Day 1: Today I explored Cochin for most of the morning and afternoon. We tried to go to a place to ride elephants and the rickshaw (photo below) drivers told us it would be 45 minutes. That was perfect timing since some of us had to get back for travel that night. About 45 minutes into the ride we asked about how much longer and the driver said “oh just about another hour.” :/ So we had to turn around since we didn’t have enough time for the traveling there and back. We learned quickly this is pretty much what travel is like in India. In the evening I left with about 40 other students to go to Cibi’s, a student that is on the ship and from India, hometown. We didn’t sleep at all on the 8 hour bus ride because they honk their horn about every 10 minutes…
Day 2: …We arrived to a holistic spa retreat at 5:30am. We were all very tired and didn’t really know where we were. Cibi told us that we could not all fit in his home, so he surprised us and had us stay at this retreat. His dad’s friend owned it so we got it rented out for our group for two nights. It was beautiful and definitely unexpected! We had to get freshened up and eat breakfast right away to get ready for a filled day. We first went to a really nice school. We all separated into different classrooms. The teacher asked what I was going to school for and I said I hope to get a degree in nutrition. She said “Ok, teach the children about nutrition then.” So I taught them some basics about nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle. After that, a few other SASers came into the classroom and we talked with the students. They asked us so much questions and were so curious about everything. I asked a group of girls (in the picture) what their favorite school subject was and they all said math, except on who quietly said I hate math. I asked her what her favorite was and she said anything but math. We all thought it was pretty funny. After that school we headed for a school for mentally challenged children. It was harder to communicate because the children and most of the teachers didn’t know much English. It was still fun to play with the kids though. We gave them stickers and they freaked out. They were so excited and kept showing off the stickers. Next we went to a temple. It was such a beautiful and big temple. After that we went to an elderly home and ate lunch there. The residents didn’t speak any English. So Haley and I watched them play a game and they had us sit down and roll the dice for them. We had no idea what the game was but apparently they were betting and I won my partner a dollar. After the elderly home we went to Cibi’s family farm where they grow spices. After that we went back to the place we were staying at. We had a traditional style Indian meal and then all passed out from exhaustion.
Day 4: Today I went to the Chinese fishermen market in Fort Cochin. We were watching the fishermen and they flagged me and Haley to come over. They gave us a rope and told us to start pulling! They were very nice and told us about their fishing experiences, busy seasons, etc. They let us walk across a board and go right up to the net and look at what we caught. Walk to the net there was a log that I could hold on to that was a part of the lever that goes up and down with the net. They starting bringing it back up before I walked back and had to walk on one wobbly board back to the other side above the water. About half way through it started wobbling and I got nervous and just froze for I’m sure a minute long. Haley was telling me to just continue, but looking at the water I just couldn’t bring my feet forward. Then a guy watching us came over and gave me his hand and walked me across. We started talking to him after that. His name was Augustine, from France, and had been backpacking for the last 10 months. We went to a lunch place nearby and he told us his travel stories and he told us his. After lunch he had to head to the train, so Haley and I went about our day and explored the shops and temples around. That evening we went to a cultural show that had many of the traditional dances of Kerala.
Day 5: I started my day by going to a Muslim orphanage with a group of friends. It was really interesting. The boys and girls went to school there, but only the boys lived there. I was talking to the girls the whole time. They were shy at first, but quickly warmed up to us. They were so smart and interesting to talk to. We sang and danced for them and they did the same for us. They thought it was so funny. After that we walked around and explored the area. In the evening we went to dinner for Haley’s birthday.
Day 6: Today I went to the Chendamangalam Village. They warmly welcomed us. The men played the drums for us, and then the women did a traditional dance for us. After that they did a cooking demonstration and we had lunch. Then we got a tour of the village. This village has a high literacy rate for India. The women in the area started a women’s rights group and told us about that. Finally they took us to the factory that the women worked at to make their own money so they don’t have to fully rely on their husbands.
Reflection: I realized quickly I was getting a skewed view of the Indian culture. When you think of India, you are probably thinking about the “norms” in the North. I was in the South and had a very different experience than what I was expecting. Kerala, the state we were in, has the highest literacy rate and a low poverty rate. It was good to see that side of India, but I was also disappointed I didn’t get a chance to see the poverty that many saw when they traveled North to Delhi and the surrounding areas. While observing the areas I was in, I noticed that they placed religion and morals at high importance. I saw temples, mosques, and churches throughout Kerala. Talking to many locals about this, they stressed to me that these religions lived in harmony amongst each other and were respected.
I also got a chance to talk to a local about what he perceives American culture as. He said that most American’s he has met have been nice, but we are too fast paced and do not practice our values enough. I told him I agreed with him and that was one of the reasons I wanted to go on this trip. I know my life is too fast paced and wanted to surround myself by others who take more time to enjoy life and the people and things they are surrounded by. I know I am blessed for the life I live, but if I don’t make time to reflect on that it is easy to forget. He asked me what I thought of India and I said I genuinely think the “average people” I have encountered have been so nice when I’ve talked to them. They are all very curious and ask lots of questions, which I don’t mind answering. I like to answer their questions as honestly as I can to give them a “realer” sense of what it is like to be an American. I also told them I loved their culture. That is one thing I have grown to envy about some of these places. Their culture is so rich and interesting. And while the American culture is rich and interesting in its own way, it’s definitely a different one. They have so many traditions that get passed down from generation to generation from so long ago. I think it’s so cool how they make it a priority to pass on the traditions from one generation to the next.
“Adventure is a path. Real adventure - self-determined, self-motivated, often risky - forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. They world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the Earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind-and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing again will ever be black and white.” –Mark Jenkins
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