I have been sleeping quite a bit, and eating, too. The rain and the warm air make me very sleepy. Kids in other parts of the world only wish they had the opportunities we have in the U.S. can take a bus and go to school for free. Some kids in the villages walk five miles or more every day to go to school. They can’t even afford cheap sandals, especially as kids have to pay to go to school. Some people here, however, are very poor. You can't assume anything, because even people who can afford shoes sometimes go without. Sometimes people go barefoot at different times of the year for religious reasons. Some of the men wore lungis (a cloth wrap that looks kind of like a skirt…it’s usually worn over shorts, and nearly everyone was in sandals, or even barefoot! I’ve seen guys around here ride motorcycles and drive autos barefoot, and even kids going to school in their perfectly clean and pressed uniforms without shoes. A lot of people wore raincoats and sweatshirts, but still, a lot of kids and men were out in the rain in shorts. The rain is nice, as it cools everything down. I will miss Chennai, and all of its charms. I am sad to have to leave Mama and Mami, Anni, and especially the boys. I love this tradition, and I love my family. There will be fireworks at midnight, and even though we will probably lie down early to rest, everyone gets up at midnight and takes a bite of cake, to bring sweetness into the New Year. My mom gave me several books on my Kindle for Christmas, so I have some good things to read. The lady at the salon washed my face, scrubbed it, and put lots of different products on it to make it clean and soft. In the afternoon, I went to take advantage of Anni's Christmas gift to me: a facial. Also, we don't want to eat too heavily tomorrow as we are coming home, and don't want to take any chances of having an upset tummy on the long trip back. We have to eat all the meat in the house, as Mama and Mami are vegetarians right now, and don't want to have to throw away good food. It was delicious, and I also ate fish and mutton curry. It's a little bit weird.įor lunch we had a special treat: spicy crab. I try not to look people in the eye so much (especially men, as it might be considered flirting) but I know that people stare at me a lot. Being a very light skinned person in Chennai gets me noticed, so no one ran over me, although I did get a few stares. I ended up choosing a spot by a pole, where I felt I could be seen by motorcycles turning to go the other way. I had to gauge the distance of cars, motorcycles, and busses, and think about where the safest place to stand would be once I got halfway across where the traffic went the other direction. I did see others crossing, but at quite a distance from me. Coming back across Bye Pass Road, I had to cross all by myself.