Day One, Monday, October 10th, 2011: Chennai chaos
My primary reason to write something on the first day is I feel like I miss things when I wait until the end. Journaling on paper in a diary, for some reason, doesn't do much for me. I mean, I understand the value of it, but I can't seem to bring myself to journal on the same level most of my friends do. Plus, my blog here is basically my electronic journal, full of my observations, opinions, feelings, and questions. Second, today has been an adventure in and of itself. We were told there is no way to prepare for India and I already feel unprepared and overwhelmed. I love it, though. Thirdly, I need a way to pass a time on this train that doesn't involve gnawing on one of the metal bars from my own stir crazy thumb twiddling.
I did not wake up for the entry into Chennai. Frankly, the port is ugly. You can't even see the city. It's a huge change from the pink beaches, green mountains, and small skyscrapers of Port Louis, Mauritius and the touristy V&A Waterfront and blanket of clouds above Table Mountain of Cape Town, South Africa. I munched on my breakfast happily until I was called to retrieve my passport and go through customs. I had nothing to do the first day, so I decided to explore Chennai with bunch of SAS kids, which ended up with only Chelsey and Natenial.
Afterwards, I wandered out to the reception desk where tour guides had set up a little stand with guide books and maps. While I was there, I ran into Natenial. Remember him? He is one of the Presidential scholars, so do I. And do you remember Chelsey? Drunk girl from South Africa and one of my best here. Yes, her. The three of us decided we wanted to go into Chennai for lunch. I met up with her and Nate and sauntered off the ship into a brand new continent, a brand new world I've long heard about: Asia. Okay, so perhaps you might be thinking India is to Asia as Morocco was to Africa: not "Asian." Whatever you want to argue, I am geographically and politically on the 4th of four continents I will be visiting this year. I'd rather not think about how time is slowly slipping away, so I'm going to ignore that I just said that. Don't bring it up to me if we end up conversing, reader, if you actually exist, that is.
We made it to the outside of the port. Some rickshaw drivers met us, offering to drive us places. We were hesitant to take a ride, thinking we could save some money and walk into the city. After some bartering, we agreed to take a rickshaw with Vijay and Morgan. I believe his name was Morgan, at least. They both kept calling me "Sham," "Slam," and "Siam," so for now, his name is Morgan. Vijay and Morgan took us on a brief city tour, stopping off at the beach, a church, a Hindi temple, two department stores, and a restaurant. While we were on the beach, they let us drive the rickshaw. Yes, folks, that's right. I drove a rickshaw and did not crash. Maybe now I'll be able to drive an actual car in Europe without wrecking it. We'll see. The church we went to, St. Someone-Who-I-Could-Check-The-Name-Of-On-My-Camera-But-It's-Buried-In-My-Backpack-And-I-Have-No-Internet-Right-Now, was one of the three churches in the world that contained the tomb of an Apostle of Jesus Christ, the other two being St. Somebody-Else in Spain and St. Peter's in Vatican City. Having gone to Vatican City at the ripe age of 20, I am two for three on these churches. As for the temple, it was right by a busy market and featured some pretty fascinating artwork. We weren't allowed inside, but the exterior was captivating; pictures soon, potentially. The two stores, though, were basically the same: big, tacky, and filled with expensive trinkets for gullible tourists. My final stop, the restaurant, was definitely the highlight. Indian food takes the cake (ha) when it comes to all the countries we have been to thus far. It's spicy, flavorful, and filling. Plus, we are expected to eat with our hands. A messy man need not complain. Before that lunch, Chelsey and Nate had some delicious street food, wrapped in newspaper and touched by dirty hands of street vender. Very nice J
The day ended up on the ship thinking about what tomorrow?
Day Two, Tuesday, October 11th, 2011: Mamulapuram
Waking up very early, couple of my friends and I decided to go to Mamulapuram. Mamulapuram is a small city approximately one hour away from Chennai. Me, Woody, Caroline, Luke, Joe and Megan packed our backpacks and without any plans, we took two rickshaws to go to Mamulapuram. After discussing a lot with our drivers, we arranged the price. Finally. On the way to this place, we visited crocodile reservation which has around 300 crocodiles. It was really nice visiting this place and communicated with locals over there. We also visited Tiger Cave, but unfortunately we didn’t see tiger, haha :D
However, after more than two hours, we got to Mamulapuram in some cheap, but nice hotel. There were four beds for six of us, but for 5 dollars, we agreed it was OK. We took tourist walk in this city and very soon I could see how beautiful nature in India is. Also, at the same time, we could see trash absolutely everywhere. Not just trash, but also cows which are part of the culture. They are walking everywhere, roads, markets, houses, everywhere. I guess this is already getting boring for you, so I will just say that that night we hanged out in our room, all together and chill. No one could even imagine that the next day was going to be crazy.
