Homestays

           We’ve all been in homestays for about a week and a half now after a week in a hotel. At first, it felt very strange for the group to be separated after three weeks together 24/7, but it’s nice now for everybody to get some space. I live with two other guys, Tom and Mateo, in a house with our host dad (Ashok), 24 year old host brother (Vignesh, or Vicky as he usually goes by), and their 2.5 year old German shepherd (Max). We have a 30 year old host sister (I don’t know her name), but she lives with her husband in Scotland. Whereas most dogs play with dog toys, Max plays with coconuts. He’s never happier than when he has a coconut in his mouth and someone is chasing him. The house is huge by traditional Indian standards. One floor tall, it has a living room, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a large kitchen,, and two small storage/laundry rooms at the front and back of the house. The house is also surrounded on two sides by a yard with many types of fruit trees.

            Sadly, our host dad’s wife passed away four years ago from ALS, and it sounds like a very difficult time for the family. We also don’t see too much of our host brother because he always has to work. He’s usually at his office from 9 am until 10 or 11 at night and he’s had to work most of the past few weekends too. He’s only had the job for five months now and since he’s new they treat him like a slave. Our host dad really doesn’t like the way he’s treated there, but can’t say anything otherwise they’ll take it out on his son. Luckily, today is Vicky’s birthday so he finally took a day off.

            The homestay situations vary pretty widely in the group. Students are all in pairs, except my homestay, and some students are with elderly people who barely speak English, some are with families with young children, and some are with families with children our age. Some students live close to where we take classes, but others, like us, live pretty far away. Our house is located in a suburb on the southwestern edge of Chennai. We have a commute every weekday to and from classes of about an hour. We get dropped off at the train station, take the train for about fifty minutes, and then take an auto-rickshaw to the hotel where we have classes.

            It’s a little far, but the train is really the best way for us to commute. Traffic can get horribly congested in Chennai and if you’re not in a car with windows and air conditioning all of the car exhaust can get to you. I really dislike taking the auto-rickshaws long distances because of that. The train also allows us to get more of a bird’s eye view of the city. We all just can’t believe how big it is. It just sprawls and never seems to end. Farther away from the center of the city there are also massive construction projects popping up all over the place. Some of these office buildings are the largest that I’ve ever seen, they’re mind boggling. We do get a lot of looks on the train, though. Most white people don’t join the regular commuters on the train.  

            Overall, we’re really happy with our homestay. Having a dog again is wonderful, I miss my dog, and he always want to play with us.