Wow. We’ve done a lot in the last day or so.
On the afternoon of the 4th, we went to see a couple things in Dubai before our flight left. First we toured the Old Fort, which once upon the time guarded the entrance to Dubai Creek. I think the word “Creek” must be a crummy translation for the Arabic word for “little branch of the ocean,” because it wasn’t what I would expect a creek to be. It’s just a tongue of the ocean that they’ve dredged out to make a harbor. I assume that along the otherwise not-very-hospitable-to-ships coastline, the “Dubai Creek” was a decent place to land and so it developed some commerce as a result. Anyway, the fort was pretty darn humble relative to what Dubai looks like now. They had some museum displays inside, some of which are aging pretty poorly. But we still walked slowly through the museum, because we knew that when we were done, we’d have to return to the 110-degree heat and humidity. It was more unpleasant outside in Dubai than in Phoenix this time of year.
The fort is near a large mosque, and as we were wandering around outside looking for something interesting, the call to prayer sounded. A bunch of Muslim guys were in the area, coming and going. Every once in a while we’d see another female on the street, but not very often! Lily got stared at a lot and winked at once. The sidewalk was narrow and Lily (like her mom) always wants to walk faster than I do, so she was mostly in the lead as I moseyed behind. I had the distinct impression that all those conservative guys were marveling at what kind of an emasculated loser lets a teenage girl lead him around. But maybe that’s just a manifestation of my natural fear of being an emasculated loser.
We walked through the “old souk [market],” which was a pretty disappointing tourist-trap kind of place, so we weren’t there long, though Lily did buy an inexpensive pair of pants she liked. We passed a Baskin-Robbins and sorrowed that it was closed because of Ramadan. Finally we’d had just about as much fun as you can have in that part of the city, and we grabbed a cab and went to the airport a couple hours earlier than we really needed to.
Overall, Dubai is really a playground for the middle-eastern rich and not much more. If you’re a casual tourist from Arizona and just want to see some neat stuff without spending a million bucks, it’s probably not your spot.
Maybe the most interesting part of our trip to Dubai was a visit we had with one of our cab drivers. He was from Nepal. When I first got in the cab, I asked if he was from Dubai. He said that no one from Dubai would drive a cab, or work at all for that matter: “They are only eating, sleeping, and relaxing.” He asked where we are from. When I responded America, he said, “Oh! Dream country.” Turns out he had tried to get permission to enter the US several years ago. He sold his house and used all the money from that, plus his savings, to pay a guy to help him immigrate to the US. But the guy took his money and left him without anything. Since then, he said there have been constant fights in his family about what happened. He came to Dubai to work. He earns about 4,000 AED (around $1,100 a month) and sends as much of that as possible back home, to his wife and two kids. He goes home to see them each year for two months. Lily asked him if he’ll ever try to go to the US again. He said no, now he has a wife and children and could never spend that much money trying to do something like that. She was shocked at what he’d gone through. Later when we talked about what he had endured, she said to me, “We’re really blessed, aren’t we?” Yes, Lily. We are.
In the evening we had some not-especially-awesome airport food. Lily discovered she doesn’t much like calamari. We hung around the airport until the flight was to leave at 9 pm. As we were getting on, the agent took our tickets and gave us new ones. We got upgraded to business class! Aw yeah! I was really exhausted, so having a seat that folds down into a totally flat bed was uh-MAY-zing. I wanted to eat all the tasty foods that were listed on our hoity-toity menu. Instead I laid down and went to sleep almost immediately, not waking up till we were just half an hour from Chennai. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a 2 1/2 hour nap that felt better.
Customs and immigration in Chennai was no problem. The immigration guy did pause flipping through pages on my passport to consider my Pakistani visa carefully, but he didn’t ask any questions. The guy was there to pick us up (lucky devil to be working at 3:00 a.m., but he was only one of a mob of waiting drivers). He wouldn’t let us handle our own luggage. The ride back to the hotel was much like the traffic anarchy I’ve experienced in other developing countries—maybe a little worse because it’s just so dang crowded. There was significant traffic on the road at 3:00 am, for pete’s sake.
We got checked into the hotel and into our room shortly after 4:00 am and had a FaceTime chat with the family back home, then I showered and sort of went to bed. I didn’t really fall asleep right away, but I knew I needed rest to get over the jet lag, so I laid in bed for a couple hours. Finally I fell asleep at maybe 8:00, then woke up at 10:00, just in time to head down to breakfast. We hung around in the room for a little bit after that and then cleaned up. Shortly before noon we went downstairs and asked how to catch a cab. They said we should rent a car and driver, and the cost was something like 50 bucks for half a day, so we did.