Day Three, Wednesday, October 12th, 2011: Kanchipuram and crazy trains of India
We woke not really early, but early enough to go to Kanchipuram, the city 2 hours away from Mamulapuram. It is the city full of amazing architecture, temples and old buildings. We stayed there almost whole day and had a lunch, which was probably the highlight of the day. We were sitting on some small benches, next to each other with thousands of Indians around us. We didn’t get plates, but banana’s leaf. On that leaf we got rice and different spices, vegetables and creams. When I saw that, I was thinking that wouldn’t be able to eat that, but once I tried it was absolutely delicious. The whole meal was 1 dollar. Seriously?
We had our taxi driver for the whole day, which was the best idea ever J After a while; the guy gave us a ride to Chennai. We arrived in Chennai around 7pm. We had a dinner on the ship when we decided to go to Kerala, 11 hours train ride from Chennai in different state in India. No one was prepared, but the train was leaving at 8:50pm. We quickly changed our clothes and run out the ship to find some transportation to the train station. Me, Joe and Caroline were in one rickshaw, the others left with other one. Since the beginning I realized that something was wrong with our driver, since he didn’t reply on all my questions. Suddenly, his rickshaw stopped working. I asked him if everything is ok, he said yes, but he barely was able to give me an answer. I told Joe and Caroline that I think our driver is drunk. At that moment he turned to us and shushed. All of us were like wtf? The rickshaw stopped couple of times during the way to the train station. I was pretty scared. Chaos of Indian traffic made me even worst. Since we were really slow, I realized that we won’t be at the train station before 9pm, which means we would miss our train. I was hoping that others were waiting for us. Our driver was so drunk that he turned to the wrong way. I was shocked having a ride in the opposite side. He gave us a ride to the wrong station. We all freaked out. At some point when we were pretty close to the station, the rickshaw didn’t want to start, so we were in the middle of intersection, with three busses honking, 2 people yelling and thousands of rickshaws around us. At that moment, police man came and hit our driver and told him something in Hindu language. Crazyyyyyy. At 9pm we got to the station and fortunately the train was delay, so we bought the tickets and got to the train to Kerala at 9:15pm. Through the massive crowds, poorly structured bureaucratic nightmare, and sweltering non-air conditioned heat, we somehow figured out how to purchase our tickets for the train. We scarfed down some food (sidenote: my meal cost less than $1 and filled me up perfectly; looks like my budget isn't totally screwed from failed taxi rides!) and then found our platform.
Apparently, we had some weird tickets. We wanted A/C cabin, but we got only seats. Once we get to the cars with seats, there were no more available seats, so they told us to sit on the floor. We all freaked out thinking that we will spend all night in smelly car on the floor. However, one of the conductors wanted to help, so he found separate beds for us, but we didn’t mind at that point. I hugged my purse and fell asleep.
I guess I felt inspired to write this because in this one day, I feel like India as a place, a body of people, and a world beyond anything else will never actually leave me. The smells already have pleasantly poked at and disgustingly invaded my nasal cavity. The people have been far more friendly and talkative than I expected. The beggars, though sad, are as much a part of the experience as anything else. The food cannot even be simply described. I have had to bite my tongue and keep cool at numerous points during the day in order to not let a jaded westernized viewpoint get in the way of trying to understand this confusing place. Keeping cool has been a theme as I've figured out how to navigate my way about.
India, so far, doesn't seem quite real. The mystique so often portrayed and talked about is there and is as wonderful as I hoped for. India, so far, is shaping into an experience, rather than just a place. All of this from just one day may seem premature, but it's true when people say India is in-your-face from the beginning. It hasn't let up one bit, and I'm looking forward to more. This took about an hour to write. Ten hours left in this limbo before stepping off into Kerala.
Day Four, Thursday, October 13th, 2011: Elepants
A 12 hour train ride, nice. For sitting for so long, it's pretty exhausting. Granted, as soon as I finished writing my entry, I listened to a little music and fell asleep. I use that very lightly, though, because I tossed and turned for most of the bumpy night. My neck was sore in the morning from the lack of pillow. When we reached our destination, we knew it that we had to take another taxi or bus to get to the place that we wanted. Looking for the bus, we ended up in the cab that took us to Kerala jungle. Our driver took us on an hour long ride through Kerala down narrow city streets and alleyways and overgrown flora. It rained a few times along the way. There's a reason why Kerala is so green all the time. The major difference between the rickshaw I took in Chennai and this taxi in Kerala is that this one took us directly to our destination-we did not stop at any stores, we weren't taken on any sort of tour, we didn't even get to pass "Go" and collect $200 (I feel like I've used that joke before.oh, well).
