It's late but the internet connection is on and I don't know the next time it will be so I should write something. I could write 20 posts a day with all that I am taking in so I'm finding it hard to summarize. There are so many delicious details.
Speaking of delicious details, hooray for poop!
In short, as an unforeseen yet satisfying small victory, my tummy has finally adjusted to rice as the basis of every meal.
"Whew, I did not want to know that much about her India trip" all the good readers are now thinking. It's all part of the India adventure, folks.
Ewart Women's Christian College is where I have been spending the majority of my time here. I don't know how to begin except that I don't know if I've ever met a group of more genuine, caring, welcoming women my age in my entire life. I am genuinely going to miss so many of them. There are 70 "hostel girls" as they are called in this college of about 250 or so, which was founded 4 years ago as a branch of the much larger Madras Christian College. Their focus is on educating women, particularly rural village women that normally would never have the chance to get an education. They're funded through full or partial scholarships to gain the mobility to have a more prosperous life. Many of the women here are first-generation learners and many times the first woman, or person from their village to go to college. My host, Anne, a Kalamazoo college graduate (there's my connection), is the Dean of Development here. Officially she's a Presbyterian missionary, or at least that's who pays her salary. So her job is not the hard stuff, like being a professor and teaching the classes, but all the fun stuff. She's gotten a lot going-like tabla classes many of the women are involved in. Traditionally tabla is a "man's instrument" too complicated for women to learn which was a primary reason why she wanted them to learn, and they love it, also for that reason. (Tabla are Indian drums.) She's also introduced karate as a sports class to help them gain confidence as well as self defense skills which they've also loved and really excelled at. I get to be a part of their Orange Belt ceremony on Thursday which is going to be a really big thing with all kinds of bishops and important people. I've also become really interested in more karate after doing a few classes with them. My main project with them the past few weeks I've been here is teaching them how to write a speech with the topic "Karate and Me."-in English. This might sound like an elementary topic, but it's pretty complex considering many of these women have hardly given speeches, let alone in English, with a topic about themselves in relationship to something. I've learned a great deal about the Indian education system, which is so different from American education system. These women have never been asked about themselves before, the way the individual feels has never been an emphasis in Indian culture where the basic unit is the family rather than the individual. Family and not yourself is what is important in Indian culture, and that reflects in the educational system which emphasizes memorization of facts and figures rather than composing personal statements about oneself. So this was a revolutionary assignment for these women. Especially since it's in English is a bigger step, because for many of the first years-who just started a few weeks ago when the semester started in June, this is the first time they've really spoken English because they studied in Tamil Medium schools. (classes are in English here, because English is the way for better jobs. Everyone wants to learn English because it's the way to get ahead. Nevermind the connotations that it's the white European conqueror's language. It's too fargone at this point so it has to be the language to use to get ahead)
Anyhow, Anne and I put together a big workshop for them a few Saturdays ago taking them through the steps of writing this speech. I made made presentations on brainstorming and writing a draft and walked them through models of each. Anne seemed really impressed with how I did, and I was really impressed with what they came out with. We spent the week after revising the speeches and getting a draft prepared for a workshop the following week on public speaking......
etc. etc. etc....it's so late now. I have to go.
But I will write more on the actual people I'm hanging out with, my absolute favorite part about India, just hanging out at that college.
For now, check this out, where were going to explore tomorrow: Cholamandal Artist's Village.
Exciting!
http://www.chennaionline.com/toursntravel/placesofinterest/cholamandal.asp
As soon as the new hostel building with a new dining hall is finished, there will be more space for people to move
23 July 2007
A quick glance
Or list of things I love about India:
-Autorickshaws-every major city would benefit from these agile, cheap, fairly environmentally friendly, quick trip people movers
-The smell of the fruit market
-The small fruit pyramids out on all the sellers tables
-The strings of jasmine flowers nearly every woman has in her braid, especially on Fridays, a natural perfume
-The salwar kameez makes so much more sense than pants for the hot, humid climate
-Jackfruit, papaya and mango "the king of fruits"
-Chipattis
-Temple music heard all around the city reminding you to pray that sounds like ice cream truck music, especially when they play "Oh when the saints go marching in" and similar familiar songs
-Church music on Sunday mornings heard all around the neighborhood reminding you to go to church-that sounds like jolly mariachi music
-Every part of palm trees from leaf to root is used for something when they cut them down
-The art of eating rice with my hand
-The art of eating rice with my right hand (Left hand, no WAY-right hand is for eating, left hand is traditionally for...other business, like keeping yourself clean. Therefore using the left hand for anything like waving or paying can be quite insulting. Thus, left-handedness is quite shunned in India and there are virtually no lefties. This has taken some adjusting and a few mishaps for a lefty like me. Fortunately, my obviously foreign complexion allows for many forgivenesses)
-No hot water for showers necessary
-Refreshing showers after such sticky days
-Appreciation for working electrical current
-Goats and cows all over the city who know exactly the path they're supposed to take
-Everyone stares at you, but they also smile and are very friendly and helpful. They stare a little less when at least your clothes blend in. They're even nicer when you say something in Tamil.
