A trip to Mahabalipuram

Today our group visited Mahabalipuram, a coastal town and ancient port town about 1.5 hours outside of Chennai on the Bay of Bengal. The town is known for its temples, caves and carvings in rock, dating back to the 7th century. The carvings illustrate events from the Mahabarata, one of two ancient Sanskrit epics from ancient India. Several of the temples/monuments in the pictures I took were actually carved from single rocks, an impressive feat given their size and detail. In invested in a goofy-looking hat to combat the heat and had a great time exploring the monuments, which were spread out among small stalls selling fruits, ice cream, art, and jewelry. It was nice to see people from a variety of different cultures and regions visiting the monuments, and us as Americans making up a very small proportion of the tourists. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves- this is an amazing place.

First day of class, Ravi's birthday, and some water troubles

Today our group ventured to the business centre for the India Knowledge Park (IKP) business center on the other side of Chennai- it took us nearly an hour to get there, helping me to better understand just how vast the city is- to begin our training and orientation for the course. The building was modern and tastefully decorated, and the best part was a fantastic view of the city from the 10th floor. We gathered to celebrate one of our instructor's (Ravi's) birthday with chocolate cake and singing.
Zeena Johar from IKP introduced some basic information about ICTPH (IKP Centre for Technology in Public Health) which I found really interesting. The program assists with the functioning of rural health clinics in 3 villages which we will be visiting once we get settled in Thanjavur, and they use gps-enabled mobile phones to identify where people are in need of medical services in order to decide where to develop new clinics. Accessibility to adequate healthcare in rural areas is challenging, despite many peoples' ability to pay for services- there just aren't enough doctors or facilities to accommodate everyone. ICTPH helps with this by doing research and providing information to SughaVazhvu Healthcare, the program which runs the clinics.
After our training and yet another delicious lunch of masala dosas, we visited Cottage Industries- a store with a plethora of handmade goods, ranging from figurines of deities to textiles to marble tile art. It was exciting to see some of the various forms of artwork that characterize the region.
The only downside to the day was discovering that the water we've been drinking at our guesthouse, which came in large bottles and was thus assumed to be clean bottled water, was really from the hose outside. Normally this would not be a huge concern, but the water quality here is questionable, and we're all a little weary of getting sick. Hoping for the best over the next few days.
Tomorrow is a free day- we're planning a trip in the morning to Mahabalipuram, a city on the coast with many temples and buildings with unique rock-cut architecture. In the evening we'll leave for Thanjavur by sleeper train, I'm excited for the adventures ahead!

Some of our facilitators and views of Chennai from the IKP Business Office

Our class :)

Ravi (our instructor)'s birthday cake

Day 1 in Chennai

So my friends and I succesfully arrived in Chennai around midnight last night, exhausted but excited to finally make it. We taxied to our guesthouse which is nothing fancy, but amazingly has a shower. Mostly I was happy to finally have a bed to rest in!

I awoke to loud noises from either birds or monkeys (I was hoping for the former given my previous scary interactions with the latter). Our group ate at a nice restaurant where dosas are the specialty- thin, crispy rice paper wrapped around curry and served with various chutneys. I was in heaven. Fresh chai tea rounded out the meal and we were ready to hit the town.

We took a rickshaw to another part of town in search of local clothing and discovered a huge market in T. Nagar- bustling streets, hundreds of tiny and large shops for everything you could possibly need or want, and a beautiful temple. We ventured into a shop with thousands of sari fabrics and a decent variety of other women's clothing- I was excited to buy a few nice outfits for my stay here.

I was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people, animals, smells, sights and sounds. This was how I had pictured India, but it is so different to see it up close. Horns are honking constantly, motor bikes and rickshaws zooming past bicyclists and the occasional bull-drawn cart. Smells of fried and spicy foods intermingle with sewage and garbage. The heat and humidity are overwhelming, but a slight breeze kept me sane.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of my time here has to offer, and to start our orientation tomorrow- we'll get a better feel for the coursework we'll be embarking on upon our arrival in Thanjavur in a few days.