Productive work days

So apparently I really stink at successfully keeping a blog. But honestly, before last week, things had been pretty mundane! Last Wednesday we finally officially finished our training with our final comprehensive exam. And since then, things have been pretty awesome:

Last Wednesday I learned how to ride a motorcycle! I mean, I know I tried one time in Mysore, but this time I rode around the block AND I got into 3rd gear AND went as fast as 50 km/hr! Very exciting for a rookie like me! Don't worry, I only rode it around the campus =P.

Last Thursday I went to Runway 9 with the motorcycle "gang" which consists of 3 motorcycle drivers and 3 motorcycle passengers. Me and the boys went go-karting for the afternoon and I got completely destroyed. As the only girl and the only one forced to wear a red jacket on the track, I was apparently a very easy target. Let's just say that I got stuffed into the tire wall multiple times. In one case, my go-kart flew right into the tire wall and sent it flying (don't worry, another one of my friends was brought down with me, haha) and in another case, I was triple teamed where two people managed to spin me out so I was facing reverse and then I was immediately head-on-collisioned into. It was awesomely fun. =D

Last Friday I was playing ultimate and my friend and I literally had a head-on-collision. I was on the ground for a good couple of minutes and the right side of my head is still a bit sore. It hurt A LOT. But ultimate is still my favorite thing to do on campus! (Don't worry, one little head-on-collision hasn't stopped me! We still play!) Also on Friday, my motorcycle buddy went shopping for a big suitcase and I successfully helped in the transportation of his purchase back to campus. We became super Indian and I carried a huge suitcase on my lap while he drove back on his motorcycle. Great success. Later that day we achieved even more Indian-like feats by fitting three people on a motorbike and driving all the way to City Center for dinner. It was pretty great.

Sunday was my birthday and we celebrated by going to Runway 9 AGAIN. But this time I got back at each and every single one of the boys, either my stuffing them into tire walls or harassing them on the racetrack. At the very end of 20 laps, one of my friends purposely spun out and I accidently ran straight into him. We had to make a quick getaway after that minor incident...haha...

On Monday, my motorcycle buddy and I tried to go to the Nehru Zoological Park. Unfortunately, after we successfully navigated through the city, we arrived at the zoo only to find that it is closed every Monday. EPIC FAIL. Instead, we decided to go to Charminar where I finally went inside the landmark structure and then did a bit of street shopping. The streets of old Hyderabad are certainly an experience...

On Tuesday, my motorcycle buddy and I dragged along another motorcycle pair and this time, successfully visited the zoo! Of course, it's nothing compared to the World Famous San Diego Zoo but it actually wasn't as bad as I would have expected (I can't help but think of the disastrous "zoo" I visited in HuangShan...) We saw white tigers, Himalayan bears, crocodiles, hippos, rhinos, and we even paid extra to go into the nocturnal animals exhibit was completely pitch dark and extremeley difficult to navigate through.

On Wednesday the motorcycle gang went to watch Eagle Eye at the local Imax theater. It was alright. However, it was after this trip that I realized I had been to City Center everyday for the past week. There are two causes of this: 1) My motorcycle buddy LOVES getting tailormade shirts and we always have to stop by his favorite tailormaking shop Reid and Taylor. 2) Our favorite restaurant in Hyderabad is officially Fusion 9. I have eaten there so often this past week.

On Thursday, the motorcycle gang went to NTR Gardens (it was at this point that we realized how desperate we'd become to find things to do in this city). Apparently this place is supposed to be somewhat of a theme park. It short, it wasn't very good. Besides a few interesting photo opportunities, we also rode the train that circled the park and also tried out the haunted house, 3D room, and the "Thrillenium" which consisted of a trippy room where the wall rotates. It was very difficult to keep my balance in there, haha.

Unfortunately, two of the motorcycle gang members (including my motorcycle buddy) had to move to a new city on Friday. So alas, there came an end to our adventures. I'm actually really sad now that they're gone. Things aren't the same without them. This place just isn't as fun anymore =(

You might be confused as to my own situation as well. I'm supposed to move to Pune to start my project but for some reason I still haven't been able to get my travel plans approved. It's actually kind of annoying. Also, the project I've been aligned to is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. I'm not really that happy about this, considering my base location is Seattle... I really don't understand how this makes any sense but whatever. I'm gonna keep trying to switch to a more reasonable project...i.e. one on the correct coast.

In other news, I'm counting down the days until Malaysia! 6 days...