I met beautiful people along my way.

As soon as Pat was discharged, she wanted to go straight to the spa! ha. For her, being in the hospital for 4 days with only bucket baths was not enough. I booked her into the nicest place I could find & arranged for us to walk out the front door, into a rickashaw and be driven straight to have her a massage and reflexology (per her requests). I, too, joined in on the Indian-spa fun & had a pedicure by a wonderful, young Indian guy who had been giving pedicures since he was 14 years old. He was now 25. Needless to say, he knew his stuff! In our broken English conversation, he told me about the place he worked and the people in it. As we sat and whispered about everyone, I became amazed by the work a woman across the spa was performing on another client. He liked how amazed I was and quickly arranged for me too to have this work done -- threading eyebrows! I had never seen it done. Being a girl, I had to document it: (esp for Elizabeth & Mom)

Threading my Eyebrows from Stephanie Holcombe on Vimeo.

We had 2 days free in Chennai until the ship arrived. Pat, being the spunky 75 year old she is, immediately wanted to "go see the city" the next day....impressive! So, with her arm in a sling, she and I headed out to a LARGE Hindu temple across the city. Talk about elaborate...detail, detail, detail.... I spent alot of time here -- watching people, enamored with the architecture, talking to the vendors outside. Actually, looking back, it was one of my favorite afternoons in Chennai.

I met a young boy who made flower necklaces (not sure of the proper name for these) for visitors to buy as an offering as they go into the shrine. Although he was maybe 12 years old and hadn't been to school in many years ( "I have to work", he said...), his English was quite well and we spoke for awhile. He and his brothers worked in this stand stringing fresh flowers all day. Despite the monotony, he seemed to have fun with it. He was a cheeky little thing. Having learned well from his older brothers, I guess, he knew exactly how to woo a young, white woman -- flowers behind my ear, sweet little smiles while dodging behind the flowers and ceaseless compliments. We aren't allowed to bring live flowers onto the ship, so I couldn't buy his goods...but I snuck him a few rupees as I left.

I also met a vendor who taught me that instead of rings in India, marriage was indicated by a necklace. I hadn't noticed before, but tucked into the beautiful saris of the women were these necklaces. Wealthy women had lavish gold and ornate ones, the poor simple strings or rope. I started looking around and noticing all the varieties women wore and what they meant. The man put way too much emphasis on the fact that I was not married (what else is new??...) and said that I should be safe in my travels as a single woman ("you have no man", he worried) and tied one around my neck. It is bright yellow and I considered it the most thoughtful gesture I could have received.

We had to check out of the hotel the next morning to meet the ship. I hated to leave this very comfortable paradise, and especially the friends I had made with the hotel staff. I got a glimpse of what business travelers must feel like in a foreign country. Greeted by many of them every, single morning for breakfast, they learned exactly how I liked my coffee, sat with me after hours pouring over maps and teaching me about their favorite local spots. They were the greatest! And, despite the fact that their job is 'customer service' they bent over backwards to accommodate this funny, foreign girl. My last morning at the hotel, some of the wait staff surprised me and brought out a cake from the chef to tell me good-bye. Pat was floored and I about cried. Being the types not to want attention,  I could only convince one of them to take a picture with me.