Disney World Wannabe???

Just down the road from us is India's equivalent to Disney World.

Even though it's probably only 10 to 15 minutes from my house, I haven't been to Dizzee World...nor do I have any plans to go in the near future. For some reason, I'm not thinking that a safe, fun day at an amusement park and the country India should go in the same sentence together. Not only haven't I been, but I haven't heard of any of the foreigners with kids that I know here having went either. It's just scary looking...like an accident waiting to happen. Very, very scary. I value my life a little too much.

Nothing to Report

Yeah, I know I haven't posted anything in a few days. Honestly, I don't have anything to tell. OK, well there is always something to tell when you live in India, so I guess I'm just not feeling creative enough to come up with anything terribly exciting. Life is pretty boring around here right now.

The dog and kitten went home last night. I enjoyed my time with them. Every morning, Millie and I walked down to the beach. While we were only gone for 20 or 25 minutes, I would be drenched in sweat by the time we got back. It's really hot here. During the day, Millie slept, and the kitten played, played, and played some more. I forgot just how active kittens can be. Also, I have been outside at night more in the last week than I have the entire time I have lived in India. Let's just say, I don't like India at night...too many geckos and toads.

Well, this is my 150th blog post. Sorry it isn't a more exciting one. I'll have to work on coming up with a good one for tomorrow. Until then, hope everyone has a great day!

A Zoo-perific Day

I have been dying to go to the zoo here in Chennai. I first heard about it from my driver. He said it was a very large and nice zoo. Yeah right, this is India...how nice could it be??? However, I have heard since from a couple of other people that the zoo is actually nice for Indian standards. Since Beth needed a photo of an elephant for her brother-in-law, it finally gave me a good excuse to go check the zoo out.

We decided to go to the Arignar Anna Zoological Park (the zoo's official name) last Friday. I wanted to be there right when it opened to avoid the heat of the day. I figured it would be like all of the other zoos that I have ever been to...a lot of walking and HOT! Well we left the house a little later than what I wanted and arrived at the zoo at about 8:57 am. The information that I had found had said that the zoo opened at 8 am. Well when we arrived, we found that it didn't open until 9 am. Boy am I ever glad that we didn't get there at 8 am!

The first thing that impressed me about the zoo was that it had the same admission price for locals and foreigners. The price was 15 rupees per person...or 38 cents. However, we did have to pay a camera fee of 25 rupees per camera. So the grand total for the 3 of us to go to the zoo including our cameras was 120 rupees or $3. What a bargain.

The second thing that impressed me about the zoo was the treatment of the animals. When I visited the zoo in Beijing, I was very saddened by the accommodations for the animals. They were kept in small concrete enclosures. I had heard the zoo wasn't very nice, but the lure of seeing panda bears was too much for me, and so I had to go. I would never go back to the Beijing zoo, and I definitely would not recommend it to anyone. I expected the same thing of the zoo here. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the animals in the Chennai zoo are kept in open environments that would be similar to their natural habitats. Since we went to the zoo to see the elephants, we were somewhat disappointed that we couldn't see them up close (hence the reason why the photo of the elephant posted earlier isn't a better picture). The elephants were in an environment that made them look like we were seeing them on a safari. Their exhibit was huge and knowing that they had room to rome and do their own thing more than made up for our selfishness of not being able to see them better.

The final thing that impressed me about the Chennai zoo was how clean it was. Things here in India generally just are not so. Compared to exhibits that would be found in the U.S., yes the zoo was dirty...but for Indian standards, it was very well kept. There were pop bottles and such in different exhibits. However, I imagine this is because the local Indian people threw them in the exhibits to try to get the animals to move. They just don't know any better. While we were walking through the crocodile and alligator section though, there was a zookeeper who was jumping in the different exhibits picking up the trash.

So, besides seeing an elephant, I wanted Diane and Beth to be able to say that they saw a King Cobra snake while they were here in India. I felt seeing one at the zoo would be better than seeing one in our yard!

The best story of the day at the zoo happened while we were in the snake house. In the rat snake exhibit, there was a lady in cleaning it. Rat snakes aren't poisonous, and obviously she doesn't mind snakes as they were just crawling over her feet and such. It was giving us the creeps, but better her than us! All of sudden she takes off for the door, which is at the back of the exhibit. One of the rat snakes had climbed out the door and went down the steps. She just picked it up and flipped it back into the exhibit! By this point, we were pretty much ready to run for the door! However, they wanted to show us the King Cobras. So the same lady went into their exhibit and started moving them around...only this time she was using a long stick with a hook on it instead of her hands! As you can tell from the above photo, she was very successful in pissing them off so they flared up. I don't know how much she gets paid (and knowing India, it isn't much), but she needs to be making a whole lot more than she is!

