Daily Life at MCC

While at MCC, we are attending lectures by local Indian professors on the weekdays.  A typical weekday consists of 9 AM lecture, tea and cookie break, 11 AM lecture, lunch, and then free time during the afternoon with another tea and cookie break and then dinner.  Usually in the afternoon we go to the market and/or play ultimate frisbee.  In the evenings we usually hang out on the porch of the guest house and just read or talk.  We do have some papers to be working on but it has been hard to be motivated because they are all due at the end of the trip.  After the first 6 weeks of intense work and classes at Furman, daily life here is so relaxing and has been a much needed break.  I don't know how I will get back to the normal Furman class routine next semester.  On the weekends we usually take road trips.  The first weekend we went to Pondicherry, last weekend we just went into Chennai, and this weekend we went to Trichy. 

 

Hanging out on the porch at MCC

 

The market is about a fifteen minute walk from campus.  We go several times a week to look around and shop.  The market is an overwhelming place.  It is so crowded, polluted, and smelly.  There are people with fruit stands and other shops all along the streets.  On the way to the market there is a hot musty tunnel that we have to go through and people even have stuff set up on the ground to sell.  The other day the ground of the tunnel was flooded and we had to walk through the most digusting water ever.  It was brown and trash full of floating trash and debris.  I can barely handle passing through that place so I have no idea how people set up camp there all day.  In the tunnel and the rest of the market, there are also a ton of beggars.  Many of them are are missing an arm or leg and it is kind of hard to look at since I am squeamish about those things.  The other day we walked down the aisle of the market where fish are sold.  The smell was absolutely awful and there were flies everywhere.  The market makes me not want to eat any fish, vegetable or fruit served in India.  We aren't allowed to eat most fruits here anyway and I try to forget the images when I eat meals. 

 

At the maket- this doesn't even completely capture the craziness

 

 

Our entire group of 20 plus 2 drivers and 2 or 3 or Indian people all fit into 2 little rickshaws!  This picture is before Suresh and I even got on.  The Indians just keep piling people in, I still don't know how we all fit.  We have seen up to 5 people on motorbikes and the buses are always packed with people literally hanging out the sides. 

 

Other observations:  Several times a day the power randomly goes out for a few seconds but comes back a few seconds later.  Even at a really nice hotel where we stayed, the power flickered out at times.  While walking on the beach we saw a really pretty evening wedding with Christmas lights but the power kept cutting off randomly during the wedding.  Luckily though it doesn't last long.  Another thing I have noticed is that Indians seem to have no concept of time.  Our lectures almost always run way overtime and it doesn't phase them.  At a show that we went to, our teachers told the dancers that we only had 45 minutes but they just kept on performing and finally someone had to interrupt them and cut them off.

 

Food is still a major struggle.  I'm not having trouble finding enough calories but the quality of my diet has gotten pretty bad and I'm starting to get tired of the same rice and junk food all the time.  I absolutely cannot handle the spice though.  Also, I don't know what is wrong with them, but Indians apparently do not appreciate the value of chocolate.  We went to a sweet shop with tons of different sweets, but not one single one contained chocolate!  Luckily the Pic N' Pack, a little convenient store down the road has a few things like kit kats and oreos to keep me alive and sane.  Also, the ice cream is really good here.  Every time we eat out, our professors let us order ice cream which is nice.  My only complaint is that the serving sizes are so small.  I think my family would probably laugh if they saw the little cups, but the ice cream is pretty rich and cheap.  I'm usually lucky enough to get an extra serving from someone who doesn't like theirs too.  The hotels that we've been to have been a lifesaver because all have offered American food and nonspicy options! 

 

Last Friday, we took a day off classes and went to explore more rural areas.  The entire town came out to see us practically.  They were so excited that we had stopped by.  We observed weaving which was pretty amazing.  We also saw a potter and then watched a man roll beedis, which are handmade, unfiltered cigarettes.  Our teachers bought a few for us to try.  We also stopped by a rice paddy field.  That evening we ate at our teacher, Suresh's, inlaws house and they arranged for us to see a play.  The play involved extravagant costumes and told the story of Krishna, a Hindu god.  The entire play was in Tamil. 

 

 

 Picture of me smoking a beedi- this is for you Mom cause I knew you'd be proud :)