Saturday, July 31, 2010

Post: July 31

The first week of India and SAM has passed. Highlights included finally sleeping for a good eight hours at night, some great musical moments with both the students and faculty, meeting some awesome people, and having some great conversations (and great food!).

Yesterday (Friday), was a pretty amazing day. It started off with two seminars given by Steve, our bass faculty, and Randy, our dean who is quite an accomplished composer, especially with choral music. They both played us some really interesting recordings of music that the students (and I) had never checked out before. Afterwards my private voice student and I had a lesson. We talked about the importance of ear training for singers. Most of the students here have rock and pop backgrounds, so jazz is pretty much new to them. Not many students read music but they have pretty good ears, especially those with backgrounds in Carnatic music. Carnatic music is taught by rote- the guru (teacher) sings a melody based on the carnatic scale and the student sings it back. It's very challenging. My student has great ears already as he's had ten years of carnatic vocal instruction so it was fun to teach him about intervals, chord tones and qualities, and extension notes. Later in the afternoon my ensemble had their session- my private voice student is in the group as well- and I taught them "Bridges and Balloons" by Joanna Newsom, one of my favourite songwriters. We did some improvisational trading in fours, twos and ones over a vamp (they learned what all this terminology means). They had never done anything like it before and it was a great moment! We were all feeding off each other's energy and ideas, and there was lots of eyes contact and interaction happening between them that wasn't there before. It was the highlight of my week.

Last night Shyam, the school's vice-president, invited the faculty to attend his band's concert. The band was playing a charity concert at a restaurant on the outskirts of Chennai. It sounded like the perfect cure for our growing cabin fever here at Tapovan. It took about two hours to get to the venue, which ended up being this big fancy four-story club right across from the beach. Everything was on the house so we ate and drank well. We had dinner up on the rooftop. It was surreal. The air was so humid it was like inhaling steam. Everything was dripping with dampness- the tables, chairs, canopies- but it was so hot that it didn't matter. The best part was the lightning show off in the distance over the Bay of Bengal. The water in the air made the lights even more spectacular. We sat and ate and watched this beautiful light show illuminating the sky, the ocean, and the boats in the harbour. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me. It was an unforgettable vista.

Inside, the club was even more surreal. It was as if Toronto's Richmond Street scene had come across the ocean and settled into this building in Chennai. I was completely underdressed. What was stranger still was that there was a backpacker scene there. It could sense it and soon heard the proof- Australian, Irish, and even Canadian accents were distinguishable amongst the booming of the dance music and other conversations. Shyam's band was fun. There was a moment of uncertainty when he invited the faculty up to perform- the surreality of performing in that situation made me wish my rum and coke was stronger- but suddenly it was 11pm and the bar stopped serving. Apparently the police strictly enforce this law. So that was it! We were all pretty wiped out driving back to Tapovan. It was a fun night though. And seeing the city for the first time was pretty incredible.

It was around 2am when I got back to my room to find a big frog sitting on my toilet seat. This frog had been hanging out in my bathroom all week but he'd been keeping his distance, originally hanging out in the far corner but slowly moving towards the toilet area over the past few days. Now he was on my freaking toilet seat. This was too much for 2am.

Then, I looked up and saw a gigantic spider on my ceiling.

I immediately went out and found someone to come and evict the frog. The employee also brought a long pole with which he knocked the spider off the ceiling and killed it with his bare foot.

After that, I could sleep.

Another funny thing I've begun to notice is the communal water bottle movement around here. Tap water is non-drinkable (unless you desire a closer relationship with your washroom frog) so we all drink sealed water bottles. I brought mine to lunch today and sat with the students to eat for the first time. It was nice to do so- up until now there's been a pretty clear dividing line in the dining pavillion between faculty and students, but things are changing for the better as time passes here at Tapovan. But my bottle was on the table along with a couple others. I wasn't really paying attention as first but began noticing that my bottle didn't have as much water in it as it did when I last drank from it. Then I saw someone take the bottle and drink from it- without touching the bottle to his lips. There were a couple other bottles on the table that were getting the same treatment. This wasn't a big deal or anything- it was actually pretty funny and I felt kind of bad because I had been drinking from it beforehand with full mouth contact- but it was interesting to see again, how communal life is here. (I did get another bottle of water though.)

