India the great. You can really tell you love a country, when it pains you to say goodbye. That’s how I’m feeling right now. I had such a fantastic time in Kerala, India… I didn’t want to get back on the ship. It’s rough having to say goodbye. Let me tell you about my love affair with India.

Day 1. Our first port was Chennai, India. I wouldn’t say this was my favorite port. In fact, I wasn’t a huge fan of the city at all. A lot of the time I felt like people just wanted my money. I had to really dig (or build) to find the beauty of India. As soon as we were let off the ship, I jumped on a bus. I was headed to a Dalit Village. (There is a caste system in India. Dalit is also referred to as “the untouchables.” It is a “lower class.”) It was the first service project I have done on Semester At Sea. And it was such a beautiful experience. The bus dropped us off at the end of a dirt road that ran along a trash filled river. Soon as we got off the bus we were bombarded by dozens of older women wearing incredibly colorful Sarees. Some of them holding babies. Each woman was holding a flower necklace that they handed out to everyone. They were so excited to have all of us in their village. They all had the biggest smiles on their faces. I really didn’t expect a huge welcome party, but there was a full on band and parade there waiting. The band started playing all kinds of instruments I just had to start dancing. So that’s what I did. I was one of the first off the bus, so I was kind of at the front of the parade. I was right up there with the band. I just broke out in dance, and a couple of the Indian women surrounding me joined me. It was so much fun. Dance is a universal language. We danced all the way to the village. It’s pretty rough dancing in thousand degree weather, so I inhaled a bottle of water afterwards. Haha The village people sat us down and some of the children got up on a small stage and performed for us. I was really surprised at how sexual the dances were. These children were between the ages of 6 and 15 it looked like. One of the kids actually knew how to break dance. It was funny to see. It was even funnier that he was break dancing to a song by Akon. Haha I got a kick out of it. After a good half hour, it was time to get to work. Our project was to build a small storage area for everyone in the village. Out of brick. Haha There were a couple of men who were showing us how to lay the brick, and slap on the cement. Some of us collected the cement, and some collected water, and some collected bricks. We built that sucker up in a good 3 hours. Working in the brick collecting line was mighty difficult because I was recovering from a cough at the time. I decided brick dust isn’t a good remedy for a cough. I was coughing my lungs out. By the time we finished the building, my face and clothes and lungs were covered in brick dust. I felt so haggard. It was so much fun working with the village people though. Some of the little kids would help us collecting bricks, but they would mess around while passing the bricks. They would like bow or stick their tongues out and make faces at us. They were adorable. I really just loved working alongside the community. It was such a great experience. After we finished working on the building we walked down the street a little bit and went into a small school where we meditated by candle light. It was a perfect way to finish off the service project. There was an older man that sang to us while we meditated. Some of the songs were Christian, and some were Hindu. So basically … He was putting me to sleep. It was great. After meditating it was time to load back up on the bus. Sad. In conclusion I had such a great experience working in the dalit village.

Got back on the ship. Showered. Put my face on. And some clothes. Headed out for dinner. A bunch of us rickshawed to central Chennai to find some good Indian grub. We found this cute family style restaurant inside a random building on the 3^rd floor. I can’t actually tell you what I ordered, because I couldn’t pronounce the  name of it, but I can tell you it was super spicy! They gave us a plate of naan surrounded by a bunch of cups filled with sauces. One had garbanzo beans in it, and was super spicy and delicious. Another had yogurt in it, just in case your mouth is on fire. And the other cups were filled with mystery sauces, but everything was incredible. I absolutely loved eating amazing food with my hands. The restaurant was so cute. The music they were playing was hilarious. The cd had “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” on it, as well as “Happy Birthday.” It was definitely a family restaurant. Haha When we all finished consuming heaven. The waiter brought us bowls filled with water and lemon. We all sat and looked at each other, because we didn’t know what to do with it. We were very unsure if we were supposed to wash our hands in it, or drink it like tea. Haha and we didn’t want to feel stupid sticking our hands in tea. Or drinking the water that was supposed to wash our hands. So I asked. It was for our hands. Haha The waiter laughed when I asked. Haha It was great.