After arriving in a small city in Kerala, we immediately got a brochure what to do. The best idea for that day was riding elephants. After getting really nice apartments, we went to ride elephants. That was amazing. Each of us got a chance to feed them and got a shower. I was blessed.
Much of the rest of our time was spent walking around and relaxing. During our preports about India, we warned about loudness. Kerala is the quiet part of India. That being said, there are plenty of things for travelers and tourists to do. Dutch and British colonial influence is still felt-we passed by a Dutch cemetery and right next door was a British gentlemen's club. We were also warned that street food will rip our stomachs to shreds. We ignored that, opting to eat must of our meals from vendors. It was always touched by hands, wrapped in old newspaper, but mouthwatering and delicious. Often we would sit on the floor in the lobby of our hostel and eat straight off the newspaper; college has taught us well.
Much of the rest of our time was spent walking around and relaxing. During our preports about India, we warned about loudness. Kerala is the quiet part of India. That being said, there are plenty of things for travelers and tourists to do. Dutch and British colonial influence is still felt-we passed by a Dutch cemetery and right next door was a British gentlemen's club. We were also warned that street food will rip our stomachs to shreds. We ignored that, opting to eat must of our meals from vendors. It was always touched by hands, wrapped in old newspaper, but mouthwatering and delicious. Often we would sit on the floor in the lobby of our hostel and eat straight off the newspaper; college has taught us well.
Day Five, Friday, October 14th, 2011: Tigers, elephants and wild boars
Final day in Kerala, we decided to do nature walk in jungle of Kerala. We took a cab to the park and started walk into the deep jungle. Leeches were everywhere, but at that point we were so dirty, that nobody actually cared. We saw wild elephants and wild boars very close to us, but unfortunately we haven’t seen any tigers. After 3 hours of walking it was time for lunch and night bus to Chennai. I am sorry for making these stories shorter, but I am kinda tired of writing about India and all the things that happened. Sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry guys.
If there has been a country that has inspired me the most, it has to be India. Everything has given me this sense of ethereal wonderment. We were told it would be "an attack on the senses," but that implies that it would hurt; I've felt such joy from the sensory overload of my past few days here. To be perfectly honest, Kerala is definitely not like the India portrayed in movies and other media. It's cleaner, quieter, and slower. That's what makes this country so fascinating to me, though. The people who chose the Taj and other "tourist" destinations are got a completely different India than me. I must come back. India is so big. Any adjective you want to describe India could in some capacity. Yes, it's dirty. Yes, there's poverty. Yes, it's sad. In all its negative stereotypes and connotations, India is ultimately a beautifully complex land that I cannot write about as well as I wish I could; I leave that task to a writer far better than I ever will be. It is an impossible task to succinctly describe. It is impossible to not use hyperbole when talking about it. If Semester at Sea claims to give us appetizers about all the ports we visit, they gave us barely a glass of wine for India.
If there has been a country that has inspired me the most, it has to be India. Everything has given me this sense of ethereal wonderment. We were told it would be "an attack on the senses," but that implies that it would hurt; I've felt such joy from the sensory overload of my past few days here. To be perfectly honest, Kerala is definitely not like the India portrayed in movies and other media. It's cleaner, quieter, and slower. That's what makes this country so fascinating to me, though. The people who chose the Taj and other "tourist" destinations are got a completely different India than me. I must come back. India is so big. Any adjective you want to describe India could in some capacity. Yes, it's dirty. Yes, there's poverty. Yes, it's sad. In all its negative stereotypes and connotations, India is ultimately a beautifully complex land that I cannot write about as well as I wish I could; I leave that task to a writer far better than I ever will be. It is an impossible task to succinctly describe. It is impossible to not use hyperbole when talking about it. If Semester at Sea claims to give us appetizers about all the ports we visit, they gave us barely a glass of wine for India.
