October 23, 2011

 

I am now successfully two countries behind on this blog. No worries though J I was simply having too much fun and my action packed days hindered me from writing.

 

We arrived in Chennai, India and were greeted with a pungent smell immediately. Chennai was also known as Madras, when the British had occupied India during its colonial period. On the first day in India, I went to an Indian secondary school. When we arrived, we were greeted with live music and little girls presented us each with a rose. We were graced with the traditional Indian mark on our forehead. I learned later that this mark actually had a purpose. In the past, the mark was Vitamin D, and it attracted sunlight in order to keep healthy. Now though, many just use plastic stick-ons, so the cause has become lost. However, it is still pretty nonetheless. At the Indian school, I ended up going from class to class teaching English. We utilized the game Hang-man, as well as drawing games and question and answer sessions. After our English lessons, we met with all of the teachers as well as the principal and were granted an opportunity to ask questions. We were also given fresh coconuts with a straw, which was delicious. That first day in India was full of so many sights, smells, and sounds. India truly does have such a mix of EVERYTHING. There were people everywhere, and the stench was sometimes unbearable. The Indians were clothed in vivid colors, and many women wore flowers in their hair. Later that night, we ended up going out to a dance club where we had quite the experience. We seemed to be the only girls there, and things got pretty intense. Indian men began to get pretty rough in their dancing, and we quickly left in order to deescalate the situation.

 

The next day I left to go to my Rotarian Homestay. I was paired to be roommates with Jenny Trompak, who is also from Ohio. She goes to Baldwin-Wallace, which is in Marietta’s conference. She also lives only a half hour away from me in North Royalton. We met our Indian family, which turned out to be a freshly married couple named Vijay and Swathi. They prepared lunch, and I had my first experience in eating with my hands since childhood. I had forgotten about the left-hand rule mid-way through my meal, so I made an embarrassing attempt to switch. In India, your left hand is considered to be dirty; good thing I am left-handed. It was definitely an experience. We ate rice with a few different sauces such as chutney, which is a coconut concoction. We also had coconut buffy, which were little balls of coconut cake, for desert. After, they gave us a tour of their home which was absolutely gorgeous. It had four or five floors, and each floor, and each room had a theme. The ground floor had a theme of nature, so there was bamboo and wooden carvings everywhere. The next floor had a colors theme, so each room was a different color, and the furniture matched that particular color. In their master bedroom, the theme was strawberry and squares. There were shapes everywhere, and a very masculine pink color was scattered throughout. There was a type of moat that surrounded the bed that was filled with white, crystalline rocks. One of the walls had been cut out and plexi-glass had been mounted in its place. Behind the wall, there was a tropical scene of flora, and it looked as if it was a jungle. Swathi explained that the ceiling was also removed from that wall on the outside of the house, so when it rained, it was actually raining in the house as well. It was so exotic and creative, I want to adopt it whenever I get a house :P Around 8pm, we went to an official Rotary meeting where they introduced Presidents from the local chapters and many of our students gave presentations on our experience with Semester at Sea.

 

The third day we left our Indian family and went with the members of the Rotary Club to Mamallapuram and Kancheepuram, which are temple sites. We were greeted with many peddlers urging us to buy necklaces, statues, and other assorted goods. For lunch, we went to the Golden Palate in which lunch was served on a banana leaf. The food was, again, scrumptiously palatable on the tongue. After lunch, we went to Crocodile Bank where we saw an array of crocodiles, turtles, and snakes. We were able to see king cobras fight, and were able to touch a handful of baby vipers, which were only as big as my pinky finger. Later in the evening, we ended up going to one of the Rotarian President’s homes where we celebrated a Deewali Festival. Deewali is on October 26^th, however, the Rotarians felt it necessary for us to experience such an event, and I am glad that they did. Deewali means “festival of lights,” and all of Chennai looked like Christmastime in the States. There were lights hanging off homes and businesses alike. When we got to their home, we were anointed with the Indian mark on the forehead as well as many gifts. We were taken throughout their house which was set up with many different scenes depicting the Hindu faith. There are many gods and goddesses in Hinduism, and the entire living room was covered with statues of them. Another room was set up to be the Himalayas, and we truly felt as if we were there, because the air conditioning was set to full blast in an attempt to create the true environment. We were able to walk through these “Himalayas” and learned the stories of some of the Hindu deities. We then went up to the rooftop, which was set up with a massive Indian feast. I will never again look at any other food the same way as I do Indian food. Everything I tasted was delicious, and I didn’t want to stop eating despite being full 3 plates before. After we had dessert such as ice cream and gulab jamoon, we sand songs with all of the families. This evening was truly magical, and it will never be something that I will forget.

 

The fourth day Vijay and Swathi took us to Sky Mall, which holds one of the best movie theatres I have ever been to. Did I mention that they had a personal driver that chauffeured them around wherever they went? Freshmen year I learned so much about India through our Honors 101 class. It was Honors Literature and the theme was centered on India. We read “White Tiger,” which was about an Indian driver and his secret life. The entire time I was being chauffeured by their driver, I was wondering what his life was like outside of escorting them. Aside from this book, it was interesting to note the similarities and differences from what I learned, to what I was truly experiencing in India.

When we got to the mall, we went sari shopping! I bought a mostly red sari with black and gold imprints on it. I will be wearing it for our Alumni Ball, whose theme is Bollywood. Jenny got a pink, blue, and yellow one that was pretty as well! After sari shopping, we went to see an Indian movie called, “Muran.” It was in Tamil, which is the language of the state of Tamil Nadu, where we were at. The movie theatre was the best I have ever seen. After the movie, we came back to their home and presented them with our gifts. In return, they gave us Indian jewelry boxes. They then returned with us back to the ship, where we had dinner with them and were able to give them a tour. They told us that if we ever come back to India, we are welcome to stay with them again.

 

I spent the second to last day in India with Kyla and Lizzy, my best friends here J

We went to Spencer’s Plaza, which was a mall that had many different markets and shops. I bought a few scarves, valued at only a few $USD each. We also used an internet café where I was able to go on the internet for the first time since Montréal. The last day, Lizzy and I just went into town to get stamps for our postcards. India had been so emotionally and physically draining. There was so much to process from our senses that the ship seemed to be unusually quiet the night that we left India. Everyone had stories to share, but many wanted to recharge and sleep the night away, and perhaps the next day as well. I had friends who went on the Global Citizens trip, which was disastrous to say the least. They were held at gun-point on a sleeper train going to Agra, because the tour guide that had booked their tickets had actually cancelled them at the last minute and kept all the money, so their tickets were invalid. They only made it to the Taj Mahal 15 minutes before it closed, so they literally had to SPRINT through it. Their accommodations were less than appealing; Eric and Wiliama actually shared both a bed and an already dirty towel in one of their hostels. Many said that they were happy to have survived India at all.  Overall, India was truly an experience for one and all.