Chennai City, yeah yeah!

Friday night we left at 11pm for the city of Chennai. For the first time in my life I rode on a train, and not just any train but a sleeper. Pretty much that just means that the middle seat folds up and connects to the top bunk to create 3 bunks per side, 6 in a ‘room’. This pictures was taken right before we all passed out for the 8 hour train ride. And surprisingly, I slept very well. It could have had something to do with that fact that I had only slept three and a half hours the night before…

This is a picture from our ‘room’ on the top bunk looking through the cage at the other room. (This is Julianna, one of my roommates.)

Once we arrived in Chennai at 7 am, we had to get on a city train to travel across town. It was a very thrilling ride, because the doors are always open and so we pretty much hung out the door as it was moving.

Nothing much to say about this picture, other than it is a picture of the room Celiz, Kendra, Lucy and I stayed in.

After we got all settled into our rooms, our group was taken to a village of Dalite. One of the little toddlers ended up climbing on my lap and playing with Jamie’s hair and mine. It was so great to welcomed into this village and see the faces of the people who were once considered “untouchables”.

Here is another picture of one of the small girls in the village.

This precious older lady held my hand the whole time and was so happy in the end when we got our picture taken together. When I look into her eyes, I can see God at work not only in her life, but in everyone else in the village as well. They have such hope and joy that I can’t help but feel it also.

That night we visited St. Thomas Mount where Thomas was chased up and eventually killed. It was a powerful place, especially at night and we had a great view of Chennai.

My hair has been something that has been driving me crazy here, mainly due to the heat and how long it is. But sometimes it just look really cool. The first picture below is at the village and they put flower (called ‘poo’ here) in my hair. It was just a fun picture.

The next two pictures are of my hair Saturday night when Kendra did a spiral braid on my head. It looked so cool and felt like I was wearing a hat!

After church on Sunday, we went to the beach and got to jump in the Indian Ocean!!! The wasn’t super warm, but it definitely felt refreshing and comfortable. Celiz and I are in this picture. (Mom, I made sure not to turn my back to the ocean…)

And then I ended turning my back to ocean for this picture. You can really tell we were all excited!

I know I say this every time I finish a post, but I really do feel so blessed being here. God is working in my life in so many ways that are very evident, and in ways that are still unknown to me. I have been here over a month now and have learned so much. Time has flown by and I will only go by faster now. Thank you all for you support and words of encouragement. They mean so much to me! I am not sure what the next post will be or when it will come. God Bless! 




P.S. The reason the title of this post is "Chennai City, yeah yeah" is because at the village we watched a dance and the song that played had those lyrics and it was really catchy. So we sang that the whole train ride home... Sort of an inside joke, but still decided to put it =)