Temple Time

The Daily Moo

It's Sunday again...which means it's time to stop being lazy and update!

The dreams from my malaria meds are getting more and more frequent. I'm pretty sure most of my friends have been in at least one of them. I keep waking up completely disoriented, thinking that I'm actually working on a project with stallions in Portugal (last night) or that I'm outside and it's snowing or that couples that have broken up are back together, or that I'm actually back at school (shudder). Then I remember I'm in my nice, extra firm bed in India and its another day.

Yesterday our group was taken to some of the holy temples about an hour from home. I have a hard time spelling the name of them, but it's something like Mahabdapuri.

As soon as we got there, we realized the tourist trap we had wandered into. Whereas we've been getting the true "Indian experience" by living in the hostel, shopping at the local haunts and eating the local food, this was the place where many of the tourists were living. There were Radisson hotels and beach side resorts and a lot more white people. As such, the second we set foot on the ground when we exited the van, a group of men approached with their hands full off goodies for selling. And they don't take no for an answer.

Tourist trap

If you look at them, the harassment gets worse. If you say no, they'll keep forcing stuff into your hands saying, "looking is free." Then they'll make you stand there with it, shaking your head feebly "no" and continue to show you postcards and everything they're carrying. Kids are even worse...they come up and literally stand next to you saying "hello, ma'am, hello, hello, hello" while tugging on your arm, trying to show you the necklaces they have. Getting hassled for the short time we'd go between the temples was extremely annoying and made me want to punch a baby.

After some time though, we learned that if you simply don't look at them and continue to move in a straight line, they'll eventually give up. Some were on a mission and would follow you even up until you were in the van, holding their arms up to the windows.

And besides the merchants, there are the regular citizens trying to get pictures of our group without our knowing. It's actually super obvious...they'll pretend to take pictures of their friends and then slowly move the camera in our direction before snapping a few. I feel like a wild, endangered animal. Everyone wants a shot for National Geographic. We're not that weird looking, are we??

I just keep telling myself, "India will teach you patience."

The temples themselves were beautiful. Southern India is known for its sculpture work, and this was one of the finest examples. The temples are all carved from one giant rock and were worked on by thousands of hands. One that we visited was located by the beach and was caked in limestone to keep it from eroding due to the salty ocean wind.

Goats enjoying the shade

Beach temple

We had purposely gone early in the morning to beat the heat, but halfway through being out we were all cooked. It's strange; most of us naturally have a lot of energy and act like Energizer bunnies, but in this heat everyone is a zombie. We hardly talk. The sun just sucks the power right out of you and you find yourself craving a nap right in the middle of the day. For those who know me well, you know I rarely ever nap. I'm almost opposed to them. But I've been falling asleep everywhere after spending just one hour in the sun.

I wonder what our group would be like if it was 70 instead of 95 every day.

We finished off the morning tour by going to a crocodile park and getting Subway. I was surprised to see "local flavors" for their footlongs which included chicken tandoori and chicken tikka masala as well as the normal turkey, ham and cheese and BMT. They even had a mint mayonnaise which tasted really delicious.

We spent the afternoon recovering, going for a walk/run (I really miss running more than 3o minutes but it's just too damn hot) and steathily getting two cakes, chocolate and vanilla, for Kayla's 25th birthday. At night we surprised her with a mini party complete with pizza and cake and even convinced Mutu, our caretaker, to come for dessert. He's so used to doing things for us that he kept trying to give up his seat and refused food. But we eventually persuaded him to sit down and enjoy with us and he sang Kayla "happy birthday" in Tamil.

And that was yesterday.

Other than that, we've had nothing new happening. We start back up with our projects tomorrow, getting samples at the clinic in the morning, doing lab work in the afternoon and stopping in between for lunch and dinner. Things randomly break in our hostel (like the air conditioner or the fridge or the toilet) so we spend some time reporting problems to Mutu, doing chores like laundry and cleaning and switching off using the internet. It's a simple life, which is very refreshing. Next weekend there are plans to go snorkeling on the tip of India and then visit Mudumali, the elephant sanctuary, the week after.

And now it's time for some rooftop tanning and reading. More updates later.