December 30

December 30

It’s been quite a while since I’ve written, I know. We’ve been quite busy, running here and there. The weather has been very, very rainy, which is not usual for this time of year. I’m glad I brought rain ponchos (although Raja said “You won’t need them, it doesn’t rain in December.” Ha-HA!)

We went to Higginbotham’s the other day, and as usual, I enjoyed myself. I like to buy books there that I can’t get in any other places. I bought a bunch of books on the Dravidians, who are thought to be the original people living in India (although some people think they originally came from somewhere else…truth is, we probably all did.) Anyway, since my family is from South India, I am interested in the culture and history of South India (which is quite different from that in the North.)

Higginbothams, my favorite bookstore.

The other night, we were taking a strange route home, through all the little side streets. I love that, because it is the life on those little side byways that makes life magical. I keep wondering about the people who go into all those little shops; that hang out at those coffee/tea stalls and “Cool bars.”  I wonder about the taste of the food that comes out of the stalls that open onto the street, or come off rolling carts (although I will likely never taste them, as they aren’t always sanitary, and can make Westerners very sick.) Once I ate a popsicle at a zoo in Bangalore, and when Raja found out, he had a minor heart attack. It did come in a plastic wrapper (although I think there was a piece of grass in it.) 

I have seen a lot of animals here, cows, goats, dogs, monkeys and a big rooster. These are all animals in the city. We don’t see a lot of those roaming around the streets of San Jose, that’s for sure. 

A lot of people ride motorcycles here. Sometimes whole families, even babies will ride on one motorcycle. More people are starting to wear helmets, but a lot of people don’t, or only the main rider does, and his passengers have bare heads.

I had some photos, but they were on my iPhone, and unfortunately, my iPhone died. However, there is an image here showing what I mean.

Since it was pouring rain, I saw a lot of people yesterday trying to stay dry. Some had open umbrellas, not only walking, but while riding on the back of motorcycles. Some of the women covered their heads with their dupattas (scarves) although they do that when it’s dry, too, to keep out dust and pollution. Some of the men had plastic shopping bags tied onto their heads (which, I admit, looked a little funny), and I saw two guys on a motorcycle who made me giggle. They had an umbrella, and they had also wrapped their heads with plastic Saran wrap.

Rainy night in Chennai

The rain nearly stopped traffic, even though cars drive this close
together anyway.

You can't really see the Saran Wrap guys here, but they are the
ones on the front motorcycle, with the umbrella. 

The rain is nice, as it cools everything down. A lot of people wore raincoats and sweatshirts, but still, a lot of kids and men were out in the rain in shorts. Some of the men wore lungis (a cloth wrap that looks kind of like a skirt…it’s usually worn over shorts, and nearly everyone was in sandals, or even barefoot!  I’ve seen guys around here ride motorcycles and drive autos barefoot, and even kids going to school in their perfectly clean and pressed uniforms without shoes. Sometimes people go barefoot at different times of the year for religious reasons. You can't assume anything, because even people who can afford shoes sometimes go without. Some people here, however, are very poor. They can’t even afford cheap sandals, especially as kids have to pay to go to school. Some kids in the villages walk five miles or more every day to go to school. Even poor kids in the U.S. can take a bus and go to school for free. Kids in other parts of the world only wish they had the opportunities we have in the U.S. 

I didn’t wear my poncho yesterday, so I got pretty wet, but I like rain, so I didn’t really care. I did get a bit cold, though, as I was wearing a sleeveless outfit.  

Yesterday morning I went to a nearby shop to buy kurtas for my nephew. Kurtas are long shirts worn with long, loose cotton pants called pyjama. Kurta pyjama are actually where we get the word pajamas from. Some kurta pyjama are fancy, like the ones my brother Conor wore to my Indian wedding in 2011.  A lot are very plain cotton. Indian men would wear these in the evening after they came home from work, and the British took up this habit. They were clothes to relax and perhaps sleep in. Later, pajamas became popular sleep clothes nearly everywhere.

My brother Conor and his wife, Keli at our India wedding, 2011.
He's wearing a fancier kurta, and she is wearing a beautiful sari.

A kurta pyjama, which I bought for my nephew.

