I was still coughing, hacking, and hating my lungs when my plane landed in south India on February 27th.
Immediately, something was different. Yes, people still drove on the left side of the road like they do in Europe. Yes, there was still lots of congestion. But I noticed that there were actually driving lanes in Chennai, and that people were adhering to said driving lanes (most of the time). I stopped to listen and could barely hear any horns (this was constant background noise in north India). It felt surreal.
I was only in Chennai briefly.
It was enough time to visit San Thome Cathedral and Marina Beach.
San Thome Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church near Marina Beach. In the basement, it houses the remains of Saint Thomas the Apostle (Doubting Thomas). There are only two other churches that house the remains of one of Jesus’ 12 disciplines. They are Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain (Saint James) and Basilica San Paolo in Rome (Saint Paul).
I entered San Thome Cathedral, and walked right into a wedding ceremony. It was all in English and the guests were singing a song that I recognized from my days in Catholic school. The bride and groom were standing on the altar with the priest. Lots of fans were whirring and I sat in a pew and watched the ceremony for a few moments. It was bizarre to see practicing Catholics in India, after seeing so many Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist adherents over the past four weeks.
After crashing my first, I mean second wedding in India (see Udaiper entry), I walked to Marina Beach.
I was born to live near water. I felt instantly happy.
On the beach, people were dancing, flying kites, socializing and wading. For some reason, it reminded me of Puerto Rico.
I stayed at the beach until the sun set.
In the evening, I ate my first dosa. It’s a rice-flour crepe that is served with sides of curry or stuffed. I long ago established myself as a food snob, and I spent most of my disposable income over the past five years on one of three pursuits: traveling, triathlon, and frequenting ethnic restaurants. I was quite familiar with north Indian cuisine, but it seemed I’d never tried south Indian food before.
The dosa was incredible.
Then I went back to my hotel where I had another coughing attack in bed, under the A/C. But I could feel my white blood cells waging battle. And I knew that they were going to win.
