Kerala Day 6

I moved houses today. It was a little inconvenient and I was really starting to be buddies with the family I was staying with, but there was a family that showed up that had somehow had a big miscommunication about their arrival and I had the bigger room—so I was booted. My new place is literally just across the street. The home stay I booked with takes up the top floors of a few different houses that are all right next to one another. It is like having your own mother in law quarters or basement apartment. It is all in the same place, but it has different entrances and you still have your own privacy. This new room is on the ground floor of one of the houses that has lodging upstairs. When I walked in I was thinking to myself "Wow, this place has a very homey feel to it." Well you know why it had a homey feel to it? Because it was literally someones home! My "roommates" are a middle aged married Catholic couple. My room is right behind the living room and their bedroom is kitty corner to mine-next to the kitchen. I didn't know any of this until I came home tonight and was officially welcomed to their home by the wife of the couple. I met the husband later, and they really are beautiful people--I'm just glad I found out sooner then later before I plopped myself down on their comfy looking couches to read a book or went into their kitchen to make myself a little something to eat. Maybe they did tell me I was going to be crashing in someones actual house and it was just lost in translation--either way, it was a little funny/awkward/shocking finding all this out.

After moving I caught a rickshaw over to the Kerala Folklore Museum. It was a little bit away, but I had heard it was a must see--and I am so glad I made the journey. Plus there was s Subway right by it so that alone could of made the trip worth it. Dad was and Nicole is super into antique/vintage type shops and artifacts, and while I have known I also have a love for them, I think I am only starting to understand how much I share their same obsession. Or maybe I am just a museum nerd--that's a real big possibility too. Either way, this place was awesome! I wanted to take pics of everything and while I did take quiet a few, but in the end I bought a book and DVD on the museum because there was just to many awesome things to capture it all. The building itself was made from parts of old structures; columns and pillars from this era, the roof of this particular room came from this famous place, etc. To me the coolest thing was seeing the vintage Kathakali costumes just because they are already so impressive now a days, but the older ones were just as detailed and decked out. That shows some serious dedication to that particular tradition. I also got a kick out of the some of the chest plates the men would wear to war. They had very pronounced breasts on them-like full on women's breast carved into them. Distraction method? Either way, I don't know if I could keep a straight face if I saw men militia going to war wearing a chest shield that made him look like a woman. :)

I thought the puppets were creepily intriguing........

 And obviously I had a weird fixation with all the masks.

        
I decided to take the ferry back and it was a little bit eventful. I ended up having to take 2 ferries because the first one only took me to the port of another ferry that would then take me back to Fort Kochin. I was almost a stowaway on that ferry—but I ended up having to pay right before I got off. It really wasn’t purposeful in the beginning, but when I realized what was happening and had already got in trouble for taking a picture while in the ferry (which was apparently a no no even though there were tons of Indian men taking pictures on the ferry) I decided to try and make it happen. But in the end they came around checking tickets and collecting fees just before we docked so bummer, mission failed.

Another thing I LOVE about Kochin is it's art. There is art everywhere--actual art shops, painted murals, performances, etc. I snapped a few pics but they still don't quiet capture the artyness of this place. And yes, I know that isn't a real word--it was just the one that seemed to fit best.

 

Anywho- onto New Years Eve Celebrations!!! As New Years Eve has drawn closer, people have started creating little party alcoves in front of their houses. There is always some kind of music set up, lots of garland and at least one life size (well mostly life sized) Santa Clause scarecrow. I asked some kids on my street what they were going to do for New Years Eve and the very excitedly told me, "We are going to burn "Santa Clause!!!" 

Hum. I'll be honest I didn't know quiet how to take that. I asked my "family" what it was all about and they explained that traditionally, families will gather their old rags and clothing to make a scarecrow out of for New Year's Eve. Making it out of items you have used over the past year is symbolic-representing the memories and work done in the past year. At midnight, the scarecrows are lit on fire. Burning the scarecrow symbolizes doing away with the old year and embracing the new. In recent years, the mothers of families decided that making a scarecrow from scratch was way too much work so they adapted the tradition to buying cheapo Santa Clause costumes (complete with their freaky masks), stuffing those full of newspaper and then torching that "scarecrow" at midnight. Hence the "We are going to burn Santa Clause!!!" statements from the children. Knowing this also explained why different themed Santa Clause displays have been popping up around town over the last couple of days. There is one with a rock band of Santas, Santa as an astronaut, etc. While the women of the household have tried to simplify things, the men have complicated it on a whole new level by constantly trying to out do all their neighbors' Santa displays. And they take it pretty seriously--the displays often have music, lights and full sets designs as well.  