So after din dins, we decided we were all too exhausted to go to a Bollywood movie, so we jumped in rickshaws to head back to the ship. Our drivers dropped us off at the wrong entrance, so we ended up walking 2 miles before actually getting back. I was dead.

Day 2: Still in Chennai. We really didn’t have too many plans for day 2. Tucker, Dani and I ended up going to a market/mall thingy where we were looked around in different stores. Tucker hunted down a book store while Dani and I adventured to find some Indian attire. We went into this one market filled with tapestries, shirts, blankets, jewelry, pretty much everything. We destroyed that shop. The man working there was a delight to work with. He brought us Indian tea while we looked around. He laid out maybe 50 tapestries for us to look at. There was literally a mountain of tapestries in the middle of the floor. It was fun digging through. Every tapestry was unique. They were covered in colorful patches. It was like quilt work, but the shape of each patch was distinct. They are brilliant pieces of art. I had to purchase a couple. I made a nice deal with the guy.

After the market Tucker and I headed to a hotel so we could book a room for that night, because we had to fly out early morning the following day, and the ship was leaving that night. We found this really comfortable place called Hotel Pandian. It was a Christian run hotel, and located nicely in central Chennai. After booking a room for 3, Tucker and I headed back to the ship, and basically just hung out for a while. Packed our bags, and waited for Jay to get back from the disabled children’s home.

We experienced the funniest rickshaw ride of our lives. Half way to the Hotel Pandian, our rickshaw runs out of gas. So the driver and his friend get out and begin to push the rickshaw out of traffic. They don’t tell us what is going on. We just sit on the side of the road for a while. I figured we were just letting the engine cool off or something. After a couple of minutes the driver tried to start the engine, and it starts, and we go about 20 feet before the engine stops again. So the driver and his friend get out and start pushing us. They pushed us really far and through heavy traffic. I definitely thought we were going to get hit, so the entire time I am laughing my head off. Finally we see a gas station ahead, and the driver pushes us in there. Jay got out and tried to help push but he got yelled at by the driver. Haha I think he was scared that Jay was going to walk away. It was funny. So finally we got back on the road, and the driver was haling ass. I was seriously scared for my life, so I closed my eyes. I swear we were going to tip over or hit someone at any moment. We finally made it, after like 45 minutes. Or more. Haha And then the driver wanted an extra tip!! I couldn’t believe it. He should have been tipping us. Haha He pulled the “tomorrow’s my daughter’s birthday. What am I supposed to give her?” And I responded with “Love. Just give your daughter love.” He wasn’t happy with that answer. Haha. He wouldn’t let go of my hand. I finally just pulled away as hard as I could and went inside.

So we got our room. No A/C, but it was perfect. 3 beds. 3 towels. Running water. Some TP. That’s everything I could have asked for. After a quick peek at the room, we decided to hit up the “Permit Room” (It means bar. Every hotel had a permit room.) Ok. Women don’t drink in India. So, when I walked in to the permit room, I got a good staring at. Haha I felt mighty awkward. We ordered a couple beers. At first we kind of questioned if we should because Semester at Sea told us not to drink Indian beer. But we said hell, let’s give it a whirl. We ordered King Fisher premium. It was pretty good. I was a fan. So, the three of us just hung out and told great stories to each other. Tucker told us all about his adventures in the Dominican Republic. It was really chill. There was a cricket game on T.V. (Cricket is really big in India.) Oh my gosh! Ok. I was sitting on a couch right next to the door that leads outside. And we were just hanging out, finishing up our beers, and some guy walks by and I didn’t really notice him but right before he walked out the door he threw a piece of paper at me. It hit me in the arm. I kind of looked down and saw the paper on my lap. Picked it up. On it was a name and a bunch of numbers right under it. Hahahaha I just looked at Jay and Tucker and was like “hahah I think I just scored some digits!” Funniest thing ever. I didn’t even see this guy really. We contemplated calling him (as a joke) and then decided not to. Haha

