Sprinting Across Stones

OK, so first off, I realize that I haven't been updating my blog- I'm sorry about that. I haven't had Internet access for a few days and even now I'm using Ahalya's (my host mother's cousin) laptop, so I won't be able to post photos, but you'll find that I've posted the blogs from the last two days below this one (I just wrote them in m journal and transferred them over). I'll go back and edit in photos and a video (!) later when I get Internet access on my laptop!
Today I woke up again sweating and got up to take my routine cold shower. My host Ahalya's husband arrived back from a business trip this morning, and so I got to meet him when we all had breakfast together. While we were eating, a yellow lab with a collar on came up to the fence and sent Ludo (Ahalya's yellow lab) into a barking frenzy. We didn't know whose the dog was, but he was very sweet and even let Vikram (Ahalya's husband) pet him. Vikram left for a few minutes and walked the dog down the street to see if it would recognize a scent, but to no avail. He ended up bringing the dog back and feeding it- a little while later the dog went home!
After that was taken care of, we all got ready to go out. Ahalya took the day off so the four of us (Ahalya, Vik, Vik's mother and I) set off to drive to Kanchipuram- a small city outside of Chennai where Vik's mother grew up. We drove for about an hour, listening to ACDC (Vik's favorite) and swerving quickly around the other cars, buses, autos and scootis. We arrived and drove straight to the temple- one of the hundreds that this city is famous for. There was a temple on every street corner, and we went to the one called Sri Ekambaranathar Temple, which was so tall that you could see the two towers as we were driving into the city. This temple was a temple to Shiva, the God of destruction, and was built in the B.C. time period! It was amazing! There were carved stone pillars everywhere, each with an intricate carving of it's own. It was a big temple, so the two towers were separated by about 100 yards of sand and stone- The ground was BURNING hot, and so Ahalya and I (Vik and his mother went to go and get Biriyani) had to sprint from shade patch to shade patch until we finally reached the other part of the temple! We held hands and counted to three each time before running to the next spot, even though we sprinted though, my feet still feel a little burned. We left the temple running through the gates beneath the first arch, looking up to see monkeys climbing around in the carved designs above.
After blowing on our feet to cool them down in the car, we all drove out to a little spot in the shad to eat biriyani for lunch- it was nice and cool in the shade, and we were in a pretty green spot with cows and dogs walking about. The thing that drove us away were the flies- so many of them!
After shooing all of the flies out of the car, we drive into the city to a sari shop, a shop that Vik's mother has been shopping at forever to buy her saris! The saris were absolutely amazing! very single one of them was hand stitched with real silver and gold threads into beautiful and elaborate designs. We spent a little while going through the saris- all three of us girls choosing colors that we liked. By the end of our search there was probably about fifty multicolored saris laid out on the table. Ahalya asked me which saris I liked, and I picked out a few that had nice colors. My favorite though was a bright purple one, with suns stitched across the fabric. I was shocked and SOOOO thankful when Ahalya and Vik insisted on buying it for me- it was an amazing gift, and I just want to publicly state how grateful I am to them. I truly am surrounded by the most genuinely kind and hospitable people here!
While the saris were being packed, we all drove over to a small little shop in the back of a building where we actually got to watch a sari being made! There was one loom that took up the entire small room, and the man behind it worked quickly and easily, sliding the spools through the long threads and making the tiny intricate designs along the way with the golden thread. It takes someone fifteen DAYS of work to finish ONE sari- and the wedding saris (which are much more elaborately designed) can take up to three MONTHS! It was a really cool experience to see the silk sari being made! I can't wait to learn how to tie one so that I can wear mine!
I added a video! It's of the man making the saree!