Thursday the 13th, St. Thomas Mount and shopping!

 On the 13th we had an action packed day.  We began with a "hike" as Vidya called it, I would describe it as a footpath with 185 steps, to St. Thomas Mount.  This mount is where doubting Thomas was assasinated while praying over a hand carved rock that is still preserved in the church on top of the mount.  The Mount, as I said earlier, contained 185 steps, realating to the same number of steps that Jesus took when he carried the cross.  Along the path there where hanging signs that described what happened every few steps to Jesus.  This was supposed to help one visualize the journey as they made their way to the church on the top and the amazing gold statue of jesus and the angels over looking Chennai.

 We were joined by about 300 school girls walking up the stairs as well whom where Catholic affiliated and were joining 2 other schools at the top for a motivatinal speech as the schools geared up for the big country wide exams at the 10th grade level.  

  After taking pictures of the gorgeous views of Chennai on a clear blue sky day, I was struck by a feeling of awe and humbleness.  Amongst the extreme poverty and wealthy living side by side, I have been able to view the raw beauty the Chennai and Southern India has.  The beauty comes from the people, the culture, the acceptance, and the simplicity the city seems to move at.  Even with the chaos of the city, things move slower at a second glance.  Proceeding the views we learned of St. Thomas and his sculpture, as well as a multitude of other relics.  After viewing the Hindu temple and the Mount, Vidya discussed how the Hindi people believe that everyone has their own way of worship, but believe that everyone prays to the same one God.  I felt a strong agreement to this, being of someone who studies culture and being a Christian, I tend to rationalize that everyone needs a religion or belief system, its in our nature, a religion should simply be something that is most relatable and culturally in tune with your history and surroundings.  To me, they all pray to the same God.  The feeling on the Mount was incredible.  Next we took a different take on Indian culture and headed to the Snake park.  We viewed all types of snakes local to the Indian area and around the world, as well as alligators and crocodiles.  The cultural preservation can be seen within the preservation of local animals.  We saw a few monkeys on the walls running around, but all too quick.  Therefore, we walked into the zoo to see the monkeys in the park.  In the park we met a group of school children and took a few pictures with them upon their request.  The attention has yet to feel overwhelming and Vidya and Miles are very in-tune with the surroundings they put us in and are always being the parents and blocking us from the following of men that normally happens when we go into public places.  After the outings we ended our day with a little shopping and a amazing meal a walk away from our hotel.  Our hotel is in an area comparable to Cherry Creek in Denver, or Bellevue in Seattle.  Very nice, a magistrate that lives a few houses down was setting up for a large Pongal function the next day, so it was exciting to watch them set up and see the final product the next day.