The places I go in India

I have been posting about what I have been up to but I thought I would update you on the places that I see everyday!

The Ginger Hotel - Where I live
       We have rooms at the Ginger hotel which is a hotel on the eleventh floor of IITM Research Park. Research Park is a building just off campus where startup companies from the university can have office space. There is a food court on the first court but I use the words food court lightly. The few shops there are hardly open and the two times we went there they only had chicken sandwiches despite the fact of having a menu with a variety of items on it. The other floors are full of offices.

This picture is specifically for Christine!

     I share a room with Caroline. We each have a twin bed and there is a small desk and wardrobe. The bathroom is simple. The shower has no edge to it to keep the water in so we often fill the bathroom with water when we both shower in a row. We have a window with a view of the city which is nice because one of the boys rooms didn't have a window.
       The Ginger has most basic things that we need but it is sometimes complicatedly to get what we need. The internet is frustrating because we only have one log in per room. So if Caroline is using the internet I cannot use it or else I will kick her off. So we just have to alternate using it. There is also a hallway full of dirt. We are not sure what this is for because we are on the eleventh floor so why is dirt needed. Almost everyday workers are moving the dirt around the hotel. There is an exercise room but none of the equipment is fully functioning. We have been hand washing our clothes because the hotel charges per item so we don't want to pay that much when we can just clean them ourselves.

IIT Madras Campus
   The campus is completely enclosed by walls and has various gates. There are three main gates. First the main gate which is the main entrance/exit to the campus. There is also a gate that we call 'mall gate' because it is near the mall and then there is Research Park gate which is where we enter/exit to get to and from campus from the ginger. There is security at all the gates but they never stop us or really do that much. They make vehicles check in when they enter. The security guard at our gate introduced himself so we talk to him sometimes when we pass. His name is Lashman.
   Instead of being full of squirrels like MSU is, IIT is full of monkeys and deer. There are monkeys and deer everywhere. The deer are usually in groups and just hanging out or laying in a field. The monkeys run around and chase each other and climb in the trees. If you read my posts last week you heard about how a monkey stole my water bottle from my backpack. I now keep my water bottle inside my backpack instead of the water bottle pouch.
    On campus there are people walking, cycling, biking, driving cars and riding the bus. The roads are narrow two lane roads where staying on the correct side of the road is optional. Vehicles honk very often and swerve around other vehicles and people all the time.
   Since campus is basically a jungle, the trees are giant. The branches extend in every direction and hang down to the ground.

Outside the CNDE

CNDE Lab - Where I research
The Center for Non-destructive Evaluation is a lab inside the Machine Design Section Building. The lab is on the second and third floor. As we enter the lab we must take our shoes off. At first this was odd to us but now I kind of like being barefooted all day. There is a shelf outside the lab for shoes but most shoes are just left on the ground. There are a lot of different students that work in the lab. We have met a handful of them so it is nice to be able to say hello to people while at work.
   The lab on the second floor has six rooms. They all have desk surrounding the wall with computers in all the rooms. We use out laptops to work but students from IIT have use the computers and have their own work stations. Our samples that we will be working with arrived yesterday so we have started to C-Scan them and are prepared to start testing them on the INSTRON on monday.
 

Lobby Area of CNDE

Our samples!

Where we put our shoes

Engineering Design
  This building is just down the road from MDS and is where Bob, Mike and Evan work. They are working with a different professor and working with microwaves and antennas. Lately they have been working on building spirals and making them function properly. It is convenient that they work close to us because we usually meet up and have lunch together. Their building has a courtyard in the center.

Caroline and I and Engineering Design

Courtyard at Engineering Design

 That's all for now! I am hoping to post about the food here later today or this weekend! We are not traveling this weekend so we are going to explore Chennai more and maybe go to the beach again. I hope you are having a fabulous day wherever you are.