This weekend we went on our first short excursion to Mahabalipuram, or as I like to call it Mahabs. Mahabs is about 40 miles south of Chennai and is a very popular tourist location. Mahabs is a world heritage site and served as a very popular seaport during the 7th and 10th centuries. The town is most famous for it's ancient rock-cut caves, temples made out of a single rock, and other works of art and architecture. Mahabs is referred to as an "open air" museum because of all of the brilliant stone carved art that you find around every corner in this town.
Upon our arrival in Mahabs, we quickly unpacked in the hotel and then went on a mission to find some lunch. We ended up at a restaurant along the beach that had phenomenal fish and mediocre prawns. After chowing down we decided to hit the beach. Going to the beach in India means something completely different than it does in the US. The beaches in South India have an extremely dangerous undertow and are heavily polluted. Plus, the majority of locals do not know how to swim anyways. So we went to the beach to walk around,dip our feet into the water, and take some pictures of course :) Inevitably, I got soaked. Lets be real... I was wearing a full length skirt and was not expecting to get my clothes wet?
After the beach it was time to hit the shops. Ooooo La La. I wanted to buy everything... in fact I almost did.
Next, it was time to head off to see the famous 7th century rock carving wonders with our own eyes. And let me tell you, these things were extraordinary! The level of detail was astonishing and the fact that the majority of these were carved out of a single rock was rather impressive. All of the carvings and temples were amazing but I think my favorite thing was Krishna's Butterball. Krishna's Butterball is this massive boulder that looks like it is going to pick up motion at any second. Thousands of people have tried to knock down this incredible rock and none have been successful. It is like a modern day sword in the stone. Okay, not really... but it is the closest analogy I can think of.
That night we went to a swanky hotel to have a welcome dinner with the other BCA Business group. The food was amazing!! I was in Indian food paradise. The hotel had an infinity pool so we finally had a chance to swim and relax. We got to mingle with other BCAers and I found out that 20 of them were from Messiah, Etown's rival school... dun dun dun. It is funny how small the world is. Anyways, this business group had an insane schedule. They are taking a full schedule of classes while traveling to 12 countries in 3 months. They basically fly to a new place and hit the ground running. They each average around 3 hours of sleep a night and spend all of there free time studying. At first I was jealous, but I don't think I would like being so nomadic not to mention stressed all of the time.
The next day we checked out the Shore Temple, a massive rock temple that overlooks the Bay of Bengal. As beautiful as this temple was, we learned that it is causing a lot of issues on the waterfront. Since the temple is built on a peninsula, it is causing an unequal sand distribution to the beaches to the left and right of it. On the right side, there is a sand build up with makes that beach very sandy and beautiful Unfortunately, this leaves the left side in a horrible condition. The left side has huge drop offs, rocks, and an even stronger undertow. It was interesting to see the residents of each beach, and it was clear that the people on the beach to the left were much poorer than those on the right. Interrrrestting.
After the Shore Temple we went to the Crocodile Bank. We saw turtles, snakes, crocs, and alligators (OH MY!) I learned the difference between a crocodile and an alligator.... basically there is no difference in my mind. Still, it was a cool experience.
That night we headed to a different hotel to meet up with the BCA Business students yet again to see a traditional Indian dance performance. We learned some of the steps and jammed out to some Bollywood hits. Afterwords we were feed an "American Dinner", which was soup, pizza, bread, fruit, and mango ice cream.
Although it was a fun and exciting weekend there was 2 major things that were bothering me.
1. Being a Tourist. At Mahabs we were able to wear whatever we pleased so I wore a tank top with a long skirt (this was my one chance to get my shoulders tan). Even though this was acceptable attire, I felt so rude and completely disrespectful. I felt like I was being ignorant towards the culture and started to feel like I was taking steps backward in terms of my growth and development during this trip.
2. Saying No. Beggars were everywhere all over this town. It seemed like everyone wanted something from me and there was nothing that I could do about it. Gypsy's followed us everywhere and desperately tried to sell us their beads. Kristen caved, but I just had to keep saying no. A boy around 6 years old came up to us with his brother who must have been 3 years old and asked us for money. They both had pot bellys and were covered head to toe in dirt. I can't tell you how difficult it was to look them both in the eye and do nothing at all.
Being in India takes a huge emotional toll on me every single day. I feel like I am taking all of my emotions and pushing them down in order to survive here. I am sure that at some point they will come spilling out of me, but for now this method is what is getting me by.
xoxo,
Becca
Before we arrived in Mahabs, we stopped at Dakshin Chitra, an art foundation. This place had a bunch of 18th century houses from all the different states of India. The foundation works to restore these houses to their former glory. Inside of the houses there was tons of paintings, sculptures, weavings, etc. (Unfortunately my camera died right as we got there so I didn't get many pictures). While we were there we saw a glass blowing demonstration. This man made this intricate Ganesha glass sculpture literally in 5 minutes... I was more than impressed.
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| Cartwheel at the Bay of Bengal |
After the beach it was time to hit the shops. Ooooo La La. I wanted to buy everything... in fact I almost did.
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| Krishna's Butterball |
Next, it was time to head off to see the famous 7th century rock carving wonders with our own eyes. And let me tell you, these things were extraordinary! The level of detail was astonishing and the fact that the majority of these were carved out of a single rock was rather impressive. All of the carvings and temples were amazing but I think my favorite thing was Krishna's Butterball. Krishna's Butterball is this massive boulder that looks like it is going to pick up motion at any second. Thousands of people have tried to knock down this incredible rock and none have been successful. It is like a modern day sword in the stone. Okay, not really... but it is the closest analogy I can think of.
 |
| Shore Temple |
After the Shore Temple we went to the Crocodile Bank. We saw turtles, snakes, crocs, and alligators (OH MY!) I learned the difference between a crocodile and an alligator.... basically there is no difference in my mind. Still, it was a cool experience.
Although it was a fun and exciting weekend there was 2 major things that were bothering me.
1. Being a Tourist. At Mahabs we were able to wear whatever we pleased so I wore a tank top with a long skirt (this was my one chance to get my shoulders tan). Even though this was acceptable attire, I felt so rude and completely disrespectful. I felt like I was being ignorant towards the culture and started to feel like I was taking steps backward in terms of my growth and development during this trip.
2. Saying No. Beggars were everywhere all over this town. It seemed like everyone wanted something from me and there was nothing that I could do about it. Gypsy's followed us everywhere and desperately tried to sell us their beads. Kristen caved, but I just had to keep saying no. A boy around 6 years old came up to us with his brother who must have been 3 years old and asked us for money. They both had pot bellys and were covered head to toe in dirt. I can't tell you how difficult it was to look them both in the eye and do nothing at all.
Being in India takes a huge emotional toll on me every single day. I feel like I am taking all of my emotions and pushing them down in order to survive here. I am sure that at some point they will come spilling out of me, but for now this method is what is getting me by.
xoxo,
Becca
Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate hearing about your experience with beggars in the streets. Please keep in mind that you are volunteering your time with your field work and that is much more beneficial in the long term than giving someone money on the street!
Love,
Mom