Can you guess what animal this is? No, it isn't a giant potato floating in water. It's a hippopotamus. The hippos weren't too interested in being photogenic. It was hot, so they were keeping cool by keeping their heads under water. I honestly didn't think they were alive...that is until I went up to lean over to take this photo and he (or maybe it was a she) flicked his tail in the water. I jumped about a mile, and somehow managed not to drop my camera in the water. OK, so I didn't really come close to dropping my camera, but it did scare me!

I have no clue what kind of birds these are, but for some reason, this photo reminds me of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito from the movie Twins.

This had to be the funniest sign/photo of the day. We have no clue what an "Indian White" is, but we thought it would be funny to have Beth be one. Only afterwards, we realized that I should have been the one to stand by the sign.

Probably the biggest attraction of the day though had to have been the three of us. There were easily at least 2000 local school kids visiting the zoo, and they were more excited to see us foreigners then to see any of the animals. I have to say though they were all very well behaved. Being that the zoo is extremely large, we didn't end up seeing the kids for the majority of the day.

After walking around for over two hours, we were exhausted. Even though the zoo is shaded, it was still hot. We probably only got a third to halfway through all of the exhibits. We were going to go on the lion safari at the zoo. However, by the time we found the ticket booth, we were ready to go and didn't feel like waiting another 30 plus minutes for the next safari. Also, by this time, we all had to go to the bathroom and were getting hungry. Even though the zoo is nice by India standards, I didn't want to push my luck with using the bathrooms or trying the food.

I will make another trip back to the zoo someday. Next time though, I will definitely buy tickets to ride the tram around the park. We would have done that this time...only the tram tickets are bought at the same place as the lion safari tickets, and we didn't find this until the end of the day.

No Fooling

Since today is April 1, or April Fool's Day, I thought I would provide a riddle for everyone. However, this is not an April Fool's Day joke.

Q. How do you make Diane stop talking?

A. Put her in a car in India.

OK, so this is probably only funny to those of you who know my aunt Diane. For those of who you don't know her, let's just say she talks a lot. It's sort of a family trait.

Anyway, I'm dead serious with this. She was pretty silent the whole week she was here whenever she was in the car. Riding in the car here in Chennai is definitely a sensory overload. Here are some more photos of typical views out the windows of the car (in additional to some of the ones already posted last week).

The above two photos are typical to the average amount of traffic here in Chennai. While there are white paint markings on the roads to tell you where to drive, I have yet to see anyone follow these. A road that should only be 4 lanes wide (two on each side) is almost always 5 to 6 wide...and that's only on one side! I think if someone were to try to follow the road markings, they would 1) cause an accident and/or 2) get a ticket for following the law. Seriously, the white paint on the roads is just really a waste of good white paint.

The above four photos were taken along Marina Beach. Marina Beach is in the heart of Chennai and is one of the world's longest beaches. I wish I was playing an April Fool's Day joke with everyone by showing these photos, but I'm not. This is serious. Pretty sad photos, aren't they? Notice the person sleeping in the last photo in front of the grass hut. Unfortunately, it is a common sight day or night to see people sleeping where ever they want. I don't know if they are homeless or just migrant workers in the city working or what. It's a good reality check by seeing these people to make me appreciate my comfortable bed even more. I'm very thankful to have what I have.

Immigration and Registration

This morning I had to go down to the Immigration office here in Chennai to register my presence here in India. You are probably asking "haven't you lived in India for almost 10 months? Why are you just down registering that you live there?" Well, these are the questions that I was asking.

Well this story really starts way back in June when we moved here. S and I headed down to the Immigration office to register. This must be done within 14 days of arriving in India. There is a company that helps us with this process as there are a lot of forms and paperwork involved. Since S is here on an employment visa, this is a very important step that he has to complete in order to get his employment card here. It also has something to do with making sure that the appropriate income taxes are paid on his working here (yes, believe it or not, the U.S. is not the only country where income taxes are paid).

When we arrived at the office in June, S was able to register without any problems. It was a completely different story for me though. All of the appropriate paperwork was completed and ready for me to register. However, the immigration officers took one look at my passport and wouldn't let me register. On my India visa in my passport, there is a special endorsement that says "REGISTRATION NOT REQUIRED, IF CONTINUOUS STAY ON A SINGLE VISIT DOES NOT EXCEED 180 DAYS." They told me to come back in December if I hadn't left the country. Well I have never bothered to go back as I left India in July, September, October, November, December, and February. I have never ever came close to staying here for 180 consecutive days.

I thought it was a little weird that I didn't have to register because everyone else I know (spouses who aren't working) had to register. I was the only one anyone had ever heard of who didn't have to register. We checked into this further through S's office, and it was confirmed that I was OK with not registering. Also, I figured if there was a problem with this that I would find out on one of my many exits or entrances through immigration at the airport. Nothing has ever been said there so I haven't really thought much about it lately.

