Welcome to Chennai – August 23, 2009

Images of Chennai – a woman sitting on the street corner, making garlands of fragrant jasmine flowers; a cow pulling a wooden cart full of clay Ganesh statues; the “flame of the forest” tree outside our apartment balcony; a man on an old bicycle outside our apartment selling buckets; kids playing cricket on the beach on the Bay of Bengal; and the constant honk of the auto-rickshaws.

We arrived in Chennai on Tuesday evening, August 18, to be greeted warmly by Mr. Umapathi – the husband of our exchange teacher, Chitra. Not only did he personally escort us to our new apartment, but he presented us with sandalwood garlands and a cake decorated with our names! The apartment is lovely – far nicer than I expected. From our balcony, we have a view of the aforementioned “flame” trees and coconut palms, as well as other balconies and rooftops in the area. We are lucky to live on a quiet street, especially since Chennai is not a quiet city! There is a small market right next to our apartment building – much like the corner stores of old – where we can buy ice cream, pop, and other snacks. In the morning, I go buy our milk, which comes in two half-litre packets (total cost – 22 rupees – about 45 cents). The milk is boiled, then put in the fridge to drink later that day. We cannot drink the tap water here (even the locals do not drink it!), but we have large jugs of bottled water brought right to our door (it costs about 40 rupees – 80 cents – for a 5 gallon jug).

In the apartment, we also have three air-conditioned bedrooms (we use the AC sparingly, so we can adjust to the heat), a kitchen, and two bathrooms. We even have a TV! The one channel we get in English is the Disney Channel, but it is an interesting mixture of Hindi and English programs (“That’s So Raven” in English followed by a Hindi version of “Wizards of Waverly Place”).

The first few days in Chennai were spent finding our bearings in our new neighborhood, which is called Mylapore. It is a great base, as it is only a 10 – 15 minute “auto” ride from a large central shopping area. We managed to find a well-stocked grocery store (Nilgiri’s) and a very affluent mall (Citi Centre), both with the help of Mr. Umapathi. The prices here vary a great deal – most groceries cost half what they would in the U.S., and some are even cheaper. The only exception is imported goods – a small jar of Skippy peanut butter (a must-have for the kids!) was 250 rupees ($5.00 US)! We are slowly getting used to South Indian food, which is predominantly vegetarian. Our favorite is the masala dosa, which is like a thin crepe wrapped around a lightly spiced mixture of potatoes and veggies. We have also tried vadas (like a spicy donut) and idli (rice cake).

On Saturday, August 22, we went to Vidya Mandir Secondary School, to meet the teachers and have a tour. The school is private, for grades pre-K up to 12. Mike will be teaching Grade 9 and 11 Math, and the kids will be attending school here (Taz is in the “7th Standard” and James is in the “3rd Class”). Mike will be in the minority, as there are only four other male teachers! All the female teachers wear saris, which seem to be more common in South India than they were in Delhi. Having seen the school, our kids are excited to start, as they are eager to meet other children. The hardest adjustment will be the heat, as the classrooms are not air-conditioned and the humidity here is quite intense.

Sunday was our last day off before school started, so we went to Marina Beach. The kids dipped their feet in the Bay of Bengal, but we were very cautious as the waves are huge and quite powerful! After years of wave-jumping in the Pacific Ocean, the kids were surprised how warm this water is!

There is so much we want to see and do here, but we have to remember to pace ourselves! Hopefully we will have a chance to attend local festivals and performances, visit temples and see more of Chennai in the weeks to come.