When
Savannah and I first arrived in Chennai, I said I was going to learn a new word
or phrase in Tamil every day... then it changed to one a week. We've been
here a little over six months and I probably know six. Guess that brings
my average down to one a month. Not very good. I should get on
that. Here's what I know off the top of my head, without cheating:
Venakkam - Hello
Nandri - Thank you
Inga va - Come here
Po - Go
Mean - fish
Amma - Mom
Ama - slang for OK – does slang count? I think so.
Da - slang for dude/guy
And Here are the ones I know if I hear them but had to look them up to confirm:
Nalvaravu - Welcome
Naḷai - Tomorrow
Valttukkaḷ - Wishes (birthday, etc)
Just for fun, here are some of the areas in Chennai: Our office is in Kottivakkam near Kandanchavadi. Between Padur, where we live, and the office a couple of the areas I know are Navalur and Sholinganallur. We looked for an apartment and live very near a complex called Hiranandani. We have a couple friends who live in Thiruvanmiyur. Savannah's friend lives in Palavakkam. We had to go to Kanchepuram to get registered with the foreign resident's office. These names are all awesome for a couple reasons. One being that I am super proud when I can actually pronounce something. I enunciate every letter. Nobody can understand me. I still have my southern drawl. People can't even understand when I say i live in Padur. Puh-derr. Not that hard, right? Well, they say something like Puh-do. And when I try to sound like that, they still give me the blank stare.
Last weekend we went shopping in Kottivakkam and got Savannah's first full Indian outfit. She got a bright pink kurta (long shirt, similar to this) and some patiala pants (baggy- here, and remind me MC Hammer pants) and I got a pretty orange-ish kurta to wear with brown leggings. Next weekend we are going shopping with a couple girls from the office and I am thinking it's time for me to pick up a sari (like this). And Savannah wants a full salwar (see this). We are finally getting her shirt stitched for the sari I got her when I came to work here in the spring. Now we just need to invite ourselves to a wedding (don't think I haven't been trying!) so we can get dressed up and wear them...
What else? Names. Our driver, who's name I can still not pronounce, is Murugesan. (He still asks Savannah what I say when I tell him where we are going - unless it's Nilgri's, which is our staple weekend spot.) My co-manager is Mohamed Asif. But he goes by Asif, his last name. Most of the time. The NAM peeps call him Mohamed. I call him Asif unless we are on a call with the front office, and then I have to make a conscious effort to refer to him as Mohamed. We have a team of almost 20 handling Imports for the US and Canada. I still can't pronounce some of these guys' names. I try. Asif laughs a lot. I am sure eventually he will get tired of me and not finish the names when I start and stare blankly at him. But for now, we've got an understanding and it works out well for me. I tried to find some rhyme or reason on how to tell if a name is for a guy or a girl, since much of my communication is via e mail or instant messages. I often have no idea if I am communicating with a man or woman, so I think from now on I will use the trusty Google search and see if I can figure it out from there. If you don't have anything better to do, spend a few minutes and click here to look up some Indian (Hindu) names. And then try to pronounce them. But say it quickly. Because that's how the locals do it.
We're still planning on our May trip, but not sure if Robert will be able to make it or not, due to his schedule at work. We are sure hoping he can, but need to be firming up airline tickets and stuff soon. Michael will come for sure and my parents will meet us. I think we will wind up on a Malaysia and Singapore trip, and then Michael (and Robert, if he gets to come) will spend a little bit of time here in Chennai as well. Everyone tells me May is hot, hot, hot here. I am thinking it must be similar to August/September in Houston. Hot and humid. Doesn't sound like much fun for outside, and add in the two hours a day power outage when we only have fans and no AC, I might get back into grumpy American mode. I am hoping it's not thattttttttt bad. Guess we'll wait and see.