-Being excited about getting in the train-because there will be a warm breeze
-Realizing over and over how incredibly sheltered and environmentally unaware most Americans are
-No denying, saris are gorgeous-and versatile-one size fits all. I have yet to see an ugly one, even homeless women's saris are beautiful
-I am getting over my aversion to rice for every meal
-Cashew trees, palm trees, fig trees, jackfruit trees, mango trees, all manner of healthy fruits and vegetables growing all over the place
-The strangest things painted beautifully-like the backs of semi-trucks with faces, designs, and ornate "Sound Horn" message
-I have not been able to figure out the spelling for 'Colum' or 'Colom', a traditional Indian housewife's art form, an intricate design swept and put on the doorstep in powder or chalk each morning to invite Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and positive energy into the house
-the birdcalls each morning
-Autorickshaws-every major city would benefit from these agile, cheap, fairly environmentally friendly, quick trip people movers
-The smell of the fruit market
-The small fruit pyramids out on all the sellers tables
-The strings of jasmine flowers nearly every woman has in her braid, especially on Fridays, a natural perfume
-The salwar kameez makes so much more sense than pants for the hot, humid climate
-Jackfruit, papaya and mango "the king of fruits"
-Chipattis
-Temple music heard all around the city reminding you to pray that sounds like ice cream truck music, especially when they play "Oh when the saints go marching in" and similar familiar songs
-Church music on Sunday mornings heard all around the neighborhood reminding you to go to church-that sounds like jolly mariachi music
-Every part of palm trees from leaf to root is used for something when they cut them down
-The art of eating rice with my hand
-The art of eating rice with my right hand (Left hand, no WAY-right hand is for eating, left hand is traditionally for...other business, like keeping yourself clean. Therefore using the left hand for anything like waving or paying can be quite insulting. Thus, left-handedness is quite shunned in India and there are virtually no lefties. This has taken some adjusting and a few mishaps for a lefty like me. Fortunately, my obviously foreign complexion allows for many forgivenesses)
-No hot water for showers necessary
-Refreshing showers after such sticky days
-Appreciation for working electrical current
-Goats and cows all over the city who know exactly the path they're supposed to take
-Everyone stares at you, but they also smile and are very friendly and helpful. They stare a little less when at least your clothes blend in. They're even nicer when you say something in Tamil.
-Being excited about getting in the train-because there will be a warm breeze
-Realizing over and over how incredibly sheltered and environmentally unaware most Americans are
-No denying, saris are gorgeous-and versatile-one size fits all. I have yet to see an ugly one, even homeless women's saris are beautiful
-I am getting over my aversion to rice for every meal
-Cashew trees, palm trees, fig trees, jackfruit trees, mango trees, all manner of healthy fruits and vegetables growing all over the place
-The strangest things painted beautifully-like the backs of semi-trucks with faces, designs, and ornate "Sound Horn" message
-I have not been able to figure out the spelling for 'Colum' or 'Colom', a traditional Indian housewife's art form, an intricate design swept and put on the doorstep in powder or chalk each morning to invite Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and positive energy into the house
-the birdcalls each morning
16 July 2007
Bay of Bengal, Hindu gods, crocs and sore stomachs
I'm feeling more and more settled every day that I'm here...it's still such big adjustment even when you're expecting the big differences. Waking up sweaty doesn't really phase me much anymore. I still can't usually sleep all the way through the night without regaining consciousness at least once just because it's so warm. I'm a Michigander, I like sleeping under something even in the summer so its weird to get used to just sleeping on top of a cot.
We had a really big day yesterday. Woke up around 5:45 to take a car into the college where we took the college bus out with about 50 of the 70 college women I'm working with. The bus ride there was way fun. They love singing and dancing and brought tambourines and bongos with them to use at church so the bus ride there was filled with Tamil and English songs and dance in the back of the bus. The whole bus cheered when I started dancing with them.
