Saturday 6/23/12
This weekend is dedicated to sight-seeing around Chennai
while our professor goes off for a weekend retreat at a temple. Today we went to the shore temples in Mamalapuram. These temples are all located apart from each
other, and were all built around 1400 years ago. They used to be active temples, but now they
are more like monuments. The salt breeze
that blows from the Bay of Bengal and the waters that sometimes reach them have
deteriorated them a little bit, but they are still in great condition. We had a tour guide from the temples that
spoke English very well, so we could understand most of the history of the
temples. Again, I’m not the biggest
history buff, but they were very interesting to see and hear about!
One of the coolest parts about the shore temples was that we were so close to the shore, we got to visit a beach of the Bay of Bengal for a few minutes. We couldn't go in the water - couldn't even put our feet in - because it is so polluted and dirty, but I get to say I've been there!!! (I think that may have just been a story we were told though so we didn't go in the water...I'm not sure! I can't imagine it's any more polluted than other bodies of water.)
Next, we went to a crocodile/snake park where
there were a bunch of exhibits of different crocodiles. Most of them were just floating in the water,
so the biggest excitement was to see them move.
It was almost like a zoo, only just for crocs (and a couple alligators). The snake part was closed
for holiday, which I was bummed about because they catch cobras and such and
show the audience how they make the anti-venom.
I saw something on TV a while ago about that, but I was excited to see
it in real life. Alas, no luck. For lunch we ate out at a pizza place. This was my first full meal since being sick,
and I’m doing great! (knock on
wood!) Then we went back to the hostel
for the rest of the afternoon and got to relax.
Today we went to the National Shrine of St. Thomas Basilica. This was quite a religious experience – once in
a lifetime! Only 3 Churches in the world
are built over the tomb of an Apostle, and this is one of them. When we got there, we went to a chapel where
we meditated and prayed. We could hear a
mass in Tamil going on behind us in the Church.
At 9:30 we attended a mass in English which was very similar to the mass
in America, but the music was more of an Indian flavor to it. The priest spoke English very well, so we
were able to understand most of mass.
Afterwards, we went to visit the tomb of St. Thomas and pray for a
little bit there too. We visited a small
museum where they had very old writings, carvings, and even the arrowhead that
killed St. Thomas. I wanted to get some souvenirs,
but they didn’t have a gift shop =(.
After church, we came back to the hostel, had lunch, and relaxed.
Today was one of the coolest days
ever (cool as in awesome, not cool as in heat unfortunately). It started like a lot of the days here have –
dreaded getting out of bed, dreaded eating the same things for breakfast,
etc. We went over to the vet college to
work in the lab, but we weren’t really sure what we would be doing since we
finished up what needed to get done last week.
We arrived, and our professor said that they didn’t really have much
planned for us. Daryl asked “So we’re
free to go to the zoo then?” This had never
been brought up before to the professor, and he was really just kidding, but
our professor was like “Really? You want
to go to the zoo? I’ll arrange it” and
ran off. We all sat there looking at
each other, wondering if this was really happening. He came back shortly and told us that everything
was arranged – the zoo vet would arrange a trip around the zoo for us in a golf
cart-type vehicle and if he was free, we could do a behind-the-scenes vet
orientated trip. Unfortunately, he was
called off site by the time we got there, but we got to see a zoo in another
country! It was a lot nicer than I was
expecting, and it was feeding time for a lot of the animals so most were way
more active than I’ve seen at the zoos at home.
They had some types of animals here that we don’t have back in the
states, so that was cool to see also. We
thought it was so cool that our research day in the lab turned into a spur of
the moment field trip!
We went to lunch
at a restaurant nearby, and when Giri (one of the students that has traveled
everywhere with us) called the vet, he was still unavailable. He recommended that we go to a wildlife
preserve/sanctuary nearby that was for lions and tigers. It sounded cool, but we had no clue how cool
it was going to be! It was totally behind-the-scenes
and the workers took us to see almost every animal! They have individual runs and then they get
called into a smaller pen for feedings and work. They called a lot of the animals into their
small pens, so it was literally a huge wild lion with nothing between us and
him but a wire fence! It was absolutely
terrifying, especially when they would roar at the other lions or snap at the
workers (who were actually trying to get that response from a few) but it was amazing
at the same time. I have never, ever
been that close to a lion, or really even heard more than one roar. Let me tell you: these cats are soooo much
bigger than you think! Those few hundred
feet at the zoo distance makes them look way smaller than they are, and when
they are roaring right into your face and you can FEEL their breath, it’s
totally just something else. They are
such beautiful creatures, and it was so much easier to appreciate them up close
– huge glassy eyes, monstrous paws, and teeth the size of my finger! The tigers were not allowed to be brought
into the small pens with us there because they are dangerous in small areas
(like a lion isn’t?) but that was ok, because they came to see us at the end of
their runs anyways. One lunged at us
twice, and it was terrifying, but awesome.
