold around us. B was rather alarmed to see two guys scramble up a power pole, barefoot and either repairing, replacing or adding a new line with a stick to guide their efforts - not something you see everyday.

Maridela had set things in motion for us to get our internet up and operational, and she had rightfully warned us of the almost absurd way that it would be handled. True to her description two guys did show up (one wearing a backpack) and explained the options for Internet service available to us. We selected our option and as instructed handed over the requisite Rupees (cash only) for a year's worth of service. Papers were handed over and signed. The two visitors thanked us and said someone would be by later today to set up the system and unceremoniously left. Unfazed, as we had been told this was EXACTLY how it would happen.

We gratefully accepted the offer of a car and driver to take us to the grocery store to obtain stores to hold us for a few more days. Within blocks of joining the city traffic, B announced he absolutely saw the wisdom of employing a driver. Fortunately, the driver we borrowed for the day will be available early September. He seems terrific and even-keeled, if a little shy.

 We had no sooner returned and stowed all of our purchases than another two guys, also wearing backpacks came to set about connecting the Internet service. Completely freaked out by the appearance of our 8 kg 16 year old dog, they wouldn't move until I had her safely away from them. Apparently, things were not as they should be, as despite searching the entire apartment and attempting to find the connection they needed, they left after assuring us they would return the following day. So one more day without connection to the world

Though still exhausted, we are unpacked, we've begun to organize the apartment more to our needs and are ready for Barrett to start working tomorrow. We ended our day much as it had begun. We sat out on the patio with G&Ts just as the first call for evening prayer went up. I said to Barrett, I don't ever remember seeing a lime with seeds, do you?

A little flavor from our new post