First we went to the Mission Festival that various churches in Madras Diocese have each year to raise money for their mission stuff in India. We went to church when we got there since I am working at a Christian college. 2 hour service in Tamil...not so interesting after awhile, but it wasn't so bad. The only thing I felt really bad about was what I was wearing. I'm not sure exactly how inappropriately dressed I was but I'm pretty sure it wasn't right for church. Apparently long pants, a sleeveless shirt and a dupatta to cover my shoulders wasn't covered enough. Or maybe people were just staring at me because I was the only non-Indian and the only woman not wearing a sari or salwar. I haven't gone out and bought a sari or salwar yet so I was doing my best to be appropriate, but I still felt mildly embarrassed not knowing if I was making a major faux pax (I don't know how to spell that word, i know there's an x in it). The girls are so sweet though, they showed me the "respectable" way to wear my dupatta and held my hand and led me around the whole time at the festival after the church service. They got me all kinds of food-Indians are always worried about whether you're hungry-I had chipati chicken, coffee, a popcicle and a tender coconut-not my favorite, but very traditional. First you drink the weird bitter tasting milk out of the coconut with a straw-this is what would normally turn into the coconut meat- then you give it to a boy with a machete who slices it in half for you so you can eat the meat that's already formed inside. It looks sort of like white gelatin and doesn't really have a strong taste, but the milk was pretty weird. Its ok to eat because it's all enclosed, so you know its sanitary and everything.
Then we continued our drive out to see Mammalapuram which are 1500 year old Hindu temple ruins. Way cool for art history majors or studiers of eastern religions and I've done a little of each. This and Taj Mahal-these are the main 2 big things people come to India to see. Daya, my "host-dad" who is a renowned scholar also happens to be an expert on this site because he did field work out there in college dating some the monuments and correcting the mythology depicted on the panels. So he's been out there a million times and is about the best tour guide you could find for this place. (However since the group I was with was primarily native Tamil speakers, I didn't understand much of the tour he gave) We're going to go back though some weekend before I go with just a few of the girls who were really interested in it and I so I can hear more about it from him. It had some fantastic views...temple ruins up on some hills right on the shore of the Bay of Bengal. Strange experience: I'm now going to be in some Indian family's photo album-they asked me to take a picture with them on when I was standing on top of the ruins. At this point I'm not as phased anymore when someone comes up to me and asks "which country are you coming from?" but this was kind of strange, but not uncommon Anne said. She said even when her kids were little, sometimes people would want to take a picture with them because they were so light skinned (they're half Indian). We had a good laugh when we were taking a picture of our whole group on top of the ruins and a few Japanese guys came in and joined in the picture just as a joke, seeing how I got asked to have my picture taken. This place definitely had the most racial diversity I've seen so far in India-because it's a tourist spot.
Then...the wonderful Bay of Bengal!!! I wasn't planning getting my clothes completely soaked, but inevitably at the prodding and pushing of all the college girls, I finally did. It was so beautiful to see such reckless abandon and to see them so excited. I've never seen people get so excited for the beach. Girls and women in India normally don't ever learn to swim, and probably none of these girls knew how. But they actually took their dupattas off (which is really a second layer covering for the shoulders) and just ran completely into the water still in their salwars of course having so much fun just jumping into the waves. They finally got me to sit down in the water with the rest of them and we had the most fun I've had in such a long time laughing and screaming and singing with all of them. They're so spirited and joyful. Different ones would come up and grab my hands and we would wait for a big wave to sit down in and wash over us. It was such a different experience from ever going into Lake Michigan when I knew I could swim as far as I wanted because I was with a bunch of non-swimmers. They were so ecstatic about just being in the water even though they were fully clothed.
After that Daya wanted to show us this crocodile research station, which was pretty cool, thousands of crocs. The guy who started this is the world expert on crocodiles and snakes. At this point though, I was pretty much done for the day, being completely wet and full of sand. Salwars are made of light flowy material so the other girls were mostly dry...me in corduroys on the other hand..it was all I could do to make sure my pants didn't fall off they were so heavy with water. At this point I didn't really blame people for staring at me...white girl, with a group of 50 Indian girls, wearing strange clothing, completely wet and sandy...It was an experience.
