Taylor's Awesome Blog

Alright.... it's been a pretty eventful few days. Last weekend Kai went out with his new girlfriend, Samantha (below). He, unfortunately for him, left his room open. This provided us the opportunity to aluminum-foil everything that Kai owns... We woke up yesterday to a beautiful sight: SNOW!!! Here are a few photos of Bryn, Carl, and me as we walk to breakfast before 'beefing' at Skog: Most of my semester has been spent in our brand-new science center, computer science lab. Here's a quick shot of my classmates, and my professor (Olaf) in the middle during class. I've spent many a' hour in this lab, working on projects and such. Here's Kai with his new gal', Samantha. She's pretty cool, and has been hanging around the pod quite a bit.

Hey Guys, I'm probably going to hold off on updating this blog.... internet access the next week or so is going to be sketchy, if at all available. If you want to see more pictures and such, I'll mass-upload them when I get back (maybe we can do a slide show or something on the 20th or 21st).... Things are going pretty well, still. I'm realizing more and more how much I dislike Chennai, though. It's over-crowded, loud, everyone is trying to sell you something, trash is everywhere, and it smells really bad. It's been bearable, but I was glad to go to Pondicherry, Auroville, and Vellore recently - it smells nicer at those places. Even Indians who have lived elsewhere have talked about how crummy Chennai is compared to the rest of India. That being said, there are a few nice things about Chennai as well (cool places to eat, a nice staff at ICSA, etc.) So, Gilby and Kayli -- Don't give up hope on India during the first month. With a positive attitude, you ca...

Yah..... so, we went shopping for 'traditional' Indian clothing today. Irene (the woman who will guide the Bio in South India group around Chennai) took us to a huge clothing outlet. Imagine yourself in Target on the most crowded day that you've ever seen it. Now multiply the amount of people there by 10, and add five floors to Target. This is how busy and crowded this store was in the middle of a weekday. I purchased a Kurta. The first one that they dried to sell me was expensive and royal-looking (the white one below). I couldn't see myself ever wearing something like that, so I purchased something a bit more my color and style (the blue one). It was an interesting adventure, to say the least.

Hey Guys, Here's a youtube video I posted, detailing a small tour of ICSA. I'm planning on posting some pictures in the coming days, too, so be sure to look at old blog posts for those. -Tay

Today (Sunday) we attended St. Andrew's Church, which is the church that many ICSA workers attend. Our ride there was very interesting -- one rickshaw driver was convinced that 6 passengers can fit in one vehicle (meant to hold 3). I sat in the driver's seat with the driver, and my 5 travel-mates sat in back on each other's laps. It was an interesting journey, especially because the rickshaw driver, as it turns out, had no clue where St. Andrew's church was! We arrived at St. Andrew's eventually. The service was very lovely, and the people were very welcoming. The architecture at St. A's was very beautiful, and the sanctuary was in the shape of a circle (very weird, but interesting!). After the service we met with Sara's former India guide, Dr. something...... He was a delightful old man, just recently retired from a local college. He will probably be giving at least one lecture to Kayli and Gilby's group when they are being oriented at ICSA. We a...

Spencer and I have been working on our CS project over the course of the last two days, and we believe that we'll be able to finish the curriculum planning by the time we leave. The students are adorable, and it's been really fun talking with them. After work on Friday we took a tour of Adyar Poonga , an ecological restoration (garden) site that is being built about half a kilometer inland from the beach. Mr. Joss, who is from Oroville where Kayli is going to study, is an Australian man who has been commissioned to build this 60-acre garden spot. The plant-life that they are rebuilding is amazing. They've turned a barren wasteland that was full of garbage (as most of Chennai is) into a beautiful ecological sanctuary. On Saturday I finally got my video (above) set up and working [thank God!]. I'm not used to being the one with computer / camera troubles, so not being able to get a video from computer to camera for over a week was very frustrating. Oh, well.... it...

Today was a very exciting day! We got to take a trip to ICSA's essential drug facility which was about a 40 minute drive away from ICSA headquarters. At the facility they create essential drugs for a low price - they create allergy drugs, ibuprofen, etc..... about 30 different drugs that would be difficult to come by elsewhere for the people of India. They sell these drugs for a small cost, which is small because they are non-profit. Their philosophy was that "If Coca-Cola can reach all corners of the Earth, why can't much-needed medicine?" The drug facility was very interesting; I never knew, for example, that the manufacturing of calcium tablets was so easy, but they were churning out thousands of pills every day! The facility houses only 30 employees, but their production is huge! The facility also included a sever acre garden, full of medicinal herbs and plants, all of which were very beautiful. I'll post pictures soon! At night we ate at Tic Tac, a North-Indi...