Lakshmi, our driver, was pretty awesome. Very nice guy, reasonably good English, and told us what we should want to see. Fortunately, what he said was pretty much what I had decided we should see from my prior internet research. And the truth is that there aren’t all that many must-see destinations here anyway, since Chennai isn’t really a huge spot for amazing tourist landmarks. Lakshmi told us about his wife and two kids. He told us that his parents came from their village about 600 km away to work in Chennai. He mentioned that theirs was a “love marriage,” in a way that made it sound unusual. I asked Lakshmi if his was a love marriage or an arranged marriage, and he said it was arranged. He said he thinks arranged marriages are better, because if a marriage is just based on emotion, then emotion can lead to a breakup as well.
First, we went to St. Thomas Cathedral. It’s a big deal here because it’s believed that Thomas came here in 52 AD and established a church here. He died and was buried here 20 years later. They were conducting a mass in the chapel when we were there. It was nice, but not what we’re used to for a worship service. It was very hot and loud in there with fans all over and crummy acoustics. After we’d been in there watching for maybe 10 minutes, Lily asked if it was a Catholic church. I guess it was the first time she’d been in one.
Next we went to the adjoining basilica where St. Thomas is said to be buried. It was interesting, but a little run down. There was a more or less constant stream of people coming up to touch the little box with the relic in it. I’m always taken aback when I see people so focused on that sort of frank idol worship. I’m more the “brass brow and neck of iron sinew” type, being too proud to submit to anything, let alone a little piece of bone.
Then it was to a shop selling Indian stuff. I considered buying Jenny a topless goddess statue or carving of a god with an elephant head, but decided against it. They did have some pretty amazing carvings and silk rugs, but I refrained.
We wanted to see the large Kapaleeswarar Temple in Chennai. Unfortunately it was closed from 12-4, and our tour started right around 12. So we had some time to kill before we could see the temple. We asked Lakshmi if we could visit his home with him, and he agreed. He agreed, and it was definitely the highlight of our tour. He has a humble apartment, small but well-kept. There’s a small family room with a TV, a washing machine, and two plastic chairs. There’s also a small kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom. He said that of his $1,400 monthly salary, about half of that is for rent. But he also talked for a while about material things aren’t that important, and how he’s happy and his family is what he really cares about.
I pulled out my little portable printer. We took and printed some photos of his two kids, a two-year old girl and nine-year old boy. They tried to serve us tea and cookies (cookies yes, tea no). I tried to explain that our religion prevents us from drinking tea, but I’m not sure he ever understood me. Lily took an immediate shine to the cute little girl. She gave her piggy-back rides, carried her around, and generally played with her. It was cute. Initially the girl was really shy, but eventually she really got into it and wouldn’t let Lily put her down. When it came time to leave, she cried and wouldn’t stop reaching for Lily. It was really cute, and a little heartbreaking.
That little girl had anklets on that Lily really liked. So next it was off to the anklet store. Lily found one that she liked, and the guy told her it was 1,400 rupees (about $22). She seemed surprised and said she hadn’t planned on spending that much. I told her, in full hearing of Lakshmi and the store owner, “Hey, it’s India. Offer them what you want to pay and maybe they’ll take it.” She got all discomfited and said to me, “I have no idea how to do that.” I just looked at her the way you look at your brand-new missionary companion when it’s time for him to do that first door. The merchant stepped in and offered to reduce the price to 1,200 rupees, and she accepted.
Finally it was 4:00 and we could go to Kapaleeswarar. We met a guide there. He helped us through. The temple was neat, though not overwhelming. As non-Hindus, we were prohibited from entering the main shrine areas. There was a constant stream of worshipers going in and out. It reminded me of shrines I saw in Japan—dark inside, lots of incense, and shadowy figures of deities visible inside. He asked me if I’d donate something for the meals the temple provides to the poor, so I gave him a small bill and he went into the shrine and said a prayer for the Denton and Tucker families. He emerged with red stuff to make spots on our foreheads, along with a little handful of flowers for Lily. He showed us a tree near the temple, several hundred years old, where people go to tie strings and make wishes to have children, find a spouse, etc. He also gave us a talk about how Hinduism, Islam and Christianity are basically all the same thing. His most powerful proof went something like this: “Jesus,” “Allah,” and “Shiva” (Hindu god) all have five letters. “Bible,” “Koran” and “Vedas” (Hindu scriptures) all have five letters too. So they’re all God’s word. God has many names to all people, but all worship the same being. So just as I am sometimes called “Brad,” and sometimes “Dad,” or “Grandpa” or “Uncle,” so God is sometimes called “Jesus,” sometimes “Shiva,” and sometimes “Allah.” All very Oriental. It reminded me of something a Japanese person would have told me on my mission.
By the time we got home we were worn out and hot. Getting in and out of that car in the hot, humid summer got old pretty fast today. Tomorrow we’ll finally meet up with our Rising Star group.
For some reason I can't seem to upload pictures. I'll try again tomorrow if I can. In the meantime, I uploaded a few to Instagram.