Finally finally we made it home, but anyhow, eating out in India=not the best idea. Street food=sore stomach as I've been experiencing all day with my frequent trips to the bathroom (not to throw up, the other kind) I didn't even really eat much street food-none of us really did, but Anne was home sick all day with a fever and throwing up. I haven't felt completely horrible today, just my stomach has felt off and I am really trying not to let food cross my mind because it makes my stomach turn over. It's good though that this happened now rather than 4 or 5 days ago because I would not have been a happy camper because then things were all still so fresh and I was still getting myself really settled in my surroundings. I wouldn't say I'm completely settled now, but at least now I can walk on the streets with a little more confidence (even that's something you have to learn how to do) and I can ride the train, buy stuff and get an autorickshaw by myself.
Nevertheless, it was quite the day. Even though I didn't feel on top of the world today, it was certainly worth it for that wonderful time at the beach.
We had a really big day yesterday. Woke up around 5:45 to take a car into the college where we took the college bus out with about 50 of the 70 college women I'm working with. The bus ride there was way fun. They love singing and dancing and brought tambourines and bongos with them to use at church so the bus ride there was filled with Tamil and English songs and dance in the back of the bus. The whole bus cheered when I started dancing with them.
First we went to the Mission Festival that various churches in Madras Diocese have each year to raise money for their mission stuff in India. We went to church when we got there since I am working at a Christian college. 2 hour service in Tamil...not so interesting after awhile, but it wasn't so bad. The only thing I felt really bad about was what I was wearing. I'm not sure exactly how inappropriately dressed I was but I'm pretty sure it wasn't right for church. Apparently long pants, a sleeveless shirt and a dupatta to cover my shoulders wasn't covered enough. Or maybe people were just staring at me because I was the only non-Indian and the only woman not wearing a sari or salwar. I haven't gone out and bought a sari or salwar yet so I was doing my best to be appropriate, but I still felt mildly embarrassed not knowing if I was making a major faux pax (I don't know how to spell that word, i know there's an x in it). The girls are so sweet though, they showed me the "respectable" way to wear my dupatta and held my hand and led me around the whole time at the festival after the church service. They got me all kinds of food-Indians are always worried about whether you're hungry-I had chipati chicken, coffee, a popcicle and a tender coconut-not my favorite, but very traditional. First you drink the weird bitter tasting milk out of the coconut with a straw-this is what would normally turn into the coconut meat- then you give it to a boy with a machete who slices it in half for you so you can eat the meat that's already formed inside. It looks sort of like white gelatin and doesn't really have a strong taste, but the milk was pretty weird. Its ok to eat because it's all enclosed, so you know its sanitary and everything.
Then we continued our drive out to see Mammalapuram which are 1500 year old Hindu temple ruins. Way cool for art history majors or studiers of eastern religions and I've done a little of each. This and Taj Mahal-these are the main 2 big things people come to India to see. Daya, my "host-dad" who is a renowned scholar also happens to be an expert on this site because he did field work out there in college dating some the monuments and correcting the mythology depicted on the panels. So he's been out there a million times and is about the best tour guide you could find for this place. (However since the group I was with was primarily native Tamil speakers, I didn't understand much of the tour he gave) We're going to go back though some weekend before I go with just a few of the girls who were really interested in it and I so I can hear more about it from him. It had some fantastic views...temple ruins up on some hills right on the shore of the Bay of Bengal. Strange experience: I'm now going to be in some Indian family's photo album-they asked me to take a picture with them on when I was standing on top of the ruins. At this point I'm not as phased anymore when someone comes up to me and asks "which country are you coming from?" but this was kind of strange, but not uncommon Anne said. She said even when her kids were little, sometimes people would want to take a picture with them because they were so light skinned (they're half Indian). We had a good laugh when we were taking a picture of our whole group on top of the ruins and a few Japanese guys came in and joined in the picture just as a joke, seeing how I got asked to have my picture taken. This place definitely had the most racial diversity I've seen so far in India-because it's a tourist spot.
Then...the wonderful Bay of Bengal!!! I wasn't planning getting my clothes completely soaked, but inevitably at the prodding and pushing of all the college girls, I finally did. It was so beautiful to see such reckless abandon and to see them so excited. I've never seen people get so excited for the beach. Girls and women in India normally don't ever learn to swim, and probably none of these girls knew how. But they actually took their dupattas off (which is really a second layer covering for the shoulders) and just ran completely into the water still in their salwars of course having so much fun just jumping into the waves. They finally got me to sit down in the water with the rest of them and we had the most fun I've had in such a long time laughing and screaming and singing with all of them. They're so spirited and joyful. Different ones would come up and grab my hands and we would wait for a big wave to sit down in and wash over us. It was such a different experience from ever going into Lake Michigan when I knew I could swim as far as I wanted because I was with a bunch of non-swimmers. They were so ecstatic about just being in the water even though they were fully clothed.
