| I'm finally getting the hang of this! | |  Today is my first "day off" in over a month, but actually a year. This journal is mainly for jill, Kim, and Brandy to see and read about what and how I'm doing in Chennai, but maybe others will view it as well. I'll start from the beginning of this journey later, but for now, I'll just focus on today. woke up late for me today 8 or 9 and went out to the 2nd floor covered patio to check on some email. I don't want to write about India on facebook, because most of my "friends" don't really care about this journey. It's been so cool temp. here compared to Tennessee in the summer and fall. not at all what I expected. We have an ocean breeze and can always hear the waves. I've been so exhausted that I haven't had time to keep in touch w/ anyone. Echo is out here w/ me. She's finally adjusted and loves it hear now. I hear the same sounds I do every morning;the hindu prayers and music, the waves, sweet little beepy horns, and people talking and walking, the animal noises, and the sound of sweeping. It's all calming and peaceful. Wayne is up now and I have responded to a few emails. inside, it is so cool w/ the ac. we've decided today to go shopping. we haven't really had any time for that. We're going to anna mama's(sic) a western, overpriced grocery store. We just might look and buy a few items that we miss most. we're also going to my room at school to work a bit. the sun is sooo bright here;it's a great day for the beach. we're on indian time now, meaning we'll go whenever we're ready. no hurry. wayne and i sit on our rooftop terrace and talk. that's something we didn't really do in the states. we had some older weathered cane furn up here, but it was breaking, so yesterday on the way home from school, our driver stopped at a shop that makes this bamboo furn. so we could buy some new furn. this was what wayne insisted upon. instead of saving our money to buy a new tv(we didn't ship ours;i wanted to ship, but he didn't) sooner, he'd rater spend around 125$ on this furn. that;s how much he has changed. he enjoys sitting up high and watching our neighborhood and talking over TV and he was addicted to TV. i was truly amazed! he doesn't like to bargain and in fact refuses to do it. However, you must bargain in India or you end up paying a fortune for everything, especially because we're white. so the man told us 9,500Rupees and wayne just began handing him the money. that's when i stepped in and started haggling over the price. we actually paid 6,300 rupees, but if we would have driven off, i think he would have come running after us lowering the price, but we didn't go that far, because i didn't want to embarass wayne and we still got a fairly good deal. 50 rupees = 1 dollar, so I saved about 2,700 rupees which means about 55 dollars. i've been reading about india for so long now and i just know that you are expected to bargain or you're a sucker and they actually laugh at you and think of you as a fool. wayne can NEVER shop alone. He has already been on a 3,000 rupee rickshaw ride, filled the guys tank up, and tipped the driver. that means he paid the driver $60 +. a ride should never be over 150 rupees. he's always thought he was the protector of me and i've always been very defiant about that and tried to be independent. he says(meaning this as a good thing) that i have completely amazed him and he never knew i could do the things i do. he's afraid of stepping out into this god-awful mess they call traffic to hail a rickshaw, and he tried at first to hold me back. then i just started pulling, actually tearing myself away from him and step right out and would get us a ride immediately. i know how to travel and not be scared of everything. This whole me fitting in and taking charge has totally flipped him out, but we get along better now, because he actually has seen a whole new side of me and remembered that I was independent and took care of myself when he met me and that i'm still very capable of that. he's more of a worrier about things like the food delivery truck not being able to find our house. he'll even stand out in the rain at the end of our road for a couple of hours making sure that they don't miss us and the locals and i feel sorry for him and beckon him inside. sure enough, in time the delivery comes and the neighbors and i tell him to just relax. yes, sometimes here, it takes over 2 hours to get food delivered! However, almost all of the restaurants deliver which is really nice. i think him not having to protect me all the time has been good for him, stress wise. he loves it here and says he feels healthier and better than in 10 years. our cook taught him how to make indian tea and he's made some for us just now. it's great stuff. we've just been relaxing outside all day, so now we're getting ready to shop and go to school. my regular driver is off today, so we'll walk about a kilometer down our road to ECR(East Coast Road) and get an auto(rickshaw) we'll have to bargain on the price. they're tough to bargain with. then it will be like we're on a tour and we get to see india, the real india. we always look out while we're riding and never rest our eyes because there is so much to see. i know i've just been rambling, but i'll write me later. love you! andi | |
