First Impressions of India

Let me first apologize for not blogging until now- a combination of computer fatigue and pure bliss of not having to spend hours typing papers or being connected to any sort of technology was initially overwhelming and I could think of nothing better to do with my time than to sit on a porch in India, sipping Masala Chai, and talking about inane things. However, while that still sounds quite amazing, I do have certain responsibilities, both to myself and to the folks back home who need to know that I'm still alive and kickin'!

36 hours after leaving the U.S., we landed in Chennai, extraordinarily jet lagged and oh so ready to sleep. Madras Christian College, where we are currently based for the first five weeks of the trip, is in a relatively rural area, outside of the city limits of Chennai, in Tambaram. We're staying in the International Guest House (IGH) on the beautiful campus, full of wild deer and amazing flora and fauna. The entire campus is a scrub jungle and remains a wonderful haven from the noise and pollution outside the College's walls. Three people brought their hammocks, which are now part of the porch area, our main hangout. We have a kitchen crew that makes our meals- so delicious! I've been eating with my hands since we arrived even though the majority of the food consists of sauce, curry, bread, and rice. It's a bit difficult eating such a savory breakfast, but the quality and taste of the food certainly makes up for it! Though the IGH is a fantastic, relaxing place, it is often very easy to forget that you are in India at all, as we are surrounded by each other and the noisy, chaotic, vibrant India remains a ten minute walk down the road. However, though we're not in the heart of a city, there's a market out of the main gate that we've ventured into, braving the masses of people, the chaotic mess of mopeds and the piles of trash. 

Every morning that we're not traveling, we have guest lectures about topics ranging from caste and gender inequalities to water quality in India. Then we have lunch and figure out what to do with ourselves for several hours- this time usually consists of washing clothes, sitting on the porch, doing crossword puzzles, or playing ultimate frisbee. There is currently a three day vacation going on due to the local elections that are taking place in Tamil Nadu (the state that we're in), which, by the way, had an 80% voter turnout. Also, the power randomly goes out here, usually around lunch time, and while we were gone to Pudicherry (Pondy) on our latest adventure, we came back to find that a harsh rainstorm had completely blown the modem. Oh, India!

My next blog will deal with the Pondy trip, which lasted about five days and resulted in over half of us being sick.

We are now on the second week of being in India and I'm having to try so hard not to make generalizations and comparisons to China right now, as we really haven't seen much of the country at all. We've seen rural Tambaram, and the former French Colony Pondicherry. This Saturday, we'll finally (I keep having to remind myself that we've only been here for a little over a week) head into the city of Chennai, one of the top five largest cities in India. I desperately need to stop over analyzing everything and comparing it to the China trip, as I think I'll go crazy if I continue. I was going to blog a lot about the differences that I've seen so far, but I will refrain from writing until I've at least been to Chennai. The one major thing is that I find it so hard to not know the language, Tamil, and find myself about to throw out some Chinese phrases instead. I just feel that you get such a deeper insight into a culture when you know the language; you also get to know the people on a deeper level, but alas, India has a plethora of languages (250+) and there is no way that I'll be able to learn them all. Also, unlike China, there is no single written script for all languages. Tamil itself has a beautiful, curly script that is distinctly different from the devanagari script of Hindi.

So these are my random musings and I'm sure that these posts will get a bit more coherent as I catch up on our most recent activities, though I must say that it's a bit frustrating to not be blogging on Wordpress since it allows you to have a picture slideshow. I've only taken about 300 pictures so far, which is great for me, though there are only about 20 on here. Tomorrow we're heading to a village to see some silk weavers, so more updates later! (if the internet permits). 

Our room in the IGH (4 girls)

 Chital Deer (they're everywhere!)

 IBM Cricket Team on a random weekend

 Fruit at the market

 Flower garland above a school door

 A tasty, roadside coconut treat

 The coolest bug ever! Identified as a 'Case Worm.'

 WHY IS THIS ON THE STREET??

 Our amazing porch- good times!

 The Hamocks on the back side of the IGH

 Laundry just hanging out

 The lecture hall where we attend class every morning

 Delicious meal!!

India seriously has the coolest bugs, birds, and plants. And food. And everything else.

The cows are just everywhere- in the background is 'DMK,' a political party of India