I Love India

This evening I was standing in line to board a flight to Pune.  As I waited in the long line (which was more like a crowded, smooshing blob than a line - I'm in India, remember?) I glanced at the flat-screen plasma TV on the left to see if I could get a peek at the news.  Instead of the news, it was a commercial for Incredible India.

Breathtaking scenes from across the country played, and although I couldn't hear the music over the airport din, I could hear it in my mind.  I can hear it now, actually.  I watched as women dressed in every color carried bundles on their heads, as elephants played and sprayed water in a palm tree-lined river.

Suddenly, something bubbled up in my stomach.  It was that happy and excited feeling, and I couldn't stop it; it burst onto my face as a huge smile.  I live here, I thought.  The feeling continued, the smile pressed on, and I probably would have squealed if it wouldn't have been slightly disruptive.  I felt so silly, boasting a beaming grin and eyes big with anticipation as I walked onto the plane.  People must have thought I was going home, but alas that won't be for another 5 months (But don't worry, Mom, my smile will be even bigger then).

Why the heck do I feel like this?!? I wondered as I settled into my seat, cheeks hurting from smiling so much.  I never found a clear answer or a reason for the unexpected burst of emotion, but those 10 seconds of the Incredible India advertisement catalyzed a subconscious response that reminded me of one thing, and one thing only: I love India.  And sometimes, believe me, a reminder like that is much-needed.

I took this photo in Kerala the first of this year, and it very well could have been taken from an Incredible India advertisement.  Kerala is known as "God's Own Country".

Welcome to Kerala

We arrived safely in Kerala and I was excited to get to our place to write about our incredibly bumpy but beautiful busride through the jungle on an open-windowed bus. But then we got to RASTA and were shown all the spices and fruit that they grow, and I decided that instead, I would start by making a list of all the spices. But THEN we got back to our room and found a humungous, black, hairy spider the size of my hand…therefore that now takes precedence for this post J

The story goes something like this:

We came inside and several of us really had to go to the bathroom. One toilet was broken, and there had been a little spider in the other bathroom before (and by little I mean the size of my sunglass lens), so Melissa and I went in together, checking behind the door, under the sink, behind the toilet for spiders when I heard a bloodcurdling scream and looked up in the corner to see a spider the size of my hand hanging our up there. So what did we doo? Slammed the door shut and ran screaming like little girls, of course.

When Melissa stopped hyperventilating, we sat pondering how, due to this crisis, we wouldn’t be able to shower or use the toilet or even sleep for fear that giant spiders will crawl over us and into our mouths while we slept. Yes, we were a little bit hysterical.

After a bit, we decided that we at least needed to see if the toilet flushed. So we got up the guts to venture back into the bathroom [we were still a bit hysterical…don’t worry, we filmed it] and, lucky for us, it did flush, so no latrines were necessary. For me, that was more important than the spider issue J however, the spider was still there, and it was going to be a little difficult to use the bathroom in fear of him jumping down on us. That issue was solved, however, when our hostess brough us dinner and got quite a kick out of our spider scare and had it [and its brother in the adjoining bedroom] removed Phewfta. Now we could participate in all of life’s necessities in peace. We have since captured and released other medium sized spiders, and even ignoring when we came home to find probably a hundred small ones covering the wall…please be proud J

Oh. And for those of you who were wondering, the spices that they grow here are cardamom, vanilla bean, cinnamon, lemongrass, coffee, chives, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, as well as jackfruit, banana, mango, papaya, white tubors, yams, tamarin, and other legumes. So awesome.

Off on an Adventure!

Just make sure the tribal chief doesn't marry you off to his eldest son in some obscure ceremony that you thought was a Welcome Ceremony. I can see it now. The chief puts feathers in your hair and you are hitched for life. And he throws in 5 water buffalos as an added bonus because of your blond hair. Well ,you get the picture.

This was the advice that my grandma had for me when I told her that tomorrow I am going traveling...very good advice and I assure you all that I will do my best to make sure that that doesn't happen :)

So yes, I am going traveling!

Crystal, one of the interns, is going to Wayanard in Kerala (the next state over) to do research for her senior thesis and Melissa and I are tagging along for the ride :)

We are going to be interviewing members of the Adivasi tribe. The Adivasis are similar to Native Americans in the states in that they are the native people who have been oppressed and enslaved and kicked off their land...I just joined the trip on Thursday so I haven't done a lot of background research, but I am very excited to experience more of the culture and history of this rich country that I live in and to learn more about human rights issues in India.

Wayanard is also the spice capital of the world and is home to the 2nd oldest cave paintings...yay for good food and good history!!!

I'll talk to you all again in a week, when I have returned with feathers in my hair and am 5 water buffalos richer...