Anyway, we finished our beers and decided to go wander around, maybe go into some shops. So, we walked down the street a couple blocks, and Tucker decided it was time for his dance video. Every city he visits he tries to get a video of him dancing for at least 10 seconds. So at the end of this trip he’s going to make a giant dance video, which I’m really excited to see. Haha So there we were in the middle of the street, and Tucker just starts dancing with a rickshaw in the background. After I recorded it, everybody standing around wanted to see the video. Haha So everybody just surrounded us. It was really funny.

After that we entered another bar along the same street as our hotel. The place was packed (with men of course) and there was a huge screen with a cricket game on. We went upstairs because there was nowhere to sit downstairs. I was literally the only girl in there. Soon as I walked up the stairs, everybody was looking at me. It was super awkward. I didn’t drink anything in there though. I just watched the boys sit and enjoy some scotch. I was watching the cricket game for a little bit, and trying to understand it (still don’t) and I didn’t realize there was a guy sitting right in front of it. I think he thought I was staring at him. Hahaha I stopped watching the game after that. We finally trekked back to the hotel and got ready to konk out because we had to wake up at 330am the next morning.

Our flight to Cochin (where the ship was going to meet us) was at 6am, and it took approximately an hour to get there from our hotel. I was kind of worried that they wouldn’t let me on the plane because the name on my ticket doesn’t match the name on my passport (because Jay spelled my name wrong. Damn him. Haha) But they didn’t even look at my passport really. The flight was fine. I was kind of worried about who I was going to be sitting by. Because I didn’t particularly want to sit next to a man on the plane, just because I’ve noticed how segregated the men and women are when it comes to transportation. I didn’t want to make anybody uncomfortable. You know? I ended up sitting next to Tuck. Haha It was nice. He passed out soon as we left the ground. I bobbed my head around for a while, but mainly just looked out the window at the beautiful landscape. It was a really short ride. Jay sat across the aisle.

Soon as we landed at the airport in Cochin we asked the tourist desk how to get to Alleppey where we would rent our houseboat. He told us there were two options. 1- we could jump on the public bus for 48 rupees (one dollar) but it would be really uncomfortable and bumpy. Or 2 – we could get a taxi which would cost a lot more. Us being poor college students, jumped on the bus with a bottle of water and a bag of mango cookies and enjoyed the 2 and a half hour ride. It wasn’t uncomfortable at all. He must of thought because we are Americans, we must be high maintenance. So wrong. Haha Actually, I wasn’t feeling so hot for the first half hour on the bus because of my damn Malaria medicine. I sat in my chair, closed my eyes, listened to the world, and just breathed. I was so in the moment. Trying to ignore my stomach. I was worried I was going to get sick, but after a while of meditating, the pain went away. It was a fun ride. Kind scary, but fun. The drivers are insane. I felt like I was back on that bus going through the mountains in Colombia. I couldn’t watch the driver, because I was scared but also because I was too short to see over the really tall benches. Hahah So I meditated for most of the ride. Listened to some Slightly Stoopid and Beastles with Jay, and just looked out the window (not actually glass. There are no windows on the bus. It’s all natural air conditioning. It was beautiful.) Apparently Jay and Tuck saw an elephant walk by… haha Jay saw it and he just looked over at me, and smiled, and was like “Did you see the elephant?” I almost cried. No I didn’t see the elephant. I just had to close my eyes for one minute… It was so upsetting. They definitely rubbed it in my face that they saw an elephant. Those bastards. haha 

