First day of class! (And some shopping. And ice cream.)

Today was our first day of class! Our group headed out early this morning (via minivan today!) to Industrial Knowledge Partners (IKP), the parent organization to ICTPH (mentioned in an earlier post), where we received introductory information and logistical explanations about our course and its goals. We were also treated to lunch at the cafeteria, where I enjoyed a deliciously huge masala dosa with several chutney sauces. Why I am in love with India: this meal cost about 30 Rupees; the current conversion rate is approximately 40 Rus. per US dollar. Yes, you calculated that right – I ate an incredibly fantastic lunch for under $1.

Half of our class heading out to class (L to R: Sonia, Shawn, Megan, Nancy, Allison, Whitney).

View of Chennai from IKP - 10th floor

Interesting washroom (and drinking water)

Lunch was our final classroom activity of the day, and we were permitted to spend the afternoon as we liked. At the recommendation of our professor, our entire class decided to stop at Cottage Industries, a government-run store selling ornaments, furniture, fabrics, clothing, and accessories. Though most of you know that I tend to avoid shopping at all costs, I continually find myself fascinated by all of the amazing fabrics, clothes, and trinkets they have available over here!

Shopping at Cottage Industries

After resisting the urge to purchase everything in the store, we headed back to the hostel for a little break. While there, we discovered that the hostel staff had been filling the water cooler that we all used to fill our water bottles with water from the hoses. Now, I find this absolutely hilarious because we have all been overly cautious to avoid any water that didn't come from a packaged bottle, even refusing to eat foods that have been washed in tap water (e.g., fruits and vegetables), use ice (you have no idea how much I already miss ice – in fact, the first thing that I am going to do when I land back in the States is have an ice cold soda), and use tap water to brush our teeth. Somehow, no one has gotten sick yet (except me – this morning, actually – but that was probably brought on by taking lots of pills on an empty stomach).

Earlier in the day, one of my classmates suggested we go on an adventure to find some ice cream, which is exactly what we did this afternoon. Google maps informed us that the nearest ice cream parlor was approximately 1.2 km (0.75 mi), so we decided to try to find it by foot. Unfortunately, we ended up taking several wrong turns (I'm going to blame the lack of street signs for this!) and had to fight the traffic (which is a dangerous feat here in Chennai, especially during rush hour) because of the lack of adequate sidewalks, but our determination paid off and we made it to Creamy-Inn! Let's just say that we were very delighted to finally make it and the soft-serve totally hit the spot!

WE MADE IT!

Tonight, our last night in Chennai before we head down to Thanjavur, our group is going to attempt to visit a bar!  This ought to be interesting, considering women traditionally don't go to bars (and 12/14 of our group members are female) and there is supposedly a 11:30 PM curfew! I'm sure there will be stories to share tomorrow!

And as always, today's temp was about 104, but I think the humidity was a bit lower. I heard that the hot season is officially over (as of yesterday) and it should begin to get a little bit cooler (read: high nineties with heat indexes of low 100s). I'm so thrilled for this "break" in the heat...