From Masala to Bollywood and everything in between! Catch up with me and my time around South Asia

Honey I'm home! I've just returned safely from a most thrilling trip to the southern elephant jungles of Kerala. The scenery in Wynad (also Wayanad) is something out of a movie--lush green landscapes. It looks as though you could fall from the sky and land safely among all the vines, bushes, and banana leaves covering the land. Not to mention they have the freshest air that’s ever entered my lungs! Not all was so beautiful though; it was an unpleasant learning experience amidst a great backdrop! I'm not sure any other foreigner has seen or experienced what Jacqueline or I have this past week/long weekend, we've learned invaluable lessons about dealing with pushy people, and mostly that we can overcome any setbacks or challenges that come our way! To fill you in Jacqueline is from Indiana and is student teaching and doing some traveling for the next 2 and half months here in Bangalore at Aditi International School. My administrator, and surrogate Indian mother, Jaya, has a sister who works at Aditi and connected Jacqueline with us. I was so excited to go to Kerala because it was under the pretense and understanding that it was going to be a sabbatical-type trip. I was going to teach the children of Kanavu (means dreams in Malayalam--local language) ballet and modern dance and they were going to teach me Kathakali (local dance and martial art form, you appear to fly through the air when executing!). So we set out with Saji, my yoga instructor, on Wednesday morning bright and early via the bus, and arrived in Wynad district, Kerala by the late afternoon. To get to Saji's remote part of the district we took the local commuter bus...which was packed, but a fun ride. Jacqueline and I quickly understood that this part of Kerala didn't see many tourists because we were thoroughly stared down by every single person on the street, in the bus, and throughout our time there. Often when I go places in Bangalore, or other places I’ve visited I'll be stared at but only until the people pass, and then you're out of their mind...but this was staring like we were at the zoo. People crossed streets, turned around multiple times as they walked away, and lead us to feel very odd and out of place. Note about the buses in Wynad--because the area is very hilly the buses feel more like rollercoasters--open windows create gale-force winds blowing through your hair, and the buses chug to the top of each hill with the weight of the passengers, and then coast down at high rates of speed, sending your stomach into your throat! I loved the buses and preferred them to expensive, privately hired jeeps; we had bad experiences with these later on—being charged too much mostly. The first thing we saw at the main junction was a large display of Communist flags and propaganda; a new experience for me. I came to understand that Kerala is known for its Communist political following and it's nothing new, especially in the remote parts where the main form of work is agriculture. So we arrived at the Kanavu School, trekking some Kilometers into the jungle down winding and overgrown paths lined with rubber tree farms. To enter the main part of Kanavu’s campus you have to cross tiny bamboo bridges (literally 2 thin pieces of bamboo sticking out of the mounds of dirt) that cross the streams and giant mud puddles of the low wetlands. It was a balancing act…with backpacks and bags and after our travel we just wanted to freshen up and rest. We were introduced to the “campus” which consisted of one main building which had the main classroom, kitchen, pantry, and some storage. Off this building were the three bathrooms/showers, and in front of those was the well where all of the water was taken from, and the soap stone for beating your laundry. Then you walked down a path to reach the other structure—the library, and dormitories. Jacqueline and I knew ahead of time we’d be roughing it, but we were surprised when we were shown our room. Saji, showed us how to make our beds—roll out one burlap mat, then put the grass/bamboo mat on top and Voile! Cement-floor bed is ready! Just in time to welcome us to our new room a spider the size of a silver dollar pancake comes scurrying out of the corner. Now, I was ready for bugs, and brought all my repellants…but spiders with an abdomen the size of my little finger just aren’t gonna cut it when I’m sleeping on the floor. Spiders and I have a long history—they always bite me, something about my blood, it’s prime choice for those arachnids! We shooed the spider and hoped he wasn’t too fond of his/our home. We had our plain rice and salty banana curry (the standard meal for dinner and lunch, they change it up by adding a new protein item—like crab, egg, or chicken when they can come by it) for dinner. That night we took our bath with the well water…freezing, and a combination of some scalding water