Last weekend was a trip to Chennai (a city on the eastern coast in the state Tamil Nadu) and surrounding areas, organized by CIEE. I was very excited to spend time with the CIEE students; although many of the other SIP students are nice and interesting people, the CIEE students share a special connection with each other like students from the same elementary school or middle school share in a high school setting. It was going to be like a reunion from the Walden, the resort that all of us had stayed at upon initially arriving in the country. That was already two whole months ago.

Of course we had a motorcoach take us to the train station. I realized then that we'd have one wherever we go. I don't know whether or not that's the only transportation available for a group of 22+ people, or whether CIEE was just keen on providing a comfortable environment for us, but whatever the case I was always uncomfortable boarding and disembarking from such an obnoxious vehicle. Compared to the low-lying rickshaws, motorcycles, and rusty buses, a motorcoach ("a/c equipped" appropriately advertised on the side) was a message that those inside were pretty special people...or at least highly privileged. Now take the fact that it was full of white people in a sea of Indians. In a very noticeable way it separated us from the society, us peering down at passers-by either looking back at you to see who was inside or just going about everyday business.

Melissa and I talked a great deal on the train about traveling; she is disappointed in the structure that CIEE provides...or rather requires. I knew what she was talking about, I mean we're provided with food every meal even if we're not hungry, provided with train tickets and hotel rooms that are much nicer than what you'd get for "budget" prices, shuttled around without much say in where we were going or what we'd do when we'd get there, and much of the time prompted to participate in stereotypically "tourist" activities. At the same time the purpose of CIEE is to provide some kind of structured environment in which students can participate in other cultures, that's what makes participating in it different from traveling on your own. Additionally, because of the number of students involved, some generally comfortable baseline has to be established or else you're likely to get complaints. Not everyone in the world shares Melissa's and my "budget," anti-tourist attitudes. Lastly, think about how much of a pickle they would be in if a student were injured or worse; no one would want to participate in an organization with significant risks involved. For the sake of the continuity of the program, our protection needed to be surely ascertained, hence why they schedule enough to do so that we don't have much time to go on our own. This is also probably why the SIP guest house is so well protected with fences, watchmen, and curfew rules prohibiting non-SIP students from entering the grounds after 10 pm. Although I knew where Melissa was coming from, I also knew where CIEE was coming from and wanted to appreciate the trip for just what it was, not getting hung up on what I wanted it to be. You learn quite a bit about someone when you travel with them, and just knowing exactly how people like to travel and what they hope to glean from traveling is enough to expose much of any person's values and personal story.

So we were put in the a/c three tier train class. On these trains, there are many ways to travel. General seating is just benches (highly uncomfortable for rides that are dozens of hours long and overnight); sleeper class is what I've ridden in before and open to the environment unless you purposefully pull down the window; a/c three tier is of course air conditioned which also means that there is always glass between you and the outside, the beds are also slightly thicker (although arranged in the same way) and sheets, blankets, and pillows are provided; a/c two tier is basically just a nicer version with curtains that pull around the beds; first class is very comfortable (there are only maybe a dozen first class seats) and arranged differently, having separate compartments for each group of four people.

I must say I think I like sleeper class the best. First of all, it's a quarter of the price of the a/c three tier. Plus it's arranged in the same way and I can bring my own sheets anyway. I also like hearing what's going on outside including the clank of the train on the rails. It's soothing. As is the wind on your face. Also if you've had the privilege to talk to me about how I feel about air conditioning in general (that's another story), you could have guessed I'd prefer sleeper class.

There was a motorcoach in Chennai when we arrived the next morning to take us to a nearby hotel where we'd eat. Although we were provided with idli (fermented lentil and rice cakes) with chutney for breakfast on the train, CIEE is a fan of scheduling all-you-can-eat buffets (fortunately so am I). Also they reserved hotel rooms for us to "freshen up." Such an idea looks nice on paper, but when you've just arrived having already expected to spend the weekend wearing more-or-less the same clothes and maybe or maybe not showering, you're more excited to get out and see where you are. Of course I could tell Melissa was feeling the same way.

Whatever...it was what it was, and at the least it was time to socialize with the other students. We weren't in Chennai very long; right after breakfast we were shipped to Kanchipuram, a town a few hours a way famous for both the nearby temples and its high quality saris. There we visited the Kailasanathar temple, built in the 8th century and dedicated to Shiva. The temple's importance dwindled out after the king that built it fell out of power. The separation of church and state isn't really a honored concept here as it is in the States, the temple being an example as it had as much political significance as religious. There also I saw some of the oldest paintings known to India as well as many carvings of Shiva in many poses. We had a guide on our tours and on the bus who was a wealth of information and as interested in answering my questions as I was exited to ask them, a favorable combination. For lunch we ate at a local household that also functioned as a museum, displaying the way of life of a native Tamil Nadu household. That evening we also visited some sari weaving shops.

