Amy and I decided that the first part of the business plan was to get the foreigners some decent clothes. I mean, we knew that there was no way to prevent us from sticking out like sore thumbs, but at least wearing kurtis and Indian-looking clothes would reduce the number of full-on stares that we would be getting. We also figured we could take them walking a little, to help get them accustomed to the chaotic process of crossing streets and so on.
The Indianized Visitors
Since it was their first day, and since our time in Chennai was short, we decided to head to lunch at Amethyst to give them an idea of what a clean, organized area of Chennai could look like. Amethyst has a huge garden—so Amy and I figured that Henny would love it. In fact, we wanted to see how long it would take her to say something about stealing some plants. Not even five steps into the driveway, she says, “You should have told me to bring my big purse! I can take some slips from here to take home.”
Lunch was good, and then came shopping. Sundari Silks first—then Lifestyles. Sundari Silks seemed to be the more successful trip, and everyone got at least one new thing to wear and make themselves blend in a little more with the crowd. But, I think that by the time we got to Lifestyles, the jetlag had begun to set in, especially for Henny and Karin, so we decided to do a pre-dinner nap.
So cute! Matching clothes, matching exhaustion.
The nap turned out to be pretty long, so we changed our dinner plans and decided to go to Bella Ciao so they could get a downtown rooftop dinner. Again, we also picked this place to help ease them into India—when your only experience with Indian food is a handful of Indian restaurants in the States, South Indian food can be a little bit less like you expected. So, Italian food it was, then we returned home so that they could actually get some sleep.
The Grumpy Writer’s Grumps
Wed. Jan 10 – Chennai
Amy and I decided that the first part of the business plan was to get the foreigners some decent clothes. I mean, we knew that there was no way to prevent us from sticking out like sore thumbs, but at least wearing kurtis and Indian-looking clothes would reduce the number of full-on stares that we would be getting. We also figured we could take them walking a little, to help get them accustomed to the chaotic process of crossing streets and so on.
The Indianized Visitors
Since it was their first day, and since our time in Chennai was short, we decided to head to lunch at Amethyst to give them an idea of what a clean, organized area of Chennai could look like. Amethyst has a huge garden—so Amy and I figured that Henny would love it. In fact, we wanted to see how long it would take her to say something about stealing some plants. Not even five steps into the driveway, she says, “You should have told me to bring my big purse! I can take some slips from here to take home.”
Lunch was good, and then came shopping. Sundari Silks first—then Lifestyles. Sundari Silks seemed to be the more successful trip, and everyone got at least one new thing to wear and make themselves blend in a little more with the crowd. But, I think that by the time we got to Lifestyles, the jetlag had begun to set in, especially for Henny and Karin, so we decided to do a pre-dinner nap.
So cute! Matching clothes, matching exhaustion.
The nap turned out to be pretty long, so we changed our dinner plans and decided to go to Bella Ciao so they could get a downtown rooftop dinner. Again, we also picked this place to help ease them into India—when your only experience with Indian food is a handful of Indian restaurants in the States, South Indian food can be a little bit less like you expected. So, Italian food it was, then we returned home so that they could actually get some sleep.
Here are the pictures….
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