Chennai!

Well, here I am, back in India again. I never expected that I would be traveling to India 4 times in two years...if I had known, I would have gotten a 10-year visa! This time I am in Chennai, which is the main city in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. I had heard so much about how different south India is compared to the north...everyone said that it is more developed, more liberal, more well educated....but so far, it seems pretty similar to me! I have only been here for about 20 hours, so I guess my observations don't mean much at this point. I will be working for Oxfam,but now that I am here I sort of wish I was just on vacation!

My flight was great. For the first time in my life, I got upgraded to business class. Yippee! It was for the 10 hour flight between London and Mumbai, so I was very grateful. Traveling business class made me realize that first class is the way to go....I have never traveled first class, but business class only seemed margninally better than economy. The best part of my trip was the layover in the Mumbai airport...they have a foot massage shop in the domestic terminal. I was in heaven!

So far, I haven't done much. I wernt shopping for some conservative salwar kameez to wear in the villages and ate lunch at Appoorva Sangeetha A/C Veg Restaurant. It was delicious; I always love eating at veg restaurants where they ladly unlimited rice and soup onto your plate. I ordered a mini tiffin, which was the perfect size. It also came with a dosa, which didn't make it into the picture above. It was not a mini meal at all!! The price was mini though, only 44 ruppees (about 1 dollar).

I have internet in my hotel room, so I am enjoying it while I can. If anyone wants to call me on skype, do it now! I leave for the villages on Monday, and then I have no idea what kind of access to internet I will have.