However, now S and I are in the process of renewing our India visas. We were only given a one year visa, and even though we didn't move here until the middle of June, our visa was issued at the beginning of May. It actually is much harder to get a visa renewal than it is to get an initial visa. From what I have been told, we will be given a 3 month renewal visa. During those 3 months, we have to do more paperwork, and I think they check to make sure the income taxes have been paid. After this, we will then be given another visa that will be valid for 9 months. At that point, we will be good for about 3 months at which point the process starts all over again.

Anyway, during this process of renewing S's employment visa (his is much more important than mine as I am really just added on to his paperwork as being the spouse), it was determined that I would now finally have to register with immigration in order for S to get another visa. So, I went down to the office this morning. A representative from the company who is helping us with this mess met me there with all of the paperwork. First, I had to stand in one line so it could be determined what the next line would be that I would stand in. The guy in the first line didn't understand why I was registering. My representative had to explain to him what was going on. I was then given a number and told to go into another room and wait at a certain counter for my number to be called. When I went into this room, my number was already up, so I didn't have to end up waiting at all. However, then because my representative couldn't come into the room with me, I had to explain why I was wanting to register. Finally the guy behind the counter understood enough to go ask another guy about me. It was finally determined that yes I would be allowed to register. However, of course, it couldn't be quite that simple. One of the required forms wasn't in the packet of paperwork. Luckily, it was just a copy of a page out of my passport. My representative ran outside and to another building to get a copy made for me. Finally, after standing in line again, I was good to go. Now, I just have to go back on Wednesday to pick up the registration forms. Hopefully everything will go smoothly on that day.

The worse part of this whole experience is that the Immigration office isn't air conditioned. So for anyone reading this who will have to partake in this activity, just be prepared for a hot room full of a bunch of sweaty, smelly people. Not fun, not fun at all.

Goodbye Visitors, Hello New Visitors

Well I successfully dropped Diane and Beth off at the airport last night. They had a 4 am flight out of Chennai and should be landing in Chicago on Sunday afternoon around 3:30 pm or so. There is a little concern with them flying back as they are flying on British Airways through London. Heathrow airport in London has just opened a new terminal specifically for British Airways flights. There have been all sorts of stories coming out of London about how disorganized this new terminal is. Flights have been cancelled, bags have been lost, and it just sounds like there is general chaos in this new Terminal #5. When Diane and Beth left, they were actually scheduled to fly into and out of Terminal #4, so we are crossing our fingers that none of this changes.

It was great having Beth and Diane here. I think they really enjoyed the trip, and it sounds like they both would be willing to come back for another visit. We would definitely welcome another visit from them, or from anyone else for that matter. Thanks again to the both of them for giving up their spring break to spend it in India. Not a typical spring break, but definitely an unforgettable one for them.

I no more than had dropped them off at the airport, came home for a few hours of sleep, and woke up to greet new visitors who will be staying for the next 8 days.

Millie the dog and Cleo the kitten will be staying with us while their owners are on vacation. While I'm jealous that I'm not on vacation as well, I'm really looking forward to having a little bit of activity in the house again. Going from three pets to none sure makes things quieter around our home. These two sure look innocent enough in this photo, don't they???

The Final Guest Blog by Beth

First off, I would like to thank Sharmishtha for the comment to my last blog and explaining why overseas visitors are charged more for admissions to things.

Next on my list is to share a picture of an elephant. Before I came over, my brother-in-law requested a picture of an elephant. While I have been here, I have learned many different things. One of the things I have learned is that this is really an Asian elephant because of its small ears and not just because we are in India. (African elephants have the bigger ears.)

There were a couple more pictures I would have liked to taken, but did not get my camera out quick enough. I was not able to get a good picture of the trash under the sign about keeping the town clean. I also did not get a picture of the sign for cows crossing the road or a picture of the five cows crossing a major road here.

However, here are some random pictures that I was able to get. This is a picture of a four passenger vehicle. It is hard to see, but there is a girl in front of the guy (she was sleeping and thus her head is laying forward).

This is a sign to pay one rupee to use the bathroom. We saw a couple places like this. It was also different for me to pay an extra fee at some places to use my camera.

I don't think Julie's driver reads this, but I also want to thank him for taking us to all the places we went this week. I also appreciate him picking us up and taking us to the airport during the middle of the night.

Since I have thanked a couple people in this blog, I should also thank our hosts for the week. I am not sure they have officially invited us back yet, but my mom said she would come back. I would also come back.

I am sure on the long flight home I will think of more things I should written here. However, I should go get ready to leave. I will need to put on my warmer clothes of jeans and a long sleeve shirt to head back to the Illinois weather. I am hoping the weather is warmer now than when we left. However, I know it will be a shock because it will not be 85 to 95 degrees.