Thursday was quite a day! Woke up at 0730. Last time I checked the clock it was after 0400. Got showered and ready. Savannah was up, walked Dy and was ready as well. Waited 2 hours for Gideon/ML Admin to arrive so we could leave for the Visa renewal process. Grumbled several times about how I could have been sleeping. Sipped coffee. Rode in the car through back roads to Kanchipuram for a little over 2 hours to get to the Police Commissioner’s office for our district. Sat in car another 2-ish hours while Gideon and the local guy took our docs and went inside. Went and had a nice lunch and even saw our first up close and personal monkeys on the fence outside. Went back to PC station. Waited another hour or so for second round of docs. We were finally approved through round one of this process. Friday before work I met Gideon and our approved docs at the police station near us and got some other approval or stamp or something, but only after he saw me in person... And then an agent of ML takes the docs back to Kanchipuram PC on Monday and then in a couple months we should be notified they are approved. And THEN we go pick them up and go to the embassy for the true visa renewal. Quite a process, huh? Yeah. Welcome to India.
Kanchipuram is known as both Temple City and City of
Silks. There are 8 well known temples in the area and a ton of silk saree
and wedding saree shops. I had told Gideon I wanted to see the temples
while we were there this time and he asked me why, being a Christian, did I
have any interest in Hindu temples. I explained that since I have been
here that I have not seen any temples, and feel like this is a good opportunity
to see some with beautiful architecture and help understand the culture a
little more. He laughed it off and said he'd arrange it but would not
join me inside. OK, Gideon, works for me. This was a couple days
ago. So today on the way there, I mentioned to Savannah about the Temple
City and she asked the same thing Gideon did... why, as a Christian, am I interested
in seeing where Hindus worship other gods. JEEEEEZ LOUISE, PEOPLE!
I decided it wasn't worth arguing with them about, I will go see some temples
on my own, then. So we went to a saree shop instead and Savannah got a
nice scarf and I got another saree. So now I have 2, both very beautiful,
but this is more simple, less flashy than my first. And I need to get the
blouses sewn so I can wear them! After the saree shopping we headed back
to Chennai. Another 2 plus hours in the car. Adding afternoon
traffic in there it wound up being nearly 3 into the city. And we were
only entering the other side of the city. We dropped Gideon and then
found a McDonald's for Savannah's dinner. She was a happy girl to have
some McNuggets. She said, "Close your eyes, listen to the music and
taste the food. Doesn't it feel like we are in the US?" Uh,
no. I would never be in a McD's in the US. Nice try, though. Haha
So the work week is over and Savannah and I are heading out in
the morning for her to volunteer the first time and for me to meet some of the
kids and see the boys’ home. We will
spend a couple hours and get acclimated. Once I have some more details I’ll be sure you
keep you posted. We’re excited about it!
After we leave there we will head for our first overnight outing…
we are going the French territory called Pondicherry for a little R&R. Savannah starts preparing for exams next week
and will have a stressful and busy few weeks of exams and studying. I have been promising her for a while we
would go and I figure things aren’t going to settle down enough for me to say
it’s a good time, so we will go. Our driver
has taken Dynamo home for the weekend and couldn’t be more excited about
it. He’s been wanting to keep him since
our trip home in December. Here’s hoping
Dynamo and Murugesan both survive! LOL
Alright off to bed so I can wake up early and go meet some
boys. Sending hugs from Chennai and hoping
everyone has a great weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment