The US Consulate in Chennai

Busy Busy day today. I'm going to make this fairly quick because I am tired! I will tell you a more detailed version later. 6:30 AM breakfast, which is rough after having a relaxing weekend. Our fifth school visit was set for today at 7:30, so we had to be out early. This school was another school with a high tuition, so we expected another westernized school that lacks the values of the Indian Educational System. We were pleasantly surprised however, that the students were practicing traditional religious values, and had good attitudes and treated their teachers with respect. I got to watch morning Sanskrit chants, a very heated sixth grade debate regarding family planning and population growth in India, and students in a model-making class who were demonstrating physics properties by making working models. That same model class also has a life section where students are taught how to unclog leaks, replace washers, lay patio bricks, fill holes, fix dents, etc. I was really impressed with that! Sign me up! We stayed for another fried lunch, It was a little taste of Indian fast food. The food really isn't disgusting, I am just yearning for a little more variety! I'll post a picture of it on facebook.
After leaving the school, we visited the US Consulate, which we were invited to. One full body pat down later, we were finally inside and toured around by a girl just a few years older than us, and not so great at public speaking. Then we met with a man in charge of something important with the Consulate. He gave us a big talk, and the main Consulate General who had invited us briefly poked his head out. Our group ripped our speaker apart afterward, but I didn't feel too fired up, mostly because it was so boring. And it was obvious the American people working there don't do much interacting with the locals. So much for foreign policy. When we left, we were without our cellphone so we had a faith walk to find our bus. We finally saw Albert (our driver) who told us to stop where we were, because the portion of the sidewalk coming up was really smelly. Which it was; waste + dumpster. So he came to pick us up from where we were standing. We had some time to kill, and were going to see a Mosque (because here there is religious toleration and you can just walk in), but there was someone throwing up by where we stopped the bus, and someone peeing just a few feet away. Don't think India is gross though! I just thought it was funny! So we went to a shop and then went to this hole-in-the-wall tailor shop to get our Sari blouses made. The shop was about the size of my bedroom, but much skinnier. It was so cramped, I took a picture of it. So we should be wearing our Sari's on Thursday!

Tonight, Vidya's sister came over to talk to us about arranged marriages. In America we think they are terrible, but once you see the other side of the story, you can see the benefits although there are still flaws. Brinda is a marriage counselor, so she illustrated the problems that often occur. Usually the problems have less to do with the partner, and more to do with families not getting along. There are too many family issues to blog about. India's divorce rate is only 1.1%, so comparing that with the US's 50%, I'll take it. There are many unhappy marriages, but also happy ones, just like everywhere else. Marriage here is seen as the union of two families, so their idea is of course the rest of the family and the parents get a say in the choosing of a partner. Usually the girl and boy are given the right to accept, and are not often forced into it, especially today. Anyways, it was very interesting! And this trip has made me judge things like that a lot less. Okay bedtime for me now, I'm onto Wednesday! You all still have to live through Tuesday.