Dr. John, my boss from Chicago, has arrived. He got into Hyderabad super early Friday morning, since all flights into Hyderabad are at 2 am, God knows why. There was an all-India HIV conference this weekend, and he was presenting at it. It was at a crazy posh hotel, the Taj Krishna, and they put him up for the weekend. On Friday night he was trying to avoid jet lag, so he had me come out to dinner with him to keep him awake. It was SO GREAT to have dinner with an American. I didn’t even realize how much I missed it. Americans are so casual, there are few off-limits subjects, and I know all the rules for interacting with Americans. I could completely relax during dinner. Also, I could order a beer. Dr. John and I both had Kingfishers, my first drop of alcohol in a month and a half. Mmmmmm. It was bizarre though, to visit this fancy hotel and go to a nice restaurant. It’s a side of India that I haven’t experienced—the wealthy Indians, the expats, etc. Since I came to India, up until this weekend, I had seen one white person. But when I went to this neighborhood, there was white skin everywhere. They all looked like such tourists; it made me realize how out of place I must look every day of my life here.

On Saturday, we went to Pedadaddy’s (my host father) sisters “village.” Formerly village, now part of the sprawl that is Hyderabad. Because of the call centers, Hyderabad is totally booming. It’s the only city in Andhra Pradesh, so people from all the villages have flocked to Hyderabad, causing an Indian version of sprawling suburbs, as well as killer traffic jams from all the people. We took a city bus there, and there were many new buildings being constructed, but you could see how it was recently a village. Water buffalo were wandering around and there were still some green spaces, although the river beds were dry because of the drought that we are experiencing. While I was there, I got some heavy duty mehendi (sp?)—henna that is. It’s all over my hands and up my arms, I will post pictures. This 10 year old girl did it for me, its amazingly intricate, it took an hour and a half but I think she enjoyed doing it on someone with such pale skin. I also got my eyebrows threaded while I was there. Ouch. They use a piece of string to pull out your hairs. Ouch ouch ouch ouch. But hey, it’s an experience.

Speaking of experiences, Sunday after church I went to this festival that the MSM were having, to spread some cheer and HIV tests. They were doing pooja (Hindu prayers), cooking and just hanging out. We had been invited by another MSM NGO that we are now cooperating nicely with. Most people at the event were really cool, and many people were excited to get tested. But there was this one transgender person from Bombay who flipped a shit when she saw us doing testing at their event. She started doing this loud clap that they do when they beg (many transgenders beg and harass people on the street until they get money). Apparently, the clap also means she was figuratively beating us up. Then she lifted up her sari to piss/scare us off, and I got an education in what it means to be transgender (no penis, no testicles, no nothing). Sabitha, who was with me, was in shock. I was kind of fascinated. It wasn’t scary or anything, because all the other MSM were mad at her and told her off. The best part was when she changed her mind after getting yelled at and decided that she wanted to be tested.

Sunday night, I went to my first Indian wedding. Woohoo! It was Bemommy (my host mom’s) boss’s daughter’s wedding. They are very wealthy Hindus, which meant that was gorgeous and fascinating for me. I totally didn’t understand the ceremony, there were like 3 priest chanting, and people kept passing different foods and things to her—I’m not sure. But I am sure that the food was AMAZING. I ate absolutely everything there, ie I sampled like 20 dishes, and had 2 plates of desserts. Who knows if I’ll ever go to another Indian wedding, I had to try as much as possible. We ate this jelly thing wrapped in a leaf to aid in digestion, which was quite necessary after the amount I consumed. Also, I wore my first sari, which I borrowed from Bemommy. She had to wrap it for me, its waaay too complicated. Walking was a bit of a challenge, and she kept fussing with it all night when I would let it slip or wear it incorrectly. But it was gorgeous, and I wore jasmine flowers in my hair and this pretty gold necklace. I felt like an incompetent doll, but it was fun.