Incredible !ndia (you can tell its a good marketing campaign when your blog is titled with their tag line...bravo India, bravo)

I honestly did not think that I was going to be prepared to step off the ship in India. They gave us so many warnings and kept saying that it was going to be the most difficult country emotionally and physically, that part of me almost didn’t want to get off. That’s a big deal considering how much I don’t like being on the ship (although I am liking it more and more everyday).

Because I felt like I wasn’t prepared, I decided to stay on the ship the first day until my FDP (Faculty Directed Practicum) at 1pm. It was called women writers of India. We were taken on a bus to a woman’s home where we met two women authors. The women both read passages from their works and one of us did a dance for us that I suppose is to go along with the story in her book…? They served us yummy food, but it was SO hot that we were all sort of falling asleep. When we got back I managed to get a ticket to the Welcome Reception, which actually was really fun. It was put on by one of the universities in Chennai and we pretty much just hung out and talked to all the students. I made friends with a girl named Aarkina who seems to have a pretty traditional family. It was really interesting to hear about the way that school works. If a guy fails a class he has to wait 6 months before he can retest and pass the test again. She said that its mostly guys that fail and it makes it so there are hardly any guys in any of the classes. She is almost finished with dentistry school. It was a really fun night beside all the bug bites I got. Plus, I got henna! YAY!

The next day was the start of my home stay. Honestly, it turned out a lot different than I was expecting. It was called a Rotarian Home stay and so we were to stay with a rotary family for three days. I guess when I signed up for it, I didn’t realize how high class Rotarians were! My family, which consisted of a mom, dad, daughter and grandmother, was really sweet despite the fact that I think they liked the girl I was paired with better than they liked me. The daughter, Anusha, was a year or two older and she had actually had been on the ship with us for the stretch between Mauritius and India. I was paired with a girl named Audrey. Let me tell you about Audrey. She has been home schooled most of her life and now commutes to college. She mentioned aliens and samurai more than once on our stay and for some reason, I just couldn’t connect with her.  That was the hardest part of my stay! I’m not sure why but I think they liked her better even though she mumbled and was awkward! I think part of it is because she likes spicy food and I can’t handle as much spice as she can. I tried really really hard and ate some really hot stuff and they didn’t give me any credit!

Anyway, the first day when we met up with our families, we pretty much just hung out, ate lunch and went to a movie. It was a really strange movie and even Anusha hated it. It was called Karma aur Holi. Now we though, since Holi was in the title, it would be fun! Throwing colors and so forth. Absolutely not. It was like a 2-hour episode of a soap opera that none of us understood. It was pretty awful! After the movie we got in the car (did I mention that they have their own driver?) and headed for a reception that the Rotary club was putting on or all of us. The reception was pretty dull with a long lecture and a few interesting singers, but the party really got started when it was time to eat! I swear it was like a stampede to get to the food, but man was it worth it! We ate with our hands the most questionable yet delicious meal ever!! The eating was followed by some acoustic music, which was then followed by DANCING! Oh my gosh it was so fun! We danced around to Indian techno music and exchanged moves with the drunken Rotarian wives. It was fabuloso.

The next day we were carted off in a bus to Mamalapuram I believe it’s called. It is this old Buddhist temple that is all carved out of rocks. There’s also this giant boulder balanced on top of a slope that they call Krishna’s Butter Ball…couldn’t tell you why. It was SCHORCHING hot and we were all sporting new Indian (conservative) swag so any shade we could find, we coveted! After sweating our brains out, we got back on the bus and went to another ancient temple. I hate to say it but I couldn’t tell you the name. The story of it is that it supposedly used to be under sand until one day there was a huge wave that uncovered it. They started digging and found an entire temple! Wild! Then we headed for lunch at this beautiful far house. It was like a hidden paradise on the side of the road that is used by one of the families as a weekend home. All of the houses along the little road are beautiful and incredibly expensive. We ate samosas and sat by the little creek running through the back yard surrounded by puppies and geese! It was the best lunch I have had so far!! At this point, we were all pretty pooped, but for some reason, they insisted on taking us to an alligator and snake zoo. I was a little bit less than excited, but was willing to pull it together enough to at least walk around. I know that they are super important amazing reptiles, but no matter how many times you tell me what kind this one is and what kind that one is…they just all look the same to me!

After the croc zoo, we headed home for dinner. The mother’s cooking was so good! Everything was super fresh and so well prepared! Then us three girls went out for a little fun! We started by going to a market where we bought, as Anusha calls them, gypsy beads! I got a bunch of fun stuff! This is where I encountered the most beggars. They were the most beautiful little girls with so much pain in their eyes. I was actually pleasantly surprised when Anusha walked them to a food stand near by and bought them food instead f just handing them money or blowing them off. The Hindu spirit is so beautiful. Then we headed for the beach where they have a little mini carnival at night. We shot bee bee guns at balloons and then sat down to have our fortunes told BY A PARROT!!! Let me describe the scene. There is a little man sitting on a blanket with two little green parrots in a pretty little cage. You sit down and the man lets one of the parrots out of its slot in the cage. Then it goes though a pile of cards, pulling each one off the top with his beak. When he finds one that he believes suits you, he walks it over to a relic (just to double check with the gods) and then hands it to the fortuneteller. The fortuneteller then proceeds to double check. He pulls a different card off of the pile and shows it to the bird that then shakes his little parrot head. They do this a few times and then the fortuneteller shows the parrot the card that he has picked and the parrot chirps! This goes on a few more times and then the fortuneteller opens up the card and tells you all about your fortune! (I will try to post Anusha translating it for all to see…its pretty amusing!!)

The next day was spent shopping! Yay! Then we went back with out families to the ship. Man was it a hubbub trying to get them on! But they finally embarked the ship and we gave them a tour. At this point I was SO tired that I really didn’t have the patients to give a tour. I felt really bad, but I left them with Audrey a little bit early so that I could take a nap. One I was showered (I didn’t shower the entire three days that I stayed with them and considering India…that’s pretty disgusting) and napped, I called up Sara and we went out with two other guys to ACTUALLY see a Bollywood movie. On a side note, there’s this strange phenomenon that I was introduced to in India that I had never seen before. Tuk tuk (rickshaw) drivers will give you a decent price, but only if you stop at a shop and look around. We were taken to two different shops on our way to the movies and usually they have really nice stuff, but are incredibly overpriced. I think it is safe to say that locals would never set foot in one of those shops. Anyways back to Bollywood. Oh my god…this movie…it was literally the Bollywood version of the Producers. IT WAS HILARIOUS!!! I can’t for the life of me remember the name of it but it was truly a gem!!

The next day we woke up and decided to head to a Bollywood movie studio were they were supposedly shooting a movie! When we got there we found out that they were only shooting a fight scene, but somehow we managed our way in and watched them film! It was actually pretty cool besides the fact that it was hotter than Hades in the studio. We spent the rest of day shopping around and bargaining with Tuk tuk drivers. It was quite an adventure. Overall, I really enjoyed India. It was definitely a learning experience and I am really glad that I did a home stay instead of going to the Taj Mahal. I’ll just have to go back I suppose!

Until Thailand!!