House Boats! South Indian Food! Land of the Coconuts!
Welcome to Kerala!
For Experience India Week 2016, I got the wonderful opportunity of going to Kerala to spend a week exploring and learning about the place. On October 16th, 14 teenagers and 2 teachers set off on a 36 hour train ride to the Land of Coconuts. We caught a 36 hour train ride that took forever. 2 nights in a cramped up compartment with the train shaking from side to side was probably not the best experience. However, it was all worth it when we arrived at Kerala!
On the first day we arrived, we stayed at a guest house that was very simple. In the afternoon, we went for lunch and had a discussion on agriculture in the area. We went on a boat tour of the backwaters and had some women come and sing for us boat racing songs. The dinner was very delicious and the family who invited us was very accommodating.
On the next day, we went for a talk with a Catholic priest who told us about the history of Kerala and how it gained the name ‘God’s own country’. It was very interesting to gain knowledge on this part of India that I didn’t know. For the afternoon, we went on a house boat! This was the best part of the trip! We got to relax, eat good food while enjoying the view of the backwaters. We played a little activity to get to know a bit more about the backwaters. Everyone in this area is so fascinated with my hair! I literally have to explain how I do my hair about 475238643894 times a day. We spent the evening with Ann’s (our faculty leaders) family.
On Day 5, in the morning, we took a walk around the area and saw different trees such as eucalyptus trees and rubber trees. In the afternoon, we went to a historian’s house who explained to us the cast system in Kerala. He showed us the inside of a monk’s house and explained to us how the size of the door determines how high in the cast you are. Later in the afternoon, we visited a doctor who practices Ayurveda which is a medicine treatment from the traditional Hindu system of medicine (incorporated in Atharva Veda, the last of the four Vedas), which is based on the idea of balance in bodily systems and uses diet, herbal treatment, and yogic breathing.
In the evening we left for Munnar where we got to do a lot of sightseeing. We visited a tea plantation and got to take some really cool pictures. We also visited the tea museum, where the collected tea gets processed. Everyone there asked to take pictures with me! I literally had families coming up to take family portraits with me. I decided that if anyone else was to take a picture with me, they would have to pay me 500 rupees!
In the evening, we left for fort Kochi where we would spend our last 2 nights before catching the train back to MUWCI. Fort Kochi is very culturally and historically endowed. We got to be tourists and explore any place we wanted. I bought a lot of kurtas for my family and T-shirts for my cousins. We visited the Dutch Palace as well as the Chinese fishing nets by the backwaters.
On the last day, we got to do final shopping in the morning because our train was in the evening. I bought some things for my friends and some for my corner in MUWCI. I had such an amazing time during travel week! It was my first time exploring India outside the bubble of MUWCI and I got to learn a lot about the diverse culture of India.
To see some pictures from travel week, please visit the photo gallery section in the home page. Thank you!