week 1

So, after spending 45 minutes trying to figure out how to get this computer to recognize my USB drive with pictures on it, I have given up and you will have to wait for pictures till I find a computer that recognizes it.  Sorry!

On to week one tally:

1 episode of spontaneous tears which I chalk up to a combination of jet lag and frustration at losing my entire team after returning from lunch break and having no idea where to look for them or who to find to understand that I am even looking for them.  This ended well in laughter and some Tamil learning with me sitting with the pediatrics librarian in her little room waiting for someone from my team to appear (eventually, someone did).
2 of the four of us got sick, one with gastroenteritis and one with a cold (not me at that time, although I have a cold now)
3 new salwar-kameez(es? - they look kind of like this, except the scarf [dupatta] is worn pulled forward about six inches lower) to wear for the first week and an additional four bought in Chennai this past weekend (on sale - two for the price of one! - the savings joy continues, even in India).  These are tailored to my personal measurements, supposedly, although my specifications for neckline so it doesn't feel like it's falling off my shoulders weren't attended to.  Ah, well.
4 of us fit into the back seat of a Toyota land cruiser (kind of like this?) for the three-hour trip to and from Chennai three times in the past eleven days
5 mosquito bites (despite dutiful application of mosquito repellent 1-2 times/day - no worries, Mom, I am trying to avoid all the mosquito-carried illnesses I see in the hospital)
innumerable: dogs and cows in the streets, stars visible in the night sky over our campus in Vellore (I taught Thenu to recognize Orion!), idly eaten for breakfast already (rice-flour-like cakes that remind me of the Zambian nsima I will be eating in a few weeks that you eat with sauces like sambar served in little metal bowls like in the picture), water bottles consumed, times I wish I spoke Tamil or Telegu, or Bengali, or Hindi

Highlight of the week:  hearing the choir sing the Old Testament priestly blessing at the end of the church service last week.  The sound was nearly angellic.