After slipping into my new years outfit (yes, I really did buy a new top for my Indian New Years Experience) I set out to go wander around the festivities. On my way out Shamee (the mom of the Muslim family I first stayed with) and here husband were sitting outside and invited me over. Inside, Nishana (one of their daughter in-laws) was getting ready to go out as well. We decided to join forces so another daughter in law and the lady who's house I am currently staying at all hit the town. We didn't have any specific thing on our agenda, we just wandered, er, hired a rickshaw to help us "wander" and took it all in. There were so many people, of all ages, of all nationalities everywhere. It was kind of like the city was hosting a multicultural party. There were displays to look at around town and on the beach, vendors, music, etc. The city had set up party headquarters at the beach. They had also set up a GIANT scarecrow--who was white as a matter of fact (take it however you want) and wearing a witch hat. And speaking of witch hats, Ive thought more then once that this whole Christmas/carnival/New Years celebration has a lot of Halloween mixed in it too. The thought of all those holidays coming together as one has NEVER crossed my mind until I came here. Now, it simply seems like the most logical and accurate way to describe all the happenings. PS some of the kids are running around town wearing scream masks too. Weird right? Anyway, back to the evening: the rest of the group went home fairly early on, but I wanted to stay out and watch the burning of the scarecrow at midnight. Plus I was freaking hungry. 

 So I made my way over to my friend's restaurant (the one I ate breakfast at the other day), got a table and noticed some furry something running around out of the corner of my eye. The furry something turned out to be a rabbit, who I came to understand was more or less the restaurant mascot. One of the workers noticed me watching it so he picked it up brought it to my table. And just set it there. On my table. Just me, my water, my menu and the live rabbit. It stayed there for a bit but eventually ran off somewhere else in the restaurant. It was seriously one of the most random things that has ever happened to me--and I've experienced more then a few random things.

I took some pics with my friend-I told him to do one serious face, some goofy faces and some rabbit faces--apparently it was lost in translation.

After eating and hanging out there for a bit, I wandered back over to the beach. Tons of people were gathering below the giant scarecrow so I started to follow the crowd. I noticed they were all Indian but didn't think to much of it because 1. This is India and 2. Im not use to being off campus and having a lot of other white people around so I wasn't really missing them. One of the local men approached me and told me I was not allowed to come on the beach. Initially, I was upset thinking he was just exercising his manly status within this testosterone loving society, but then I looked around and realized I was literally the ONLY foreigner around. He pointed me to a specific area designated for foreigners only---which was just to the side of the scarecrow. Suddenly, I wasn't so mad anymore. I got a great view of the party and could take everything in much more then if I was swallowed up in the crowd on the beach. To be honest though, I was rethinking the wisdom of putting all the foreigners so close to the scarecrow when the clock struck midnight. There was fiery newspaper/burning scarecrow parts EVERYWHERE. The wind happened to be blowing in our general direction, which obviously couldn't of been planned but still-people were pushing one another around to keep from getting burned. It could of been disastrous.  

 

It took a while for me to make it back home through all the crowds but it was an adventure in and of itself-complete with a proposal for marriage. And no mom--sorry to disappoint you but I didn't say yes. I also had a run in with a tush grabber, who I automatically screamed at and whacked with the weapon I had on/in hand: my water bottle. I don't even know that I hit the actual offender, and most of the people around just laughed at me like I was a crazy person but oh well I guess, I just reacted. Don't grab my butt or be in the general area of me when some one grabs my butt because you apparently you are in immediate danger of being yelled at and hit. Sorry/not sorry. Mostly not sorry though--like 100% not sorry.    

Kerala Day 5

Today was all about exploration. After all, I did need to acquaint myself with my new surroundings. I met some friends that work at a restaurant in town so I decided to try that for breakfast. It was good enough but I still have a hard time eating curry type things for breakfast. To me, curry is not a breakfast item, but I am living in India so sometimes you have to accept weird things like that.

I planned to go to a famous beach that requires crossing a channel in order to get to it so after breakfast I walked over to the ferry station. I am pretty sure that I got ripped off on my ticket, because locals were paying something like 2 rupees and ironically, when I got up to the ticket counter my ticket was 15 rupees. Then the ferry back cost me 5 rupees. Riiigghhhhttt. It really is only a matter of a few cents by the time you do the conversion, but I still find it very annoying. Anyway, it was a short little ride over and once I got to the other side I could of caught a bus for the next part of my journey but based on my “throwing up while being transported somewhere” streak I’ve had going on, I decided against it. I voted for an airy rickshaw instead. This rickshaw was the nicest rickshaw I have ever seen. It was bright green, had actual doors, a stereo system and pretty comfortable seats.

The original plan was to go to Cherai beach, but the locals were telling me to go a different beach that was just as beautiful but not really busy and touristed out. I went for it and it was a pretty beach, but getting to it was just as if not more pretty then the beach itself.  We had to go off the beaten path, which included driving on all these simple slightly raised roads that were surrounded by rice patties and picturesque Asian scenery. When the driver dropped me off I literally had to walk through what I am pretty sure was some family’s yard/land to get to the beach. I felt a little bad but at the same time they really didn’t seem to care, and were happily waving to me so I took that as we were cool. There were people quiet a way up the beach from me but for the most part it was just me and the beach. I have to say that the beaches are not quiet as magnificent and white sanded and clear turquoise water as they claim to be on line, but it was still beautiful and very peaceful. I chilled there for a while, read some, took some pics and laid in the sun some, but as per usual I got really hungry and had to set out to find food.