The faculty is planning a trip to Pondicherry tomorrow afternoon (Sunday). It was a French colony for a long time, so it has some pretty colonial architecture and many people there speak French. Tomorrow is also the market day and I've got some rupees burning a hole in my pocket. Looking forward to buying some Indian clothes, particularly a kurta (a long shirt you wear over jeans) and some scarves. Also mentally preparing for bargaining with the shop keepers!
Post: July 31

The first week of India and SAM has passed. Highlights included finally sleeping for a good eight hours at night, some great musical moments with both the students and faculty, meeting some awesome people, and having some great conversations (and great food!).

Yesterday (Friday), was a pretty amazing day. It started off with two seminars given by Steve, our bass faculty, and Randy, our dean who is quite an accomplished composer, especially with choral music. They both played us some really interesting recordings of music that the students (and I) had never checked out before. Afterwards my private voice student and I had a lesson. We talked about the importance of ear training for singers. Most of the students here have rock and pop backgrounds, so jazz is pretty much new to them. Not many students read music but they have pretty good ears, especially those with backgrounds in Carnatic music. Carnatic music is taught by rote- the guru (teacher) sings a melody based on the carnatic scale and the student sings it back. It's very challenging. My student has great ears already as he's had ten years of carnatic vocal instruction so it was fun to teach him about intervals, chord tones and qualities, and extension notes. Later in the afternoon my ensemble had their session- my private voice student is in the group as well- and I taught them "Bridges and Balloons" by Joanna Newsom, one of my favourite songwriters. We did some improvisational trading in fours, twos and ones over a vamp (they learned what all this terminology means). They had never done anything like it before and it was a great moment! We were all feeding off each other's energy and ideas, and there was lots of eyes contact and interaction happening between them that wasn't there before. It was the highlight of my week.

Last night Shyam, the school's vice-president, invited the faculty to attend his band's concert. The band was playing a charity concert at a restaurant on the outskirts of Chennai. It sounded like the perfect cure for our growing cabin fever here at Tapovan. It took about two hours to get to the venue, which ended up being this big fancy four-story club right across from the beach. Everything was on the house so we ate and drank well. We had dinner up on the rooftop. It was surreal. The air was so humid it was like inhaling steam. Everything was dripping with dampness- the tables, chairs, canopies- but it was so hot that it didn't matter. The best part was the lightning show off in the distance over the Bay of Bengal. The water in the air made the lights even more spectacular. We sat and ate and watched this beautiful light show illuminating the sky, the ocean, and the boats in the harbour. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me. It was an unforgettable vista.

Inside, the club was even more surreal. It was as if Toronto's Richmond Street scene had come across the ocean and settled into this building in Chennai. I was completely underdressed. What was stranger still was that there was a backpacker scene there. It could sense it and soon heard the proof- Australian, Irish, and even Canadian accents were distinguishable amongst the booming of the dance music and other conversations. Shyam's band was fun. There was a moment of uncertainty when he invited the faculty up to perform- the surreality of performing in that situation made me wish my rum and coke was stronger- but suddenly it was 11pm and the bar stopped serving. Apparently the police strictly enforce this law. So that was it! We were all pretty wiped out driving back to Tapovan. It was a fun night though. And seeing the city for the first time was pretty incredible.

It was around 2am when I got back to my room to find a big frog sitting on my toilet seat. This frog had been hanging out in my bathroom all week but he'd been keeping his distance, originally hanging out in the far corner but slowly moving towards the toilet area over the past few days. Now he was on my freaking toilet seat. This was too much for 2am.

Then, I looked up and saw a gigantic spider on my ceiling.

