Hello! I apologize for being so out of touch recently. Something interesting you may not have known about south india: there is not enough power to go around. The electricity gets shared throughout the different neighborhoods throughout the day so on average, one area will only have 10 hours of power, leaving behind 14 hours of no power (each day). Luckily my home is right next to the hospital so our power is not cut- we have fans all day long!!! Most of my friends though are not as lucky. The other implication of this is that often when I have free time at school, the internet will not be working (if the power is gone, there is no internet). Anyway so it has been a frustrating bit of time but anyway, here I am!
About a week ago my program (SITA) went on tour to Kerala. This means that the 12 students (myself included), our two program assistants, andour two adult program directors got on a large van and left Tamil Nadu for a week! Kerala is a neighboring state in south india but it couldn't be more different! Tamil Nadu (where I live) is very arid and dry and hot. It is on the south east tip of india. Kerala is on the south west tip so it borders the Arabian Sea. It is incredibly green, lush, and verdant. It is part sea coast and part jungle. We totally took advantage of the climate change. We went trekking in the jungle (it was a tiger preserve, luckily none of us were eaten!). We also toured a spice garden. We saw cinnamon trees, tumeric plants, ate desperately spicy peppers, touched rubber flowing from rubber trees and ran very quickly away from alarmingly large spiders. We were also supposed to visit a tea plantation but, due to a state-wide strike against rising petrol prices, we were unable to do this. However, we were still able to drive through the tea plantations. Oh my goodness! It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The tea is grown in these rugged hills where the hillsides are cut into large steps in order to support the tea bushes. The color green was so rich and deep that it seemed synthetic. The mist was pouring down over the whole scene. As we were winding around the hills on precarious mountain roads perched on cliffsides, I couldn't stop staring at all of the incredible scenes around us, we were trying to capture it with out camers but unfortunatly between the bumpiness of the ride and the reflective glass in the windows, nothing came out. I have found a picture on line that doesn't really do it justice but it is better than nothing:
We also went to a town called Fort Cochin which was the entry port for almost all the civilizations that conquered India in the past: Greeks, Portugese, Dutch, British. We visited the first christian church built on the sub continent by Vasco da Gamma. He died and was buried in the church for a bit until his family brought him back to Europe. Cochin is very touristy but very very beautiful. We walked past Chinese fishin nets which were selling the fish they had caught directly on site, a tea shop that had herbal tea!, and many jewlery and cloth stores. I have saved the best for last, we also were able to go RIDING ON ELEPHANTS! This was one of my favorite ways that I have ever spent 30 minutes. Elephants are such large, powerful, ethereal creatures. I sat up front where I could huge its neck the entire time. Our muhoot told us that they wiggle their ears only to display affection and play around- it serves no other purpose (rather like dogs wagging their tails). I realized that my elephant really liked to be scratched and petted so I just about rubbed my hands raw on her sandpaper skin trying to give her love. She was flapping her ears quite joyously. Basically we are best friends. I know that whole thing is a total show and gimmick- they get the elephants to do special tricks with their trunks and do fun poses with you while they take pictures on your camera. But honestly, I didn't mind one bit. Sometimes cheesyness just doesnt matter.
Tour was perfect because it gave us a chance to get away and relax. It was the first thus far in India that we have really been able to just let our hair down. In the beginning we were all still on our guard with each other. Then when we moved in with our host families there was even more dramatic adjusting to do. Even now I often feel like I have to be "on" at home making sure that I don't unintentionally violate social norms. On tour we were able to just kick back, take off the desperately annoying duppattas, and be relaxed.
Returning to Madurai was really amazing too because it felt so much like home. It was great to sleep in my bed again, have service, see my family, resume classes. Having a schedule and routine every day brings normalcy to a place where so much is foreign and bizarre. I think I am also aclimating to the heat because honestly, I was cold in rainy Kerala and thankful to return to the warmth of Madurai (although I am one of the only students who feels this way).
Life has continued on amazingly. There is still so much I want to blog about! I will make a list that I can return to in the future.
