India is OVERWHELMING

It is impossible to actually explain in words how my India experience was, but as always I will do my best. For the first time we all experienced a HUGE culture shock the first day that we ported in Chennai. Despite it being about 95 degrees with dense humidity, the culture is very conservative, which meant we had to dress accordingly- no shorts/skirts/pants above the knee, no shoulders, chest or back exposed. Also, close toed shoes because the streets are so disgusting. The smell of India is something that I will never forget. We could smell it well before we got into the port, probably a day before- and to be honest the ship still has a bit of a smell going on.
On my first day there I was signed up for a service visit to a Dalit Village School. When I signed up for it back in September, I had no idea what that would entail, but it had been recommended to me. Well, turns out there were 18 of us and we took a bus to a school on the outskirts on Chennai. The bus ride itself was overwhelming.
The level of poverty throughout Chennai is above and beyond anything I could even imagine, let alone drive through. There is trash everywhere, the streets are somewhat paved, most people don’t wear shoes, there are stray animals – dogs, goats, cows – everywhere. Even though the caste system isn’t legally still in effect, socially it is. It is clear that the rich are rich and keep getting richer- and the poor will continue to be poor. Driving through the city was a feat in itself- there aren’t really any driving regulations. You drive on the left side of the road, but even that is very flexible. You see everything on the street from bicycles, to rigshaws, to pretty nice cars, to really crappy cars, to oxen pulling carts with vegetables to packed minibuses. And the beeping is endless. In India, using your horn isn’t a sign of aggression, it is a warning, so when you are coming up behind a bicycle you honk so they know you are there. Plus there are no traffic lights, so you just beep to let people know that you are there. 4 way intersections caused me to see my life flash before my eyes several times as well as a few close calls, but I’ll get to those later. But I am glad my first tour around the city was from the bus because I really saw a lot and took a lot in before doing anything else in the city.
Well when we got to the village, we were welcomed with a whole parade of people- playing music, singing, dancing, wanting to take photos with us and shake our hands – it was overwhelming. A 5 man band led us down the street to the school, where there was a pavilion in the courtyard area with a big poster that said “Work Project – Students of Semester at Sea – University of Virginia, USA – Organized by Human Rights Education Movement of India”. All of the children either ran out of the building to greet us, or just came to the windows of their classrooms and began screaming and cheering. It was really special and immediately we could tell that they had been looking forward to this day for a long time. After welcoming us with music and an introduction to the school, and some of us got henna tattoos by girls who were SO excited to see us, they put us to work! We were to paint the exterior of three of the buildings that all faced the center of the courtyard. I had yellow paint, so after 4 hours I was absolutely covered in paint. They didn’t really care how neat it was, so we were just slopping it on and it was going everywhere! I was painting with Ellen, one of the nurses from the medical team on the ship – and probably every couple minutes or so, one of the children would come up to us and ask us what our names were, and ask us to write our name and phone number down in their notebooks. It was hysterical. For most of them, that was their vast English knowledge. Several of them however were able to talk to us about school and what their favorite subjects were, how old they were, etc. Mayhem really hit when school let out around 3pm or so. Kids just started RUNNING out of the school and wanting to touch us and shake our hands, and they would have us sign their hands, it was crazy. OH and cameras are the most exciting things for them. They would fight each other to have their pictures taken. Once any of us took a camera out of our pocket or our bag we had to fend for our lives, haha. They loved seeing themselves on our cameras – so we have LOTS of pictures of them and with them, which I will eventually post..the stickers were also a huge hit…but we waited until the end to give those out because we knew it would cause chaos!
After painting for about 3 hours (with very frequent interruptions) they had us sit under the pavilion and thank us for all of our hard work and for simply coming to the village because as we could see, it absolutely made the children’s days. They had been looking forward to meeting us for so long, and the smiles on their faces were really all we needed as a Thank You. Basically the school itself is in a Dalit neighborhood, which is the lowest caste system, also known as the untouchables. They aren’t even in the caste system actually, they are below the lowest level. So it was the poorest of the poor people in India, and the work that the Education Movement doing is phenomenal. Every SAS group does service projects through them, but they move around so different children get to meet the students over the years. As we were leaving they were holding our hands and hugging us and kissing our cheeks- they were all so cute and we could have easily stayed there for a few more hours. It was exhausting but an incredibly rewarding experience.
