Chennai

Tuesday - Varsha, Rachel and I slept in, ate waffles and ice cream for breakfast and spent the rest of the day taking in what the malls of Chennai had to offer. We had some really good chicken and mutton at the food court of "City Centre," a posh-looking 4-story mall in the heart of Chennai and then shopped for some Indian clothes. Rachel got some beautiful stuff! If she wasn't so white, she would look Indian...We also got to try some traditional Indian desserts before we left City Centre. How many times in your life do you get a chance to eat something called "burfi?" Haha. We went to another mall called Spencers and bought some scarves and more Indian clothes for Rachel. After we were done, we chilled at the apartment and then went out to eat with one of Varsha's friends. We wanted some great Indian food, so they took us to a very cute place that had amazing kabobs. I LOVE INDIAN FOOD and I think I've become a little bit obsessed with Naan bread (as well as mangos). We watched some TV after we got back and then went to sleep.

Wednesday - We woke up late again and drove to this random food court in Chennai. It wasn't very busy (which wasn't surprising given the ridiculous level of security required to enter the building - we had to get badges and show ID and everything...wow), but we got to try some South Indian food. It was very good! Yum! Another one of Varsha's friends drove us to a place a little outside of Chennai where we saw a temple carved out of one rock. It would have been impressive if it was just one temple, but there were several buildings and a few statues of animals. The highlight of that trip was the delicious mango/vanilla ice cream bar we had on the way back to the car! We drove to the beach and spent a little time there before we drove back into Chennai so we could rest for dinner. We got ready for a night out and then met some of Varsha's friends for dinner at an Indian version of an English pub. The music was insanely loud, but the appetizers were really good. It was interesting to have Chinese food (sweet and sour chicken) at an English pub in India. We then went to a hotel lounge (quieter!!) for a short while before dropping off to sleep at the apartment.