1- THE FOOD! Oh my goodness. The food is so unreal that I could describe it forever. I want to wait to get deeply into this topic until my camera/ computer connection is official and I can show pictures.
2- Religion
3- The clothing and style
4- The arranged marriage system
5- The veena/ yoga/ mehendi (my three expressive cultural classes. The veena is a very crazy looking and very twangy sounding guitar-like instrument that I adore. Mehendi is the art of applying henna (the brown paste that dies your skin).
6- All of the incredible people on my program! Know for now that I hold every single one of these 11 others on SITA next to my heart. They are all such strong, incredible, interesting and passionate people. They make my experience here richer in a million ways.
7- More about my family! I really couldnt imagine living with a more perfect host family. They are so wonderful to me in every way.
Alright that is all for now! I am safe and well and happy. I promise that I will manage to post pictures and videos soon. I send my love to all of you!
p.s. no time to proofread so please excuse any spelling errors!
About a week ago my program (SITA) went on tour to Kerala. This means that the 12 students (myself included), our two program assistants, andour two adult program directors got on a large van and left Tamil Nadu for a week! Kerala is a neighboring state in south india but it couldn't be more different! Tamil Nadu (where I live) is very arid and dry and hot. It is on the south east tip of india. Kerala is on the south west tip so it borders the Arabian Sea. It is incredibly green, lush, and verdant. It is part sea coast and part jungle. We totally took advantage of the climate change. We went trekking in the jungle (it was a tiger preserve, luckily none of us were eaten!). We also toured a spice garden. We saw cinnamon trees, tumeric plants, ate desperately spicy peppers, touched rubber flowing from rubber trees and ran very quickly away from alarmingly large spiders. We were also supposed to visit a tea plantation but, due to a state-wide strike against rising petrol prices, we were unable to do this. However, we were still able to drive through the tea plantations. Oh my goodness! It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The tea is grown in these rugged hills where the hillsides are cut into large steps in order to support the tea bushes. The color green was so rich and deep that it seemed synthetic. The mist was pouring down over the whole scene. As we were winding around the hills on precarious mountain roads perched on cliffsides, I couldn't stop staring at all of the incredible scenes around us, we were trying to capture it with out camers but unfortunatly between the bumpiness of the ride and the reflective glass in the windows, nothing came out. I have found a picture on line that doesn't really do it justice but it is better than nothing:
Tour was perfect because it gave us a chance to get away and relax. It was the first thus far in India that we have really been able to just let our hair down. In the beginning we were all still on our guard with each other. Then when we moved in with our host families there was even more dramatic adjusting to do. Even now I often feel like I have to be "on" at home making sure that I don't unintentionally violate social norms. On tour we were able to just kick back, take off the desperately annoying duppattas, and be relaxed.
Returning to Madurai was really amazing too because it felt so much like home. It was great to sleep in my bed again, have service, see my family, resume classes. Having a schedule and routine every day brings normalcy to a place where so much is foreign and bizarre. I think I am also aclimating to the heat because honestly, I was cold in rainy Kerala and thankful to return to the warmth of Madurai (although I am one of the only students who feels this way).
Life has continued on amazingly. There is still so much I want to blog about! I will make a list that I can return to in the future.
1- THE FOOD! Oh my goodness. The food is so unreal that I could describe it forever. I want to wait to get deeply into this topic until my camera/ computer connection is official and I can show pictures.
2- Religion
3- The clothing and style
4- The arranged marriage system
5- The veena/ yoga/ mehendi (my three expressive cultural classes. The veena is a very crazy looking and very twangy sounding guitar-like instrument that I adore. Mehendi is the art of applying henna (the brown paste that dies your skin).
6- All of the incredible people on my program! Know for now that I hold every single one of these 11 others on SITA next to my heart. They are all such strong, incredible, interesting and passionate people. They make my experience here richer in a million ways.
7- More about my family! I really couldnt imagine living with a more perfect host family. They are so wonderful to me in every way.
Alright that is all for now! I am safe and well and happy. I promise that I will manage to post pictures and videos soon. I send my love to all of you!
p.s. no time to proofread so please excuse any spelling errors!
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