Day Nine: Chennai

Saturday, August 21, 2010, Chennai
4:45 p.m., India time

As I wrote this morning, today was another rather mellow day, as MC is still sick. His fever is much milder and comes and goes, but he still has stomach issues and his joints hurt. I spent quite a bit of time this afternoon petting his head, rubbing his legs and feet, and giving him Gatorade. He and I (and Raja) are big babies when we are sick, and like to be pampered a lot.  He is returning to the doctor in a few minutes in hopes that he can give him something to make him well enough to travel tomorrow.

I spent a good part of the day watching T.V. (Harry Potter 3) eating delicious food, caring for the Man Cub, and looking out the window. I discovered that there are actually three different cute guys who come out onto the roof below mine. One of them spent a long time picking his nose this morning.

This afternoon, Raja took the Monkey and me to a spa.

We took an auto there, and it was raining, so we got a little damp. We stopped briefly at a pharmacy and bought a digital thermometer to take M.C.'s temperature more easily. On the way I saw a cow, a goat, and several stray dogs. We also passed a cemetery. Cemeteries are not very common in India because most Indians are Hindus, and Hindus do not bury their dead, they cremate them. (That means they burn their bodies in a big fire.) This cemetery was for Muslims, who do not believe in cremation, and hence, they bury their dead.

The boys went to get their hair done, and Raja said "you get something done, too." I got a facial. This is an amazing thing. I was going to get the regular facial, but since I'm all wrinkly and old and my skin is sensitive and dry, they talked me into getting the super-special facial. It was totally worth it.

The cosmetologist (that's what they call people who do beauty stuff: manicures, pedicures, waxing, facials, etc.) took me to a room upstairs and had me change into a different top which left my arms and shoulders bare. I took out my nose ring and stuck my bindi to my hand mirror. I lay down on a really comfortable padded table, and the lady went to work making me beautiful. First she washed my face with soft damp cloths with lavender oil. Lavender oil is very soothing to the skin. She made sure to wash my skin very tenderly and to get off all of the surface dirt and makeup (I don't wear much makeup, and I'm not sure now dirty my face was, but there is a lot of dust in the air, remember. ) She put several things on my face, and I'm not sure what they all were because I had my eyes closed. She put some oil on my face and massaged it, and she put a very gentle scrub on, as well. She rubbed some fragrant oil on her hands and made me inhale it with deep breaths 3 or 4 times. It smelled delicious. She then massaged my face, my shoulders and my neck for about 20 minutes, and it felt awesome. She also used a sharp thing to clean out the dirt from all my pores (my class will remember pores from when we discussed skin and how, at puberty, the pores can get dirt and oil in them, which causes pimples.) That wasn't so awesome. She took all that yucky stuff out of my skin, and it hurt a little, but she rubbed my face and made it feel better. A couple of times she put cool cream on my face. She put some cool pads on my eyes, more stuff on my face, and left me lying in the dark for about 15 minutes, then came back. At last, she smeared this crazy thick paste all over my face (by this time, Raja and Monkey were done and wanted to go, but the lady went down and told them it would be 15 more minutes.  After 15 minutes the cosmetologist came up and peeled the stuff off my face. it had turned into a solid, rubbery mask! It was really weird. She gave me a mirror to look at my face, and it looked all fresh and clean! I went downstairs, and before I left, I gave her a tip of 250 rupees. It was more than worth it.

I am looking forward to our trip to Bangalore tomorrow. I can't wait to ride the train (we are riding in the First Class A/C coach) and to see a new place. We have to be at the train station at 6 in the morning, so just as you guys are getting ready to eat your dinner. I will write and tell you all about it.

Until then, be good!