Anyway, I bought my nephew a kurta the first time I came here, in 2010. He loved it so much, that I bought him another one two years ago. My brother just sent me a picture of him, and he’s still wearing it! I bought him two more in his size. If he likes wearing them, who am I to stop it? They are very cute on him. I am going back today to buy some things for my other nieces and nephews, too.  I have bought a lot of clothing and stuff, but I also want to buy some more costume jewelry (meaning, not fancy… no diamonds or anything, just earrings, bangles and whatnot.)

Yesterday we also went to the Phoenix mall, near to our apartment building. It’s a very new mall, with an Imax movie theater and a room you can go into with snow in it! (Actually, it’s just ice which is ground up to seem like snow, and is blown around inside. We went there last year. You rent boots, a coat, a hat, and gloves (it never snows here, so people don’t have warm clothes) and you go inside the room. It’s very cold inside, and super slippery, because the floor is pure ice! There is a slide inside, and a bunch of people throwing snow at each other. It’s sort of fun for about 10 minutes. 

Anyway, we didn’t go there for snow fun, but to get haircuts for the boys. Of course, I went shopping instead. Out of curiosity, I went to Starbucks. Yes, there is a Starbucks in Chennai! I had a caramel macchiato, and it was pretty much just the same as in the U.S.  I took a picture of myself at Starbucks. Yay, selfies!

It’s sad to think that we only have a few more days here. I would love to stay longer, even if the streets are flooded with water which hide the potholes, and the skies are gloomy and grey, and everything gets damp and stays damp. This morning, a fat pigeon was sitting right outside my window. I wanted to pet it, but pigeons carry a lot of diseases. Instead, I just said  “purraa, purraa” to it (purraa is “pigeon” in Tamil.) It looked at me with its golden brown eye, its iridescent neck feathers fluffing. 

While many people hang their clothes on a line outside,  Mami hangs her clothes on a line in a little alcove off the living room, which is open to the air. We open a door, lower the clothesline, hang the clothes, and then pull the line up again so that the air can dry them.  We have to hang our towels every day or they will get mildewy and smell bad.  Who wants a stinky towel?

The balcony where we hang the clothes. There are bars there so the
pigeons don't fly in and poo on all the clothes.

Pigeons giving each other a kiss.

This morning, while I was hanging my towel, I could hear a man and a woman having what sounded like a loud argument below. They were talking loudly in Tamil, so I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Sometimes people who are speaking passionately in Tamil sound as if they are fighting, but they aren’t, so I’m not sure, but I still sort of wish I knew what they were saying. How nosy of me!

The rain and the warm air make me very sleepy. I have been sleeping quite a bit, and eating, too. I have dosai almost every day. I also have rice, and all kinds of curry. I have eaten chicken curry, mutton (goat) curry, and shrimp curry (the best!). Tonight we will also have crab, which is good, too, but usually VERY spicy.  I have eaten a lot of vegetarian food, too, because a lot of people here are vegetarians (My in-laws don’t eat meat for several months a year.) I’ve eaten idli, sambar, veggie kurma, pachadi, all kinds of dosai, vadai, rice, curd (plain yogurt) and more. Last night, Raja and I went out for dinner together, and I had dosai (of course) and a Chinese dish called “Crispy Vegetable.” It is one of my favorite things to eat. It is deep fried veggies in a spiced batter. Sort of like tempura, only different. It is very, very, tasty. Afterwards, Raja and I shared an ice cream sundae. It was very weird, but delicious. On the bottom was cut up fruit, then six small scoops of different kinds of ice cream (vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, mango, some kind of nut, and some kind of berry) and on top were dried fruits and nuts. There was some chocolate and cookies stuck in the top. It was very, very good. The mango ice cream was the best. I love mangos, and mangoes grow here like crazy in the summer, so mango flavored stuff in India is the best.

Crispy vegetable...YUM!!

Today I’m going to go down to the store and buy some Indian snacks and things to bring home. Maybe I’ll bring some things for the class to try. Indian snacks and treats taste very different. If I can find some Kurrkurre, maybe I’ll bring that for kids who like spicy stuff. I’ll bring some non-spicy things, as well. 

I’m going to read for a little while, so I’ll sign off. I’ll write more tonight. 

Maybe tonight I’ll finish watching “The Lego Movie” too. I started watching it last night on Hulu, but I was too tired. 

They do have American movies on TV here, but they are usually the same ones over and over. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched Rush Hour 3, Mission Impossible 3, and Real Steel.  Anyway, I’ll ttyl.

Until then, Be Good.