Better Late than Never Travel Post

A flower mat during the Onam festival in Kerala 

I can't believe it's October! The pace of this year is really picking up, especially as my travel opportunities increase.  I've had a few very memorable trips in the past month, so I thought it was  time for another update, starting with my trip to Kochi (formerly known as Cochin).  I spent a day in Kochi and a day and a half in Allepey on the backwaters houseboat cruise.   I've been to both places before, but it's been about ten years, so it was interesting to see what had changed and what had not.  Fort Cochin was virtually unchanged, and it was fun to walk around the narrow streets of Jew Town (the home of one of India's only Jewish synagogues to support its tiny and shrinking Jewish population), see the Chinese fishing nets, and visit the crumbling Dutch and Portuguese churches and palaces.  We had the opportunity to take an evening boat cruise from Willingdon Island around the Cochin bay, and had some really pretty views of the sunset and the buildings lining the coast. See for yourself.

Chinese fishing nets at sunset

me with some of my course mates sporting the
obligatory orange life vests for our cruise

Baby Chacko, our cap'n

Here are some pictures from our houseboat cruise in Allepey.  The tourist industry has really developed since I did this about 10 years ago. Tons of boats, all well-equipped with AC, kitchens, 1-2 bedrooms (or even more), and real furniture.  We even saw a "conference" houseboat that had a room on the roof for meetings.  I guess you would have a captive audience! 

Late afternoon on the houseboat

Despite the inital clogged canals, the boats eventually spread out and we had the sense of being out in the middle of nowhere, floating along.  Despite the increased tourist traffic, it appeared that traditional life goes on as it has for centuries - rice paddies going for miles, women washing their clothes and dishes in the river ways, lots of farm animals.  We had a really relaxing time on the houseboat - and ate some great food: fresh prawns, banana fritters delicious fish served on banana leaves, yum! 

I also recently had the rare opportunity to visit the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, just West of Thailand in the Bay of Bengal.  It was an interesting trip - although we got a lot of rain, it was a beautiful place, and wonderful to be near the ocean again.  Havelock Island has been well developed as a tourist destination with resorts, diving spots, and unusual experiences like diving with an elephant on the menu.  I'd love to go back when it's not raining! :) We did get to visit a couple beaches and go swimming!

Hotel room at Port Blair

Radhanagar Beach, Havelock Island

On a Floating Dock

Having fun on the Helipad

Rajiv Gandhi statue, Port Blair

Treehouse! 

Havelock Island

Mysore and Tea

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Mysore, a great small town of South India with a beautiful and well preserved palace.  Mysore is famous for silk, too, and I went to a silk factory which was a really fascinating experience.  The process is amazingly intricate, going from mulberry silk pods to finished silk saris and other silk products.  Unfortunately, they don't allow cameras inside the factory, but I did get a pic in their sari show room. 

On the way down to Mysore, we passed through two wildlife reserves, and saw elephants, deer, boar, and monkeys. The elephants were being guided by reserve workers (they offer safari tours on the elephants), and they got REALLY close to the car. 

The highlight of the trip was the Mysore Palace.  Built in the early 1900s to replace the original palace after it burned down, it was designed by a British architect and incorporates design elements from Victorian, Mughal, and Hindu architecture, making for a really interesting and beautiful building.  In the evenings, they light it up with thousands of light, a visual treat! 

yummmmmmangoes

Ganesh doll

Worshippers could
purchase an offering for the
priest to bless

Huh? on a t-shirt

The promise on this "Nike" t-shirt
seems a bit overt, even for Nike

juxtaposition of old and new

We also visited Chamundi Hill and its temple. Similar to the technique used to manage long lines at an amusement park, at the temple you could pay Rs. 20 and go into the 2.5 hour line, or pay Rs. 100 and  get in the fast lane, which took about 20 min.  Either way, once the two lines merged at the temple entrance, it was the

quintessential press of the mass of 

bodies, each vying to get closer to 

the priest and receive a blessing.  The temple architecture was beautiful, and the streets outside were lined with shops selling everything from t-shirts with bad English to religious artifacts.  Here are a few more of my pictures.

last king of Mysore

Beautiful fields of sunflowers on the drive home from Mysore

Recently, we also had our first field exercise.  Conducted in a much more civilized manner than I've ever experienced, the "field" in the Army includes tea break, and involves sitting in a semi-circle on our camp chairs discussing the terrain around us.  This time, we were seated in the middle of a tea plantation, so it made for some great pictures!