I immediately went out and found someone to come and evict the frog. The employee also brought a long pole with which he knocked the spider off the ceiling and killed it with his bare foot.

After that, I could sleep.

Another funny thing I've begun to notice is the communal water bottle movement around here. Tap water is non-drinkable (unless you desire a closer relationship with your washroom frog) so we all drink sealed water bottles. I brought mine to lunch today and sat with the students to eat for the first time. It was nice to do so- up until now there's been a pretty clear dividing line in the dining pavillion between faculty and students, but things are changing for the better as time passes here at Tapovan. But my bottle was on the table along with a couple others. I wasn't really paying attention as first but began noticing that my bottle didn't have as much water in it as it did when I last drank from it. Then I saw someone take the bottle and drink from it- without touching the bottle to his lips. There were a couple other bottles on the table that were getting the same treatment. This wasn't a big deal or anything- it was actually pretty funny and I felt kind of bad because I had been drinking from it beforehand with full mouth contact- but it was interesting to see again, how communal life is here. (I did get another bottle of water though.)

The faculty is planning a trip to Pondicherry tomorrow afternoon (Sunday). It was a French colony for a long time, so it has some pretty colonial architecture and many people there speak French. Tomorrow is also the market day and I've got some rupees burning a hole in my pocket. Looking forward to buying some Indian clothes, particularly a kurta (a long shirt you wear over jeans) and some scarves. Also mentally preparing for bargaining with the shop keepers!
Post: July 31

The first week of India and SAM has passed. Highlights included finally sleeping for a good eight hours at night, some great musical moments with both the students and faculty, meeting some awesome people, and having some great conversations (and great food!).

Yesterday (Friday), was a pretty amazing day. It started off with two seminars given by Steve, our bass faculty, and Randy, our dean who is quite an accomplished composer, especially with choral music. They both played us some really interesting recordings of music that the students have never checked out before. Afterwards my private voice student and I had a lesson. We talked about the importance of ear training for singers. Most of the students here have rock and pop backgrounds, so jazz is pretty much new to them. Not many students read music but they have pretty good ears, especially those with backgrounds in Carnatic music. Carnatic music is taught by rote- the guru (teacher) sings a melody based on the carnatic scale and the student sings it back. It's very challenging. My student has great ears already as he's had ten years of carnatic vocal instruction so it was fun to teach him about intervals, chord tones and qualities, and extension notes. Later in the afternoon my ensemble had their session- my private voice student is in the group as well- and I taught them "Bridges and Balloons" by Joanna Newsom, one of my favourite songwriters. We did some improvisational trading in fours, twos and ones over a vamp (they learned what all this terminology means). They had never done anything like it before and it was a great moment! We were all feeding off each other's energy and ideas, and there was lots of eyes contact and interaction happening between them that wasn't there before. It was the highlight of my week.

Last night Shyam, the school's vice-president, invited the faculty to attend his band's concert. The band was playing a charity concert at a restaurant on the outskirts of Chennai. It sounded like the perfect cure for our growing cabin fever here at Tapovan. It took about two hours to get to the venue, which ended up being this big fancy four-story club right across from the beach. Everything was on the house so we ate and drank well. We had dinner up on the rooftop. It was surreal. The air was so humid it was like inhaling steam. Everything was dripping with dampness- the tables, chairs, canopies- but it was so hot that it didn't matter. The best part was the lightning show off in the distance over the Bay of Bengal. The water in the air made the lights even more spectacular. We sat and ate and watched this beautiful light show illuminating the sky, the ocean, and the boats in the harbour. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me. It was an unforgettable vista.