I can’t believe we got to have such a magnificent experience when all we
were expecting to do for the day was work in the lab. BEST.
RESEARCH. DAY. EVER.
This weekend is dedicated to sight-seeing around Chennai
while our professor goes off for a weekend retreat at a temple. Today we went to the shore temples in Mamalapuram. These temples are all located apart from each
other, and were all built around 1400 years ago. They used to be active temples, but now they
are more like monuments. The salt breeze
that blows from the Bay of Bengal and the waters that sometimes reach them have
deteriorated them a little bit, but they are still in great condition. We had a tour guide from the temples that
spoke English very well, so we could understand most of the history of the
temples. Again, I’m not the biggest
history buff, but they were very interesting to see and hear about! 
One of the coolest parts about the shore temples was that we were so close to the shore, we got to visit a beach of the Bay of Bengal for a few minutes. We couldn't go in the water - couldn't even put our feet in - because it is so polluted and dirty, but I get to say I've been there!!! (I think that may have just been a story we were told though so we didn't go in the water...I'm not sure! I can't imagine it's any more polluted than other bodies of water.)
Next, we went to a crocodile/snake park where
there were a bunch of exhibits of different crocodiles. Most of them were just floating in the water,
so the biggest excitement was to see them move.
It was almost like a zoo, only just for crocs (and a couple alligators). The snake part was closed
for holiday, which I was bummed about because they catch cobras and such and
show the audience how they make the anti-venom.
I saw something on TV a while ago about that, but I was excited to see
it in real life. Alas, no luck. For lunch we ate out at a pizza place. This was my first full meal since being sick,
and I’m doing great! (knock on
wood!) Then we went back to the hostel
for the rest of the afternoon and got to relax.
Sunday 6/24/12
Today we went to the National Shrine of St. Thomas Basilica. This was quite a religious experience – once in
a lifetime! Only 3 Churches in the world
are built over the tomb of an Apostle, and this is one of them. When we got there, we went to a chapel where
we meditated and prayed. We could hear a
mass in Tamil going on behind us in the Church.
At 9:30 we attended a mass in English which was very similar to the mass
in America, but the music was more of an Indian flavor to it. The priest spoke English very well, so we
were able to understand most of mass.
Afterwards, we went to visit the tomb of St. Thomas and pray for a
little bit there too. We visited a small
museum where they had very old writings, carvings, and even the arrowhead that
killed St. Thomas. I wanted to get some souvenirs,
but they didn’t have a gift shop =(.
After church, we came back to the hostel, had lunch, and relaxed.
A few of us headed to one of the malls
in the afternoon to do a little more shopping because we were starting to get
tired of relaxing in the hostel. I made
a VERY good friend at one of the shops – he said we were his first customers
and this was the first day his shop was open.
He just got married, and wanted us to look at the photo albums from his
wedding. Then, after we bought our
things, he wanted to show me how to meditate with my bowl I bought. He had me close my eyes, took my hand, and
made the bowl “ohm.” Then he wanted me
to lay down and do it, but I told him I could do that at home. He told me I should be thankful for a free
meditation. The others girls were
watching and laughing the whole time.
When we were leaving, he wanted a picture of us and then wanted to get
in the picture with us. “I want picture
next to my favorite” he said, and came and stood next to me and put his arm
around my shoulder like we were good pals.
We took the picture, but then it was DEFINITELY time to leave! An experience I won’t forget, that’s for
sure! After dinner, we got our internet
fixed again, so we were able to go online.
Monday 6/25/12
We went to lunch
at a restaurant nearby, and when Giri (one of the students that has traveled
everywhere with us) called the vet, he was still unavailable. He recommended that we go to a wildlife
preserve/sanctuary nearby that was for lions and tigers. It sounded cool, but we had no clue how cool
it was going to be! It was totally behind-the-scenes
and the workers took us to see almost every animal! They have individual runs and then they get
called into a smaller pen for feedings and work. They called a lot of the animals into their
small pens, so it was literally a huge wild lion with nothing between us and
him but a wire fence! It was absolutely
terrifying, especially when they would roar at the other lions or snap at the
workers (who were actually trying to get that response from a few) but it was amazing
at the same time. I have never, ever
been that close to a lion, or really even heard more than one roar. Let me tell you: these cats are soooo much
bigger than you think! Those few hundred
feet at the zoo distance makes them look way smaller than they are, and when
they are roaring right into your face and you can FEEL their breath, it’s
totally just something else. They are
such beautiful creatures, and it was so much easier to appreciate them up close
– huge glassy eyes, monstrous paws, and teeth the size of my finger! The tigers were not allowed to be brought
into the small pens with us there because they are dangerous in small areas
(like a lion isn’t?) but that was ok, because they came to see us at the end of
their runs anyways. One lunged at us
twice, and it was terrifying, but awesome.
I can’t believe we got to have such a magnificent experience when all we
were expecting to do for the day was work in the lab. BEST.
RESEARCH. DAY. EVER.
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