just off the stove equals a luke-warm shower…just don’t forget to mix proper amounts of hot and cold. You’re required to bathe yourself over the same hole you use for the bathroom…rather interesting experience, and a first for me! We had no option after dinner but to return to our room, read some and then retire and make ourselves vulnerable for the critters to chew on…and this is pretty much what happened. We woke up the next morning to the sounds of the kid goat, and the roosters. Jacqueline found that she’d been eaten up all over her face by a combination of mosquitoes and spiders, and I had spider bites up and down my neck, my wrists and ankles…I’m still recovering days later in fact. Since it was raining in the morning we just relaxed and slept in until the rain passed…there’s not much to do when it’s raining. Then we got up and had breakfast—tapioca and you guessed it RICE! We also had our first fresh coffee experience—black with plenty of sugar and tasting like whisky. Jacqueline and I were apprehensive to drink the coffee at first, but soon we saw that all the little kids were drinking it too…and we figured that if it had alcohol in it they would have already been hitting the floor. Clearly there is no issue with hyperactivity among these children…coffee for toddlers?!?! Later in the morning we went for a short walk to the main junction and back, and upon our return we were sitting in the atrium when Jacqueline was attacked by a leach…she was worried that it wouldn’t stop bleeding, and that a blood sucking, and possibly disease-transmitting creature had gotten her! We washed the wound thoroughly and Jacqueline was a great sport in the end. After some twittilng of the thumbs we began to wonder when the students we were supposed to teach would show up, but we knew it was a government holiday so we weren’t really expecting anything too busy for Thursday. They showed us a video of how Kanavu USED to be, and that’s when it dawned on me that Kanavu School is no longer a working school…but one that has fallen into disrepair and hard times after all the students have grown up and not been replenished with new pupils. The school was established to try and teach tribal children about their traditions and cultural arts and keep them alive, unfortunately there was only one generation and they’ve all gone off and been eaten up by the modern world and globalization. We spent the afternoon in a more enjoyable manner, even though we were disappointed about no REAL Kannavu students to teach English to or many of our other expectations. I demonstrated some ballet and modern dance for the older residents of the commune (former students of Kanavu), and then gave about 4 of them a ballet class and then made a short combination for them to do. They were very excited and eager to learn the new dances. They don’t get out much, and considered the electric slide “break dancing” as it seems someone had taught them. They taught me a Gujarati dance (folk dance from the north west Indian state of Gujarat). This was one of the highlights of the trip and although we didn’t have music, we had Saji to play the drums for us. At sunset we trekked through the rice paddies lining the deep forest to the little village that Saji comes from. We met his mum, and his cousins. They still live in the traditional style—huts made of bamboo and mud—the nicest ones are three rooms—kitchen, storage, and sleeping quarters. They were so happy to meet us, and they told us (through Saji’s translations) that prior to meeting us they’d never seen a Caucasian person. They had only seen them in advertisements and magazines. We watched the sunset with our new tribal friends and then headed back—racing the setting sun to the bus stop…no street lamps in the jungle! As we spent more time there we realized why exactly they hadn’t disclosed the school’s failings to us and how exactly they planned on manipulating Jacq. and I—they wanted our money and assumed because we were westerners our pockets were deep. Saji tried and tried and tried to have me give over money to him, wouldn’t let me see the bill, but expected payment, and not just for his meals, but our driver’s meals and his friends—not chipping in a dime. When we expressed our frustration he tried to let himself off the hook by saying it’s a custom to tip your tour guide…but I reminded him that he’s my teacher, and not my tour guide even when we’re in Kerala and what he was doing was unprofessional and called embezzlement…he didn’t understand that word! One night they fed me banana curry with rotten eggs in it, so I spent the night and next few days (even now 6 nov.) with severe stomach cramps and all sorts of problems…just let your imagination run free! In addition when we woke up the next day we found our spider friend back, more bites than ever, and feeling like this nightmare had to end soon or Jacq. and I were going to go ballistic. They were fed up with us and we were