Where to begin?
First off, I went out to a Xerox place to get copies of all
of my documents to give to KMC certifying that I am an American studying
nutrition at Appstate. I needed no such
documents for Siva Sakthi Nursing Home because they just let things fly
there. I will need these Monday when I
start observation at a large hospital with full time dietitians!!
The market
We also hit the markets this morning, and it was so
overwhelming and busy that I got sideswiped by a scooter! I am totally fine,
but it was hard to focus. I must say
that it is a design flaw to have super busy shops and narrow roads with people driving scooters and taxis through.
Although, I am sure people threw this market together decades, if not
centuries, ago before vehicles existed and just kept it this way ever
since. Anyways, the shops were
awesome! I was able to purchase so many
gifts for the folks back home, and at little cost. Everything was super nice, and many of the
things I purchased were silk, handmade in Trichy! Trichy is well known for its fabric, so I
stocked up on some nice pieces. After
the markets, we went to the Rockfort temple.
I could just envision the Brahmins of old walking around performing
rituals and carving new gods and rooms.
Everything was carved out of this one huge rock. It was, I think, over 700 steps to the top,
and all of the steps were hand carved from the stone. The bottom half of the stairs were carved
tunnel-style up through this mountain-rock, with the second part exposed to the
open air. When we reached the top, we
could see all of Trichy: the sprawling, random, haphazard collections and
tangles of buildings and bustling people.
It was HUGE. Trichy is a small city
here, which is crazy considering I could get lost in just one market with all
the tiny side streets with people and shops packed into every crevice. We were barefoot and the rock was so hot that
they spread mats every few steps to rest your feet for half a second as you
climbed. The temple is still functioning
today. At the top, there was a cage-like
room where you could circle the outer part to look over the city with the inner
part being carved from rock where priests were doings religious things. Some parts were restricted from non-Hindus
(the only signs in English were the ones saying “Non-Hindus not
permitted”). In ancient times, though
the working classes and lower classes did the more grueling labor, I can
imagine that these Brahmins had massive thighs with all of the climbing to do in
this temple. They sold refreshments all
over the place, I assume because older people or people there for the day to
worship need some sustenance. I also
found out that one of those tiny bananas here is $0.03 (and delicious) and
mangoes are $0.07. I felt bad to turn
down the beggars as they watched me eating my bananas, but I did not want to
get swarmed as these beggars collect around the entrance of the temple. It was so wild in the markets with deals and
traffic going on everywhere in all but a few feet of space. On the way out, a parade
of people with faces painted white and everyone with drums came pounding on
through. Back at the international
hostel, we said goodbye to our student-guides Krishna and John.
Random family who wanted a pic
Trichy, atop Rockfort
The top 100 stairs
Statues atop Rockfort
Our guides Krishna and John
Later that day, after a bit of rest and freshening up, Jess
and I headed out to the wedding of Dr. Relton ‘s (our director/advisor here at
BHC) son Alan and his bride Glenny. We
got to see the singing and prayers for Glenny before the wedding. When seated in the chapel, we watched 20
bridegrooms and bridesmaids flow down to the front when the ceremony
began. Glenny then marched down to the
front, with a beautiful dress and an imported veil with hundreds of butterflies
pinned down her back trailing five feet behind.
The ceremony was a mixture of choir singing, prayers, a sermon, and the
singing of the whole church. They exchanged rings yesterday in another ceremony
(this is normally done six months before the wedding, but all of the people who
had to fly in from other countries could not attend both, so it was
the day before). Today, they exchanged
three knots that symbolize the never-breaking bond formed between Alan, Glenny,
and their families. At one point in the
ceremony, the traditional band randomly burst out in song. Everyone else was expecting this, but it
certainly surprised me. This was a
blended wedding where some things were traditional, like the food, band, and
the four golden necklaces they hung around Glenny’s forehead, while other things
were modern, like the Christian prayers and hymns and the calm nature of the evening (Hindu marriages are much crazier, apparently). After their outburst, the ceremony proceeded
until close. We then had refreshments
(including some cotton candy, hand-squeezed grape juice, and coffee) and
watched the sunset before going on to the reception. During this, Alan and Glenny sat in front of
hundreds while their praises were sung and their relatives introduced. After this, Alan gave a hilarious and sweet
speech (which was the only thing in English) thanking his relatives,
Glenny’s relatives for allowing him to marry her, and Glenny herself. He thanked his parents for supporting him for
so long and not becoming fed up and kicking him out. He then said how he will love
Glenny forever and will always do what she commands him to do. Hundreds of people lined up to give Alan
and Glenny wedding presents individually.
During this, a professional music video was played staring Alan and
Glenny to a Taylor Swift song describing a fling she was having with some boy,
which I think is a super strange pick after a wedding; however, the music video
was actually really nice, with some awesome effects that must have been
expensive. I found out the wedding cost
ten lakhs, or one million rupees ($15,000, which is super expensive for here
when factoring in food for thousands, so many decorative lights and cloths, the
two dresses Glenny wore, and all of the other ceremonial items). After this was dinner, though Alan and
Glenny remained in the reception hall FOREVER doing more wedding things while
we all ate. If I were Alan, I might
never smile for a picture again. Dinner
was cooked in these huge traditional cauldrons called deksha that rice had to
be shoveled out of. Dinner was rice and
veggies with sambar, curd rice, goat, and some kind of weird spicy apple sauce
with what I think were tamarinds. Dessert was
Arun ice cream, which is huge here; I see it everywhere. We also got to experience eating with our
hands, since no silverware was offered. I
actually enjoyed this very much. I eat
with my hands more than normal Americans anyways, so this was super fun. There is just something satisfying in a
primal sense to eat rice, curd, and meat like this; you should try it! After the wedding, I headed back to the
hostel.
The chapel for the wedding
Alan and Glenny!
Imported butterfly veil
Cutting the cake
Men serving from a deksha
One last note: it will be difficult to come back to the US
and not be treated like kings. Our
guides carry our bags for us, random people want to take pictures with us,
everyone always gets up to offer me a seat and invites me to their home, people
make me food, and they crowd me to ask me questions about my personal
life. Sometimes this is annoying, but I
cannot say I do not sometimes enjoy it.
I have it easier as a man, though, because though I get crowded and stared
at, Jess is more liable to it. Many people want to take pictures with just
her, which is fine by me.
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