Five people, two days, one city. After what felt like a lifetime, we broke away from campus life and hit the city of Hyderabad. We split us up into our advisory groups and created our own plans for the weekend, and my advisory (Kiana, Glai, Yodsel, and myself with Mr. Austen) decided we wanted to spend our time by the  waterfront.

We first got matching temporary tattoos and then started to stroll around the lake. We were almost halfway to the park when we saw a bike rental place, and once we saw they offered tandem bikes we were sold on the idea of cycling the rest of the way. Weaving in and out of the hectic and frightening traffic, we made it to the park, but this park was slightly off. When eating lunch earlier in the day Kiana said, “I don’t think we should go to the park– I don’t think it is what we expect it will be,” and boy was she right! This park was one of the creepiest places I had ever been. It reminded me of the vibe I got when we tip-toed through the jungle Quiroga, the South American Edgar Allan Poe, lived in when we visited Misiones, Argentina. The play ground equipment was sketchy and the whole park had an aroma of garbage from the trash in the lake. Although it was a creepy experience, my advisory just laughed it off and it ended up being quite a good time.

After reluctantly returning our cycles we came across another park area where we participated in a truly “academic” activity… Okay, aqua balls don’t exactly count as learning, but it was a great time! We all took turns squeezing into giant blow up balls and awkwardly rolled and bounced in an inflatable pool. It was very hot in there, but I stayed in because it was just too much fun laughing at how we would be trying to roll to a certain spot and end up going backwards instead.

The sun started to set by this point and we started heading back to the waterfront for dinner. We walked into the foyer thickly scented of lovely incense and entered a beautiful patio right beside the lake. We took a seat, order cokes, and talked about the day as we shared a delicious meal. It was a great wrap up to a great day– but the tuk-tuk ride back to the hotel was pretty great as well!

The next morning, after very little sleep the night before, we woke up with the sunrise and hit the rocks! It was my first time bouldering and I still can’t decide if I was more thrown off when they told me the shoes that felt 4 sizes too small fit perfectly or when they told me to climb the wall of a 90 degree angle. No matter that, it was a blast! I am already planning on going sometime soon. It is a bit painful on your fingers, but once you reach the top of a boulder and look over the city you realize how much you have accomplished. It was also a great workout!

All in all, great weekend. It was an amazing opportunity to have some bonding time with the advisory, and was also a well needed get-a-way from the campus. After the weekend I can say Hyderabad is truly an interesting city, and while it is not what I am used to, it has it’s perks. I guess one lesson I learned from this trip is all you have to do is stop looking for something great and you will end up finding exactly what you are looking for.