Although I was really bummed that I wasn't able to go to Mysore and see the temples and palaces, after watching the news in Chennai on Monday, I was glad that I made the decision to come wait in Chennai. Protests started up Monday across India against the government's increase in petrol prices. Last time there was a strike (or "bandh" as it's called here), the trains weren't affected and it was just in some places. But this time it's trains, buses, taxis, and domestic flights in some places. The striking protesters in Delhi and Mumbai also turned violent, causing destruction in some areas of the city. While Chennai seemed to be operating normally yesterday and I'm not actually sure if the transport systems were on strike here, there was still protesting going on in the city probably about a half hour walk from where I'm staying. I'll be glad to escape all of this soon...
Yesterday I walked to a bookstore on the main road and spent a couple hours reading travel books. This wasn't my original intention, but once I walked in and realized that the monsoon was coming, I decided to wait it out there. The monsoon is so weird, because it just comes completely without warning. When I left my hotel and walked to the bookstore, it was sunny, hot, humid, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. When I was standing in the bookstore, I felt a drop of water on my head and looked up to see that the ceiling was dripping. It was then that I looked outside and saw the sheets of water coming down out of the sky. It's the most furious rain I've ever seen, with a desire to soak everything below it. During a break in the rain, I walked to a restaurant for lunch, and then began back towards my hotel. Unfortunately I was caught in the monsoon's next wave on my way back, and rather than taking a rickshaw or waiting out the storm like all the locals that disappeared off the streets, I decided to wade through the knee-high streams on the side of the street to get back to my hotel. When I got back, I don't think I'd ever been so soaked in my life. Luckily it was just water though, and everything pretty much dried overnight.
Today I've spent the morning packing and relaxing in my room, and just discovered an internet cafe next door to the hotel. I will head to the airport tonight at around 9 and then wait for my 1:45am flight to Frankfurt. Looking forward to a bit more relaxing before then in my room though, I suppose, since the rain seems to be starting up again.
I'm curious if anyone knows if there is a "second world"? I would assume that countries like the US, Canada, Germany, France, etc.. are the first world, and you always hear about the third world countries in Africa and southeast Asia, but where is the second world? Are there more than three?
Just curious.
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The Second World is a term that was used to describe the communist countries of the Soviet Union and its allies during the Cold War.[1] The Second World was basically the Communist World. The Second World was one of the three regions the world was divided into alongside the First World and the Third World. The Second World included the Soviet Union and all the other communist countries in Eastern Europe.
ReplyDeleteThe Second World countries in Europe were also known as the Eastern Bloc. The term Second World did not have a precise definition. There was argument and disagreement as to whether or not communist countries that were not part of Eastern Europe such as China, Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea were part of the Second World.