So I'm back in Chennai after 11 days of travel. It seemed like a lot longer. We (Michelle [who's a Christian Indian] and I) took an overnight train to Nagercoil, a city next to KanyaKumari. It's really pretty. It's got mountains on one side which keeps it much cooler than stifling Chennai. It's also very green - coconut trees explode from just about every land surface. We visited 23 villages in four districts, KanyaKumari, Tiruneveli, Tuticorin, and Ramnathapuram (all along the coast). - they were all affected by the tsunami in some way, but the level of impact varied. One place I would never think was inhabited by people. It was just a bunch of makeshift (and disentegrating) tents close to the water. Others you could certainly identify as villages. So we saw a good range. We were in a car for hours in a day (the local ActionAid office took us around)...usually the villages were separated from each other by a good 25-30 miles, which on the rural roads was a very bumpy ride. There were times I was sure my internal organs were no longer where they should be.

Ramnathapuram was probably the most destitute overall. It's an island connected by a bridge and it's the part of India that's closest to Sri Lanka. There we went to temple where apparently it is believed that single girls who visit it are said to be married within a year. Michelle is single and her parents are trying in their very Indian way to get her hitched. Well, wouldn't you know, the day that we went was a religious holiday and if single girls visit on this day, they are married within 6 months! I'll have to keep in touch with her to see if that works out...

There's some sort of African virus that is spreading through these areas called chikunguniya. It is waterborne and also spread through mosquitoes. Symptoms are fever, swelling/aching of the joints, and vomiting. Well, so far we've escaped unharmed. There's still time though to contract it b/c I think it's making its way up north :)

I took pictures with my 35 mm so don't have much to download here. You'll just to wait for those. I still can't see these posts. So however you respond, and whether or not you do, I'll only be able to see once I get back to the States.

I'm off next week to Cuddalore (which is about 3 hours from Chennai). There we'll spend about 7 days.

The final leg (if it is approved [b/c it likely is the most expensive]) is the Andaman Islands which we'd also visit for a week. Then I'll be back in Chennai for a week (my final work week) before heading down to Sri Lanka (for fun) and to visit family in Kolkata. After that I'm headed back to Seattle! Rob told me that I'm past my half-way point. In a way, I can't believe that I'm only half-way through. But then it's hard for me to believe that I'll be back in Seattle in a little over a month!

Hope all is well with everyone...

Subarna