We started out the day with our usual breakfast, followed by a break for some personal reading time. At 10:00 we met with Dr. Manohar, his wife Irene, and Dr. George. Irene will be guiding and helping the Bio in South India (Kayli and Gilby) people Fall semester. After meeting in a small group, we met and had coffee with the whole staff at ICSA. Everyone was very nice and friendly. Ms. Caroline sang a song to us; we'll have to think of on to sing back next time we're asked. Otherwise, we had a pretty relaxing day. I'm getting pretty far through the book "She's Not There: A Story in Two Genders." For dinner we were craving something remotely Western, so we went to a place called 'Cafe Coffee Day,' a sandwich / coffee / treat shop that offers Western drinks and a pleasant atmosphere. It's a good retreat when the crowds here get overwhelming (plus, it has air conditioning).

So, Dr. Manohar, the director of ICSA, is out seeing other schools today. Instead of meeting him, we met with a man who called himself Dr. George. He was a wonderfully delightful man, who introduced to ICSA and all that the service association offers to the community. After speaking with him, he introduced us to Ms. Caroline, the computer science teacher. She was very nervous to meet us, I think, but she was very nice. Spencer and I feel more confidant about the project that we're about to undertake, and about what is expected of us. After another great lunch, we decided to explore the shopping center and post office, just so we know where they are. It was a very interesting experience -- here in Chennai (and all over India, I am told) the lowest caste of people live on the streets and beg. The up-scale shopping centers were no different. There were beggers and homeless everywhere. I'm planning to get a box of granola bars for the children; it's heart-breaking to s...

We woke up this morning to a great breakfast. Our chef at ICSA is trying so hard to make us feel at home here. We had wonderbread with butter and jelly, and a bag of corn flakes (no bowls, spoons, or milk, though). After some rough communication, we were able to get a few bowls and spoons, and we had cornflakes with hot milk. After breakfast we attended the church service. We sang songs, both in Tamil and English, then we heard a very passionate and well nuanced sermon (both in Tamil and English). 2.5 hours later the service was over and we chatted with the congregation. Everyone was very interesting to talk to. One elderly Indian gentlemen with whom I spoke had been a sailor for many years, traveling to the US, Europe, Australia, Asia, etc. shipping translated Bibles. He was very interested to learn that I was a missionaries' grandchild. After a great lunch, we went to an internet cafe to send a few emails home, then we took a couple of rickshaws (3-wheeled cars) to the beach. In...

After about an hour stay in Shanghi, we were off again towards Bombay (Mumbai). I really didn't feel like sleeping, though it was technically night, so I began to watch "10,000 BC" (horrible movie!). After about 30 minutes I turned off the movie and went to sleep. I was awakened a couple of hours later to Kung Po Chicken and a glass of white wine from Chile. We landed in Mumbai an hour and a half early (so we only had a 22 hour flight to India, including refueling time). After clearing customs, we changed some money into rupees and ate at a sandwich shop. Our next flight (Mumbai -> Chennai) took 1.5 hours, during which we had delicious rice and chicken with lintels. Jet Airways really takes care of us! After the flight our driver picked us up - that is where our crazy driving adventure began! Our driver drove a stick-shift 10-passenger van. We sat in seats without seat belts as were were thrown through a high-speed amusement-park like race through the city. Our driver ...

7/24/08 - 7/26/08 We left MN at 2:40pm after meeting Sara, Lam, and Nikki at the airport (we being Spencer and I). After around 5 hours we were in San Francisco. We met Eric at SFO; we just happened to run into each other at baggage claim - great timing! After checking in, we had about two hours to kill, so we explored our section of the airport. Our last American meal, pizza was found on our adventure. Our plane ride was amazing ! Jet Airways - which does, in fact, exist - was terrific to us. We had great leg room, in flight movies, games and music 'on demand,' excellent service, and surprisingly delicious food. I watched '21,' and 'Horton hears a Who' from SFO to Shanghi (our refueling place) while eating delicious Naan, rice, and chicken makanhi. All of this was topped of with a complementary glass of Australian-made Shiraz, and a chocolate mint. The seats reclined, and i believe I got about 5 hours of sleep between movies and meals. I'm in Shang...

Hey All, I'm boarding a plane for India at 2:40pm today. After about 30 hours, I'll be in Chennai, India at the ICSA center. I'm pretty much super-excited!