Off to India!

Happy new year, readers! (the very few of you, plus some lurkers)

I am back from my research trip in India and the two weeks of break during which I did absolutely nothing! So without further ado, here is the beginning of my belated posts!

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Bon Voyage!

Back in December, I packed a suitcase of malaria pills, first aid kit, my trusty moleskine journal, and boxes of candy bars (to pass out to the school kids I would visit) and headed off on a research trip that I was looking forward to and praying earnestly about.  Would I end up with typhoid/tetanus/hepatitis/malaria? No, because I took more injections that I ever wanted to take in a decade, but it was worth not worrying about dying before the new year.  I headed off to the good old ORD and printed out tickets to my very first Lufthansa flight, as I had never been to Germany before.  While sad that it was merely for a layover, I still got a kick out of buying some German chocolate at the duty free shop!  

heaven for a chocoholic

finally!

After 20 hours of travel (17 hours of flight and a 3 hour layover), I finally made it to the Radha Regent in Chennai, which was a pretty sweet hotel with amazing South Indian food (and a Chinese restaurant that was pretty decent).

The next day, I started my research by observing the homes of rural Chennai residents. The below images are some of the most intricate kolam I've seen.  Check out wikipedia for more info - these are made out of chalk/rice powder, sprinkled into 3x3 patterns daily.  In short, they are unique to South India and ritually drawn to bring wealth and happiness to the home.  They fade throughout the day as visitors pass through the entrance of the blessed home.

The houses were very small, yet efficient.  Outdoors, there was an entry/front yard with the kolam art on the ground, a well to draw water for cooking and cleaning, and a square plot to line dry laundry. Inside, there was a foyer with mini idols and images of their household gods.  The foyer forked into the single bedroom for the family of four.  The wife and husband slept on a full size bed, while the children pulled out blankets from the wardrobe to sleep on the floor at night. There was a tiny desk for the kids' schoolwork and a shelf/cabinet of all their valuables.  Across the other side of the foyer, there was the kitchen/storage room, which contained a small propane gas stove top sitting on top of a counter, a shelf for all their utensils/dishes, a sink (no taps, just drainage, water is drawn from the well), and a pantry area for the spices, rice, and flour.

layout of rural Chennai home

To be continued...