One of the most interesting scenes I've witnessed over the past few days has been the construction work occurring near the lobby of our hostel. Shortly before we arrived, they had knocked down some walls to supposedly replace the area with two new bathrooms. Since we've been here, we've watched and listened to the clearing of the debris and the building of the new brick wall; all of which are done entirely by hand and without the use of electric tools. My favorite part is watching in amazement as young women and older men slowly and methodically move debris and bricks into and out of the lobby by balancing them on their heads. One woman had a stack of seven bricks on her head! The silent, methodical movement of these workers just stands out to me because of their drastic contrast to the hectic, noisy lifestyle of the city's street life.

Speaking of street life, I experienced my first auto rickshaw ride today and it was incredible. Some of my friends took some videos of our experiences this morning and I'm hoping they'll post them online so you can really experience it!

That's a rickshaw in front of our hostel.

Basically, we crammed three people (though locals cram many many more) into the back of one of the vehicles and hung on for our lives! First of all, Chennai has been my first experience with driving on the opposite side of the road as the US, which I'm just beginning to get adjusted to. Secondly, these rickshaw drivers (and all drivers here, actually) don't follow the lines on the streets (apparently they really just are there for “suggested routes” so you can keep track of whether or not you're driving straight), rarely use blinkers/lights to signal their movement or approach (instead they honk and use their hands to signal), only follow stoplights when it's incredibly busy during the day (and even then, many ignore this “rule”) and frequently come within inches (if not closer) of hitting things around them. Apparently this driving style is just accepted and the police don't really care. Although this sounds a bit ridiculous, I actually really enjoy this mode of transportation. It's cheap (bargaining is highly encouraged), easy to find (I think it's comparable to NYC and the amount of taxis), and a great way to take in the neighborhood. Plus, their speediness makes for some nice breezes!

The reason we used rickshaws today was to get out of the hostel and find some local clothes and cell phones for the SIM cards we've received from ICTPH (the organization we're working with for this class). Rumor has it we have pretty cheap international rates, so you may be receiving a phone call from me soon! Clothes shopping was such an experience. We went to a place called fabindia which I guess is a chain store with lots of clothing options and linens. I picked up a few kurtas (shirt/top/blouse) with varying sleeve length (I've heard that shoulder exposure leads Indian men to think you're a prostitute), scarves, a pair of salwars (which have endearingly been dubbed MC Hammer pants) and a pair of churidars (tighter-fighting pants, similar to leggings).

Alright, I'm cutting out - it's dinner time.