Here, There & Everywhere

Part 1: Kerala (care-uh-luh)

I was really bummed out a couple weeks ago... we took a long weekend trip to Kerala in the far south of India. It wasn't the trip that bummed me out, it was the fact that I didn't have a camera in one of the most beautiful places that I've even seen! I bought new batteries, the camera still didn't work, so I inferred that it was broken. A couple weeks later I tried some different batteries and, lo and behold, my camera does work. (The moral of the story: don't buy cheap batteries overseas.) So, regrettably, I was only able to take three pictures at the beginning of the weekend but I hijacked a couple pictures from other people so you can still get the gist of this magical weekend.

To start it off we took an overnight train ride in true Darjeeling Limited fashion...





We arrived the next morning and hopped aboard two houseboats for our first night out. We floated around some gorgeous wetlands as we played cards, ate food, swam, drank and danced the night away.

















After the boats, we bused to a resort that was the very definition of beachside luxury. For two days and nights we slept in little huts under a canopy of coconut trees. Cliffside hammocks overlooked the Indian Ocean and made me feel like a proverbial million bucks. It was ridiculous...

















The resort offered a wide array of “treatments” for rich health freak hippies – esoteric fourteen day regiments that included obscure messaging techniques, medicated milk baths, therapeutic vomiting, perspiration, ear washes, eye washes and herbal douches/enimas. One of the brochures featured a picture of a woman getting some herbal hoo-haw rhythmically dropped on her forehead from a jug. The general consensus concluded that she looks frighteningly similar to yours truly...




Part 2: Transportation

We've gotten around Chennai using a bus/rickshaw combination. The buses are a joy 85% of the time - they're very affordable and there's an endless supply of interesting sights, sounds and smells. I've chatted with a lot of interesting people and sometimes the bus is so full that I get to hang on the outside! But like most things in life, the mishaps make for more interesting stories. My struggle with the buses lies in that my legs are too big to sit in the seats like a normal person - I have to sit with my legs in the aisle unless I am able to snag one of the few seats that has ample legroom. If I can't get a seat then I have to stand, which wouldn't be an issue if the buses were six inches higher, allowing me to stand up without slouching and cocking my neck to one side. Such is life, I suppose!

The most eventful bus happening took place a few days ago when some officials boarded to check for passes. Udai (one of the US volunteers) and Yogi (one of the Indian counterparts ) misplaced their tickets and the man that issued the tickets refused, for whatever reason, to vouch for them. Udai and Yogi were taken away by the police and, thankfully, were able to dissuade the cops with a 500 rupee bribe just as Udai was being shoved into the police car headed for jail. But to comically and painfully top it off, Ronak (another US volunteer, and my roommate) hopped out of the moving bus to accompany our potentially incarcerated teammates. Jumping out of buses is normal fare in India but Ronak, unfortunately, failed to comply with the laws of physics and instead of running with the motion of the bus, he tried to walk back towards our friends and and got his big toenail ripped off during his spill!

Autos, aka rickshaws, are faster to get around but they're a lot more expensive. White skin assures inflated rates that can be difficult to bargain, but our normal four-people-to-an-auto routine makes it doable. Along with high rates, white skin is a magnet for autos in general - I can rarely walk for 200 feet without an auto driver stopping to see if I need a ride! Autos are a lot of fun, though... weaving in and out of traffic, playing tag with the other team members, going against traffic on one-way streets and narrowly escaping death at every turn. And horns! Chennai drivers make damn good use of their horns! They're used, virtually, all the time and are used to convey a plethora of messages. I've inferred fifteen such meanings although there are undoubtedly more that I haven't picked up on:
-I'm going really fast right now.
-Move over.
-I'm moving over.
-You can move over.
-I want to pass you.
-I'm going to pass you.
-You can pass me.
-See that little opening? I'm taking it!
-Fuck you!
-I am driving.
-I am honking.
-Sorry.
-I'm not sorry.
-I am acknowledging your presence.
-Don't even think about it.










Part 3: Birthday Party at Peace Trust

Peace Trust is another of our partner NGOs, an orphanage for children who have lost their parents to AIDS. Our team made the trek out to Peace Trust with gifts and cake to celebrate the birthday of one of the residents. Good times were had by all and the kids had a great time running around and taking pictures with my camera!