After getting back to the ship and showering a group of 6 of us went out to dinner. We were told that Amethyst was a good Indian restaurant, so we caught a rigshaw – let me explain. It is a little three wheel vehicle powered by a two stroke engine. The driver sits in the front and it is meant to hold up to 3 in the back (4 can squeeze). They are rickety things with a roof, but with no sides except bars to hold on to. Well it was an adventure. It was about a 10 minute ride through crazy traffic and they insisted that we stop at two different stores- which was obvious that they would get a commission on anything that we bought- but we didn’t buy anything. Finally we got there, and low and behold it turned out to be an Italian Restaurant! We were quite disappointed, but we were there so oh well. We had some good pizza so it wasn’t a total loss. After that we walked over to where the movie theater is where there are good dessert places and WOW – we went to a French place called Ecstasy that had wonderful desserts – I had a banana and crème crepe. Delicious. We walked around for a little while, which isn’t exactly the most pleasant thing to do in Chennai, but it is actually the safest I have felt in any of the countries thus far. Not once did I feel in danger – and I was expecting to get stared at, but that wasn’t the case at all. It seemed as if they saw us, and just accepted that we were foreigners. It was only the children that stared. So yeah let’s just say that our shoes were absolutely filthy and I don’t know what know what I was walking through, but once it started pouring we decided to call it a night and head back to the ship. There is no night life in India- it is just not part of their culture. Everything closes around 11pm and there are no bars or liquor stores or anything like that – only in some really nice hotels are there bars, but it is just not really heard of or accepted. So back at the ship- they had the entire carpets covered with plastic so that our shoes wouldn’t ruin everything, and we went to bed early since we were pretty exhausted from being out in the sun all day.
The next morning we left around 1030am for our homestay!! It was set up through the Madras Rotary and SAS has been doing it with them for over ten years. SO we all loaded on to the bus and met the host families. I was staying with Krishnan! He is who Ben had been in touch with because his sister Ally stayed with him three semesters ago and he was hoping to stay with him also, but I was the one who got lucky! So my homestay partner was Tristen, a girl who goes to Quinnipiac University in Connecticut who I had met once or twice on the ship already. Krishnan is a professor at a university in Chennai, and one of his best students was with him when he came to pick us up, and she was fun to talk to about schooling and her wanting to come to the United States. It was about a 30 minute drive to his apartment, which is where he lived with his aunt and uncle (but from different sides of the family) his mom and his dad. Krishnan is not married, and neither are his aunt or his uncle. I am still interested why, but it was clearly a subject that they didn’t really want to talk about. Anyway, he showed us our room, which they refer to as the “American room”. They have been hosting SAS students for 12 years so he has had close to 80 students stay at his home, which I thought was awesome! His aunt speaks pretty good English and seems like his mother figure, I think she is decently older than him, her name was Usha and I grew to LOVE her. His uncle did not speak any English but was this cute short really old man who would just smile and laugh and walk around. His mother I only saw once, she is bed-ridden and not in good health, and his father speaks no English and is blind but he ate with us a few times, which was nice. The apartment was pretty small, but the table in the kitchen was big, and the living room was nice- and although it had cracks in the walls and ceiling, they had a huge Sony TV with large speakers, so that was interesting- they also have broadband internet.
OK so for lunch that day, one of his former students, Sarden, who is now working in IT just applied to Graduate School at both UVA and William & Mary in the States, but he said the whole process could take up to 2 years before he actually goes if he does get accepted. We had a very traditional Indian meal- it was SPICY! But they gave us plenty of water which was great and I ate with my hands for the first time, which I am not so good at but did improve every meal. I don’t remember exactly what we had, but most of their dishes are similar- some sort of bread or rice paddy with several different dipping sauces. They are all vegetarian, so lots of potato ingredients, vegetables, I don’t even know what else, but it was delicious!!! And they don’t really accept no as an answer, so I stuffed myself every meal.