Finding food was a little tricky because of how remote I was. I found what looked like an amazing place but everyone else thought it was amazing too and I didn’t want to spend hours waiting so I went into a hotel and had them make me a pineapple and mint salad with some pasta. I was lucky I got that though because I kept asking for things-that were on the menu mind you-that were not actually available. That happens a lot in India-----things not being available and or getting your meal with only 1/5 of what it said came with it but oh well, what do you do.

Once I was back in Fort Kochi, I went to the part of town affectionally known as Jew Town. I wrote a little yesterday how Fort Kochi is an extremely religiously and culturally diverse place, and its populations of Jews/Jewish history is just one of the example of that.

In Jew town they have lots of shopping, which I looked at some but didn’t find anything I needed or anything interesting for that matter. After wandering around the shops I went to visit the Jewish Synagogue. Pics were not allowed inside, but I found these ones off the internet.

In keeping with the cultural diversity tone of this place, the synagogue was made of up items for all over the world—floor tiles from China, decorative lamps from ……….., renovations and restorations done by the Dutch, etc. It was so eclectic but it worked, in a really cool and super unique sort of way.

After the synagogue, I wandered through Jew town (which ironically was full of Muslims according to their dress anyway) I wandered over to the Dutch Palace, which is exactly that—a palace built by the Dutch. The Portuguese were the first to build it, but the Dutch took over it in the 17^th century. They remodeled it and then gave it to the king of Kochi. The inside of the palace was turned into a museum, complete with original clothing from the Indian royal family, tons of Hindu art murals and other awesome stuff. It has been used for all kinds of palace appropriate activities over the years, including many coronations. This was another place where cameras were not allowed inside, so thanks again internet……

After the palace I caught a rickshaw back to the harbor so that I could check out the Chinese fishing nets at sunset. A lot of drivers receive kickbacks for taking tourists to different stores, and this one was really nice so when he told me he got a liter of gasoline if I went into a certain store, I played along. I didn’t buy anything because I wasn’t interested in shopping there in the least bit, but I figured I could help a pal out. But you also have to say no too because if you helped ever rickshaw driver out, your entire day would be spent being shuttle between shops. Anyway, back to the Chinese fishing nets. This is the only place in the world (outside of China of course) where they use/you can see these kinds of fishing nets. The system is really neat, they basically have a ginormous pulley system (and by pulley system I really mean slab of concrete) that helps to lower the nets into the water. After letting it sit there for a few mins they slowly raise the net back up, bringing fish and whatever else is there—usually lots and lots and lots of garbage and little lily pad type things—to the surface. The garbage and the vegetation is thrown back into the water (which really isn’t smart because sooner or later they just end up catching it all over again) and the whole process is over. Some men invited me up on their dock and let me get a closer look, take pictures, etc. As I went to leave they informed me that their catch wasn’t a good one so I needed to pay them each money. They asked for 480 rupees, which was so ridiculous so I told them I could give them 20 rupees. I don’t think they were very happy with me but oh well. Im not very happy with people who try to scam me so I guess we were even. :)

The men insisted I hold the net but as you can see I felt a little weird about it--mostly because I had just seen the handle get plastered with fish guts from the hands of the man who was now touching my camera and taking this picture. Yes, I had a bit of a germaphobic moment and yes, I am totally owning it. Blahhhh.

I spent the evening exploring more of the shops and town. There is so much to see and take in here that I was entertained for hours. I literally had to stop somewhere and buy pants though, it is significantly hotter here then it is in Tamil Nadu right now and I was sweating bad enough that my skirt and my legs were not getting along at all: aka I was getting a rash from my legs rubbing together when I walked.  Believe it or not I wasn’t in much of a shopping mood, but I automatically felt better about shopping as soon as it was something I actually needed. I've noticed that when interact with the locals it's obvious that they just see me as another light skinned tourist. I can't blame them for that because duh, (that really doesn't need any further explanation) but it is always entertaining for me to see the change in how they deal with me from when they initially meet me and make that judgement and then eventually realize that I am living in India right now and know a thing or two about what prices certain things should cost or that I know when they are totally trying to swindle me, etc. I called a few shop owners out on it and as soon as I told them I was living in Tamil Nadu and I wasn’t just another tourist, they were pretty good at adjusting prices for me on the couple of things I did get. Some of the other volunteers have taken to calling me “The Bulldog” when it comes to shopping and bargaining prices. I've earned that name from not only bargaining for myself but also for others that are with me. I love haggling because it's such a fun challenge--I see it as a kind of game.

Ironically, I had a hard time finding food again tonight. Not that there weren’t plenty of options, it was just that most of them involved fish. After striking out numerous times, I found this little café that ended up being pretty yummy. The ambiance of the café made up for the lack of “ridiculously” yummy food.  Plus, I got a seat right nest to the bug zapper so I’d say dinner was a success.