Last night, Laura, Katie, Aneesh, and I had a fun time shopping at the Spencer Plaza Mall. Downtown Chennai is about a 45 minute drive from where we are staying in Porur, a Chennai suburb. Little Stephen bravely drove the tiny white van through the suicidal traffic. It's interesting; I don't get a sense that there's a lot of road rage. What I see is a bunch of speed happy drivers all trying to get to their destinations as crazily as possible. It's mad.
We did arrive safely, after little Stephen drove us with the speed and madness of the other drivers. He parked in the parking garage and told us he would be there whenever we wanted to return. Later, we found out that he is quite content waiting as he likes the opportunity to listen to music at eardrum-splitting levels. (In fact, this morning I asked big Stephen what the drumming was about in the street, wondering if it was a street festival. Big Stephen replied that it wasn't a festival, it was his brother listening to music in the van parked outside.) We entered the mall and then spent the next few hours shopping, haggling, and (inevitably) spending. I bought two tops (about $5 each), earrings, silver bangles (Indian women love to wear lots of bangles on their arms), and scarves (that can double as shawls) for about $3 each. I've seen the same scarves in Nordstroms for $30 - $40 each. Bargain shopping is great fun.
Arriving at the guesthouse late, we ate a late dinner and split a few beers. In order to get beer, we have to ask Stephen to buy it for us as he says it is not good for us to be seen where liquor is sold. I'm not sure why, but I think it has something to do with our reputations.
Today I awoke and did the morning yoga class with our instructor. He is a kind man, but sometimes he doesn't understand why I don't do a pose. It's because I CAN'T. Overall, however, it's good to get in the stretching and exercise. After yoga came a welcome shower as I was already dripping with sweat because of the heat. It was hot when we arrived in India and it is even hotter now as we are just entering their hottest season. Anyone with the means to do so leaves Chennai at this time. However, judging by the traffic, whoever has left hasn't even made a dent in the number of cars and auto-rickshaws on the road.
This morning at Grace School passed uneventfully. The children think it's quite hysterical that I bring frozen water with me in my water jug. I like the icy water half way through the morning. However, they all have to touch my water bottle and they laugh and laugh. I'm easy entertainment. After we taught the students, we had our conversational English class with the teachers. They wanted to know all about our shopping trip, what we bought, and (most importantly) what we spent. Other subjects we talked about were: 1) breastfeeding (most women in India breastfeed 2) teenage pregnancy (teenagers that get pregnant get abortions) 3) birth control (the method of birth control used in India is sterilization - women only, although they have heard of condoms) and 4) discliplining of children (they do believe in corporal punishment, even in school). Claudia and I were amused when the teachers, wearing their beautiful saris, found the stickers we used to put on the children's papers. They decorated the front and the sleeves of their saris with stickers. It was quite cute.
We came back to the guesthouse for lunch, then had time to prepare lessons and rest. Tonight, all of us will be going to Assissi Illam orphanage for a dance night. The younger members of our group have hooked up an ipod and speaker system for the music.
I better go. At the internet cafe that I'm at I have been told that my time is up.
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