Last Wednesday was Diwali, the festival of lights, which is kind of like New Years, Christmas, and Thanksgiving combined. The fireworks started early in the morning - I heard them at around 5 AM - and continued throughout the day. Everyone in the group dressed up in traditional Indian dress and we went to Suresh's house for the day. We set off a lot of fireworks, played with baby kittens, and ate a lot of food off of banana leaves. We had dinner at MCC with the students from Davidson University who are also in Chennai studying. They weren't nearly as cool as we are. But I guess it was interesting to talk to them.
On Thursday we left for another long weekend trip to Trichy and Tanjore. We saw the Rock Fort Temple before heading to the hotel and swimming. On Friday we saw the Sri Rangam temple, Grand Anicut dam, and Brihadisvara temple on the way to Tanjore. At Brihadisvara, Drew and I got swarmed by a bunch of Indian men who wanted to take photos with us. I thought we would never be done with pictures. So basically our group, not the temple, was the biggest attraction there. :) Saturday we went to a limestone mine and collected fossils, but not before we got lost about 5 times on the way. We also stopped to see a petrified tree. On Sunday we saw the Tanjore Palace, which has a museum and several halls with bronze sculptures. Then we headed back to MCC on Monday.
After Tuesday's lecture a group of us took the train into Chennai to go to another mall that's different than the one we visited previously. It reminded me of a place I've been to in Hong Kong... Once Caitlin, Tori, and I found the FabIndia we were set for a while. We also found a store selling funny t-shirts.
Today (Wednesday) the group visited the Family Life Institute that is part of MCC. Among the various things that it does, the center has a school and also runs self-help groups for women to help them earn a living. We helped out around the building. My group organized a huge number of children's books. Some of the children showed up even though they had a day off for rain and they sang and danced for us. We also bought some pretty jewelry from gypsy women whose children go to the school.
On Thursday we left for another long weekend trip to Trichy and Tanjore. We saw the Rock Fort Temple before heading to the hotel and swimming. On Friday we saw the Sri Rangam temple, Grand Anicut dam, and Brihadisvara temple on the way to Tanjore. At Brihadisvara, Drew and I got swarmed by a bunch of Indian men who wanted to take photos with us. I thought we would never be done with pictures. So basically our group, not the temple, was the biggest attraction there. :) Saturday we went to a limestone mine and collected fossils, but not before we got lost about 5 times on the way. We also stopped to see a petrified tree. On Sunday we saw the Tanjore Palace, which has a museum and several halls with bronze sculptures. Then we headed back to MCC on Monday.
After Tuesday's lecture a group of us took the train into Chennai to go to another mall that's different than the one we visited previously. It reminded me of a place I've been to in Hong Kong... Once Caitlin, Tori, and I found the FabIndia we were set for a while. We also found a store selling funny t-shirts.
Today (Wednesday) the group visited the Family Life Institute that is part of MCC. Among the various things that it does, the center has a school and also runs self-help groups for women to help them earn a living. We helped out around the building. My group organized a huge number of children's books. Some of the children showed up even though they had a day off for rain and they sang and danced for us. We also bought some pretty jewelry from gypsy women whose children go to the school.
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