Inside, the club was even more surreal. It was as if Toronto's Richmond Street scene had come across the ocean and settled into this building in Chennai. I was completely underdressed. What was stranger still was that there was a backpacker scene there. It could sense it and soon heard the proof- Australian, Irish, and even Canadian accents were distinguishable amongst the booming of the dance music and other conversations. Shyam's band was fun. There was a moment of uncertainty when he invited the faculty up to perform- the surreality of performing in that situation made me wish my rum and coke was stronger- but suddenly it was 11pm and the bar stopped serving. Apparently the police strictly enforce this law. So that was it! We were all pretty wiped out driving back to Tapovan. It was a fun night though. And seeing the city for the first time was pretty incredible.

It was around 2am when I got back to my room to find a big frog sitting on my toilet seat. This frog had been hanging out in my bathroom all week but he'd been keeping his distance, originally hanging out in the far corner but slowly moving towards the toilet area over the past few days. Now he was on my freaking toilet seat. This was too much for 2am.

Then, I looked up and saw a gigantic spider on my ceiling.

I immediately went out and found someone to come and evict the frog. The employee also brought a long pole with which he knocked the spider off the ceiling and killed it with his bare foot.

After that, I could sleep.

Another funny thing I've begun to notice is the communal water bottle movement around here. Tap water is non-drinkable (unless you desire a closer relationship with your washroom frog) so we all drink sealed water bottles. I brought mine to lunch today and sat with the students to eat for the first time. It was nice to do so- up until now there's been a pretty clear dividing line in the dining pavillion between faculty and students, but things are changing for the better as time passes here at Tapovan. But my bottle was on the table along with a couple others. I wasn't really paying attention as first but began noticing that my bottle didn't have as much water in it as it did when I last drank from it. Then I saw someone take the bottle and drink from it- without touching the bottle to his lips. There were a couple other bottles on the table that were getting the same treatment. This wasn't a big deal or anything- it was actually pretty funny and I felt kind of bad because I had been drinking from it beforehand with full mouth contact- but it was interesting to see again, how communal life is here. (I did get another bottle of water though.)

The faculty is planning a trip to Pondicherry tomorrow afternoon (Sunday). It was a French colony for a long time, so it has some pretty colonial architecture and many people there speak French. Tomorrow is also the market day and I've got some rupees burning a hole in my pocket. Looking forward to buying some Indian clothes, particularly a kurta (a long shirt you wear over jeans) and some scarves. Also mentally preparing for bargaining with the shop keepers!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Post: Tuesday, July 27 (belatedly!)

Internet access has been wonky, so I'm posting this two days after it was written...

We ended our stay at the resort near Mamallapuram yesterday and drove 45 minutes south to our home for the next two weeks. Fortunately, this drive was not as harrowing as the drive from the airport, but only relatively. There were still some moments of panic, but fortunately I was with two other faculty members. Somehow fear that's shared is easy to deal with. Also, as we were driving during the day I was able to see the surrounding landscape for the first time. It became quite beautiful the further south we went. There were fields dotted with cows, goats and wild dogs that were lined with coconut and mango trees. And so many people driving, walking, standing by the roadside, going about their daily lives. I saw a woman herding along some goats and also a woman carrying a huge basket on her head as they walked along the roadside. The women performed these tasks with so much grace and elegance! Their clothing is just gorgeous- traditional Indian saris and scarves woven with rich colours and textures. We passed many small, colourful villages along the way, each with housing ranging from thatched huts to two storey houses with satellite dishes. People congregated on the streets of these villages at shops and houses. Always, crowds of people gathered along the roadside along with many goats, cows, and dogs. Not many people were alone unless they were travelling along the road. It's such a communal way of living! I can't imagine one being lonely while living in those villages.

SAM's permanent campus is still under construction but should be ready in another couple of weeks. In the meantime, we're at a place called Tapovan, a retreat centre in the middle of the countryside (and by countryside, I mean crop fields and coconut trees). At the moment there's no internet here but hopefully they'll have some wi-fi for us soon. It's a beautiful place. We're a bit further away from the coast and are seeing some interesting wildlife. Lizards are bigger here at the villa. There are still cute geckos all over the place, doing their job of eating the bugs around the lights. Not sure what the bigger lizards jobs are. There are some beautiful birds that serenade us day and night. Almost all the faculty, including myself, have found frogs in our rooms (mine was tiny enough to be cute and not scary). I did see a pretty big spider today at lunch- its legs were about two inches long. I'm gaining notoriety as being squeamish about bugs, but I know the guys are creeped out too!

