South India Adventure

Hey Kids,
    Long time no write!  You'll be happy to know that Isaac and I have actually traveled somewhere and can finally give you information about India. *Addendum's by Isaac in blue.*

We just got back from our trip in South India and learned some valuable lessons.  So for this blog, I will list all of the important lessons we learned along the way.

Lesson 1: India is big, even if you're only in the south.  We were only in the state of Kerala which is probably about the size of New Jersey ( I don't know if that's true but I figured it was a big state and Kerala felt big too)  We landed in Kochi and I stupidly thought that the airport would be close to all of the places we planned to travel.  False.  Our first stop was a hill station in a town called Munnar.  It took 4 hours of driving through a ridiculously windy road.

Munnar: Land o' Tea.

Lesson 2: Windy road driving makes me nauseated.  Nothing makes time drag more than counting down the seconds that you can last in a car before you need to get out and throw up.  Don't worry everyone, I held it all inside, just like my emotions.  I am a robot.  We arrived in the evening and ate an awesome "snack"of Dosa(I say snack because it was 6 pm and dinner is not served until 7:30 so we were told it was only a snack.  This caused many meal time problems throughout our trip because we would almost always arrive somewhere around 5 or 6 sooooo hungry and no one was serving food.  It led to cranky Becky and luckily Isaac knew that I didn't mean anything I said in that state). Dosa is this delicious rice flour tortilla type thing with potato stew in the middle and sauces to dip.  It may be my fave south Indian dish.....in moderation.  6 = too many.

You know who else doesn't like windy roads?

Lesson 3:  Becky is cranky when she is hungry. Yes, we only just learned this on this trip...not.

Lesson 4: Communism and Catholicism go together!  Like shamma lamma lamma lamma do do do dip do wop!  Grease reference!  yeah!  No?  ok.  Anyway Kerala was full of random saint statues and Jesi (is that the plural of Jesus?) and Mary's abound.  I tried to explain to our taxi driver that communists generally are not religious because it goes against the idea of communism but he told me that there are many Christians in India, so I guess that settled it.  I'm not sure if people in Kerala know what communism is but they sure seem to love putting the sickle and hammer on every wall they can.  I can relate.  Our entire house is covered in communist paraphernalia.  It really lightens up the kitchen.  Just kidding.  Don't worry Mom, moving overseas hasn't made me a communist.....yet!

Lesson 10: Cell phone trumps everything. I had heard this before, stories of Indians answering their phones in the middle of a meeting with the head of our school. I didn't really believe it. But then this happened.

 Yes. In the middle of our 'Tea Museum' tour, our guide, in a room FULL of people, stopped mid-sentence and had a minute and a half conversation. I absolutely loved it. Later in the tour, these two kids climbed up on the working equipment, conveyer belts leading to grinders and roasters, without a parent in sight. Again, I loved it.

Lesson 5:  Massages can be the opposite of relaxing.  I probably had the most awkward massage of my life thus far in Munnar (I say thus far because I'm sure there will be more awkward ones in the future).  I went to this room and the lady told me to get naked and put on this sheet of toilet paper and tie it on me with dental floss to cover my butt crack and front crotch. So many questions: What is a front crotch? How is it different from your back crotch? The rest of my questions cannot be published here. Also, she woudn't leave the room so I asked her if she was going to stand there while I undressed and she said "yes", so I talked the whole time because I felt weird and she listened intently, or she was judging my body.  Unfortunately I couldn't get the toilet paper dental floss tied by myself so the lady had to tie it around my naked body which was pretty uncomfortable.  Yes, I realize that she was about to rub oil on my naked body but something about tying the floss around me was more embarrassing.

Once I was all "covered"up she sat me on a cold wooden stool and told me that I was going to get a head massage first.  naked.  Why did I need to take my clothes off to sit on a stool and get a HEAD massage?  I asked.  She just laughed.  After the head massage I got the full oil massage deal which was pretty nice except it was super cold in the room and by the time she got to the front part I was shivering.  She gave me a sheet to cover up while I was getting a naked facial.  I guess that's how Indians get facials?  Throughout the massage she kept asking me all these questions about where I was from and if I was married which would be fine if I wasn't cold and naked.  I just felt vulnerable.  Luckily she didn't point out any imperfections.  Apparently Isaac's masseuse asked him if he worked out and complimented his body.  I didn't get any compliments, which would have been nice.  She didn't even buy me dinner before asking me to get naked.
My massage was exactly the same as Becky's, save the dental floss. What's a little nudity be friends. I might have been a little uncomfortable without comments like, "Sir, you have a gym body." Thank you. And, "Your hair, sir, very cool." Nice. And as he was kneeling and looking up towards me whilst toweling off the oil from my naked body, "Did you just come from the gym?" No, I didn't, but you just earned yourself a tip!

Lesson 6: Traveling with Kevin and Tahireh is awesome!  We took our first trip with some new Indian friends: Kevin and Tahireh and it was great!  We got to play games that involve more than 2 people and we got to have new conversations!  Traveling with just me and Isaac is pretty great, but sometimes it's nice to be able to tell all of the stories that I've already told Isaac 20 times to people who have never heard them.  I'm sure Isaac enjoys reliving them too.  Right honey? Yes I do.

Kevin and Tahireh were a little less excited to travel with us. This is them smiling.

Playing 42. Gig 'em Aggies. What would you bid here?

Lesson 7:  Indians like setting off fireworks.  We were in the beach town of Kovalam for Divali: the festival of lights!  We were minding our own business playing cards and the hotel guys starting setting off fireworks about 20 feet away from us and then they just gave us a box of these sparkling matches which were pretty fun.  I love when people give away fire toys!

"You have to hold the button. No..HOLD it. Hurry, the sparklers are going to go ou....Perfect!"

 

The view from lighthouse beach.

Across the street from the Mosque above. Extreme contrast is the name of the game in India.

 Lesson 8:  Toilet without seat covers are the WORST!  Seriously, there is no way for a girl to use a toilet without a seat cover comfortably.  I think I messed up my rotator cuff trying to balance whilst at restaurant toilet.  I need to start bringing portable toilet seats on trips....or maybe just a bucket....gross. Wouldn't be an India blog without a toilet reference.

Lesson 9:  We do not live in India.  We are so sheltered in our apartment and when we go to campus at AES that we had no idea how crazy/crowded/dirty India really is!  Nothing made me appreciate being babied here as much as leaving the bubble that is our school community.

this picture was taken before the next one and you can really see how  great it feels to ride in a car throughout India.  

Not all of India is dirty, but...

Lesson 11: India is beautiful. Plenty of examples to choose from, but we went to a national park in Munnar which was stunning.

A booty contest! The likes of which have not been seen since the infamous 'Melissa-Becky Booty-off of this summer.'

Becky won. Poor endangered goat.

Lesson 12: Becky still loves animals.

Lesson 13: Music bridges all cultural gaps. Specifically marches complete with military-style-all-female-Catholic-school marching band.

Ok I think that's all of the lessons we learned on our trip.  At least that's all I can think of.  The dramamine on the trip back up from the beach may have messed with my memories, but it sure made the driving experience more pleasant!

The End