Day II

This morning I woke up early and found a delicious breakfast awaiting! The cook is the wife of Radha, the concierge for the hotel. I have since thanked her twice for the delicious Idli and Sambar, combined with a classic: papaya and lime.

I was picked up at 8.45a by Alphons, who will be my official driver for the rest of the month. I was a little nervous about this meeting as I am aware of the importance of haggling for prices and while in India I often feel I am being taken advantage of. What a relief, then, to meet Alphons! His prices are fair and I like his attitude to his business. Not to mention, he has a great smile (hopefully I will catch it in photo soon!)

Alphons drove me to my appointment with Dr. M.V. Dathatreya, which turned out to be very helpful (I was given a syrup and some pills to help detox from the antibiotics, as well as a cream for external use to apply to the tick bite). I will be seeing Dr. Dathatreya again over the course of the next few weeks - he has proposed that I learn a few chants and exercises for centring the mind with him, how can I say no? (It also helps he charges a mere 150 rupees a visit!) I will try to take some photos of his office the next time around.

Next stop, a little nostalgic shopping with the same company where I first shopped in 2009: Fab India. I love their fabrics and different styles. Stay tuned over the next few weeks to catch a glimpse of my 2 (!!) new outfits :-)

On the way to Fab India we came across a gigantic sculpture of Kali, a remnant from a festival I just missed. The speaker to the right of the sculpture produced loud and terrifying sounds, which attracted the colorfully dressed group of children below.

On our way to Fab India, Alphons realised the store would not open for another 30 minutes and took me on a detour: we visited the official building dedicated to M.G.Ramachandran, whose existence I completely ignored before today. For those of you who are intrigued by this figure, check out the link (it will take you to a wikipedia article). Otherwise, you can dwell on the adorned, golden bust below, a representation of M.G.R.

I was a little nervous about this detour as I feared it would lead to a jump in price for the morning's ride. My fear grew when a gentleman with a well trimmed moustache started to accompany us through the building and behave as a virtual guide. What had I gotten myself into? A scam of sorts? Oh no, auto! And yet... at the end of the visit to the building (which was filled with a large collection of objects/trophies/certificates and other paraphernalia belonging to M.G.R., as well as his stuffed pet lion set in a glass cage), our guide refused payment, and simply asked for his photo to be taken so that people might know of the service he provided out of love for his party leader! So here he is:

I was also positively surprised when, at the end of the drive, Alphons decided not to charge me any extras. I was definitely feeling lucky: no crows had attacked yet AND I was being treated kindly.

After the morning's adventure and a good, jet lag inspired, hour and forty-five minute nap, I decided to walk to KYM from the hotel and explore the route to the school. It is only a 15 minute walk, but after the walk I decided I would ask Alfons to take me back and forth during the day as the streets are not  always pleasant to walk in and the heat quite tough to withstand.

Before the walk I posed next to this golden Madonna - I loved the color of the robes and felt like it wouldn't hurt to get an extra blessing along the way. Here I am in full pollution/light protection gear.

Below are some images of what I found along the way to lunch and KYM...

Wonderful moustache I.

Wonderful moustache II.

Eerie hanging scarecrow outside a building in construction. It's wearing a helmet.

Even though it was tied to a pole, some might say this ox was just trying to chill.

I finally arrived to my first destination: Sangeetha Fast Food. It was fast, and it was delicious, although I was a little bold in my choice of an Onion Dosai.

View from a window of the restaurant (through a thin net).

 Beautiful onion dosai with chutneys and sambar.

So beautiful. And so lucky that I am here on my own to deal with the post-onion-meal effects.

After lunch I continued on my walk to KYM...

I loved the oning of this shop! not sure what the the man was buying/selling/measuring...

Live rickshaw repair.

The last turn to KYM.

The precise and efficient movements of this woman pumping water reminded me of Rudolf von Laban's studies of repetitive movement in factories. Her stance is so solid, her intention clear, and her energy well distributed through her centre, legs and arms.

A small side lane framed by bare, grey building and filled with colour by the rickshaws.

Green and spots of coral.

The crows sitting on the garbage container were feeding on various animal entrails, I didn't dare get too close. The dog took a short sniff through the garbage before moving on. The rickshaw was simply there, providing colour.

When finally, my eyes landed on a beautiful white building on my left:

Finally, KYM!

All closed on a Sunday, but all there too.

My Sunday pilgrimage over, I made my way back to the hotel through a slightly different route. Along the way I photographed some men who were clearly entertained at being photographed by a bandit Western lady.

I believe this shot was made possible because it's Sunday - for a moment the roads were EMPTY!

A curious sign. What is Sunrise? An instant coffee, rich in... coffee? 

And that was it! I made my way home and have been here ever since, listening to the beautiful sounds of the monsoon rain and thunder outside.  Here are some pictures from around 5pm.

Tomorrow morning is the first day of classes! I look forward to meeting some people (the past two days have been relatively lonesome) and finding out the schedule for the next few weeks.

As usual, I look forward to hearing from you.

Ciao da Chennai,
B