When we arrived in Alleppey, a guy came up to us and asked us what we were looking for. We told him we were looking for a place to stay for the night, and he immediately pulled out a card and told us that we could stay at his house. His home was converted into a hostel kind of. We asked him how much (thinking he was going to try and rip us off.) Only 400 rupees. Which is about 8 dollars. We agreed to go look at his place and decide there. His place was perfect. It had 3 beds in a big room with a fan, and a huge bathroom with a shower and a toilet. For 8 dollars total? It was amazing. So we stayed at the “Dream Nest.” We then told him we wanted to find a houseboat and cruise the backwaters the following day. His family apparently has 3 houseboats, so he gave us all the info on them. It was about 30 dollars for each of us. The houseboat had an upper deck (with hammocks and lounge chairs; basically a hang out place), one bedroom (with room for the 3 of us to sleep), a bathroom, a kitchen, a place for the crew to sleep, and a nice dining table. It was perfect. When you rent a houseboat, it comes with a chef and the captain of course. So we definitely signed up for that. Haha The plan was to leave the following day at 11:30am. After booking all that stuff (we were relieved at how easy it was) we headed for the beach. It was a very long walk. I fried. Especially because I was wearing black Capri’s and a flannel long sleeved shirt (even if it was rolled up to the elbows, it was hot!) Finally arrived at the beach and decided it was time to consume food. Actual food. Not cookies. So we found this cute restaurant right on the beach and ate. I don’t actually remember what I ate, but I know it was delicious and vegetarian. I love Indian food. We also ordered some Fosters (Australian for Beer.) It was alright, but kind of warm and gross to drink after a while. Apparently it’s best to drink beer fast in India, because if you don’t it gets really hot. Haha learned my lesson. When we first walked in, Jay noticed this guy sitting right behind me. He was enjoying a beer himself, and apparently every time we laughed really loud, he would laugh a little bit too. So after we finished eating, we decided to invite this guy over to sit with us. He was an interesting fellow, Thomas. His English wasn’t the best, but he asked us questions none the less. What we were doing in India, where we were from, what we knew about India, what religion we were. I really struggled to understand him, so mainly the guys responded to him. He then wanted to look through our pictures on our cameras. When he was going through mine he kept saying how I was a horrible photographer, and that the pictures I took had no life. It was quite rude. I wasn’t happy with him. And then the topic of women drinking came up. He gave us a whole spiel on how women shouldn’t drink before the age of 55, because he believed it affects babies. We told him that obviously it’s not okay for a woman to drink while she’s pregnant, but its fine if she’s not. He believed that if a woman drinks when she’s young, her babies have a better chance of being disabled. The whole time listening to his reasoning, I was sitting there drinking a beer. He then asked me if I believed in God. I told him yes of course. I am a Christian. He said if I believed in God then I wouldn’t be drinking. Haha Then I told him I was Catholic. Hahaha I don’t think he understood. I was really quite offended by Thomas. I understood it was just a huge culture clash, but I really didn’t want him to lecture me. It was a huge conversation. It was great of Jay to defend me too. Hahah But I was ready for that conversation to be over. We literally sat in that restaurant for 3 hours I think. We finally decided to walk out on the beach. Thomas joined us on our trek. When we got out to this rusted broken down pier, Thomas thought it was a good idea to show me how to take a picture with life. Because apparently I didn’t know how. (I joke about this every time I take a picture now. Haha I’ll be like “Oh man, this picture has so much life!!”) I was getting really annoyed so I took my camera back. Haha I stood on the sidewalk taking pictures of Jay debating with Thomas about women drinking, and Tucker playing Frisbee with 2 young Indian boys. It was quite relaxing. I took pictures of people playing in the water, and playing soccer on the beach. I also took a picture of a man standing with his bicycle in the middle of the beach. I looked at that picture yesterday… There were 2 camels in the background!! I didn’t even see them!! If I had seen them I totally would have gone to ride one. I’m so bummed I didn’t. Anyway, after hanging out on the beach for a while, we decided to head back to the hostel and then maybe go out and get some grub.

Alright this is all you are getting for now. I’ll pick up from where I left off, when I can.