Day Six, Saturday, October 15th, 2011:
India, more than any other country I have traveled to thus far, was didactic. The twelve hour train rides, the poverty, the extremely different ways of living, all of this and more added to an experience vastly more educational and reflective than previous ports of call. This is not to say the others were not, but India took the entire shipboard community by storm; people are still readjusting to life back on the ship; a new country tomorrow seems almost too soon since not many people are fully back from their own Indian experiences yet. India, we were told, would be a turning point in the voyage. I feel a difference already. I feel an excitement, a need to continue traveling following the end of the voyage. I guess in that regard it won't be an end, but merely a beginning, but I'll touch on that in two months or so. Kerala was interesting.
Growing up in Europe, I've been taught to believe in Europeans ideals, especially in terms of economics. It's the American dream, isn't it? Earn your wealth, right? Capitalism and a free market economy have been imparted into me for a myriad of reasons, and while I may not be studying economics, business, political theory, or anything within that family of study, I like to think I have a pretty decent understanding of American and Europeans governments and economic institutions. I grew up outside of Paris, London or any other “big city”, so it was always difficult to escape it, though I suppose an overexposure to it made me somewhat jaded.
I may not have been alive during the 1950's, so I don't have a basis for comparison, but the Red Scare and witch hunt style politics have certainly made a comeback in recent years. Accusations of President Obama not being an American, claiming Islam as his religion, supporting socialism and communism, and a whole laundry list of other claims have sprung up in the media from worrisome Americans foolishly launching attacks against him and other politicians because of an intense fear of a different style of politics. I'm not saying Obama and his administration are socialist, communist, or any other "-ist," but I definitely do believe they have a different idea of politics as we enter a more globalized world marketplace.
Kerala, where I spent my time in India, is primarily communist. Hammer and sickle flags were everywhere and I saw propaganda posters. We had a cab driver who I identified himself as a communist. So what? America and European Union has instilled an inherent fear of communism; the idea of it may sound reasonable enough on paper, but the actual practice of it, according to what I have been taught by American society, is evil. As I am entering Vietnam in a week and China in two weeks, I'm wondering how I will feel in countries that completely identify as communist, rather than just a small portion of them. Since my parents grew up in communism, I am wondering how life of people in these countries will help me to understand actual meaning of communism and how does it actually work? I am ready to find out.
Does it work? Kerala was a happy enough place. Sure, there were high unemployment and suicide rates, but literacy and education rates are astonishingly high. It's considered first world, despite communist tendencies. Being exposed to different cultures means being exposed to different ways of doing things, both commonplace and vitally important to the structure of the country.
Growing up in Europe, I've been taught to believe in Europeans ideals, especially in terms of economics. It's the American dream, isn't it? Earn your wealth, right? Capitalism and a free market economy have been imparted into me for a myriad of reasons, and while I may not be studying economics, business, political theory, or anything within that family of study, I like to think I have a pretty decent understanding of American and Europeans governments and economic institutions. I grew up outside of Paris, London or any other “big city”, so it was always difficult to escape it, though I suppose an overexposure to it made me somewhat jaded.
I may not have been alive during the 1950's, so I don't have a basis for comparison, but the Red Scare and witch hunt style politics have certainly made a comeback in recent years. Accusations of President Obama not being an American, claiming Islam as his religion, supporting socialism and communism, and a whole laundry list of other claims have sprung up in the media from worrisome Americans foolishly launching attacks against him and other politicians because of an intense fear of a different style of politics. I'm not saying Obama and his administration are socialist, communist, or any other "-ist," but I definitely do believe they have a different idea of politics as we enter a more globalized world marketplace.
Kerala, where I spent my time in India, is primarily communist. Hammer and sickle flags were everywhere and I saw propaganda posters. We had a cab driver who I identified himself as a communist. So what? America and European Union has instilled an inherent fear of communism; the idea of it may sound reasonable enough on paper, but the actual practice of it, according to what I have been taught by American society, is evil. As I am entering Vietnam in a week and China in two weeks, I'm wondering how I will feel in countries that completely identify as communist, rather than just a small portion of them. Since my parents grew up in communism, I am wondering how life of people in these countries will help me to understand actual meaning of communism and how does it actually work? I am ready to find out.
Does it work? Kerala was a happy enough place. Sure, there were high unemployment and suicide rates, but literacy and education rates are astonishingly high. It's considered first world, despite communist tendencies. Being exposed to different cultures means being exposed to different ways of doing things, both commonplace and vitally important to the structure of the country.
I will return for an indeterminate amount of time and backpack around the country. For now, we must move forward to Malaysia. I'll probably write again before that, probably about India. If I had to pick a word for it all, I simply would choose this: mesmerizing. That was my last day in India-analyzing and thinking of the country which has thousand countries in one. Amazing.
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