The people here are so warm and friendly. It's really nice talking with the other women or at least exchanging a smile when language is an issue. The hospitality at the villa has been wonderful, especially considering that we're going to them with problems all the time. There are frequent power surges that sometimes cause blackouts. There was a 45 minute blackout during the last night at the resort and another two hour one the next morning during breakfast before we checked out. Blackouts in the villa mean a plunge into pitch darkness, which is slightly unnerving what with all the suddenly invisible insects and reptiles. And some of the rooms have had problems with running water, including mine this morning when all I wanted was a cold shower! India is full of surprises. But the country's power grid is groaning under all the air conditioners constantly running on top of the electric lights being used. We're out in the middle of nowhere here and it's even harder to power the villa. The weather is hot and humid so the AC is a necessity. Otherwise, your body becomes one with the humidity.

Up until last night, I hadn't been sleeping very well. I was concerned that my malaria pills were making me crazy but really I think it was just my usual craziness combined with sleep deprivation and strange insects and reptiles everywhere! Managed to get a good eight hours in last night and feel much more sane!

So, we had our first day at SAM yesterday and met the students. There are 13 students in total, including two vocalists. Both the faculty and students discussed all our stories and backgrounds. The students are so pumped about the program- it's fantastic. Oh, and there are no female students, which means I'm the only girl on faculty and the only girl whatsoever at SAM for the next couple months! We ended the day with a jam in a beautiful outdoor pavillion with a thatched roof where we eat as well. It's a great interactive hang. We faculty got the chance to play with each other for the first time- they all sound great. So did the students. This is going to be fun.

Post: Tuesday, July 27 (belatedly!)

Internet access has been wonky, so I'm posting this two days after it was written...

We ended our stay at the resort near Mamallapuram yesterday and drove 45 minutes south to our home for the next two weeks. Fortunately, this drive was not as harrowing as the drive from the airport, but only relatively. There were still some moments of panic, but fortunately I was with two other faculty members. Somehow fear that's shared is easy to deal with. Also, as we were driving during the day I was able to see the surrounding landscape for the first time. It became quite beautiful the further south we went. There were fields dotted with cows, goats and wild dogs that were lined with coconut and mango trees. And so many people driving, walking, standing by the roadside, going about their daily lives. I saw a woman herding along some goats and also a woman carrying a huge basket on her head as they walked along the roadside. The women performed these tasks with so much grace and elegance! Their clothing is just gorgeous- traditional Indian saris and scarves woven with rich colours and textures. We passed many small, colourful villages along the way, each with housing ranging from thatched huts to two storey houses with satellite dishes. People congregated on the streets of these villages at shops and houses. Always, crowds of people gathered along the roadside along with many goats, cows, and dogs. Not many people were alone unless they were travelling along the road. It's such a communal way of living! I can't imagine one being lonely while living in those villages.

SAM's permanent campus is still under construction but should be ready in another couple of weeks. In the meantime, we're at a place called Tapovan, a retreat centre in the middle of the countryside (and by countryside, I mean crop fields and coconut trees). At the moment there's no internet here but hopefully they'll have some wi-fi for us soon. It's a beautiful place. We're a bit further away from the coast and are seeing some interesting wildlife. Lizards are bigger here at the villa. There are still cute geckos all over the place, doing their job of eating the bugs around the lights. Not sure what the bigger lizards jobs are. There are some beautiful birds that serenade us day and night. Almost all the faculty, including myself, have found frogs in our rooms (mine was tiny enough to be cute and not scary). I did see a pretty big spider today at lunch- its legs were about two inches long. I'm gaining notoriety as being squeamish about bugs, but I know the guys are creeped out too!

