Today was an awesome day! I finally feel as though my body has adjusted to this new time zone. As I leave Sunday, unfortunately, I will not be able to enjoy this for long. The morning began with breakfast, then exploring with my camera. I am looking forward to finally meeting Dr. P. Solomon Raj.
As our journey would last about four hours, we stopped for breakfast along the way. The roadside restaurants are the best; “Hole-in-the-wall” establishments that satisfy the masses. The inflated piece of bread you see is called “poori.” After it cools off, it’s safe to break and eat with a potato/onion mix. It’s delicious. I never knew this but rice casings are used as fuel. Who knew? Big bags of them are stationed by the oven. One picture shows an open bag that slowly pours the rice casings into a 12-foot enclosed fire pit which will stay burning the entire day. At the end of the fire pit is a chimney that releases the smoke.
The man dressed in the fancy orange and black gear is a “professional beggar.” Their job is to dress this way, or similar, and beg. I’m told that some of them bring oxen with them that perform tricks in hopes of earning money for the professional beggar. I think I’ll stick to teaching though I do like the outfit.
The Bay of Bengal is a beautiful place to sightsee. Some areas are very mountainous. It is also very humid as air stays trapped inside of God’s hills. It’s very common to see temples. Occasionally you stumble across gods that people worship, hence, the monkey god.
We spent about two hours with Dr. Raj. It was a very blessed time. On our return trip home, we were stuck in work traffic for approximately two hours. It was brutal. We finally escaped that and eventually ended up at the same roadside restaurant we ate at earlier in the day. We safely returned home at 11:05 pm.
