My too short trip to Kerala

My friends and I were greeted by a small figurine of the Virgin Mary that was lit with neon flashing lights at our homestay in Ft. Cochin this past weekend. In India, it seems, any light is auspicious, and so everything from Hindu temples to the many churches in Kerala are decorated by florescent lights that I would normally associate with Las Vegas. Disco Mary was just one of the many fun quirks that made Kerala so charming. To start with, our flight to Cochin was the first flight that I have been on where the pilot announces the current cricket score along with our estimated arrival. (In case you didn't know, India is playing Pakistan in the semi-finals of the World Cup today and campus has basically shut down to watch the match.)  The Cochin airport emanated a tropical vibe, as its red-stucco roof made it look more like a Caribbean villa than an international airport. One of my favorite parts of the trip was all of the fresh fruit I ate throughout.  On Friday morning my breakfast included fresh papaya, pineapple, orange, and a banana. On Sunday, I tasted my first ripe mango in India.  It was dripping with juice and tasted like it had just been plucked from a tree. Plus I got it all over my face, which made the experience that much more enjoyable. 

Other highlights of my magical trip included a journey to a nearby beach where I went swimming in the Arabian Sea! Even though I wore my most conservative life-guarding bathing suit, I was still exposing more skin than I had in months, which felt both liberating and slightly uncomfortable as our exposed legs and shoulders attracted a lot of attention from the Indian men at the beach.  Even though we were at the beach for over 5 hours, I didn’t see a single Indian woman go into the water, though there were plenty walking up and down the beach fully decked out in their saris, which seemed a bit out of place in my opinion.  Unfortunately, I did have to witness quite a lot of Indian men swimming, which meant seeing a lot of Indian men in their underwear, as they seemingly forgot to bring their bathing suits to the beach.  It was an unfortunate sight to behold. On our bus ride back, while listening to the dulcet tones of Michael Jackson on the bus stereo, I came to the conclusion that Indian bus drivers are crazy.  The little Keralan roads didn’t exactly seem to be constructed with the width of the bus in mind, which didn’t phase the driver as we sped down the dark streets, with the bus horn blaring to prevent someone from getting run over.

My other favorite Keralan experience (I realize that the whole point of having a favorite is that there is only one, but I had such a good time in Kerala, it's too hard to narrow things down) was the day I spent in a boat on the backwaters. Sitting under the overhang on our lovely wooden boat, watching the palm trees and water lilies go by, I decided that I could stay on that boat for the next 3 weeks rather than the next 3 hours. It's really the way to travel in India.  Rather than inhaling exhaust fumes, getting a headache from all of the car horns, or sitting on a train that's about 3 hours behind schedule, I got to read my book, take a short doze, and just soak in the nice sea breeze as 2 strong, but incredibly skinny Indian men poled the boat down the channels. The only time I got off the boat during our tour was to eat a traditional vegetarian lunch on a banana leaf, which wasn't exactly a hardship.

Sadly my time in Kerala had to come to an end, but not before breakfast at the Teapot. There are teapots hanging from the ceilings, paintings of teapots on the walls, and cabinets full of teapots all throughout the restaurant.  The menu also boasted of about 20 different kinds of tea, which just happens to be my favorite hot drink. After breakfast we headed over to Jew Town—yes, there’s actually a section of the city called Jew Town. I didn’t see anyone Jewish looking while I was there, but I did go into one of the oldest synagogues in India, built in the early 1500’s.  The synagogue had a beautiful blue and white mosaic floor, different shaped lanterns hanging from the ceiling, and had the cantor’s podium in the very center of the building.  However, the highlight of our visit to the synagogue had to be the pants-less tourist we saw there.  Apparently, Sunday is the day when all of the big tour buses bring their groups to Jew Town, so the place was inundated with elderly Westerners and girl’s school groups.  One older woman was wearing a knee-length white kurta, but here’s the catch, with no pants underneath!  I’m not sure if she thought she was wearing a dress, but the slits up to her waist on both sides probably should have clued her in.  Two of my friends first spotted her inside the synagogue, so we decided to all wait around to see her before leaving. It was worth it!

So ended my lovely weekend journey to Kerala. To conclude our experiences with random American music on the trip (in addition to the MJ on the bus from the beach, Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys serenaded us over one of our dinners), Shakira came on the bus’s sound-system on our way back to the airport.  While I don't miss Kerala's humidity, this state with the highest literacy rate in India, a self-elected communist government, and historical matriarchal society gets my vote for one of my favorite areas in India!