The people here are so warm and friendly. It's really nice talking with the other women or at least exchanging a smile when language is an issue. The hospitality at the villa has been wonderful, especially considering that we're going to them with problems all the time. There are frequent power surges that sometimes cause blackouts. There was a 45 minute blackout during the last night at the resort and another two hour one the next morning during breakfast before we checked out. Blackouts in the villa mean a plunge into pitch darkness, which is slightly unnerving what with all the suddenly invisible insects and reptiles. And some of the rooms have had problems with running water, including mine this morning when all I wanted was a cold shower! India is full of surprises. But the country's power grid is groaning under all the air conditioners constantly running on top of the electric lights being used. We're out in the middle of nowhere here and it's even harder to power the villa. The weather is hot and humid so the AC is a necessity. Otherwise, your body becomes one with the humidity.

Up until last night, I hadn't been sleeping very well. I was concerned that my malaria pills were making me crazy but really I think it was just my usual craziness combined with sleep deprivation and strange insects and reptiles everywhere! Managed to get a good eight hours in last night and feel much more sane!

So, we had our first day at SAM yesterday and met the students. There are 13 students in total, including two vocalists. Both the faculty and students discussed all our stories and backgrounds. The students are so pumped about the program- it's fantastic. Oh, and there are no female students, which means I'm the only girl on faculty and the only girl whatsoever at SAM for the next couple months! We ended the day with a jam in a beautiful outdoor pavillion with a thatched roof where we eat as well. It's a great interactive hang. We faculty got the chance to play with each other for the first time- they all sound great. So did the students. This is going to be fun.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Post: Saturday, July 24


At the resort in one piece! No missing luggage and we didn't hit any cows on the road on the way here. The drive from the airport was TERRIFYING. When I arrived at Chennai airport I was indeed met by a seas of faces, and found my name being held up by a driver from the resort. He was very nice, although I did get the "are you married" question. Thank goodness it was followed up by pictures of his newborn daughter and his wife. On his cell phone. While he was driving.


And by driving, I mean with his knees while showing me family pictures on his cell phone while weaving through lanes (What lane lines? Oh, those lines that don't matter!), honking and flashing his brights at whoever was turning in front of us, crossing in front of us (even if they were cows, goats or dogs), going too slow in front of us or beside us (during or followed by tailgating and swerving around to get in front of them), and speeding way too fast for city limits let alone a city with cows, goats, dogs, pedestrians and autorickshaws all over the place. I think I got my first grey hair during that ride.


Although conversation was difficult due to my lack of sleep and inability to understand my driver's accent, he was interested in Canada. It's funny, he knew just as much about my country as I do about his. Maybe less. He asked questions like, "Are the winters very cold?" and "How much is the price of a beer?". This first conversation with an Indian made me realize that the east and the west have this in common- we have no idea how each other live their lives, other than what the media portrays.


When we arrived at the resort, minus of few years off my life, it was barely getting light outside. I wanted to fall into bed but everything was such a culture shock at this point that I was numb and awake past the point of exhaustion. I was compelled to unpack and find familiar belongings, which, coming out of my suitcase, looked completely out of place in this land. I wanted to email home and let my boyfriend, Rob, know I had arrived okay. The wi-fi at the resort wasn't working for some reason and I couldn't sleep until I had some sort of contact with home. I tried for half an hour to get the right phone code for Canada and dial the numbers properly. Eventually I got it right and reached Rob all the way on the other side of the world. It was really good to hear his voice. After talking to him I felt calmer and more grounded and feel asleep probably around 9am. As I was falling asleep, I thought I heard the rumbling of thunder, but it was actually the thundering of waves on the beach as the Bay of Bengal pulsed towards the shore outside my window.


