Sunday, January 10, 2010

Fun in the Sun

Hello hello and hello!
Today we woke up early for church.
I thought it was a Catholic church but really it was Anglican or something. It was called St. George's Cathedral, the one Dr. Julius (Harley's friend here) and his family go to. It was very pretty.


[the huge doors were open and some birds flew in during the service, no big deal.]


[looking out at the fancy nancy garden]

We talked to the pastor who told us that the Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, and one other church have all united in India since new Christians there don't care about denomination! How encouraging to see denominations united. Lovely.
Oh, and we had to sing songs in front of the church. Program: Father I Adore You (3 part round); Lord I Lift Your Name On High). Embarrassing! Hhahaha.
We also met the youth group for  a minute and got some free coffee and tea, but we had to skidattle so we could hang out with the WCC students again!!! (They are my favorite.)


[myself, Vishnavay (spelling may be butchered), Leela, Kristen]

They brought us around town! First stop was the beach. We decided to take the bus.


[bus adventures and tall tales]

Yet, oops! wrong bus. We got off at the next stop. Then the bus we thought was the real one to take told us to take the one we had just gotten off. Confusing, right?
After waiting and asking around, we were lost.

So guess what the alternative to the bus is?
Just guess, come on.


[O + M + G !]

Yeppers, an auto-rickshaw. Called an auto for short. I saw a drawing of an old rickshaw and it was a cart with a person pulling. A bit sad because I think it was part of colonial India. But these ROCK!


[rockin' the rickshaw (auto)!]


[can you smell the excitement as we weave through traffic?]

We finally made it to the beach--but were hungry! So Vish and Leela brought us to a cool south Indian restaurant.


[rice patties and a crunchy fried onion thing (left) with many dipping sauces/chutneys (white was coconut chutney) on a banana peel! traditional and delicious.]

Next was the beach! It wasn't very crowded because it was Sunday and everyone was sleeping in at home or something. Either way, the water was lovely as it was piping hot all day. We went straight there to put our feet in. However, you can't swim in it, I'm not sure why really.


[Leela, Kristen, Vish]

We walked around the small shops and beach for a long time!


[definitely rode the merry-go-round that is powered by a hand crank]


[the horse turned out to be pretty crazy, as the guy cranking got help and we went FAST]


[beach scene]

Then we sat in the shade, tired. After chatting a while, we went to a coffee shop to chat even more! Oh, and before that we had some delicious mango juice. Yesss.

After coffee we had to go. On our attempts to get to the meeting place we took an auto (rickshaw). The man got a flat tire and made us get out on a random street. All the drivers on that street wanted way more money than the other guy had. We finally gave in. The guy got a flat tire too! (This is not common, it never happened to them before.)
Luckily this guy was hankering for some cash so he took us to our destination anyway.

Destination: the Chennai Open 2010, tennis semifinals. It was mildly fun... I liked it in the beginning, but got bored partway through. It's a problem I have with sports. 
Still fun to say we did it though.


[aww, tennis fun with Bryan and Harlz]

Oh, and guess what I looked like after my beach day.... 


[forgot the damn sunscreen!]

5 comments:

  1. I want to point out that I just posted two entries, plus I added pictures to the one before these.

    Also, tomorrow we will be flying to Delhi. I don't know what the internet situation will be.

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  2. how...COOL that you rode in an auto! cool cool cool cool cool cool cool!!

    did you ever ask what conservative indian women do when they go swimming? DO they go swimming? just wondering.

    okay, your food looks like vomit this time. not so appetizing. but still, i'm sure it was delicious. and it still kinda makes me hungry the more i look at it. :/

    oh, your poor arm! forgetting sunscreen is ALWAYS the worst mistake you can ever make. sorry love. :)

    i feel like that carousel would be SO MUCH FUN. dang, i wish i was with you.

    and for those of you who also miss christie, GUESS WHAT: I get to skype her in a short few hours. EAT THAT.

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  3. heeheee...I have to tell you that Kent walked up when I got to your restaurant/food picture and said "oh no...somebody threw up!" Funny that Brian thought the same thing!

    Okay, I know I'm a dork when it comes to fashion, but the traditional clothes of the Indian women are really very pretty. I love what Vishnavay and Leela were wearing! The colors are beautiful and they look very comfie. I would wear that!

    Bummer about getting lost...but I always say "it's not a real trip if you don't get lost at least once!"

    blog on....

    Tess

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  4. Wow Christie sounds like a fun adventure day! I think it is so cool that you get to hang out with the Indian girls and chat and explore!

    Did you ever find out why no swimming is allowed in the ocean?

    The food looked awful but I will take your word for it that it was good :)

    80 degrees means wear sunscreen girl!! Hope it wasn't too bad.

    Happy travels to Dehli-hope you have a good internet situation there too because I love reading your posts every day!

    Love you honey!

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  5. Brian:
    I miss you too!
    The auto was awesome... or should I say AUTO-some!!!!! Hahahhaa.

    And I think conservative Indian women would swim in their sarees. Educated guess though, not really sure.

    That was some of my favorite Indian food so far. Suck it, Schroeder.

    Tess:
    Yeah, I love sarees too! (K, I always thought it was "sari" but I saw a store that said "saree," so now I'm switching but still not fully sure.) They are so pretty and colorful!!
    But the girls told me their conservative school makes them wear sarees and in reality they think jeans and t-shirts are way more convenient. Weird,eh? I guess those scarf things get annoying.

    Mom:
    Never found out about swimming.
    And I didn't know we would be outside or I would have brought sunscreen, I'm not Marina!

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