Catch Up

Ok, here goes, so this is going to be an attempt to cast a slightly summarized version of the last three weeks as I think if I were to try day-by-day I’d be playing catch-up for the rest of my stay. Oh and it may come in two or three installments depending on work commitments today and tomorrow.

So I think I finished last time (rather disgracefully sluggish) having just arrived at the guesthouse. The following two days were spent exploring to Chennai and adjusting to the madness that is India. That first day after arriving was spent having lunch with the representatives who were looking after our accommodation and just there in the case of emergencies or if we were in need of any help. I also met my roommate, Adam De Jong a 23-year-old Californian, and Alice Hancock an 18-year-old girl from Bath; both are also going to be working at the paper. After that it was just a case of catching up on sleep.

The next day was spent sightseeing along with the other girls out in India with the Changing Worlds company (www.changingworlds.co.uk) who were organizing our placements. We were picked up early that morning by a minibus and guide and whisked off for a brief visit of Mahabalipuram, a small(ish) town famous for its stone carvings and temples and then on to a heritage center about a half hour from Mahabalipuram where we were shown the Traditional lifestyles, homes, clothes etc. of each of the different Indian states. I found it really interesting and the traditional meal for lunch was delicious. It was a pity though that we spent such little time in Mahabalipuram and myself, Adam and Alice are currently planning a trip to go back.

The day after that I finally moved in to my long-term accommodation, an apartment in the slightly more quite area of Chennai known as Thirumangalam, at the top of Anna Nagar and five minutes from work by bus which is handy. I also met our two flat mates, Sunny and Kunal, neither is from Tamil Nadu and neither speaks a word of Tamil which means that they are in the same boat as us, to a certain extent, which is nice and indeed so are they. In fact Sunny in particular has made life so much easier for us out here, he really is a godsend, he instructs us on prices, which has seriously advanced our bartering capabilities, what’s the best way to travel everywhere and indeed whether a place is worth traveling to and which places not to miss. I’m not sure how exactly we would have survived without him to be perfectly honest.

Our first week’s work was engrossed by two festivals going on in Chennai at the time, Chennai Sangamam, an arts festival celebrating traditional endangered artforms from Tamil Nadu, and the religious festival celebrating the harvest known as Pongal. I had two articles and several photos published in the paper which was really cool because I hadn’t expected to be published that fast. I am currently trying to work out how to post digitalized versions of my articles on the blog but am encountering problems will work it out asap. Anyway I have to run, work calls but I promise to have this up to date by the end of the weekend at the latest. Thanks for following and I’ll try to be a bit more punctual with posts.