It sounded like a beautiful day outside while I slept it away. Unfortunately when I finally woke up it was 7:30pm and the sun was setting. After freshening up and showering it was dark outside. Managed to find the internet cafe and got set up for wi-fi. I was pretty hungry so I headed to the restaurant, which is on a huge outdoor covered patio, where I found some of the other faculty members. Shortly after joining them, Prasanna, the president of the school, showed up with some of his family, and I ate dinner with them while the rest of the faculty went back to their rooms. I had some delicious butter chicken with rice, naan bread and a side of raita. Raita is a non-sweet yogurt/vegetable dish that not only is a secret weapon to cool down the spices in your mouth but also aids in digestion. Prasanna's family said that butter chicken is actually from the north of India and that the resort serves it because tourists like me are familiar with it. Much of the Indian food served around the world is based on northern Indian cuisine, which I find quite spicy already. Southern India food is apparently even spicier. I didn't try and of that tonight but am looking forward to trying it... in baby steps. Maybe after the first few days of being here.


It's quite humid here, similiar to southern Ontario humidity but more so. It's not terribly hot- the temperature is comparable to the heat wave we had in southern Ontario recently. It does feel very tropical.


There was a gecko on the outside of my bathroom window tonight. At first I wasn't sure what it was and if it was trying to get in somehow because it was attracted to the electric light inside. Actually, it was feasting on the tiny insects that were attracted to the light in the window. Hooray for geckos and their natural tendency to keep tiny insects from getting indoors!






Friday, July 23, 2010

Post: Thursday, July 22


It's one hour into my flight to London, where I connect to my next flight to Chennai, India. We got off to a late start in Toronto due to "a minor mechanical problem which has been fixed". Thanks, British Airways captain, for the reassuring tone. Love from, Nervous Flyer.


Actually, the flight's been really comfortable, all thank to my next door neighbour.


Rob and I have the nicest, most neighbourly ever next door neighbours, Buck and Lynn. We only moved in a month and half ago, and Buck and Lynn have been very welcoming- great neighbours make a huge difference in how you feel about your home. So, SAM (Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music) booked British Airways for my flights to and from India. I have a six hour layover in London (probably a bit shorter now because of our late take-off) and I was trying to figure out if I could hang out in the BA lounge at Heathrow. (I heard rumours of free wi-fi and comfy chairs.... plus I'm travelling alone and would maybe be able to sleep more soundly.... in said chairs.) It just so happens that Lynn actually used to work for British Airways so I asked her how one might go about "getting in". She went above and beyond by phoning her friends at Toronto Pearson who ended up being able to upgrade my flight to from World Traveller (economy) to World Traveller Plus with access to the fancy schmancy BA lounge in Toronto Pearson.


Did you know they have free food in there??? AND free wi-fi?!? Comfy chairs!! There were even fancy washrooms!


Unfortunately I was only in the fancy schmancy lounge for about 15 minutes before it was time to board, but it was a fun 15 minutes- a taste of what an airport lounge is like! As for the plane trip itself, the World Traveller Plus seats are bigger and have tons of leg room too. So I owe Buck and Lynn a few snow shovellings this winter, to say the least.


When I arrive at London Heathrow it will be around 7am UK time, but 2am according to my body clock. My connecting flight to Chennai leaves at 1pm. Not sure what to do during the layover, but I bought "The Life of Pi" at Pearson which I've wanted to read for a long time. Then, it's a 10 hour flight from London to Chennai. It will be 3:30am on Saturday upon arrival in Chennai. Someone from the school will be holding up a name placard- amongst a sea of faces, probably- and then it's a 2 hour drive down the south east coast of India to the campus area. Where I will fall into bed.


Actually, we're not going to the campus straight away. Apparently there is a huge HIndu festival taking place at Swarnabhoomi this weekend and the place will be swarming with 100,000 people, so SAM is putting the faculty up in what looks to be an absolutely gorgeous beach resort nearby. It will be a great way to relax and recover from the long flight!


More to come soon.


Listening List:


Stars "Set Yourself On Fire"

Joanna Newsom "The Milk-Eyed Mender"

The Killers "Hot Fuss"