traveling through india, i'm learning, is no easy feat. i have a friend, lynda, visiting for a week. it has been nice to see a familiar face - and have someone to share in the staring. she came right in time for shiva's birthday which was on feb. 12th. it is the day that shiva sleeps, so everyone else has to stay awake all night to watch the world. the neighbor kids downstairs invited us to come down and watch "dance practice". apparently, that night there were about 50 dance performances mainly by kids for the festival. we watched them learn their - what i would classify as bollywood - dance routine - with the dance teacher (an teenage boy) sitting behind them with a wooden ruler ready to punish and give instruction when they messed up. we were very lucky to be able to see them perform that night out of all the acts. it was a strange celebration - almost more like a talent show with most of kids performing under the age of 10.
the next day (my birthday) - lynda and i traveled to mysore - which is a fairly large city about 2 hours from ponnampet. the bus ride there was great. we sat by the window and watched the scenery. the lady sitting next to us gave us some cookies. it was a nice start to the day...but it only went downhill from there. in mysore, we walked around with our bags trying to find the right bus to take to calicut which is on the coast. the bus systems here are very confusing. there doesn't seem to be a schedule that is really followed. you ask how long the bus ride is and they say 5 hours, then you say ok, 5 hours? and they say 7 hours, then you ask for clarification and they say 5 hours -- then the bus ride is actually 9 hours. i don't get it. you just have to have a lot of patience and a sense of humor. but we had a birthday great meal before getting on the bus at the place called tiger trail in a fancy hotel called metropole. we sat in an outdoor garden with lights around the trees and lanterns hanging down. it was very nice.
so after a long bus ride, we arrived in calicut and took a car to our beach resort in kappad beach. the resort had a pool, h
ot water, shower, a restaurant and bar - all of which was very nice. it was a little pricey though about $70 a night which isn't horrible, but if you consider that our rent for the apartment is $60 a month...but it was nice to have a beach vacation nonetheless. showing your shoulders and your legs is considered indecent...so i wore my yoga pants and a t-shirt when i was on the beach. it does make you feel a bit restricted, especially coming from the states where we can wear just about anything we want. i did get a chance to wear my swimsuit and swim in the pool because it was private and no one was around that would be offended. one of the mornings, we went on a boat ride to a bird sanctuary where this picture was taken.
the next day (my birthday) - lynda and i traveled to mysore - which is a fairly large city about 2 hours from ponnampet. the bus ride there was great. we sat by the window and watched the scenery. the lady sitting next to us gave us some cookies. it was a nice start to the day...but it only went downhill from there. in mysore, we walked around with our bags trying to find the right bus to take to calicut which is on the coast. the bus systems here are very confusing. there doesn't seem to be a schedule that is really followed. you ask how long the bus ride is and they say 5 hours, then you say ok, 5 hours? and they say 7 hours, then you ask for clarification and they say 5 hours -- then the bus ride is actually 9 hours. i don't get it. you just have to have a lot of patience and a sense of humor. but we had a birthday great meal before getting on the bus at the place called tiger trail in a fancy hotel called metropole. we sat in an outdoor garden with lights around the trees and lanterns hanging down. it was very nice.
so after a long bus ride, we arrived in calicut and took a car to our beach resort in kappad beach. the resort had a pool, h
ot water, shower, a restaurant and bar - all of which was very nice. it was a little pricey though about $70 a night which isn't horrible, but if you consider that our rent for the apartment is $60 a month...but it was nice to have a beach vacation nonetheless. showing your shoulders and your legs is considered indecent...so i wore my yoga pants and a t-shirt when i was on the beach. it does make you feel a bit restricted, especially coming from the states where we can wear just about anything we want. i did get a chance to wear my swimsuit and swim in the pool because it was private and no one was around that would be offended. one of the mornings, we went on a boat ride to a bird sanctuary where this picture was taken. one night lynda and i sat out on the beach and watched the sunset with a lot of other indian tourist. i think we might have been the first white people that many of them have seen. one young couple came up to us and asked for a picture. we thought they wanted us to take their picture - but no, they wanted to take our picture with them.
everyone asked where we are from and if we are married...then another family came up and asked if i would take their baby -- sure, i'll take one of those. so then we had a photo shoot with the family and the baby. then another family was queuing up to take pictures of the white people...very strange.the bus ride back to ponnampet was much shorter than the first one - luckily -- because the roads are horrible. the window next to me wouldn't close and it was quite chilly with all the wind. it seemed like the bus would take corners on 2 wheels as it climbed up the mountain side - making me feel like i might fall out. at one point, we hit a bump and we all must have jumped about 2 feet out of our seats, lynda yelled out and everyone turned around. she said laughing, this is nuts and looked at me and started laughing harder because i had on 2 shirts - a loose indian one and a tight one (of course the tighter one of top) and a skirt over my head (they were the the first things i had managed to grab out of my bag between bumps and curves to try to keep warm and shield myself from the wind). we couldn't stop laughing out of tiredness and the ridiculousness of the situation. we were very thankful to sleep in beds that night.
i don't think i'll be taking any more long buses anytime soon. monday, feb 22nd begins my first week of formal field research. wish me luck! i'll need it.
No comments:
Post a Comment