India Trip- Day 11

Sadly this is the day we leave Vellore. I am looking forward to being home with my family again though and that gets me going. Before we leave we are visiting a place that helps to rehabilitate kids with Cerebal Palsy. I really enjoy learning about what all they do here, but the best part is the kids and seeing thier smiles. I think they enjoyed our being here and showing us how much they have memorized from their lessons. They spoke in Tamil so I couldn't understand the words, but they seemed to go on and on, so I know they are learning well.


We say good-bye to our hosts and we board the train to Chennai, I have been waiting to get a train ride and see what it is like. We have an air-conditioned car, I am cold, and this is nothing like I thought it would be. I had heard stories.....I won't go into it. We finally find a place for all of our luggage and start heading down the tracks. I did like the view of the country side which I also had been looking forward to seeing. My thoughts go over all of the trip that I just finished and I can't believe it is over already.

We get to Chennai and check into a hotel and then do some shopping. I FINALLY find an outfit that I really like and IT FITS. I am mad that I didn't get a second one there that I really liked, because this one fits so well. A funny thing when we were in the store is that after we were done shopping, one of the girls walks beside this machine that checks if you have stolen anything and it goes off. She got into the store with no problem and now she is making it beep. She can't leave, so she is taking out hair pins and walking through and putting her purse down and walking through and it just keeps beeping. The store personal want to know why she is beeping, so she gets this idea that her clothes must have a tag on them that she forgot to take out when she bought them. In the U.S. some stores carry clothes that have tags sown in them so you can't steal them. While she is trying to find this tag and looking everywhere and trying to be modest about it, it is so funny that we all are breaking into laughter but also wondering what she will do. She finally finds the tag and the store workers get her scissors to cut it out. She gets the tag out and walks through the machine, no beeping. But, the store worker still runs the tag by the machine by itself to make sure it is the problem. Sure enough it is the tag. There were about 6 guys standing there and they grabbed the tag and kept running it through the machine amazed that it is beeping. We finally can leave the store and do!

Went to the mall briefly and ate some Dominos pizza, it was good and more American tasting than I thought it would be. It was fun to see the mall is very similar to the malls back at home. We could watch cricket replays on the TV screen while we ate. I found a second suitcase to buy here so I can get everything home that I bought, and not have my other bags so heavy and hard to handle. I think I got a good buy on it and it is my favorite suitcase that I own now. Granted I really don't have that many, but it is still my favorite.

It is time to head back to the hotel for one more night in India and some sight-seeing tomorrow. It is freezing in the air-conditioned room, even the other girls are complaining. I leave the air on though because I think my roommate likes it and snuggle into the blankets to keep warm and go to sleep.

P.S. I am told the picture added is of a mailbox, but to an American it looks like a garbage can. Good thing I didn't have anything to throw away. :) Couldn't get my other pictures to load today.