My friend Ghiyas from Maldives is ready to go! 

Birthday Bash

International celebration of American Independence!
Maldives, Nepal, Canada and Singapore joined the Americans!

 This week, I celebrated America's Independence and my 33rd birthday.  Somehow, all my course mates found out that it was my birthday on the 4th (I swear I hardly told anyone the news!) so I had a lot of handshakes, best wishes, and demands for मिठाई (sweets).
It was a fun day, despite being far from home and having to go to class.  I hosted my first dinner party with a few friends and we feasted on tacos (complete with homemade sour cream and guacamole), salad, beans and rice. It was a lot of familiar flavors that I have missed!
I was able to Skype with family, and discovered the beauty of having friends and family on both sides of the international date line - I got to celebrate my birthday for two days!!

Trying out the cake! 

A few of my birthday gifts

 In other news, Aarti and I have been learning to ride horses, and it's been a lot of fun - but I must say, experienced riders make it look a lot easier than it is!  Note that the coach on the left has a stick - he's really the one making the horse move!

Every month, there's a flea market sale of rejected export clothes.  We went this weekend and found a few great buys - a bunch of tops for $1 each, a lot of name-brands.  I found a top that had a price tag of $45 on it - and bought it for $1.

Consumer Alert:
Made in America...eh, not so much

Also this weekend, we co-hosted a bigger party with the Canadian officer for Canada Day and Independence Day.  We served burgers and fries and had cakes with the American flag and Canadian flag.  It was a lot of fun - about 100 people came and celebrated with us! 

 It's been a fun week, topped off with a shopping trip to Coimbatore to take advantage of the Aadi sale: the month of Aadi in the Tamil calendar is considered inauspicious, so people traditionally avoid shopping...which means big sales for the rest of us! We visited a big Western-style mall and saw a lot of saris and salwar kameez.  I bought a sari (I know, I have a problem...) for under $10.

This upcoming week marks the end of my first "tutorial" - first of six for the course.  That means we have an exam, so I have to buckle down and can't have too much fun this week.  We'll be rewarded with a long weekend, though, and I'm definitely looking forward to that.  That's it from my end, until next time!

Another week, another sari...

This past week was hectic! Every night but one had some event, mostly academic, plus a couple social.  It started off with a bang - cocktails on Monday, where I got to display my newest sari.  See below (that's Aarti on the right).

It received rave reviews from the officers and their wives, and I think they appreciate the effort.  From my end, I'm finding I feel quite elegant in them, and may find a reason to buy a few more before the year is out!!

In class, things continued to get more intense, but we've had some really great honest discussions about the military, and I'm finding I have quite a lot in common with my fellow officers.  I feel like I'm getting to know each of them better and have really enjoyed their candor, intelligence, and humor.

One of the big tasks this week was to decide on a thesis topic for the course.  I decided to go broad so I can ensure there will be sufficient research available and chose the role of India in South Asia - analysis and recommendations. I figure I can narrow it down as I see what research is available, and hopefully it will be a topic I can revisit in future studies.

Things I'm thankful for this week:

-when I developed a minor cold, my cook (yes, I have a cook!) made me rasam to clear my sinuses.  It is straight-up chili water with some cilantro, garlic, and a few other spices. My throat is feeling it, but my sinuses do seem to be loosening up, too!

-my generator. The power has been out at least once a day this week, but it's barely been a blip for me thanks to my generator.

