Chennai (Madras)

George and I took a mini-trip to Chennai from December 30th - January 3rd to pick up his niece Cydney. We took the overnight sleeper train (where we each get our own bunk on the train to sleep) from Dindigul to Chennai, which is the fifth most populated city in India, with a population of approximately 8.2 million. We stayed in a backpacker hotel called Broadlands, which was a funky place to stay with its multiple outdoor courtyards, roof-top bathroom stalls and mini tree-temple in the middle of the hotel's main courtyard. The trees in the courtyards were home to green parakeets and the outdoor sinks were inhabited by luminescent-looking geckos that would poke their heads out from under the sink when we were brushing our teeth at night. On New Year's Eve we managed to catch a fantastic fireworks display from the roof of the hotel.

Although the city of Chennai was culturally very interesting to experience, it was also quite disgusting. There are multiple rivers of sewage that run through town, with brownish methane bubbles emerging from the depths of the channels. It is impossible to walk past these sewage channels without plugging your nose, as the smell is nauseating. One of the channels dumps directly into the Bay of Bengal, where a few hundred metres down from the dumping zone is a popular beach and swimming spot for the locals.

But there are also beautiful, seemingly magical, parts of the city. While wandering through the downtown area, we stumbled upon a side alley that was full of flower vendors. As we walked down the narrow alley, there were massive piles of bright flowers pouring out of the shops on both sides. There were beautiful red, orange, pink, purple, and yellow flowers of every shade imaginable that the vendors wove together to sell for women to tie into their hair. They also wove elaborate patterns of flowers to sell to brides and grooms to wear at their weddings. There was such a sense of commerce in that ally, with people everywhere bartering to get the best-priced strings of flowers to tie into their girlfriend's, mother's or daughter's hair.

I would not generally consider myself to be overly girlie, but India has made me into a total mall-junkie. The vendors in Spencer's Plaza in Chennai had the most bright and colourful purses, scarves and earrings that I just couldn't resist. I usually try to escape from a mall as soon as I enter it, but the persistence of the vendors, combined with the beauty and colour of their fabrics, kept me in the mall, bargaining for hours over the price of a certain purse or piece of clothing (most of which are souvenirs to give to people back home, of course). It was actually kind of fun to partake in some friendly bartering with the energetic, eager-to-please vendors at the mall. When I finally emerged from the mall, not only did I have some beautiful items, but also felt like I'd just gotten a successful cultural lesson in Indian-style bartering.

Volunteering:
 I have still been working with the Vattakanal Conservation Trust here in Kodaikanal, writing up a report about the results of my interviews. I was also asked to do a presentation about proper garbage disposal to one of the classes at St. Peter's School in Kodaikanal, which I did yesterday. For the presentation I partnered up with a guy that works with kids at  local kresh here, who I figured would have a better idea of how to reach these kids. We created a presentation about the differences between recycle, compost and waste, and why it is important to separate them properly. We then went through each category, describing why it is dangerous to throw it into the stream or burn it, focusing on human health impacts. Finally, we described what should be done with the recycle, compost and waste, as the recyclable plastics and glass can be sold, and the compost can be put in a garden. The principal now wants us to present to the entire school when they all get back from winter holidays.

Pictures:

View from the road down the mountain.

The view from the roof of Broadlands, the hotel we were staying at. The mosque had call to prayer  5 times a day.

An extremely creepy looking Santa that was at a hotel we had dinner at.

A girl doing tight-rope walking at the beach. When I first saw it, I thought they were setting up for a beach volleyball game. Obviously that was not the case.

Gharials that we saw at the Snake Park at Guindy National Park, near Chennai. There were tons of snakes, crocodiles, geckos and lizards at the park.

The flower-selling ally.

Buying flowers.

The fort that we climbed up in Dindigul. It was originally built by the Madurai Nayak Kings in the 1600's, then became controlled by the British army in the 1800's.  

Dindigul Fort ruins.

Herding goats.

Dindigul's marketplace.