March 5th, 2009

This morning I woke up to watch the sunrise and was once again unsuccessful. When you stepped outside the ship though there was a distinct smell I knew I would have to get used to this was the “smell of India”. It is hard to describe but wasn’t the most pleasant smell ever.  It was extremely foggy out and you couldn’t see a thing. So Dylan and I went back to bed and later met up for breakfast.  After breakfast we had a diplomatic briefing and then had to wait in line for our paper work in the faculty/staff lounge.  This is the first country where security and other things are run differently. Instead of our passports we are required to carry around a shore pass and customs paper at all times. 

 

I had originally planned to stay on the ship until 1 because I had an FDP/ Service Visit but I found Emily who said she also had to be back early so we went out with a few girls to explore the city of Chennai for a few hours and do some shopping. 

 

We stepped off the ship and headed towards the gate looking for some transportation to a market called Spencers.  It was very overwhelming and we had taxi drivers and rickshaw drivers surrounding us on all sides. We finally gathered our thoughts and started to walk to the gate to compose ourselves and find a taxi perhaps on our walk.  We came across a taxi that agreed to drive us to the market for 50 rupees a person.  That is about 1 American dollar.  He even closed the windows and turned on the air.  The drive took about 15 minutes.  As soon as we drove out of the port gate the poverty was noticeable.  People lining the streets where you could tell they had slept the night before, people setting up shop on the side of the road, children wearing no shoes and raged clothes.  Every way I looked I saw poverty but I also saw some of the most beautiful colors I have seen, in the clothing of what looked like more wealthy women with their saris.  There are 1 billion people in India and it seemed as though all 1 billion were in the city of Chennai.  I have never seen so much life in a city packed with people all going about their day.    

 

When we arrived at the market we gave the taxi driver the money but he asked for more.  The girls sat in the car arguing with him and I just told them to get out because that was the number we agreed on from the beginning he tried to factor in the air conditioning but we were told at our diplomatic briefing to be firm and stay with the original price agreed upon.  I would have gotten out of the car myself but I was on the side towards all the traffic and knew that would be a dangerous task to open the door and get out safely.  India’s traffic and streets are unlike anything I have ever seen before in my life. It is busy with no real rules everyone driving to their liking and honking a lot.  We finally all got out of the car and started walking to the market.  As we walked into the market three men came up to us claiming the market was closed until 1 and that we should go with them and they would be our tour guides for the day.  We didn’t trust them and just went to the market anyways which wasn’t closed.  The market was similar to a mall, when we walked in we were greeted with shop owners luring us into their shops to look at their items.

 

We walked into one shop where immediately this man started pulling out scarves from bags and putting them on us and all over the shop.  I think we were in their for about an hour and all bought some really pretty things.  The scarves, pillows, blankets everything were all so pretty we had a hard time choosing how many we wanted and what colors.  I think I got about 5 scarves and 5 pillow cases for a very cheap price.  The man in the shop was extremely nice and was pulling things out all over the place we felt bad making a mess of his shop but he insisted it was fine.  He even told us to come back tomorrow and wanted us to come to his house for dinner.  We had a nice conversation with him and even talked about how his kids were studying engineering and chemistry.  We told him he should be very proud because they are very smart! He also gave us many business cards and told us to give them to kids on the ship and tell them what a good deal he gave us.

 

 When we were finally able to leave the store and stop spending money it was time for Emily and I to head back to the ship.  We decided this time we should take a rickshaw and really experience India but also that taking  a taxi on our where there was a good way to ease us into traffic and such in India.  We were walking around not sure how to exit the mall and came across one of the workers from the shop we had just been shopping in and he helped us out of the mall and to find a rickshaw.  We started negotiation with him that we wanted to pay 100 rupee for the both of us.  He said it wasn’t possible and walked away.  We tried with two other rickshaw drivers and they said the same thing.  So we worked out 200 rupee’s total and got in ready for a crazy drive back to the port but confused as why we paid less to be in a taxi with air conditioning but went with it anyways.  We were zipping in and out of cars, going on the wrong side of the road and getting extremely closer to other motorcycles and rickshaws.  We even went by another group of SAS kids in a rickshaw there was 4 of them and one of them was my friend Alex.  She looked a little frightened but excited at the same time.  After thinking we almost weren’t going to make it we arrived at the gate of the port and started walking. 

 

When we got the ship we had some lunch, Emily went on her FDP and I got ready for mine.  I had my camera all charged and was ready for my service visit.  We were going to the YMCA to play with children all day is what I thought but I knew that with SAS trips there always things that happen you weren’t aware of from the itinerary. 

 

There was a group of about 15 or so of us on the bus for the service visit.  Tricia’s (my roommate from Boulder) friend Jen was on my trip so it was nice to at least have one familiar face.  We started with a 45 minute drive to the YMCA at For Boys and Boys Town Kottiakkam.  As we were arriving at the YMCA our tour guide told us that the boys we would be visiting were mostly orphans or from very poor homes and if they saw there families it was only maybe twice a year.  There were two hundred boys living at the facility.  The facility teaches the boys English and other skills to eventually set them out in the real world and set them up with jobs in factories to get them started.

