Hydrabad to Chennai India, July 19, 2008, (goat picture). Today is a travel day. We are traveling to seven cities so we are on the move every 4-5 days. We spend the night before we leave packing. I am the lightest travel with the least luggage, so it goes pretty quick. On the way to the airport, I just sat and stared out the window. It is fascinating to wait in anticipation of what you might see. Today, in honor of the Ag guys, I wanted to get a picture of a butcher. I finally got a picture of the open butcher shop with a goat hanging, flies and all, road dust, no refrigeration, waiting to be sold. Further down the road are the herds of goats (30-50 goats) coming in for the day to be slaughtered. Much of India is vegetarian but goat and sheep are big with some groups. Since there is no refrigeration, the butcher cuts it fresh every day. A goat herdsman, herds his goats into the city every day, dropping off a few live goats at each butcher shop. The herdsman shares the road with all the vehicles, rickshaws, bikes, motor bikes, cows, camels, etc. In some areas there is a butcher shop on every two blocks so many goats and sheep are brought into the city daily. As I purchase the riches of India (pearls, emeralds, silks) my suitcase space is less. Today we are headed to the airport on our way to Chennai. Usually every travel day ends with us meeting the regional executive director of the Fulbright program and some previous Indian Fulbright students in the new city upon which we arrived. It is usually very interesting conversations. Today ended with native dances of Tamil Nadu at the Hotel Taj Connemarain Chennai. Even though we are a math science group we spend lots of time seeing the local cultural arts from performance art to arts and craft. There never is a dull moment. Hydrabad and Chennai have not had the monsoon rains that fill their water reservoirs, so Channai is having rolling blackouts because of the lack of hydropower. Chennai is hot and humid and it really hit us when we stepped off the plane. You sweat nonstop. Everyone here carries a sweat rag and I need one. I had a break in the day in Chennai so some of us jumped an auto rickshaw to the beach before the evening meetings. The beach we went to was hit by the tidal wave a few years back. There are thousands of people at the beach and the beach is really littered and contains hundreds of vendors selling everything from trinkets and shells to food. The people from the hot country side rent large buses and will come to the beach on a Saturday to cool down by the ocean. The boys swim in the water in their underwear and the girls and woman go in with the full sari. Shawn and I decided to walk back so we could get a flavor of the city of Chennai. We walked through one of the4 worst smelling ghetto’s we have seen so far in India. You see human waste on the streets but you never see the depositor. Today I got to experience the whole event. We had a few people come to us asking for money but most people never see white people in this area. They are more surprised than anything. After the evening meetings a few of us rented auto rickshaws to see the full moon on the Bay of Bengal. The beach at night was still packed but the people were by the road and not buy the water. We had the hide tide, rolling waves and full moon all to ourselves which is something you don’t get much in India and that is personal space.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Hyrdrabad to Chennai
Hydrabad to Chennai India, July 19, 2008, (goat picture). Today is a travel day. We are traveling to seven cities so we are on the move every 4-5 days. We spend the night before we leave packing. I am the lightest travel with the least luggage, so it goes pretty quick. On the way to the airport, I just sat and stared out the window. It is fascinating to wait in anticipation of what you might see. Today, in honor of the Ag guys, I wanted to get a picture of a butcher. I finally got a picture of the open butcher shop with a goat hanging, flies and all, road dust, no refrigeration, waiting to be sold. Further down the road are the herds of goats (30-50 goats) coming in for the day to be slaughtered. Much of India is vegetarian but goat and sheep are big with some groups. Since there is no refrigeration, the butcher cuts it fresh every day. A goat herdsman, herds his goats into the city every day, dropping off a few live goats at each butcher shop. The herdsman shares the road with all the vehicles, rickshaws, bikes, motor bikes, cows, camels, etc. In some areas there is a butcher shop on every two blocks so many goats and sheep are brought into the city daily. As I purchase the riches of India (pearls, emeralds, silks) my suitcase space is less. Today we are headed to the airport on our way to Chennai. Usually every travel day ends with us meeting the regional executive director of the Fulbright program and some previous Indian Fulbright students in the new city upon which we arrived. It is usually very interesting conversations. Today ended with native dances of Tamil Nadu at the Hotel Taj Connemarain Chennai. Even though we are a math science group we spend lots of time seeing the local cultural arts from performance art to arts and craft. There never is a dull moment. Hydrabad and Chennai have not had the monsoon rains that fill their water reservoirs, so Channai is having rolling blackouts because of the lack of hydropower. Chennai is hot and humid and it really hit us when we stepped off the plane. You sweat nonstop. Everyone here carries a sweat rag and I need one. I had a break in the day in Chennai so some of us jumped an auto rickshaw to the beach before the evening meetings. The beach we went to was hit by the tidal wave a few years back. There are thousands of people at the beach and the beach is really littered and contains hundreds of vendors selling everything from trinkets and shells to food. The people from the hot country side rent large buses and will come to the beach on a Saturday to cool down by the ocean. The boys swim in the water in their underwear and the girls and woman go in with the full sari. Shawn and I decided to walk back so we could get a flavor of the city of Chennai. We walked through one of the4 worst smelling ghetto’s we have seen so far in India. You see human waste on the streets but you never see the depositor. Today I got to experience the whole event. We had a few people come to us asking for money but most people never see white people in this area. They are more surprised than anything. After the evening meetings a few of us rented auto rickshaws to see the full moon on the Bay of Bengal. The beach at night was still packed but the people were by the road and not buy the water. We had the hide tide, rolling waves and full moon all to ourselves which is something you don’t get much in India and that is personal space.
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