First few days in Chennai
I arrived in Chennai, India on Wednesday night and it has thus far been a very good experience. It would have been very easy to be frightened at this point by the experience, but luckily it was described as a much scarier place than it actually is by my boss. I luckily have not seen a single Dengeu fever-infected mosquito and have not been chased off the road by a pack of rabid un-dead dogs--yet! 
So far the most concerning experience came in the 24 hours after my flight arrived. The concern was my feet, which as you can see from the photo, swelled up like a couple of floaties. It was as though I was walking on marshmallows.
The heat is bad, but that was expected. The real thing that has caught me by suprise has been the traffic. I had heard that it was chaotic, but I expected it to be a controlled chaos. Now I see: it's bedlam. The best way I can describe it is a 3-way roller derby. It's autos vs. motorcycles vs. pedestrians in a no holds barred winner take all. I made a video on YouTube of it. Feel free to check it out but I mean, it doesn't really do it justice. I've estimated that I could probably last 20 minutes driving a motorcycle here if I was lucky, but after that I would certainly be hit by a bus or something. This is way down from my estimate of how long I could stay on a motorcycle in the states before dying, which comes in right around 45 minutes.
Well those are the high points of my first few days. Nothing especially spectacular has happened. I haven't gotten sick, shopped for gifts, or seen any interesting landmarks- all noteworthy events. Tomorrow's the weekend, though, so we're heading out of town, at which point I expect to do at least two of the three, though it's unclear which two. I'll be sure to keep everyone posted.
Comments
It is nothing like NY. If anyone drove like this in the US, they would be immediately arrested. NY has lanes and it's generally unacceptable to make new lanes or drive in the oncoming lanes. All of this is expected here. It's bedlam I tell you!
Now didn't that remind you of NY, or did Steve not drive into the city with you?
My new desktop background!
Haha, great video. Crazy traffic. Glad you made it safe. Thanks for the link to the blog. I'll be sure to keep reading it.
Is it me, or do those feet belong on a sherpa, or perhaps a yeti!?