Katie's Visit

Travelling like crazy over the past few weeks. First to Bangalore to visit our activities, and disseminate research results to other NGOs, then to Chennai to see some interviews and focus groups on condoms and quickly visit activities and then to Hyderabad to visit their activities for the first time and watch more research. Then I came back to a week of holidays and fesitvals including Diwali, probably the biggest holiday in Delhi - the festival of lights. Usually I enjoy diwali, everyone lights all these candles and gives presents and it's really pretty. However this year I had the misfortune of living under my landlord's family. Another aspect of diwali is setting off fireworks - personal fireworks - also known simply as crackers. Of course it can be many things; pretty, awe-inspiring, polluting, frightening but for me, this year, it was simply annoying. Families like to show their wealth by the amount they spend and the amount they spend also seems to relate to how loud they are. So it was several hours of incredibly loud sonic booms (as they are literally called) with 20 minute spurts of what sounded like machine guns firing into my living room. The rooms got smoky (despite being well sealed) and my cat started sprinting from corner to corner and eventually I found her shaking and cowering in the corner of a cupboard.

Anyway, one highlight of my trip around the south, was that I happened to be in Chennai when John's (of my mom's John) granddaughter Katie was docking as part of her working on a Semester at Sea. So I took a day off and we (and her friend) went to Mahaballapuram. I'd been before with my coworker Dana and it's just a fun small town with great carvings and temples and pretty beach. Last time I went it was the hottest thing I've ever felt so even though it was probably still in the high 90s, it felt much cooler this time!

It was great to hear about their travels - japan, china, myanmar, etc. What a great way to see the world! I finally saw the shore temple which is like the big deal of Mahaballapuram but I missed last trip (stupid early closing hours). It is right on the beach and was not only totally engulfed during the tsunami but has been battered for centuries (millenia?) by the ocean and salty air. It's amazing how much is still there. Anyways, it was a much needed break and always wonderful to see people in different settings (than family gatherings).