Strike 1, 2, 3! You're ou-...Oh, wait, what? You're going to keep striking?

My journey to the first school I will be working at has been delayed for two days, so I'll get a little more time to prepare my lesson plans before I go and have fun with my family. Right now, I'm in Secunderabad at my grandparents' flat (apartment), which is in the building next door to my cousins' flat. For anyone who isn't familiar with South Indian geography, Secunderabad is the neighbor of Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh (the Telugu-speaking state).

Okay, well, I'm not all that familiar with Indian geography either. But Hyderabad is a little bit east of the tip of that arrow (the jet lag is making me too sleepy and lazy to go back and correct it in Paint).

Lately, there have been some conflicts between the eastern and western parts of the state, leading to riots, strikes (that translation doesn't really cover everything - a bandh is a lot bigger), etc. The western part, called the Telangana region, would like to split off and form its own state, leaving the Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra regions in the state of Andhra Pradesh. I don't think I know enough about the reasons to explain, but I gather that among other things, it has something to do with resource allocation and language. At any rate, the biggest problem with this is that Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, is located within the Telangana region.

Hyderabad has been the site of many a bandh in recent months. One of my cousins had her final exams last semester postponed for at least a month because the college kept having to close. We were worried that it might bring trouble for my project if buses weren't traveling and the roads were supposed to be empty. Luckily, it's calmed down a little, and according to my uncle, should stay that way until elections are over at the end of August. I'll cross my fingers for that.

Still, I think it shouldn't bring too much trouble. The two schools that I am visiting are in Medak and Warangal districts, which both fall under Telangana, so I wouldn't be crossing any would-be borders. This reminds me, I should tell you a little bit about the schools themselves, but since I've got a couple extra days, I think I'll save that for when I am less sleepy. Now that's a rather abrupt conclusion, but I'm tired. I guess I could say bye. Okay, then. Bye for now!