India Day 1 (March 5, 2009)

Woke up this morning ported in India...I can't believe we are in India! At breakfast I walked outside and could already tell that we were now in a country that smells and looks like a country that has and is moving too fast for its own good. It was incredibly hot and muggy as well, and it was still fairly early in the morning. My friends Spencer, Chandler and I had to be to the boat around two o’clock, we were all doing service projects and visits that afternoon. We decided to fill the morning with shopping and exploring the city of Chennai. We got off the ship and walked to the port gate, before we knew it we were surrounded by rickshaw drivers forcefully asking us where we needed to go. A rickshaw is essentially and three wheeled motorized cart. The rickshaw is the most recognizable form of transportation in India. However, the drivers often times try to rip you off by taking you not to the actual place you want to go, but most of the times to markets or other attractions where they will receive commission. The rickshaw driver was nice about letting us drive some of the way...absolutely insane! However, we got in a little argument with our driver about the price once we finally reached the actual mall we wanted to go to. Eventually, we learned that the best way to avoid these confrontations is to just laugh when the driver tries ripping you off, give him the initial price that you had agreed on and simply walk away. The mall was fairly big and commercialized but it was still a good time, a lot of natives were there too. After shopping and a little lunch, we headed back to the ship. The service visit I did was a visit to the Chennai YMCA Boys Town. It is sort of like a camp ground with a number of cabins. At the site, about 100 Indian orphan boys are housed and educated. The bus ride over was pretty eye opening, seeing shacks on the side of the road and in empty lots. In addition, the streets are covered with trash, people bathing and on the side of the street; like nothing I had ever seen before in my life. The YMCA visit was absolutely amazing, we first walked into the gym, and all the boys were sitting in lines of ten, youngest in the front and oldest in the back (ages were about 5 to 16). The boys sang some songs for us and then we sang for them, it was a lot of fun. After the gym, the boys went back to their cabins and we were able to visit and play with them and see the site itself. Each cabin was very hot and filled with beds and nothing else. All the boys were wonderful though, so happy. They loved posing for the camera and playing thumb wars, hand slap games and arm wrestling with me specifically. Before arm wrestling, they would point to them say "India", point to me and say "America", making it a competition. One of them would start to arm wrestle me, then two more would jump on my arm pushing it down to help "India" win, then one would start poking me in the neck and sides…and I would eventually give in. It sounds a little crazy, but it was all in good fun. They told me that I looked like a professional wrestler and would want to wrestle me. So, I'd have one boy on my shoulders, another two hanging from my arms, etc. Let’s just say I was exhausted by the end of the visit, but I loved it. It was amazing to talk with the boys and just see how happy they were. I asked them if they loved living there and they just smiled and said something along the lines of "of course, we are all brothers here" - like a fraternity. After about an hour of playing and visiting, our group headed into the city of Chennai, and ate dinner with the founder of the YMCA Boys Town. The food was great and the founder told us the history of the facility and basically his story in general. The entire day was incredible. I will always remember the visit to Boys Town, the smiles on their faces, and their overall enthusiasm for living. These kids have been dealt hard lives, and are some of the most genuinely happy people I have ever met.