 

When we arrived at the facility we came into a room where all two hundred boys were sitting quietly in rows the smallest in the front and tallest in the back.  There were chairs set up in from of them as if a stage for us to sit on.  We all sat down and took a microphone to introduce ourselves.  We were then told that the boys would perform a few songs for us and then it would be our turn to perform.  We all looked at each other a little worried but had heard this happened from time to time and didn’t seem too surprised.  This is what Luke (the man on the ship who gives our announcements) likes to call an “air guitar moment”.  The boys sang songs as a group and a few of them came up individually and sang songs.  Then it was out turn.  Nathan (works in the computer lab on the ship and was the leader of our trip) got up and we followed.  He was on top of his game and suggested that we sing “Row Row Row Your Boat”, since we came on a ship. I thought it was clever!! So we sang that song. Then moved on to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” followed by a song to get all the kids involved “The Hokie Pokie”.  We had all the kids stand up and follow us it was really fun to include them in our song and we all laughed and giggled at each other. 

 

The boys were sent to their rooms and the group of us split up to visit the boys in their rooms in smaller group to get to know them better.  Jen and I and some other girls went into the first housing unit.  Each boy had their own bed and that was about it, I didn’t even see a cubby for things because I assume they don’t have anything.  They all where a uniform so that is given to them and everything else such as school supplies they share.  When we came in we met their “House Mother” there is one in every housing unit so the boys do have some type of mother figure in their lives.  The house mother seemed very shy and reserved; her husband also lived with her in the unit in their own apartment with their two little daughters.  At first it was awkward and we weren’t sure what to do.  But we asked all the boys to come into one room and we started playing thumb wars.  Next thing I knew someone’s camera came out and the boys went crazy.  They all wanted to take pictures.  So we took out our cameras and let them take pictures of one another.  Half the time I wasn’t even sure where my camera was but the boys were fascinated by the technology.  Most of them wanted to be the ones taking the pictures and then if they weren’t holding the camera they wanted to be doing something silly in the picture.  Even the house mother wanted her picture taken with her little girls to show them.  For the next hour we continued playing thumb wars, patty cake and taking pictures.  It was a really fun time and I think my cameras battery was almost dead by the time we left.  The kids didn’t speak too much English but were able to tell me their names and age.  This was the first time I didn’t really have a connection with just one kid because there were so many of them and so few of us. 

 

Although I do remember some of the kids when we were playing thumb war saying “India” and holding their thumb up then pointing at my thumb and saying “America” then yelling “WAR!” It surprised a few of us and we all kept trying to say “Peace” because we didn’t really know how else to respond or if the kids even knew what we thought they meant when they were saying that.  I now think it was them using what little English they knew to practice but to us it seemed as though they thought India and America were at war. 

 

We finally left the boys and were on to our next destination which we were sure what it was.  We ended up driving a few hundred feet and then walking a block to a YMCA women’s hostel where we were served tea.  We all looked at each other and thought that we would rather be playing with the kids still instead of being a block away enjoying tea and cookies for an hour.

Once tea was done we got back on the bus to head to the beach for 30 minutes to walk around and then on to another YMCA facility.  The beach was crowded with people and is I believe is the second longest beach in the world.  There were people everywhere and we were being looked at left and right.  When we got to the water two men tried to get some of us to buy a ride on their horse but that didn’t seem like the best idea.  The beach just like everything else I have seen is littered beyond belief and extremely crowded but beautiful at the same time.  As the sun went down we headed back to the bus and when we got there, there were a few women with their children begging us for money and food.  This was my first experience with the beggars in India.  We had been told not to give anything to the beggars because it doesn’t really help the society and then we will just be bombarded with more and more people wanting things.  We also said no and tried to get on the bus as fast as possible.  Although one woman grabbed me by the arms from behind and wouldn’t seem to let go; I was scared and saddened all at the same time.  As soon as I reached the door of the bus she let go but then came around to my window and started banging out in.  I looked down and saw the little girl she was holding and her both whom looked like they hadn’t showered in weeks and had been sleeping outside for who knows how long.  I wanted to do something for them but I also wanted to do something do everyone I saw on the streets.  The poverty is so extreme and overwhelming you don’t know where to begin and everyone was right it was probably best to not give to anyone and find a reputable charity to donate to instead. 

 

Finally we were back on the bus and headed to our final destination which I was still unclear what it was.  After a short drive we ended up at another YMCA facility that looked like a large hotel and it was just that or rather “hostel”.  We went inside and up to a conference room where a table was set up for us to have dinner.  We all sat down and waited as we were told there would be a guest coming shortly.  After a few minutes an Indian man walked in and we all stood waiting for him to sit.  He introduced himself and explained that he is the head of the YMCA in the state of India we were in (a very important man who took his time to eat dinner and meet with us).  We all introduced ourselves and what we were studying. He then presented each of us with a traditional Indian shall that he was honoring us with for coming and learning about the program. 

 

We then had a traditional Indian meal; I couldn’t really tell what much of it was but meat with curry and some Indian bread.  It was really good food and a great way to end our long first day in India. 

 

We finally got back to the ship around 10 and I still had to pack and shower for my trip that would leave tomorrow at 3:15 in the morning.  I think I didn’t actually go to bed until midnight cause after packing and showering Beau and I just had to watch the first two episodes of Summer Heights!!!