After lunch Usha took Tristen and I out shopping for sarees (the traditional Indian dress)! We had a banquet that night that the Madras Rotary hosted so Krishnan insisted that we get all decked out for it. So the shopping experience was intense- all of these young girls wanted to help us pick our and try on our sarees- so it was fun. I wound up getting a dark green and gold one, and Tristen got a maroon and gold one. They are three pieces all together, and LOTS of fabric- but we trusted Usha that she got us the right sizes and all together it cost 600 ruppees, which is about 12 dollars! We also had to buy bangles and bindis (the dot that goes on the forehead for channeling positive energies- they have fashionable ones which were fun!) So after buying our sarees she took us to a parlor, where about 12 Indian women just went to town with us. They dressed us in our sarees, which is quite the process since they are so huge- and then they did our hair and our makeup- they put jewels in our hair and flowers (they are all about jasmine there) and it was a lot of fun, all while the Indian radio was playing that we got a kick out of. From there we headed to the banquet.
It was at a gorgeous hotel and first was a regular Rotary meeting, and the two interport students that we had aboard (between each port we have one or two students come on the ship to run through pre-port presentations, and sometimes we have professors also) gave powerpoint presentations and showed slideshows about their experiences for the entire rotary to see. Then we just took a lot of pictures with all of the officers and the Rotarian Students…then we had yet another delicious meal. It was outside in a courtyard, almost like a cocktail reception with different stations. They had macaroni and cheese which we laughed about because that was the LAST thing we wanted considering we have pasta everyday on the ship. So we had some dosa, which is Indian pizza which was good- it is just dipping the bread into two different sauces, and I had some chicken dish and a fish dish and a lot of the veg stuff- basically I had no idea what I was eating but I loved it all! And they had DELICIOUS vanilla ice cream and apple crumb pie which was just fabulous. So we just had some food and some drinks and chatted/socialized with the Rotarians and other students. It was really nice, and actually relaxing! It went pretty late so by the time we got back home we stayed up and chatted for a little while, but called it a pretty early night.
The next day all of the SAS students came together to go on a bus tour to all different temples and sculpture sights around Chennai. It was a full day long and we stopped 4 different times at different sights. Lucky for us every time we got on the bus, it was raining, but when we had to step off it always cleared up! We also stopped for lunch at one of the Rotarians houses, which was so beautiful- they had a little pond in the back and the patio was gorgeous and the food was great! Surprise, surprise. So we went to see different temples of Vishnu and Krishna, the Shore Temple and ButterBall Rock- a few other places that I am not sure of the names. But it was a fun day- and Krishnan was the only host with us because he was in charge of the day! He is hysterical too, he is like a teenage girl with his camera- he takes pictures of EVERYTHING! Our last stop was at a Crocodile Camp, where they had 2,000 something crocodiles…we got to hold one and we also got to hold a snake!! That was my first time doing that and it was kind of scary- they feel so weird! But I got tons of bugbites there, just hopefully not malaria! They also had several cobras that they showed us during a little demonstration- they all were snakes that are deadly within a few hours of getting bit, kinda crazyyy.
We didn’t get home until about 8pm that night, so we just had a good dinner at home and I stayed up for awhile that night with Usha talking about all different things- from food to Hinduism to the other students that have stayed at the house…it was really nice- and then eventually bedtime!
In the morning we got up not too early, we had time to go to some temples, which they do everyday- probably multiple times a day- they are EVERYWHERE. Every nook and corner in the street has a temple, it is very interesting. We also did some shopping around Pondi Bazaar before meeting some of Krishnan’s neighbors for lunch at Savannah Bhavan (an awesome Indian restaurant that actually has one in Edison, NJ and one in NY that I will have to check out!) so it was a great lunch buffet – it is a vegetarian place and probably my favorite meal of the whole trip- and it only comes out to $4 a person! After lunch it was time to head to the ship to give them a tour! Technically the homestay ends after the tour of the ship, but they had invited us to stay for another night at their house. Tristen politely declined, but I said I would love to. So Tristen & I took Krishnan, Usha and one of their neighbors who is 22 I believe to see the ship! Krishnan has been on MANY times, Usha 3 times I think and this was the neighbors first time. So it was exciting to show where I live and everything on the ship…and for the first time Usha and (I forget her name but I want to say….Ansi) had peanut butter! Then we found Ben and he came back to the house with us! But Krishnana decided to take us out for a nice dinner at GBT which is a restaurant in a really nice hotel, and his favorite place to eat in Chennai! Sarden also met us there which was nice- and Sarden, Ben and I split some non-veg dishes- one was chicken the other was crab, but honestly they tasted so similar. Before we had our main dish, they have several different appetizers out, and one was just a vegetable platter, and what Ben thought was a green bean turned out to be a green chili and me being such a good friend could not stop laughing- while he was crying and sweating…it was quite the sight. He said the only way to help it was just taking a sip of beer and holding it in his mouth for a few seconds to relieve the burn…oh man. So the meal was great, and we stayed there for a long time having good food and good conversation and there was good music there, so no reason to hurry! Plus the tagline that we have come up for India is…”But wait, there’s more!” Because whenever you think everything is said and done, there is ALWAYS more- whether it be in a meal or shopping…there’s almost more than you expect.
