Sorry for such a long hiatus from the blog world.
Last Monday and Tuesday we were busy in class and lectures. Tuesday night MCC hosted a party for us in downtown Chennai. It was the night before Diwali so the city was alive (more so than usual). Diwali is a celebration of New Years and a festival of lights. Everyone sets off fireworks, gets dressed up, and spends time with family and friends. The celebrations begin way before the actual day of Diwali - have to make sure the fireworks will work, right?! The party downtown was really nice - there was good food, drinks, and dancing/shenanigans.
Wednesday was a full day of Diwali celebrations. We all wore traditional Indian clothes and headed to Suresh's house to celebrate with his family. We set off fireworks, hung out with his family, and enjoyed a delicious meal. The theme of overwhelming hospitality was here again - his family had gotten us all gifts and were so receptive to sharing the holiday with us.
The professors on our trip
Kittens at Suresh's house
Kittens + Diwali + Suresh's family = cure for any sadness
That night we headed back to MCC and had dinner with a group from Davidson that is also spending their semester in India. That was fun to meet other students and spend time with them.
The next morning we were up bright and early to Trichy (Tiruchirapalli). It was a full day in a bus - about five hours - but it wasn't too bad. That afternoon we visited the Rock Fort, which is a 300 foot temple and borders the Kaveri River. It was quite the hike to the top and the view from there was worth it.
The following day we visited a 14th century temple dedicated to Vishnu. It was a really unique since the temple and market are interwoven. The complex was huge and the area was bustling. The Mandapa hall of a thousand pillars is also at this temple (there's actually 980 +/-).
We then made our way to Tanjore. We continued site-seeing and also worked in some time for relaxation. We visited a local Art Gallary, which was actually more of a museum. There were old manuscripts, paintings, and granite/bronze statues. We also visited Brihadeeswara Temple dedicated to Shiva.
I didn't take too many pictures on this last trip. Part of this was due to laziness on my part and the fact that some temples/museums charge to bring in a camera. I usually volunteer to leave my camera behind so others can take pictures. This just means I will have to the photos others have taken.
Everything is going well back at MCC. We are back in class for the next couple of weeks so it's time for work. Miss everyone back home.
Love,
Me
PS
Here is the link to a Picasa album of Diwali pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=suresh.muthukrishnan&target=ALBUM&id=5667844235267152049&authkey=Gv1sRgCMnnrZv4luSReQ&feat=email
PPS
Funny picture of the day:
So I mentioned before how we attract quite the crowd in small villages. It turns out we are also pretty popular at some temples. There was one particular temple where we were getting ridiculous amounts of pictures taken. Examples - Group of grown people (20 years old or so) shoving each other to get in a picture with us. Multiple people handed me their baby to take a picture. This group is the only one I wanted to have a copy of on my own camera though. I was trying to capture the aura of the mullet of the guy to the left of me. I think the guy to the right of me stole the picture though. Those sunglasses are awesome.
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