Mynashi Temple:

Wow. I'm not even sure where to begin. The first time I saw this grouping of temples (Yes, it's plural), was when I was eating a delicious dinner on a rooftop overlooking Madurai. Even though it was night, there was lights set up around to capture the bright colors of the temples. Even though they looked amazing from far away, the experience of seeing them up close was a hundred times better.

 

A Close up of all the carvings that make up the temples

Throughout my time in India I have seen quite a few temples and giant monuments but none of them compare to the temple I got to see just last week. It's set up as a bunch of connecting temples.

Even though this picture didn't load properly, if you look really hard you can make out how all of the temples are connected and there is an inner courtyard type of thing.

Inside one of the temples was a sort of museum. (And once again I'm struck by how much foreigners more foreigners have to pay. It wasn't as bad as at "the butterball" but it was a dollar more). Rows and rows of carved pillars were inside the museum styled temple and they were all intricately designed. I wish I had been able to take pictures that could truly capture how beautiful it all was. There were walls covered in the stories of Minashi (a Goddess) and her husband.

I noticed that on a lot of statues people had thrown red powder over the gods and goddesses. Hopefully I will learn why later!

As we walked to the next temples, everything was SUPER bright. The ceilings were painted green, yellow, pink, red, blue, and purple.

Sorry about the colors not working!

Although this is pretty dark, you can still kind of see how detailed the ceiling is and how the hallways look as a whole. I just wish the picture didn't look so skewed.

 
In some of the other temples we got to see people praying and lighting candles in honor of the gods/goddesses. I learned a bit about the traditional mens outfits since a lot of men were in matching attire.

Here is an example of some of the shops. I hope to go back sometime later and do some shopping.

There were also lots of brightly colored shops. I really wanted to stop and check all of them out but there wasn't enough time. They were all lit up and very colorful which fit with how vibrant the whole setting of the temples are.

Here are some people praying.

This shop was actually inside the temples. (the rest were slightly outside or in between the temples).

A sign that said no foreigners past this point.

Backstreet Boys in India (A Post from my First Week In India)

Note: I just realized that this post never actually loaded properly so I had to repost it. The days mention are from my very first week in India while I was still in Madurai. The monday I mention was my fourth day in India.

Yesterday, (Monday), we did a lot of the typical tourist type things. We visited Shore Temple, this giant craft type museum, and a novelty called "the BUTTERBALL." It was pretty dark when we finally got there so it basically just looked like a giant stone rock, which is apparently what it is. I might have to google pictures of it to see what it's supposed to look like!
    At one of the temples we visited, there was a charge to get inside. However, there was a huge difference in the price for Indians and "others." They had to pay 10 rupees, approximately 20 cents, while we had to pay 250 rupees, basically 5 dollars!
    Yesterday I learned about India's drinking age when I had my first Indian beer. It seems that most people don't even know the drinking age because when I ask they aren't sure exactly what it is since it isn't strictly enforced. One person I asked said even a seven year old could drink if they wanted! The beer was also a lot bigger than bottles in the United States.
    On the drive home, one of the people we were with heard I liked Backstreet Boys and so made a little playlist so we could listen to it in the car. It was fun to finally be able to sing along to a song and even better when they joined in!

ANIMAL UPDATE
    While driving there, I saw horses and oxen just roaming around! I wasn't expecting it so I didn't get any pictures but there are other animals besides cows!!

An Example of a man at the Craft Museum. They sold their own work there and sometimes let you watch while they worked. This man actually drew me a little picture for free. It was a very cute elephant :)

Here a lady is teaching me how to make culombs (the designs outside of houses) with chalk. It is surprisingly difficult! She also just assumed I understood which I didn't!

Here is an example of some of the work done by the artists.

Max, Murgen, and I at one of the temples.

More art work!!

Carollers on Motorcycles: Holiday Spirit in Tamil Nadu

It seems like everyone here is completely ready for Christmas. We already had our mini christmas tree up and decorated by the first Saturday. (They said of course it is already December 3rd as if I was insane to want to wait). The boys and some of the younger girls all crowded around watching as Abraham set up the tree and decorated it. The kids helped in minor ways but mainly were just there as spectators. I know I say it all the time but the kids are so adorable and while watching them watch the tree I couldn't help but be amazed by them again. Although the tree was not much they all liked it so much and wanted to make sure I got a picture of it!

Last Tuesday the younger kids didn't have school because it was a nation wide holiday. So the girls made a dance and two skits to celebrate Christmas. It was so fun to watch (although I had to have them translate the skits into English for me!) They all dressed up and had costumes and roles.The girls all liked teaching me the different Indian dance moves and were beyond delighted when I turned and "dipped" all of them. It was a very fun girls only afternoon!

Then, that night a group of carolers came to the home! They all rode up on motorcycles and somehow managed to have a keyboard and a guitar with them as well. One of the men was in a full Santa outfit, he even had a mask! (Although in India he is called "Christmas Grandfather." It was fun and the kids loved it - especially since they all got chocolate at the end!