We logged some internet time when we got back to the house just to upload some photos and I went on Facebook for the first time since I left New Jersey!!! I was only on for a few minutes because I was trying to find a specific pictures…which I could not, but I did make me miss Ithaca and all that has been going on…but then I thought, well- I’m in India---life isn’t so bad for me! Haha.
The next morning we woke up early to go play badmitton at the YMCA- Krishnan is PRO! There is a whole league there and he plays everyday for 2 hours. We didn’t play for that long, and Ben and I were totally out of practice but it was really fun. I did break the norm and played in shorts though- partially because I wasn’t going to play in a skirt, and also because I wanted to see the reactions- there were some looks, but not as many as I expected. It’s not like they have never seen legs before…
After that we went to the post office and a few temples and just walked around their neighborhood for a bit meeting neighbors and such, then watched some cricket on TV and exchanged email/phone numbers with them and they gave us each a candle holder and an incense holder, and I gave them a calendar from NJ- so they could see what the weather was like in NJ while it was either Hot, Hotter or Hottest in India – their only 3 seasons. We went shopping some more in the Bazaar- there were just certain things that we were looking for that we wanted to get before we left, and then we actually got stuck in LOTS of traffic from a political rally that was going on so we made it back to the ship with only 30 minutes to spare which was pretty lucky! When they dropped us off I was very close to crying- I had grown very close to them in only 3 nights- it was incredible the way that they opened their home to us and I really did feel comfortable and welcome there. He kept insisting that we come back to India with our friends and family and that we always have a place to stay. And If friends ever needed a place to stay, they are always more than welcome at their house.
All in all India was an amazing country to visit- the people here are the nicest people that I have yet to come across on this trip. Never once did I feel unsafe (except while on the roads) and everyone wanted to talk to us and have conversations and were genuinely interested in why we were in India and what we thought about the country and they had SO many questions about the States. I would love to go back there and visit someday- and I would absolutely love to see the Taj at some point. Most of the SAS students went up to see the Taj and several different parts of Northern India. I felt like that would not have been the best use of my time in India this visit and I am SO glad that I did the homestay because it truly was an amazing experience and a great way to really experience the culture. The general feelings on the ship…either people loved it or hated it and the most descriptive word for India is overwhelming. I absolutely loved it which does surprise me because I wasn’t terribly excited about going there, even though it has come to be one of the best ports yet! It is hard to compare them all because they are so different and I have been doing such different things, but it was totally refreshing to be in a country that was not in one way Westernized and has such an old history. I could write pages more…but I will stop here!
Now that we have made it to Asia we are jumping from country to country with very few days on the ship- which is SO exciting. We get to Malaysia in two days, then Vietnam, China and Japan are all going to be a whirlwind. Posting will be difficult, but I will do my best even if they are short updates. Also, there is a change in some of the addresses for shipping, so I will post that also. Classes are going good, but now we get bombarded between ports because there just is no time.
My plan in Malaysia is to go to an island called Puala Lankawi. It’s supposed to be gorgeous (as all of South East Asia is) and relaxing and LOTS of shopping!!! I can’t wait! I miss you all so so so much, and by the way I am now 12 hours ahead of East Coast time- so weird! Losing an hour every night is not fun…but hey- gotta do what ya gotta do when traveling around the world…