We learned how truly large the expanse of city was yesterday late in the day when we told our driver that we wanted to go to a particular mall where there were purportedly having some great sales on Western clothes. John wanted to get a thin sweatshirt for when it gets too cold in classes, and Widi needed long pants and long-sleeved shirts, of all things in this heat, which is the level of formality at high school.
It took us nearly an hour to get there. The city goes on and on, block after block. There are some gorgeous five-star hotels and rambling modern malls that rise up from the small "sweets and snacks" shops and various store fronts and street vendors, and as usual the traffic was snarled. We saw Mariner's Beach near City Center, where ships come in, and the famous St. Thomas of Aquinas Church, where he died apparently.
When we finally arrived, the mall was modern and gleaming with parking in the basement. John found some clothes and Widi bought a bunch of stuff. Nothing we wanted was on sale, however, but were just happy to find something we liked. We looked at wool and silk carpets while we waited the 20 minutes for them to shorten all Widi's pants. They are so beautiful. We're thinking of investing in some nice carpets for our apartment here, and of course, to bring back.
We were in the area of the movie theaters, too, but after another fifty minutes getting back to our relatively quiet neighborhood, I'm not too eager to go back downtown any time too soon. I'm quite happy in our corner of the city, 10 minutes from the school, close to the beach.
Hi Karen, I'd like to hear about who in India needs ESL. Obviously there isn't enough of it used in daily life for people to just pick it up naturally as a second language. Maybe the lower your economic class, the less exposure you have it? Is there a typical student profile?
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