-the incredible culture of hospitality in India. I had a wonderful dinner at my sponsor's house with chicken curry, rajma, a bunch of other delicious dishes and dessert of khir and gulab jamun...yummy.

-the humor I'm finding in everyday life.  For example, since developing above mentioned cold, I have received a lot of unsolicited health advice, ranging from drinking rasam to haldi (turmeric) with milk to "drink three glasses of warm water first thing in the morning and then vomit.  It's a yoga technique"!  Who knows? I may get desperate enough to try a few of these!

-Aarti, my fellow American officer.  It's amazing how comforting it is to have someone close by who not only speaks the same language (English), but speaks your language (American).  As much as I enjoy the international officers and the Indians, it's great to hang out with someone who I know understands me culturally.

-The natural beauty here really is breathtaking. We had our inaugural hike on Saturday, and it was a lot of fun getting to chat with people and be out in nature.  Here are a couple pictures from the hike.  (Another example of Indian hospitality at its finest: for the hike, we had a water point, tea point, and at the end they cooked up a huge meal of biriyani, salad, curd/yogurt, and various appetizers (budgies).  Of course the mess team was also on hand with beer, cocktails, soda and chips on hand for sale. Pretty amazing logistically, and not a bad way to celebrate the end of the hike!!)

Always lovely tea plantations

Biriyani on the right, peppers and veggies on the left. Lunch is ready! 

There is so much more, but I'll save it for another rainy day.  Sadly, the rains kept me from starting horse riding lessons today.  Hopefully it'll be clear tomorrow afternoon.

One more highlight - this morning during tea break, the Madras Regimental Martial Arts team did an amazing demo for us.  Their martial arts is a mix of dance, yoga, and combat (with swords, sticks, and hands), most of it conducted to the beat of a drum team.  It was a lot of fun to watch! The finale involved synchronized splits which got a gasp (and enthusiastic applause) from the crowd!

Until next time! 

Enjoying Wellington

View from my neighborhood

So it's been about three weeks since the last post and much has happened.  Most importantly, my mom came out to visit me and we had a really great time together.  We got to visit Hebron, my high school, and meet the Principal and my former English teachers, which really triggered a lot of good memories.  Mom figured out what was going on in my yard and put my driver/gardener to shame with her hard work pulling up weeds.  We had some great Indian food, went boating on a lake, enjoyed getting to know the other international officers, and Mom (hopefully) got a much needed break from her busy routine back in California. Oh, and we got to wear saris....

My top two choices...how to decide?

Mom and me with Shanti, who did an amazing job putting the saris on us

The monkeys are still intriguing, but they're slowly transitioning over to pest status as the enjoy jumping on my backyard awning and tearing apart the neighborhood trash before the trash man comes around.  My upstairs neighbors had an unexpected simian visitor last week when someone forgot to lock the door and a monkey waltzed into the house, popped a squat on the dining room table and proceeded to eat a banana he found. I'm not sure what I would do in that situation, but the little girl (3) who found him was amused while her mother promptly screamed and ran into the other room and shut the door.

This past week we started college up full swing. There were a lot of introductory administrative lectures, but in the past few days we started getting into the good stuff.  The Indian officers have all been incredibly welcoming and kind.  On Friday I got to meet a few of the wives and kids, and they were also really friendly and fun.  I'm so glad to have such a great group of friends now - both international and Indian - with whom I will navigate this course.

In other news, monsoon season has started up in full swing, and we are guaranteed a few hours of rain every afternoon. I love it so far - it rains hard, but it doesn't get too cold, and it's lovely to see how green everything gets afterwards.  Plus it sort of mandates a little down time in the afternoon.  It's really hard to capture the intensity of rain in a photo, but I gave it my best.

Happy Father's Day! Dad - you continue to inspire, encourage, and demonstrate abiding in Christ with your life. Thank you. I love you and I wish we could be together today!

Dad in one of his favorite states - holding babies!