Also, last Saturday I went to a special Christmas choir concert at Lady Doak College and got to hug Santa!!

So, even though it isn't quite that time yet, HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

17 Monkeys and Some Evil Turkeys

When we went to KodaiKanal at the end of November, I was excited. I heard it was beautiful and that there were waterfalls and mountains, etc. It had been built as a summer getaway for the British when India was colonized and still is a sort of "getaway" and tourist place.

However, I was extremely disappointed! It rained the entire time we were there and was very cold out! (Probably not as cold compared to back home but relatively cold to where we are here!) We tried to go for a walk but there was fog everywhere and it just didn't stop raining. I plan on going back there later in my trip so I can finally see what it actually looks like.

One good thing from the trip is that I saw17 monkeys!! On our way back down the mountain (the roads are terrifying!) the fog started to clear and we could see one of the giant waterfalls and a bunch of monkeys sitting near it. I wish I had gotten a picture but we were in the car and I didn't have enough time to get my camera :( I know they won't be the only monkeys I see though!

PS. Like I said, I couldn't get any monkey pictures so these ones are kind of random!

 

 

Dibark Chasing Marudupandi

 

 

PPS. I'm still having trouble with my internet and can't get the pictures to load properly. I might have to reload them but for now, here they are!

Rubber Ducks: The Sequel

Rubber Ducks: Part 2

Whoops! I should have posted this a while ago but I have found a solution to teaching! While it's not perfect and I'm still working through it, the kids don't expect presents each time and I am planning to only give them out after tests or after big games like the one I have planned for later this afternoon.

So far I have only had time to work with the boys because the girls are older and have a lot more homework and studying to do as well as chores. The girls help out with cooking and cleaning and laundry while the boys don't have the same responsibilities so they have more time to learn and play educational games.

The boys love playing duck duck goose and if I could figure out a way to make them learn while playing it would be perfect. They also like playing a version of Simon Says which they call Tamil No, English Yes which is pretty straight forward. If I say a verb in English, they have to do it, but if I say it in Tamil, they can't do it. They love seeing who will win and taking turns being the caller.

I'm still working on planning other games and activities and seem to only have the best luck in small groups (aside from the Tamil No, English Yes game.) and have gotten some great suggestions! However, I won't turn any other ones away :D 

Esther Amma cutting some vegetables

Feeding the chickens. There are SO MANY of them!

Further proof I am cooking

Suresh: A total sweetheart. One of the projects/activities we did was about favorite things, and for every one he would ask me what my favorite was because he wanted us to have the same one! Then to top it off, when I said to draw a picture of you and your friends, he drew a picture of us holding hands!!!

Here mom: It's a picture of a chicken like you asked for :)

Rubber Ducks In India: Or How I Try to Teach

Unfortunately my computer did not save my last blog entry so I am rewriting it all. :(

Anyways, I gave my first formal English lesson on Wednesday. Before this I had just been sort of informally teaching the kids. I had hoped that I would have been able to watch the person who accompanied us on the trip teach before he left yesterday, but it wasn't possible. So I was basically left trying to figure it out myself.

They did give me "sample" lessons, but after reading through all of them I didn't think they would fit my personality or help the kids that much. The lessons basically had the kids parroting back phrases and repeating whatever the teacher said.

So I taught four of the youngest kids the days of the weeks. They already knew the names of the days because of a song but didn't actually know what they were singing. I made a chart and taught them it in Tamil-English. Since I was going on a trip from Thursday - Saturday, I told them they should study. I was having a hard time getting some of them to focus, especially since they are so young and don't really understand the purpose of learning English, so I resorted to bribing them!

I feel so guilty for doing that! It worked and I gave the kids some rubber ducks (that are absolutely adorable) but I still feel like it was wrong! The other kids who hadn't had the lesson all wanted a duck as well and I told them that they could only get prizes after lessons but now I'm worried that I will have to give them presents every time to get them to learn! Help! Any suggestions??

Here are some pictures of the adorable ducks :)

Some adorable ducks. When the warden (Esther) came into my room she teased me and asked if I sit in my room and play with the ducks when I'm alone.

Of course I play with them!

Cute Cupcake! Not so tasty though!

This picture speaks for itself. Look at that tractor!

Cooking Mama: Hallie's Edition

On our morning walk on Friday, we saw a whole auto rickshaw filled with children going to school. I was not expecting it to stop so they could all ask us questions like our names and where we were from and shake our hands. Everyone shook our hands, even the auto driver!!

Shopping in India is totally different from shopping in the United States. There are always way too many employees just standing around, so when there is a customer they all watch you and follow you around. I always say that I'm just looking but I still don't get any space. They do it to everyone and it makes shopping much less enjoyable. When I get home, maybe I won't complain as much about there not being as many employees around to help!!

