Today was a very busy but fun day! We were met by a family friend of Priyanka’s, Sanjeet, at 8:15 am. Sanjeet took us to his home on the Air Force compound here in Chennai, where we met his wife and family. His wife made us a delicious brunch of fried pita, eggplant, curry and vermicelli pudding. After brunch we set out with Sanjeet to get oriented to the city and to find some of the things we were still missing for our humble abode.
To get to the shopping area we rode in an auto rickshaw! It was a wild and totally different experience. In fact, it kind of reminded me of an argo ride. We went through puddles, practically through ditches, down narrow streets, all the while trying to avoid other cars, pedestrians and roaming cattle Yes, cattle! We actually saw our first free roaming cattle today, which was neat! I also so some goats and some chickens, as well as the proverbial stray dog.
We eventually arrived in the shopping area and went into a large “department” type store. It was nuts! It was crazy busy, and there were staff everywhere! I guess they are really worried about theft because they have 1-2 staff members stationed in each small section of the store. We managed to get some cleaning fluid, washcloths, toilet paper, plastic dishware and cutlery, as well as umbrellas to protect us from the rain. It was a little bit overwhelming, but excited at the same time. Its amazing how buying a few simple things is such a task here, yet so easy in Canada! After we finished in that store we headed across the street to a shoe store to pick up some water- proof sandals. We currently have “lake” growing in front of our building from all of the rain, and we get wet feet every time we walk through it. Priyanka didn’t bring any sandals, and I only brought my Birkenstocks, so we thought it would be a good idea to get something we wouldn’t be sad if we ruined. We were both successful – I paid 300 INR (about 7.50 CAD) for my grey water proof slip ons, and Priyanka got a pair of flip flops for 235 INR.
We took another auto rickshaw back to Sanjeet’s place, and we relaxed and watched TV with his daughter while he picked up some laundry and dish soap, as well as two cases of bottled water for us at the military supply store. We were then treated to another lovely meal made by his wife – rice, with egg curry, paneer, and Raita. Probably the best Indian food I’ve ever had! It was so funny though, because we are always served so much more than we can actually eat – it was a HUGE mound of rice, and they laughed at us when we said there was no way we could eat so much. I think we both managed to eat half of the portion. The same thing happens here on the compound – we always are served a ton of food, and can never make our way through all of it.
After lunch Sanjeet showed us some photos from his last military station, which was in one of the “highest battle fields in the world” – the region bordering China and Pakistan. It was really interesting – but it looked very cold! He said there were days as cold as -40 degrees C.
Around 4pm we got a car to take us back to SPASTN. The jet lag was getting the best of the both of us, and we both dozed off in the car. We came back to discover we had no power yet again (the breaker is triggered with heavy rain), but we thankfully now know how to flip the breaker back. Hopefully it doesn’t go out at night, because that means the ceiling fan will stop running, which means that it will get really hot, and there will be more mosquitoes than usual.
Priyanka and I were both able to talk to our families on the phone for a while, and then we decided to try and eat some dinner (although we were still stuffed from lunch) so that we could take our malaria medication.
Now, we are sitting on the bed, relaxing…thinking about going to sleep. We are planning on watching one of the episodes of ER that I brought along with me, and then we’ll probably hit the hay. Tomorrow is our first day of placement, and I think we are both a little bit apprehensive. We’re not sure exactly how much they will be expecting us to know or do tomorrow, but hopefully it will be okay!
Hopefully we will be able to get internet at some point tomorrow! I am really looking forward to being a little bit more connected with the world, and able to talk to my friends and family! I miss you all lots – it still hasn’t set in that I’m going to be here for the next 6 weeks…so hopefully I don’t get too homesick when it does J
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