The Nature Whisperer...

I can’t stand The Nature, but I’m learning to love it bit by bit. I’m even considering going camping when I come home much to the joy of many people (Martha Sue and LBJ). However, it still takes time to get use to the idea. This weekend I was in The Nature and loved every minute of it. Well, almost every minute of it. Allison, Bryce, Jacqi, and I drove up to Munnar (don’t worry we hired a driver) to visit the famous tea plantation. It was a gorgeous ride and we even stopped to look at waterfalls and wild monkeys. It was so cute to see little baby ones clinging to their mothers as they crossed the street. After we left the monkeys, we traveled further up the mountain to our cottage to stay the night. Our driver took us on a ‘short hike’ (5km), up the whole way, to a farm where we played with a puppy named Julie and watched one of the farm hands ride a bull. It was really funny and I had a great time petting the animals. The next day we went driving around taking pictures of the tea plantations and shopping in Munnar. I also tempted a dragonfly to land on my finger, but didn't have my camera on me; however, Allison will vouch for me!

Blah...

I feel like every blogger reaches this point. “I’m almost done, I have nothing else to say.” Well, persistent blog readers I have reached that point. Can you believe I only have 6 more weeks left at Rajagiri!!! I leave here on November 5th and will be celebrating Diwali in Delhi with some roomies and a couple of new friends. My Dad will then be flying over to travel throughout Rajasthan for a week and then I’m home to celebrate my favorite holiday….Thanksgiving!!! I cannot believe I’ve been living here so long and been able to experience so much in such a short about of time. My friends and I have planned a jammed packed 6 weeks full of weekend trips throughout Southern India. I promise to post pictures and have funny stories. In other exciting news my sister, Jennifer, will be having her baby boy next month!!! I’m so sad I cannot be there to hold him, but the moment I get off the plane in America I’m heading to Philly to hold my little nephew!
This past weekend we took another boat trip on the backwaters with Jen (Jacqi's best friend who came to visit) and had a blast. We all just had a good time hanging out and telling funny stories from college. We are heading to Munnar this weekend to visit a tea plantation and hang out with some elephants. I'll post pictures when I get back!


(Jen and I practicing some yoga moves)

Backwaters...

This past weekend several of us took a boat tour of the Backwaters of Kerala. It was amazing and relaxing. We had the entire boat to ourselves! I was able to fit in 2 small naps throughout the day and take a ton of pictures.

Halfway...

I’m a little over halfway done with my time here in India. I was laying on the floor of my apartment thinking over all the things I have come accustom to this past few months. For example, today I came home from field and was too exhausted to take a shower. However, I was too gross to get in my bed…logically I just took a nap on the floor of my room and didn’t think twice about it. Another thing I did today was to eat fish with little tiny bones. As I was picking through the fish I came across the fish eggs…and again thought nothing of it as I picked around the bones and eggs with my fingers. If you know anything about me I rarely eat anything on a bone unless it is ribs that my mother has cooked, but there I was eating fish on a bone. Again while in the village today I was taken to a Chinese fishing net and of course I climbed on the bamboo bridge (it was cracking as I was crossing it) and thought nothing of it. It was beautiful to overlook the water and then crawl even further out onto the net as it jutted out over the river. I continued to lay there after my nap on the floor and think about things that I thought were so shocking or strange before, but have become so common it seems silly to even write about. For example, if you are on a bus you are expected to push and shove your way to a seat, but the minute a woman gets on with a baby you are expected to offer your seat. Also, it is perfectly normal to see a family of 4 sometimes 5 packed onto a motorbike. It has amazed me the amount of things one can carry on a single motorbike: doors, chairs, huge bags of rice, tiny babies, large stacks of newspaper, computer monitors, and even bushels of bananas. Children insist on helping me cross the street by holding my hand. I am perfectly able to cross a street on my own, but they won’t let me do it. If the power goes out while taking a shower you just try to remember where you put your shampoo and hope for the best. Also, before getting the in shower you do a quick check to make sure no spiders or lizards have found there way in, but if they have you just shoo them away. Also, not really scared of spiders anymore except for the really, really big ones. By big I mean the ones that are bigger than my hand; I’m not sure I’ll ever we okay with those monsters. Setting aside an entire morning to tackle your laundry seems perfectly normal here. You just put on your iPod and start washing those clothes with yours hands. Money is also a funny thing over here. I will argue and argue with someone over 10 rupees (about .20 cents) and not pay for anything if I can help it. I will take a bus instead of a rickshaw and then walk 3 extra km to save $2. I also brought a fan over from American and since the beginning of the trip this fan has lost 2 blades and started to make a funny noise. Instead of buying another one (I’m sure I could get one for $3) I ‘fixed’ it by tying some string around the top of the fan. I am that girl now and I don’t care.

(don't panic...thanks)

(baby fan)

(Sister Medona playing on Chinese fishing net)