Day Tour to the Bay of Bengal

It has been quite a day. Raju and Meru met me this morning and a driver took us out of the city. We were heading for the Bay of Bengal and a tourist town called Mahabalipuram, a 7th Century Port City. Before we left the city of Chennai, or as I affectionately call it, the City of Crazy Traffic (notice the arm of the small child around her mom sitting side saddle on the scooter...scary....and there are no helmets and no seat belts), My guides told me that we would be stopping on a special visit to a private school of dance. These children are audtioned and chosen to attend and tuition is paid or they have a scholarship if they have talent. They are taught traditional Indian Dance and they attend for about 6 years. This was such a treat for me and was a real highlight of the trip. After these two guides had listened to me for a day or two they determined that this would be something I would be interested in, which it was. This small campus of mostly girls, ages 12-20ish, was in a beautiful wooded forest. When we arrived the girls (about 150 total) were congregated under huge Banyan Trees sitting on straw mats. They sat in straight lines with their hair pulled back and wearing the traditional Sari in the brightest colors you could ever imagine. They were absolutely beautiful. It was complete silence as they waited for their teachers to lead them in morning prayers and song. After they went their various ways to the dance buildings which were small open buildings made of block where they would go with their teachers to learn dance. We watched a few classes where they learned just the smallests move with their hands, feet or head...or facial expression. (I wonder if this is where we got the term "Facials" for Cheerleading or Drill) They were taught in great detail and the discipline was incredible but the girls looked happy and like they were having a good time. Of course there were the token few boys and even a few "Westerners" who were dressed and blended in with the Indian Girls. It was most interesting. We then left for the various historic monuments in Mahabalipram; these onuments are cut out of rock. It is believed that this area served as a school for young sculptures...some of their work half finished. We then visited a temple on the shore constructed stone by stone from the sea. We then went to DakshinShitra, a typical village set where lifestyles of different states of Southern India are displayed. This reminded me of the Polynesian Cultural Center. Finally we stopped for late lunch at Fisherman's Cove and I actually ate: A vegetable rice dish and of course a diet coke.(out of the can, no ice) Reed and I are getting very good at brushing our teeth with bottled water and taking our anti-malaria pills and anti-biotics for infectious disease. Tonight we have dinner with some coder people and tomorrow we head to Bangalore where I am going to have Spa Day since there isn't alot to do in this city, but the hotel (the Leela Palace Kempinski) is suppossed to be spectacular. I feel bad that Reed has missed the experiences I have had, but he has been hanging out with Coders and it sounds like interesting folks. Fri/Sat/Sun we will travel together to tour Dehli, the Taj Mahal and other sites in the North.