Our first day back in the city was a much needed down day. We caught up on emails and journaling and relaxed, trying to absorb our collective experiences. We found Pizza Hut for a taste of home and downloaded digital pictures onto CDs. Alex found a Hyderabad newspaper to read.

The editorial inside was entitled, “United States Turns Tsunami Into Imperial Strategy.” The first sentence was, “The United States has the experience and the expertise of turning tragedy into imperial strategy. The latest is the tsunami disaster and the politics of relief.” Many people in Asia and around the world

believe our government’s monetary aid comes with strings attached. The article mentions that the Japanese have donated almost as much money to the relief effort but are not discussing adding military bases to the region. Their viewpoint is understandable and was eye opening for Alex. I wish that more Americans could reflect back on our country through the eyes of the people of other nations.

Our second day we toured the 500 year old stone Golconda Fort and learned about the Muslim king and his 360 wives and beautiful, dancing Hindu mistress. Austin loved climbing around on it and the rest of us enjoyed it too. There were more than 300 stairs to the top, which was at the apex of a hill, overlooking all of Hyderabad in every direction. We paid a guide to show us around, breathing life into the fort with his tales of the people who had lived there.

Rao and Sri had told us to see the Hi-Tec City. Modern towering office building where Bill Gates and Bill Clinton had visited promoted India’s vision of the future there. Other than a drive by, there was not much to do except visit another American restaurant for lunch, Subway. We all like Indian food, but the southern version is spicy and the food of home a welcome break when available, especially for the little one among us.

Next we saw the Charminar, a small structure with a balcony on the second floor said to be the principal landmark of Hyderabad. A narrow spiral staircase winded round and round to a view in all directions of brightly colored kites flying for the Hindu holiday of Pong. The building had been constructed in 1591 and holds the city’s oldest Muslim mosque.

Although most of India is Hindu, this city’s population is 50% Muslim. There were many women baking in full Burkas with their heads to their toes covered in sun absorbing black, except the eyes that peeked out through a slit across the face. Beneath the dark robes was full Indian dress, sarees and then another layer of petticoats. Although unseen, I had learned what was under them from my few patients in Burkas at the medical camp in Kothur. In contrast, the Muslim men wore light white cotton pants and tunics with white round hats perched on the back of their heads. One asked to shake my hand, but held out the hand of his Hindu friend instead, grasping it by the wrist and forcing it out to me. They were laughing, I think making fun of me. I was approached first so felt comfortable asking, but he refused to let me take his photograph. He was as strangely dressed to me as I was to him and I wanted a picture.

A lake in Hyderabad’s center holds one of the world’s tallest, free-standing Buddha statues. The 350 ton carving sank on a barge carrying it across the water to be erected on the dam. The boat went down taking the statue and eight crewmembers with it in the late 1980s. Two years later it was dredged from its watery grave and arranged on a platform right there in the middle of the lake where it went down. There’s a tourist boat that takes you out to it and allows about five minutes to walk around and take a picture or two before ferrying back to the dock.

Our taxi driver spoke no English. Neither did the autorickshaw drivers and most of the staff at our hotel. We were surprised that so few people spoke English in Hyderabad compared to the other cities where we had been. As part of the triangle of computer technology, we expected it to be easier to communicate with the locals. Instead, it was a challenge to make our way around the city, grateful for the few nationals that would help us out along the way with directions in Hindi to the drivers. That part was frustrating at times, but we loved our time in the City of Pearls.