After that Daya wanted to show us this crocodile research station, which was pretty cool, thousands of crocs. The guy who started this is the world expert on crocodiles and snakes. At this point though, I was pretty much done for the day, being completely wet and full of sand. Salwars are made of light flowy material so the other girls were mostly dry...me in corduroys on the other hand..it was all I could do to make sure my pants didn't fall off they were so heavy with water. At this point I didn't really blame people for staring at me...white girl, with a group of 50 Indian girls, wearing strange clothing, completely wet and sandy...It was an experience.
Finally finally we made it home, but anyhow, eating out in India=not the best idea. Street food=sore stomach as I've been experiencing all day with my frequent trips to the bathroom (not to throw up, the other kind) I didn't even really eat much street food-none of us really did, but Anne was home sick all day with a fever and throwing up. I haven't felt completely horrible today, just my stomach has felt off and I am really trying not to let food cross my mind because it makes my stomach turn over. It's good though that this happened now rather than 4 or 5 days ago because I would not have been a happy camper because then things were all still so fresh and I was still getting myself really settled in my surroundings. I wouldn't say I'm completely settled now, but at least now I can walk on the streets with a little more confidence (even that's something you have to learn how to do) and I can ride the train, buy stuff and get an autorickshaw by myself.
Nevertheless, it was quite the day. Even though I didn't feel on top of the world today, it was certainly worth it for that wonderful time at the beach.
12 July 2007
Driving in Chennai
Hey!!!! If I had written this two or three days ago, I would have talked about how overwhelmed I felt by everything. Not overwhelmed in a terrible, anguished way, just a lot to take in all at once. Mainly, adjusting to the heat is the most challenging part. 90-100 degree days with so much humidity and no air conditioning is quite an intense adjustment process to say the least. One quickly learns a number of things: 1) sweating is a natural part of life 2) conserve energy! the less you move, the less you sweat 3) sweating is a natural part of life. Once you're used to it, it really isn't that bad.
One of my favorite parts about these past few days has been just riding through Chennai and seeing the city and the people. It's so lively and chaotic compared to any American city. In terms of driving, the Indians say, "Nothing in India is a close call because everything is a close call." That definitely describes Indian driving. There is definitely a system to how they do it, but it's not immediately apparent to Western eyes. The difference from driving in many Western countries is that there is much more diversity in the kinds of traffic. People travel by car, by auto-rickshaw (which are three-wheeled taxis that 2-3 people fit in), by bicycle, by motorbike and by walking to name a few. Many of the shops and stalls are right at the street level as well creating even more congestion. All of this traffic is together in the street, making for much chaos. It is customary to honk at someone as you are passing them, not rude like in the US, so horns are going all over the place. This would probably not seem so different to me if I'd grown up in a big city, but after spending much of my life driving on the highways and country roads of Michigan, its a big difference!
India's train system is among the best in the world in terms of efficiency for the number of people who use it. I got 12 super cheap passport photos taken because I needed one to get a monthly train pass. (And now I have 11 more passport photos, yay!) I ride in the Ladies Car (since I am a lady). There are also the general cars that anyone can ride on. Anne was telling me about this whole system of etiquette between men and women in public and not touching at all when sitting next to each other or meeting eyes, and it was way easier to just ride with all women where all those rules don't apply. She said, "Don't worry if you mess up, they'll excuse you because they know you're a foreigner" but I don't want to be excused for that. I should know the proper way to act.
Since being here, I think I have seen maybe 3 other white people (and a few of those were in the airport) besides Anne and I. It motivates me to know even better what the correct, polite things to do are so that I don't appear the tourist even more. People here are really friendly and straightforward and willing to help you out though so I've felt really welcomed even though I stick out so much.
We're leaving soon to go to the college. I'll have to write more on that later,
One of my favorite parts about these past few days has been just riding through Chennai and seeing the city and the people. It's so lively and chaotic compared to any American city. In terms of driving, the Indians say, "Nothing in India is a close call because everything is a close call." That definitely describes Indian driving. There is definitely a system to how they do it, but it's not immediately apparent to Western eyes. The difference from driving in many Western countries is that there is much more diversity in the kinds of traffic. People travel by car, by auto-rickshaw (which are three-wheeled taxis that 2-3 people fit in), by bicycle, by motorbike and by walking to name a few. Many of the shops and stalls are right at the street level as well creating even more congestion. All of this traffic is together in the street, making for much chaos. It is customary to honk at someone as you are passing them, not rude like in the US, so horns are going all over the place. This would probably not seem so different to me if I'd grown up in a big city, but after spending much of my life driving on the highways and country roads of Michigan, its a big difference!
