camels in india have one hump

It feels like I've been here forever, but it's barely been two weeks! My mom just left from New Delhi on Thursday night, and until then we were crazily traveling and finishing errands. From early last Friday morning to Tuesday night, we traveled down south to Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, and then flew to Hyderabad and drove to Nanded.

First we flew to Chennai and immediately hired a car to drive about six hours to Trichy. We stayed there Friday night and met up with my mom's college friend and roommate, Hema, and her mother, who is quite ill. Hema Auntie's family was my mom's second family and second home when she was in college - thirty-two years ago! (haha.) The next morning, we left bright and early to drive about three or four hours to Pondicherry, where my mom had her class reunion. We stayed in Pondy until early Monday morning. Pondicherry is a smaller city in the South that was settled by the French at one point, so there's a lot of French influence in the city. (I took a bunch of photos which I'll post at some point...) The tsunami entirely changed the shoreline of the east coast, so the tide rolls in very close to the road now; before, there was a long stretch of the beach between the road and the ocean. Also, they've put rocks in between the East Coast Road and the beach, and so there isn't any sand to sit on. (no beach time - I was sad.) Instead, I saw the famous ashram there and some monument along the shore. On Sunday, mom and I went to Auroville, a town created for anyone of any class, race, etc. But it doesn't really allow tourism so all we got to see was the visitor's center. (www.auroville.org) It was interesting - I don't think I entirely agree with it's ideals. The idea is to set up a city for anyone of any class, gender, race, nationality, etc. but everyone there is supposed to believe in one supreme being and not have any affiliation with any particular religion. I think it's a little odd to try and make a sort of utopia for everyone and anyone but then restrict the place to people who all have the same beliefs.

Anyway, after Pondicherry, we drove to Chennai on Monday morning and flew straight to Hyderabad. (I would love to actually spend time there - it's so pretty with lots of Mughal architecture, and Telegu is the coolest language ever!) We drove straight to Nanded, where Hazur Sahib is located. (Hazur Sahib is a historical gurdwara - a sikh place of worship - where Guru Gobind Singh Ji, one of the founders of Sikhism, died.) We stayed there over night and saw the gurdwara in the morning and then visited a few other gurdwaras in the area. Then we drove straight back to Hyderabad - a seven-hour drive! - to go jewelry shopping (my favorite... bah) before boarding a plane back to New Delhi. The drive to and from Nanded was really beautiful - the weather there was nice and cool, and the countryside is really green. I stopped and took pictures of camels on the way!

Then we flew back to New Delhi and arrived late Tuesday night. Mom got sick the next day but we naturally had to pick up clothes that were stitched, pick up jewelry, send more clothes to be stitched, etc.!!! (And mom had spent an exorbitant amount of money on jewelry at this point... I won't say how much.)

The South is so much more civil than New Delhi - people are friendlier and the traffic is more sane. The weather is also MUCH better. (Although now the weather in New Delhi has been nice and cool since it has been raining.)

Since Mom left, I haven't done anything too exciting. Yesterday was pretty boring and lonely - I read a bunch and worked on learning some computer software (yay). Then I went to a family dinner party thing that was kind of awkward. I went with my aunt and uncle and cousins to a dinner party with my aunt's family, who I'm not related to; they were really nice and all, but I didn't talk much... I thought maybe I came across as a dumb American, but I think I'm just being insecure. Anyway, a lot of people in New Delhi are kind of snobby, and I just didn't feel like adding much to the conversation. I've realized that over here, I really enjoy hanging out with people under 15 and old people. They're not nearly as judgemental, and they warm up to you more quickly than the average adult. (Or again, I'm probably just being insecure.)

Today I went to Gudi Bhua's house for lunch and ended up staying the whole day. (I hung out with her and her granddaughter, and seventy-something-year-old and a ten-year old, haha.) It was fun - Sahiba and I played cards and talked, and naturally, Gudi Bhua talked my ear off. She's talks a lot, but she's good company; it's better than staying here and doing nothing. I'll probably end up doing quite a bit of stuff with her; since she's old and lives alone, she is more available than everyone else here.

I have my first voice lesson at 4 pm on Monday, and until then, I have no concrete plans. ta-ta.