St. Thomas Mount + Snake Park + Shopping

Yesterday morning we set off to St. Thomas Mount to 'hike' to the church at the top. Basically, it is a mile walk up stone steps to the top. There are 185 steps, to represent the 185 steps Jesus took towards crucifixion; different signs along the path mark the points in Jesus' walk where he fell for the first time, where his face was wiped, and so on. We began our walk right as 2-300 uniformed school children began the hike because they were going to listen to a motivational speaker at the top. It is a beautiful walk, but I didn't spiritually get much out of it, because the speaker was blaring on the loudspeaker. The view of Chennai was awesome, even through the smog, and there were a lot of statues to take pictures with. There was also a church that held a lot of supposedly historical artifacts, like the bleeding stone of St. Thomas. We got the usual request to take a picture with us, and although we think taking group pictures with strangers is kind of fun, Vidya usually sends them away.

After we got back to the van, we went to the snake park. Much like a zoo, but way smaller. There were a lot of cool snakes and specimens in jars, and there were other reptiles too. We spotted a couple monkeys around the entrance, but they got too high in the trees before we got our cameras ready. Next door to the snake park is a wildlife park, and it makes Woodland Park Zoo look absolutely amazing. Zoo standards in other countries are very low. The monkey cage was very sad. We ran into another group of school children who told us that meeting us had been the highlight of their field trip. We are very popular, this has actually made me realize that I would hate to be famous. Because I don't think any of you who are reading this have any idea what it is liked to be stared at by dozens of people wherever you go, beggars rush over to you first, people ask for photographs, and alot of times you will look over and someone will be taking a picture of you. That sounds funny, but it is really tiresome. Sara said today, "It's stressful getting stared at!"

We left the snake park and went back to Niketana and had a little rest, in which we got some ice cream. We have been absolutely craaaaving ice cream. We see all these locals eating soft serve cones, and it feels like summer here. But we have been warned to stay away from cold dairy products, so we bought haagen daaz. But after we ate it, it said it had been packaged in Mumbai. Oh well, it was delicious and neither of us got sick. (Knock on wood). Then we went back to the first few shops we went to on our first day and went nuts. We all have a feel of what is offered elsewhere, and it is easier for us to convert rupees to dollars in our heads. That's all I will write about today since I am behind. More tomorrow!