As you can probably tell, not a lot going on here, so writing about much of nothing. Just figured I would check in. Hope everyone is doing well and please keep us in your prayers. Savannah's still adjusting back, missing home, etc and being an all-around teenager (hence the need for prayers for Mom). Sending love and hugs from Chennai.
Venakkam - Hello
Nandri - Thank you
Inga va - Come here
Po - Go
Mean - fish
Amma - Mom
Ama - slang for OK – does slang count? I think so.
Da - slang for dude/guy
And Here are the ones I know if I hear them but had to look them up to confirm:
Nalvaravu - Welcome
Naḷai - Tomorrow
Valttukkaḷ - Wishes (birthday, etc)
Just for fun, here are some of the areas in Chennai: Our office is in Kottivakkam near Kandanchavadi. Between Padur, where we live, and the office a couple of the areas I know are Navalur and Sholinganallur. We looked for an apartment and live very near a complex called Hiranandani. We have a couple friends who live in Thiruvanmiyur. Savannah's friend lives in Palavakkam. We had to go to Kanchepuram to get registered with the foreign resident's office. These names are all awesome for a couple reasons. One being that I am super proud when I can actually pronounce something. I enunciate every letter. Nobody can understand me. I still have my southern drawl. People can't even understand when I say i live in Padur. Puh-derr. Not that hard, right? Well, they say something like Puh-do. And when I try to sound like that, they still give me the blank stare.
Last weekend we went shopping in Kottivakkam and got Savannah's first full Indian outfit. She got a bright pink kurta (long shirt, similar to this) and some patiala pants (baggy- here, and remind me MC Hammer pants) and I got a pretty orange-ish kurta to wear with brown leggings. Next weekend we are going shopping with a couple girls from the office and I am thinking it's time for me to pick up a sari (like this). And Savannah wants a full salwar (see this). We are finally getting her shirt stitched for the sari I got her when I came to work here in the spring. Now we just need to invite ourselves to a wedding (don't think I haven't been trying!) so we can get dressed up and wear them...
What else? Names. Our driver, who's name I can still not pronounce, is Murugesan. (He still asks Savannah what I say when I tell him where we are going - unless it's Nilgri's, which is our staple weekend spot.) My co-manager is Mohamed Asif. But he goes by Asif, his last name. Most of the time. The NAM peeps call him Mohamed. I call him Asif unless we are on a call with the front office, and then I have to make a conscious effort to refer to him as Mohamed. We have a team of almost 20 handling Imports for the US and Canada. I still can't pronounce some of these guys' names. I try. Asif laughs a lot. I am sure eventually he will get tired of me and not finish the names when I start and stare blankly at him. But for now, we've got an understanding and it works out well for me. I tried to find some rhyme or reason on how to tell if a name is for a guy or a girl, since much of my communication is via e mail or instant messages. I often have no idea if I am communicating with a man or woman, so I think from now on I will use the trusty Google search and see if I can figure it out from there. If you don't have anything better to do, spend a few minutes and click here to look up some Indian (Hindu) names. And then try to pronounce them. But say it quickly. Because that's how the locals do it.
We're still planning on our May trip, but not sure if Robert will be able to make it or not, due to his schedule at work. We are sure hoping he can, but need to be firming up airline tickets and stuff soon. Michael will come for sure and my parents will meet us. I think we will wind up on a Malaysia and Singapore trip, and then Michael (and Robert, if he gets to come) will spend a little bit of time here in Chennai as well. Everyone tells me May is hot, hot, hot here. I am thinking it must be similar to August/September in Houston. Hot and humid. Doesn't sound like much fun for outside, and add in the two hours a day power outage when we only have fans and no AC, I might get back into grumpy American mode. I am hoping it's not thattttttttt bad. Guess we'll wait and see.
As you can probably tell, not a lot going on here, so writing about much of nothing. Just figured I would check in. Hope everyone is doing well and please keep us in your prayers. Savannah's still adjusting back, missing home, etc and being an all-around teenager (hence the need for prayers for Mom). Sending love and hugs from Chennai.
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