Day 4: DakshinaChitra & Fisherman's Cove

Today started early with Brian waking up in the middle of the night with stomach problems. Poor guy- he spent the morning in the bathroom and the rest of the day in bed with chills and fever. We're not sure what it was that did it, but he's been skeptical about eating anything but the food we brought from home until his stomach recovers.

I already had plans to spend with day with Randy T. going to a craft village, so I made sure Brian was medicated and left to go into town. We visited a cute little museum village called DakshinaChitra. It was a place very similar to the Institute of Texan Cultures showing houses and village life in the different states of South India.

It got pretty hot while we were there so my sweat rag came in very handy. The sweat rag/hanky is a staple in Chennai- almost all men carry one. I don't think it's very ladylike, but I carry one too!

At each of the little exhibits, there was an Indian lady showing off a craft project- basket weaving, spinning tops, paper mache noise makers, puppets, etc. I ended up buying a little puppet and several of the paper mache noise makers, which are already driving Brian crazy! The noise makers are really interesting not because of what they do, but because of what they are made with. The paper they used to make them was actually textbook paper. Maybe it was a sign for me to study math because all of the ones I got were from a math textbook!

Another cool exhibit was the weaving. They had a giant loom with a man weaving a piece of silk fabric. The amount of work that goes into that craft is amazing.

I also got mehendi done on one of my hands. I have gotten this done before, but the ink they used here is a little different. It was a very dark orange and is now a deep orange. The lady did it very quickly and it turned out great. It only cost me 50 rupees (about a dollar). I only got one hand done because I needed one hand for the sweat rag!

We also met some really great Indian students who were working on some crafts. They said they were part of a yearlong program to learn all about crafts and culture. We asked them what they planned to do after the program, but they said they had no idea. They did say that they would no longer bargain on craft items because they understood how much work goes into them! They were really great and I'm glad we got to talk to them for a few minutes.

The best part about DakshinaChitra was the future-telling bird. I saw a man sitting by a house with a bird sitting on a cage and another one in the cage. I asked him if the bird talked and he said yes. He said the bird talked futures for 30 rupees. Ohhhh... a fortune teller! I told him I wanted my future told, but unfortunately, the bird only spoke Tamil. Darn- next time I'll bring a translator!

To see more of DakshinaChitra, visit: http://www.dakshinachitra.net/.

After DakshinaChitra, we went to Fisherman's Cove, which is a beautifully landscaped beach resort. We had an Indian buffet lunch at the restaurant there, which turned out to be really good. My favorite item was the cauliflower and coriander soup- yummmm! We went down to the beach, which was not the most beautiful beach- no white sands or clear blue water, but more like Galveston or Port Aransas. But, I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to step into the Bay of Bengal and it felt great!

Once I got back to the hotel, I took a long nap, spent some time on the room at the pool, and then had room service pizza- another yummmmm! On the agenda for tomorrow is going shopping in town again if Brian is feeling better. If he's not, I'll stay with him at the hotel and catch up on some work.