Friday July 26

I rallied for a great afternoon (Okay it was a Pepsi morning. I have never drank so much soda in my life. I might start only having soda. I'm saturated with restaurant food that is too rich and spicy.). The car and driver were going to pick me up at 10:45 and that turned out to be 11:45. That is India time. I am totally "down with that". Okay, couldn't resist a quote from one of my favorite British series 2012. While I was in the lobby I read the Deccan Times. You really don't want to do this as someone is usually struck down by a hit and run driver, typical according to Dr. V; children are getting food poisoning at school and sometimes dying....I will spare you, the list goes on and on. Sad and bad things happen at home too. In India the immensity of the problems just blow you away. Yesterday I read that 65 percent of Indians live below the poverty line. They clarified that as fifty rupees a day in the villages and sixty-two in the cities. Currently sixty rupees equal a dollar. I know three ways to kill newborn baby girls. I did not want to know this or even think about it. People of course are trying to stop these things.....

As I continued to wait I also overheard a family arguing in the lobby over the dispensation of perks by the hotel. Some got twenty-five of something and two others got fifteen. This set them all off. Finally the man, possibly an American of Indian descent said "Quit trying to make sense of this. This is India and nothing makes sense". I thought he hit the nail on the head. Sometimes they bring two people pieces of cake for instance and it stops there. We've had these conversations about our so called free Internet. You've got to roll with it. You've got to save your energy for things like getting across the street.

Still waiting and we had a couple,of rolling brown outs. This is so normal I forget to mention it. In the Gandhi museum yesterday we were in the dark for quite awhile. Everyone just stands in the dark and chats a bit and the lights eventually come on. Hotels have generators that fire up. Homes often only have power eight to ten hours a day. They have small generators so that they can keep at least one fan going. You can imagine everyone splayed out around that fan.

My ride comes and we whisk off until we come upon a Holy Cow. My guide wants me to get out and take photos. Have a look:). I am happy to stand by rubbish and take a photo as long as I don't see a rat. The odors? Yes, pungent in places like this and in a few empty lots we had to walk through which were urine saturated. One man even relieved himself just as I was passing within a foot of him. He graciously turned his back. Seeing men urinate against walls or in fields is just an everyday thing. Sadly that all runs down the streets when the rains come. Yes, we've walked in that. Odors overall though, much less than we anticipated. Being clean in body and clothing is a relatively high priority even for the poor.

What a great day. We have an outdoor luncheon at the Cultural Resource Center that is hosting our Madurai visit. It is a South India home that is turned into a library and resource center for the grad students and professors who come here to study. You can tell by the pictures that the American teachers were ready to "chill". We made Jasmine chains for our hair, had henna treatments, rocked out to American tunes and Tamil social justice songs with Shaker, were entertained by dancers and Marshall artists. You hit the wall and then turn the corner in India and something is waiting for you that amazes you.

Some of you are interested in great stories and study abroad. I will be receiving an email with contact information for this area and I would love to share it with those interested. This center is led by love, and these people have their hearts and souls into improving the quality of life in India. The "Kolam"art drawings were taught by "untouchables" the center had invited. They taught us and we shared our appreciation and they were elevated in a small way. They would love to have teachers volunteer or write grants to come and work with teachers for a few weeks or a year. Their teachers want to do well, but don't have the methodology. One of the guests today was an American prof from North Carolina who brings her family to Madurai for a month each summer so she can follow the story of one particular village. Dr. V is eighty-two years old. Don't wait too long if you'd like to tap his expertise on the Vedas and Hinduism in India. He's a scholar of world religions.

Chela Meenakshi

Center for Educational Research and Services

I A Raj Sri Gardens

Visalakshipuram, Madurai - 625 014 India

Email: cmcentremadurai@gmail.com

http://cmcentremadurai.org

On to Kolkatta......