fed up with them. I bought a kg. of sweets for everyone at the commune to share, and no one even said thank you…and plenty of them knew enough English, or even just how to show gratitude without saying anything…oh well, who needs manners anyway?!?! (JUST KIDDING) The last day in Kerala was the most bittersweet. We went to this mountain that housed Eddakal Caves—the Ambukuthy Mountain. The Caves were awesome and within held hieroglyphs from the pre-historic period, which puzzle archeologists to this day. It was so cool to see this first-hand…and a huge boulder that fell on top of this cravas makes the cave. This boulder split the cravas on impact, and you can see out of the cave through a small crack, from there you can see all of Kerala! We then ascended the mountain, which was straight up and I hadn’t realized how literal all fours rock climbing would be, so I had worn my sandals (Chappal as they call ‘em here). I had to drop my sandals on a little way point once we were high enough…they just weren’t cutting it…so barefoot I ascended. I felt like a real mountain goat! It was a beautiful 360-degree view of green, mountain and cloud from the top! I did some yoga Pranayama (breathing/meditation) at the top and thanked God for giving me life! I was exhilarated…but now I had to slide down the side of the mountain….and that was exactly what I did. I slid so much that the heel of my sandal slid right off the shoe!!! By evening, after continued hassling and attempts at more embezzlement Jacq. and I knew it was time for us to go…so after much headache and complicated discussion with the unwilling Saji we finally arranged to catch a bus back to Bangalore Sunday night late. I told him I wasn’t feeling well (not a lie, just embellished about the urgency of return), and Jacq. had school Monday and still had to write a paper and lesson plan. So Saji arranged the jeep to come back around 9:30, and in less than 30 minutes Jacq. and I had packed all our things, and we read aloud to pass the rest of the 2 hours! The excitement continued through the whole journey home---first in the jeep Saji told the driver to scoot over and that he would drive….he was awful, and it felt as if he was going to kill us with his poor stick-shift driving on the winding Kerala back roads, then they dropped us right there as a bus was leaving for Bangalore---not from a bus station but a cramped economy bus. Jacq. had to yell at the top of her lungs to get the bus to stop (so fortunate!), I thought this was very unprofessional of Saji to just drop us like that at a unreserved and improper bus stand…I mean who knows who could be on this kind of bus…at least government buses have a security person. We were lucky though…no one tried to bother us, and we sat squished ( I was in the middle, butt cheeks falling asleep) with a young girl from Tamil Nandu on the aisle seat. Every so often bugs would crawl out of the seats and at one point or another they’d crawl on us and we’d freak out internally but remain composed and brush the bugs off one another! I had to dose myself with Jacq.’s prescription strength Imodium to make the bus journey, and I was lucky my stomach complied until we reached Bangalore. We reached Bangalore at 4:40 am and were pleased to find out the local buses began functioning at 5am. So we wandered as inconspicuously as two white girls with luggage can be at 4:45 in the morning until we found our correct bus (took some searching and pacing the different bus bays), but we got the first bus out to Gubbi cross! I was so happy once we made it to the bus…I had a sense of accomplishment and finally felt like I could let some of my guard down. Of course though our bus couldn’t just drop us in the usual spot right in front of the college gate, but no at 5:30 they only go half the way to the college…so we had to walk the rest of the way down the road and I ended up slipping into a mud puddle—splashing my white pants, muddying up my newly cleaned shoes (post Kerala rice paddy mud) and my whole left hand and forearm were covered in mud! What a welcoming home from a non-stop trip. I couldn’t have gotten through the chaos without Jacqueline and her lighthearted and humorous ways. I’m so lucky she went too, in the beginning she wasn’t slated to…I don’t want to imagine what it would’ve been like without her. So slowly the bites are healing, and my frustration with Saji for his dishonesty is easing. After all I have no time to spare I’m in the planning phase for my trip to Thailand! Tomorrow night I leave on a 10:45pm flight to Bangkok and will be meeting my friend Samantha (from OU—studying in Australia), Jamie (from DC—studying in Japan) and Gigi’s coming along with me. We’re spending 2 days in Pattaya (beach setting 1.5 hours from Bangkok) and 3 days in Bangkok! I think I’m most excited about hanging out with the girls and eating some good Thai cuisine! Bring on the Utopia….will update when back, thanks for reading! XOXO