India's train system is among the best in the world in terms of efficiency for the number of people who use it. I got 12 super cheap passport photos taken because I needed one to get a monthly train pass. (And now I have 11 more passport photos, yay!) I ride in the Ladies Car (since I am a lady). There are also the general cars that anyone can ride on. Anne was telling me about this whole system of etiquette between men and women in public and not touching at all when sitting next to each other or meeting eyes, and it was way easier to just ride with all women where all those rules don't apply. She said, "Don't worry if you mess up, they'll excuse you because they know you're a foreigner" but I don't want to be excused for that. I should know the proper way to act.
Since being here, I think I have seen maybe 3 other white people (and a few of those were in the airport) besides Anne and I. It motivates me to know even better what the correct, polite things to do are so that I don't appear the tourist even more. People here are really friendly and straightforward and willing to help you out though so I've felt really welcomed even though I stick out so much.
We're leaving soon to go to the college. I'll have to write more on that later,
08 July 2007
Arrival in India
Ok, so this is not only my Kenya blog, but also an India blog because that is where I have been for the last 24 hours. I realized how silly my posting times must look.
I just got here last night after quite the plane ride. I went from Detroit to Frankfurt, then from Frankfurt to Chennai, where I am right now. The plane ride was pretty nice, I sat next to a guy from Detroit in the army on the first plane and we watched some movies together (Beauty and the Beast and 300, yes, quite the combination). I also watched this Swedish movie I'd highly recommend called After the Wedding. I didn't get to see the last few minutes though, because the plane was landing. For some reason they put me on standby for the flight to Chennai even though I already had a seat reservation (something weird about how they checked me in and being in the back of the line I guess). I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to get on because they said it was overbooked by 20 seats, but they must have figured it out because I got on. Anyway, I'll be sure and get in the front when I go home. Then on the way to Chennai I sat next to this nice Indian couple and some really cute little kids across the aisle. I was so surprised how good they were the entire plane ride. The girl was only 1 or 2 and an Indian version of Maggie from the Simpsons and sat there and played or slept the entire ride all while sucking on her pacifier. I was excited when her mom asked if I would hold her while she left to walk around and go to the bathroom. You get to be good friends with people on these long plane rides.
Finally I arrived at 1 am Indian time, completely out of it with fatigue and found Anne and Daya, my hosts. We drove back to the house, I got a tour and went to bed for the next 12 hours.
So here I am.
I just got here last night after quite the plane ride. I went from Detroit to Frankfurt, then from Frankfurt to Chennai, where I am right now. The plane ride was pretty nice, I sat next to a guy from Detroit in the army on the first plane and we watched some movies together (Beauty and the Beast and 300, yes, quite the combination). I also watched this Swedish movie I'd highly recommend called After the Wedding. I didn't get to see the last few minutes though, because the plane was landing. For some reason they put me on standby for the flight to Chennai even though I already had a seat reservation (something weird about how they checked me in and being in the back of the line I guess). I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to get on because they said it was overbooked by 20 seats, but they must have figured it out because I got on. Anyway, I'll be sure and get in the front when I go home. Then on the way to Chennai I sat next to this nice Indian couple and some really cute little kids across the aisle. I was so surprised how good they were the entire plane ride. The girl was only 1 or 2 and an Indian version of Maggie from the Simpsons and sat there and played or slept the entire ride all while sucking on her pacifier. I was excited when her mom asked if I would hold her while she left to walk around and go to the bathroom. You get to be good friends with people on these long plane rides.
Finally I arrived at 1 am Indian time, completely out of it with fatigue and found Anne and Daya, my hosts. We drove back to the house, I got a tour and went to bed for the next 12 hours.
So here I am.
Wilkommen
So this is my blog about Kenya and other excellent things.
I am not there yet of course, and will not be until the 4th of September...but until then, this can whet your appetite:
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/kenya.php
enjoy..
I am not there yet of course, and will not be until the 4th of September...but until then, this can whet your appetite:
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/kenya.php
enjoy..
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