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Stage One Planning - India |
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I am just starting to plan for a December-January trip to India. I have so much to learn and figure out - not least of which including the Tamil language - I feel I'll never make it!How to develop the habit of never using one's left hand?
I have |
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India Itinerary - Part 1 |
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Okay - my itinerary changed between the planning stage and the booking stage. Here is the complete story. Note that in Bangkok, it is 13 hours later than Mpls, and in Madurai, it is 11.5 hours later. So if I say, e.g. that I'm staying in Bangkok Friday |
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India Itinerary - Part 2 |
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Coming home - here's the plan
Leave Madurai Tuesday 01/20 at 1:20 pm, Indian Airlines flight #672. Arrive Chennai 2:15 pm.
Leave Chennai Wednesday 01/21 at 12:05 am, Indian Airlines flight #979. Arrive Bangkok 4:45 am.
Wednesday day/night, stay in Royal River Hotel in Bangkok.
Leave Bangkok Thursday 01/22 at 6:05 am, NWA |
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Worst Christmas Ever |
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This has been my toughest day. “This” meaning Christmas, dammit.
I thought I was being a pretty good sport when I went along to church with Ms. Logamani last Sunday and again on Wednesday for Xmas eve. Thought of it as a cultural experience. But when she knocked on |
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WED Trust |
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I have been to three villages so far. The ones I’ve seen are about 5-15 miles away from the WED Trust office. In two of the villages, Ms. Logamani had the villagers talk to me about how they’ve been able to utilize the WED Trust programs and services, and |
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All Eat, No Sleep |
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The sole redeeming feature of Christmas was that the next day I was so tired, and I showed it – I was really pale, and Ms. Logamani decided that I’d developed a fever. So today they let me “sleep in” ‘til 7. I’m not sure what the big deal |
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Prison Queen |
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I am treated like royalty. I can’t do anything for myself, which has its better and worse points. I feel guilty just getting up to move to another place, because someone will jump up and carry my chair and my water and notebook and wherever else to where I’m |
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Independence Day |
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Sunday after church, Mr. Dharmaneethi told me what my schedule would be: I would eat lunch, “take rest,” and then in the evening I would visit his family. OK? Okay, I said, like a wuss… I’d promised myself I was going to push for a little time away. |
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People in My Life, Part 1 |
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There is a woman, Veerammal, who comes in every day to clean. She sweeps the whole place, does dishes, fetches wood for the fire, and I’m not sure what else. She does this six days a week for the whopping salary of 400 Rupees a month. (That’s about |
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People in My Life, Part 2 |
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There is a woman, Veerammal, who comes in every day to clean. She sweeps the whole place, does dishes, fetches wood for the fire, and I’m not sure what else. She does this six days a week for the whopping salary of 400 Rupees a month. (That’s about |
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Men in Skirts |
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Most men in this area wear dhotis. Dhotis are like floor-length straight wrap-around skirts, almost always in green and/or blue plaid or checks. When it’s hot, the men flip the bottom hem up and tuck it into the waist, to make it half-length. The men of WED Trust, |
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Can't Stop the Dance |
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It’s always loud here. Drivers honk their horns every five seconds or so for every reason and for no reason. I am not exaggerating. They’re supposed to do this just to let people know they’re around. Also, the vehicles themselves are quiet loud… even before accounting for |
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Sick and Sleep |
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I’m really sick today. I have this bad cold that seemed to be getting better, but then suddenly today took a turn for the much worse. So I asserted my desperate need for sleep. And sleep I did. I slept from breakfast until they woke me for |
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Baby Day |
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When I got up today, again there was noone who spoke English, nor was Valar there. I assumed (correctly, it turned out) that Logamani and Valar had gone to the hospital. Veerammal brought me my coffee and fed me, and I went about my business, and then finally Dharmaneethi |
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Going to the Doctor |
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Today I went to the doctor.
Last week when we visited the Meenakshi Temple, I had bought a necklace from a woman selling them on the street. It had colored beads, attached to the chain with little metal brackets. When I got home that night, my neck was |
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South Indian Food |
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Everyone’s asking me what I eat. Here goes.
Most meals consist of some kind of bread or rice, one or two chutneys (spicy, not sweet), and often a sambhar. Sambhar is a thin lentil-based soup, often with soft chopped veggies in it. Then the meal consists of dipping the |
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People in my Life, Part 1 |
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First and most important are the directors of WED Trust. They are Mr. Dharmaneethi, about mid-40s, and Ms. Logamani, 42. Mr. Dharmaneethi comes most days ~10 a.m. and stays until 5 or 6:00. Ms. Logamani lives at the WED Trust HQ. For awhile, I had a really |
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"Meck-up" |
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Girls and young women sometimes rub turmeric on their faces as a cosmetic (“meck-up”). If you’re thinking, “hey, I thought turmeric was bright yellow…,” you recall correctly. On the very dark Indian skin shades, it tends to make the skin look lighter. Indians are very color-conscious, and the lighter |
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Little Miss No-Panties |
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Little kids typically don’t wear underwear, nor does anyone use diapers. On special occasions, they might start off the day wearing underwear that matches their outfit, but only until they soil them. Then off they come, and it’s bare for the rest of the day. Almost always, they |
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Critters and Other Annoyances |
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I woke at 1:00 a.m. because – I believe – something crawled on me. I didn’t want to know for sure, so I moved around a lot and waited a couple minutes so that if there were something there, it would run away. And now I’m wide awake because |
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