Sari weaving is completely fascinating. It's extremely difficult to describe and requires a loom the size of a room. Thousands of threads are lined up in the loom and alternated in their up/down positions with foot pedals every time the weaver threads back and forth, creating a weaved scarf. There are also eye-level strings that the weaver anchors every few threadings; these strings are connected intricately to other strings that raise or lower the threads of the sari on the edges of the scarf to generate specific and unique designs. It seemed analogous to playing a pipe organ: The act of threading back and forth generates the product, as does playing a keyboard generate sound; foot pedals are used to alter the position of the whole sari, as the feet are used with an organ to open and close the swell box which alters the volume of the whole keyboard; lastly the combination strings, located at the same position where stops would be, alter the quality of the sari by prompting a specific and unique design, just as stops on an organ create unique and specific qualities of sound. The end products of music and cloth in each activity is the sum of many precise actions that involve the whole body, making each very complicated but fun to watch/listen to.

That evening we stayed at a hotel in Mamallapuram, a coastal town also located in the Kanchipuram district, famous for its monolithic rock carvings which illustrate Dravidian Hindu architecture as it was influenced/prompted by similar Buddhist temple carvings. The hotel we stayed at was really nice and there were actually (but also understandably) other white foreigners there. The next day was Spencer's 21st birthday, and we all celebrated by sneaking into the outdoor pool at midnight; we didn't swim for long before someone came and told us we weren't allowed to be there, but that was fine because I was tired anyway.

The next day we saw many of the carvings of Mamallapuram including my favorite, the famous shore temple dedicated to Vishnu. The temple was carved right at the ocean (Bay of Bengal) coast and had to be reinforced during British rule with a surrounding wall to protect it from the encroaching waves, already having eroded much of the temple. The salty air also has done a number on the sharpness of the temple carvings over the years. The area was directly hit by the tsunami a few years ago and completely submerged, but the temple was strong enough to remain unscathed. Just before a tsunami hits, the water level lowers many feet for a few minutes as the wave approaches; right before the recent tsunami, remnants of other previous rock structures were exposed which currently are underwater. It is unknown how many coastal temples originally existed.

The temple was just like one of the sandcastles I make while vacationing at the beach, with an intricately carved central structure being protected from waves by walls. This temple was made of stone though with rock walls and was much bigger; also, while my castles last a few days, this has lasted for centuries. Not only were we at the beach, but I actually felt like I was at the beach, photographing another one of my sandcastles and wondering how long it would last against the ocean. Maybe I should try rock walls next time instead of feeble sand...

That afternoon we went to Dakshinachitra, a nearby center where traditional South Indian customs of folk culture, art, craft making, and architecture are displayed. I was able to observe a "traditional" folk dance (although the audience members aren't "traditionally" sitting and watching but standing and surrounding the performance, moving with the dancers) as well as more sari weaving (a good thing too, it took many times of observation to understand). Before long we were shipped back to Chennai to catch our evening train back to Hyderabad.

Although we didn't really see much of Chennai, the most noticeable difference to me from Hyderabad were murals of politicians on every wall you saw. Many politicians have participated in cinematic productions as well to become well-known, and maybe some of these paintings functioned as advertisements as well as political support. Some of the paintings could be huge and repetitive on a long wall; sometimes the people had beady-looking eyes and intense toothy grins also.

On the way back there were more discussions of India and traveling. Evidently many people didn't like the structure that CIEE provided; I knew it was going to be like that though, bracing myself earlier for tourist activities. I ended up really enjoying the things we got to see and was thankful in some ways that I didn't have to plan out anything, just enjoy.

Some people like to go into traveling with no plan and just see what comes their way, some love to plan a ton, some want to see all the famous sites, some want to see places no foreigner sees, some crave authenticity, others like to be catered to, some like to spend most of their time relaxing and enjoying themselves, others prefer to interact as much as they can with locals, some also like just socializing with friends or travel partners, some like to learn everything they can, some just like to observe, some are really excited about shopping, drinking, eating, saving/spending money, or packing light/heavy and everything in between. Some travel to see, some to taste, some to close the eyes and relax, some to learn what another has to say, some to learn about themselves, some to do exciting and unique activities, and multiple combinations. Travel is so many things and what it ends up meaning is influenced on what you want to get from it. Although this trip was a world apart from what I experienced last weekend at Ellora, mainly because of the obvious lack of interaction with Indians, I still feel like I learned some and at least had a good time. I do have specific opinions about how I like to travel, but each trip offers a unique experience in its own way...that's how I felt about the weekend. Interesting how I consider traveling as a tourist "unique."

I slept mostly well except for the wailing toddler beneath me. I think he was sick, and he woke up when the train would jerk to a stop. I don't blame him; the train was unreasonably jerky. Also it probably would have sucked to be confined to a train car for so long at that age. In any case, it was a sorry situation for the kid, a lot to handle for the parents, and disturbing for everyone else. No one was at fault, just a poor situation and that's sometimes the way things play out. Otherwise the train was SO comfortable (not being sarcastic), the swaying motions lulling me back to sleep each time I woke up.

I remember in the morning waiting for the train to stop at Hyderabad and wanted a danish so badly. Maybe cherry or cream cheese...so delicious. At that moment a vendor selling chai and samosas with salted chilies squeezed by me in the aisle, and I realized that THAT is what I'd be missing when I'm back in the States.

We got back to campus during my first class on Monday, but I was fine not going in favor of unpacking/organizing all my things. Living out of a backpack is exciting but also it's nice to have a place to unwind and not have to worry about possessing all your stuff. It will be good to remain on campus this weekend, especially because the workload for some classes is really piling up for the first time this semester...