Baby Victories...

There aren't many things that make me excited in India. I'm daily fighting for my life with the Nature, trying to forge for food to sustain life, or attempting to communicate with the locals. However, we all joke about 'baby victories'. A 'baby victory' is very small thing that makes our day. I don't mean 'makes our day' for a moment, I mean 'makes our day and we keep talking about it for weeks victory'. I’m not sure why we call it a ‘baby victor’, but it just sounds cute. An example would be Bebi (our house mom) killing a huge spider and then exclaiming "SPIDER NO LIFE!!!", not getting caught in a monsoon, getting off at the proper bus stop, eating a decent meal, or even having a conversation with someone and understanding the content. These are all ‘baby victories’ in my life in India.

However, a ‘baby victory’ that comes almost everyday from someone in the States is mail. I want to thank all of you for your postcards, letters, packages, cards, and little notes. Biju, the guy in charge of us, joked with me today that he is going to start charging me handling fees because I’m getting so much mail (he really just wants American chocolate). I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone!! The Janer for all the food, Jennifer (John, Spencer, and baby Carty) for all the countless hilarious letters, Caitlin for all your many packages (I cannot wait to see you in 2 weeks), Suzanna for your cute card, Ryan for my drinks and new pint glass (I drank this afternoon for you), Philip for your bootleg copy of my favorite movie (I still haven’t gotten it yet, but what do you expect with the two countries we are living in), Dancing Mandy for your wedding invitation, and Lyndsey for your fun card!!!

Thank you all so much for everything!!


(thank you Ryan)

Playgrounds in India...

Things are picking up in India. I've begun doing research for 'best practices' for human trafficking victims and visiting several safehouses for children rescued from brothels. It's very sad to see some of these little girls and knowing what they have seen and been through, but to see their smiling faces is wonderful!

Most of my days are now filled with research and traveling to different places, but today we stayed on campus to play around. Jacqi and I found this cute little playground on campus and decided to take advantage of it. I will say this was the best playground I've seen thus far in India...I'm still on the hunt rest assure.

Clearly...

The other day our group decided to visit the city of Fort Kochi to eat a decent dinner and have a few drinks. Fort Kochi is known for the famous Chinese fishing nets which are amazing to watch. However, we were more interested in acquiring food so we didn’t stop to take pictures. We found a fun place right outside the boat ferry where we could sit outdoors and order a feast of food/drinks.

(Knock Out Beer)

Menus are typically in English, but is quiet interesting to read some of the descriptions of “American Food”.

(thank goodness that was clarified)

We all had great time eating, drinking, and relaxing by the water. Tomorrow we will be celebrating July 4th complete with fireworks and Pizza Hut at a friend's apartment. I'm sure it will prove to be an amazing time and I promise to post pictures!!

Outrageous…

After a truly exhausting day of sitting around doing nothing yesterday, Jacqi and I decided to take it easy and read/sleep on this hot, humid Sunday. We went to Oberon Mall to eat some delicious (makes me sick afterward) pizza. To get to this amazing haven we have to take a death trap for a once fearful, but now enjoyable ride.

(actual view of a passing death trap from a death trap)

The entire cost of a one-way trip costs 60 rupees ($1.27). However, on our return trip the ‘cabbie’ tried to swindle us for an outrageous 90 rupees!!!! Jacqi and I proceed to argue with him over (if you can’t do the math) .43 cents. That’s right, I’ve become ‘that’ girl who argues over .43 cents. I’m totally fine in the States paying outrageous amounts of money for the Office Season 7 (HD), but I will not be had over .43 cents.

(picture of a 'nice' death trap complete with tarp to keep out monsoon)

Somasa...

Yesterday was a very exciting day…lies. I was going to go visit safe-house for children, but they canceled it at the last minute so I was stuck on campus all day ‘researching’. However, I was able to pick up the rest of my new India clothes that I’m being forced to wear and found a cute little India shop where I can buy snacks. I bought some Cheetos (which expired in May, but were still great), crackers, a samosa, and some sort of chips….all for only .88 such a steal. The samosa was great!!!

(actual street somosa)

Caitlin and Kim (along with Kim’s dogs Winnie and Asia) were able to Skype with me the other night (morning for them). We had a nice time chatting and I was able to watch them eat a frozen India dinner! It was great chatting and catching up with people from home. I’m really loving this Skype situation.


(Winnie)

Train Rides...

Yesterday, we woke up at 3am to travel 4.5 hour (just one way) on a blue, bug infested, ‘air-conditioned’, cramped train to the southern most tip of India to the city of Kovalam. We then took a 30-minute bus ride to random bus stop in the middle of nowhere and then caught an auto rickshaw to travel down a mud road to a small fishing/coconut village. Sidenote: auto rickshaws are small three-wheeled taxis that we take to get around when buses are unavailable. I would like to refer to them from now on as a ‘death trap’.

The fishing/coconut village itself sits about 10 feet from the Arabian Sea. We were all able to sit and take a moment to enjoy the ocean breeze before we began our work. The village has also experienced severe tsunamis in years past and has since barracked the beach with huge boulders to try and protect the village.



We were there with the organization OutReach to assess the village and the needs of the family to send their children to school. It was a long process, but now at least one child from each family in the village will be ‘sponsored’. It was emotional to see some of these families and what little they had to live on. Our guides told us that when fishing is doing poorly that families will ‘harvest’ coconuts and make the thready inside of coconuts into twine to sell at the market. A typical day of a coconut worker would be working from 3am-7pm.

baby coconut tree.

After we were done we took the train back (another 4.5 hours) home. It was a looooooooooong day, but well worth it.

Envy...

Today was a very special day after a rigorous session of learning Malayalam (the language) Biji brought me my first package!!!!!


I was overjoyed to open my mail and find nothing other than a book...and a vampire book at that!! Life could not get any better today. Caitlin you are one amazing person!!!


I also had an awkward encounter with a our local chef. I was watching him butcher some fish for what I assume will be our lunch later on and I witnessed a cat stalking the fish. I tried to inquire if they were going to feed the cat the scraps of fish, but I think he thought I was asking if he was going to cook the cat with the fish. He shook his head back and forth saying 'Oh no!!'. However, later on I saw him feeding the cat the leftover fish. I hope he doesn't think I'm a weirdo now.