On Monday, we went back to Lady Doak College and met up with Jazmin, an American student, a few of the teachers, and one of the teachers sons. We split up. Jazmin, Max, and I went to India's version of a mini walmart called Reliance. It was a lot smaller than I had originally expected but had a ton of stuff! Then we met up with the whole group for ice cream before splitting up again. Jazmin and I went shopping and I got a nice Chudidad along with some nice jewlery! I love all the bangles here! I won't get the Chudidad until tomorrow since the lady is adding sleeves to it. I didn't get to finish my shopping since the other group kept calling us impatiently, even though we had agreed to meet much later so I plan on finishing my shopping when I go back to pick up my Chudidad. I liked these stores so much better than the one on Friday! Less stress!

Yesterday I helped make lunch!! The dish I helped with was vegetable briyani, which is a type of rice dish. The knives here are very different but not to hard to use.

A Batik instructor (spelling??) came to visit. He is hoping to start selling his work in the US. With his work, he supports 11 orphans and gives a good salary to a bunch of people in his village.

This is the one I bought!! It's of the traditional Indian dance. A few of the girls are teaching it to me!

These are the vegetables for the Briyani I helped make :)

Marudupandi Thambi: Or Pandi No 2. He knows virtually no English and so it was hard to try to keep him from getting distracted in my lessons!

Another pose of the traditional Indian Dance. It looks really pretty when someone who knows what they are doing does it!

This is a picture of a woman making butter.

PROOF!!! See! It IS me cooking!

Sorry for the Late Update!!

I know I've been seriously neglecting this blog, but its so hard to update! I only recently got internet out here in Madurai and even that is marginal. It takes forever to actually get an email to work and I have to keep disconnecting and reconnecting my internet connection since i tend to get stuck with either receiving 0kilabites per second or having the computer just suddenly disconnect.

However, every other part of Madurai has been great. The people have all been wonderful, the children are BEYOND ADORABLE, and I've been able to try lots of different foods while avoiding all the spicy ones!

Also, since coming to Madurai we have gone on many "field trips" and adventures. For example, we visited Tehmali, a really rural and small village where we ate a meal prepared by a chef home from Kotocanal, went to the Southermost tip of India (where three oceans all meet; Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean, and Arabian Sea), visited a school started for children who are the first in their families to get schooling, and attended a wedding today! I promise to update more in detail now that I finally have a way to use the internet!

 

This is a view from the top of the (small) mountain we climbed in Tehmali. I had so much fun

and learned a lot of Tamil!

 

Here is another view from the mountain. The town pictured is Tehmali.

This is one of the boys from the Home in Madurai

Here are some of the boys who are supposed to be napping.

An adorably cute boy we met in Tehmali. He was extremely shy.

Three of the boys from the home in Madurai. They all love taking their pictures taken and so keep posing and posing and posing.

Two of my favorites: Radiku and Muttupandi

SlumDog Hallie

Today is only Monday, the start of my fourth day in India, but already I have learned some pretty interesting things. Yesterday at the worlds second largest beach, I learned that Indians have horse rides and amusement attractions there, and not many people actually swim. I also learned at the MGR memorial that they had a movies star as a chief minister of state and that in his later life he was never photographed without his glasses. People visiting his tomb were also leaning in to listen to his watch that is still ticking!

When we visited the Santhome Church, I saw a huge replica of Santa Claus in the St. Thomas Museum. When we asked a few people what the connection was they had no idea and some didn't even know who he was! It is kind of hard to explain that he flies around in a sleigh with magical reindeer in Tamil!

On Saturday we went to St. Thomas Mount and I saw a funny picture of Jesus laughing, something I have never really seen before but the lady unfortunately didn't let us take a picture. We also went to a few really big shopping malls and it was interesting to see how the newer ones resembled ones we have in America, only larger, while the older ones are definitely different. They wind every which way and its so easy to get lost! Additionally, while I was buying some traditional clothing, they offered us tea and coffee!! (It was very good :) )

Another huge culture shock was seeing all the animals in the streets. Going in I was expecting to see stray dogs and cats. I was not expecting to see roosters, goats, and a ridiculous amount of cows roaming around. Even with all the crazy traffic, cows just walk right down the middle of busy streets and all the drivers have to swerve to go around them! If I figure out how, I will upload some of the many cow pictures I took!!

And one real quick last note before I sign off is that Indians love Chinese food. I'm not sure why, since we had some and I think Chinese food in America is better, but they love it. 

A Vendor on the Beach 

Cows IN THE ROAD

MORE COWS IN THE ROAD

A Cow standing on a Colomb (Tamil Word). Every morning people go outside and draw these elaborate designs in chalk as a sign of good luck. Some people don't do these, and when I asked, I was told they were just "lazy."

Another Fruit Vendor

Jackie, Vanessa, and Anthony

Some adorable children who followed us around. I have multiple pictures of them.

A pharmacist who has a vendor on the side of the road.

A picture Vanessa took of me after I took off the Saree

A temple

A sign on the beach. (So dangerous!)

More vendors