Hello everyone! This is my last night in the hotel w/ internet access, so I thought I'd update really fast. I'm not able to post pictures yet, but I've got some really good ones, just you wait!
We have spent this week taking orientation/classes at a hotel in Thanjavore, Tamil Nadu. It's a gorgeous place with marble floors and plants everywhere and a pool outside and tons of foreigners. Needless to say, I keep reminding myself that this is a luxury, not a reality! Although...they have been feeding us a ton of spicy, delicious Indian food, so much that I'm never hungry and looked forward to eating normally with my host family. But lo and behold, they informed us today that the amount we're currently consuming is paltry compared to our host mother's cooking. And they called Americans bad! Did I mention the stigma here against food waste?? I may choose not to update you on the whole food situation....
In other news, today is Krishna's (the Hindu God) birthday! I think he was born somewhere in 600 B.C., but he doesn't look a day over! Still blue, flute-wielding, nymph seducing, butter-stealing, bull-riding Krishna. We travelled to the Hindu temple in Darasarum to see some of the amazing sculptures and carvings of the deity. The temple was magnificent, with ancient Brahman (Hindu religious wise-men) and incredible volcanic sculptures. The Hindu religion has a rule and a symbol for absolutely everything, from love ties between the Gods/Goddesses to the importance of certain directional cues. It's myths were fashioned out of Greek mythology (really, to combat the growing popularity of Buddhism in 600 A.D.) so they're all love and deceipt and heaven and hell. Fascinating!! It's like one long mystical soap opera.
Well, I have to go repack my stuff. We leave for Madurai tomorrow afternoon, where we will stay in aother hotel for the night and meet our host families the following day. I'm so excited and a little nervous. I hope my host siblings, Kogil and Struthi, will like the "Sour Patch Kids" I brought them!
Tamil sentence of the day:
"I want tea, but not milk."
"Ennuka tea veenum, aanaa paal veenaam."
Ha! That's all I know, really.
Emily
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