Kochi --> Vacation!!
So my homestay partner and I decided we wanted to go for a more simple vacation, rather than a mad dash from one end of the country to the other. It seemed to us that when your study abroad involves more than the usual amount of travel, it might be nice to actually stay in one place for a while. And honestly, I think it's helped us to understand the area better because we've been able to do more than focus on the tourist attractions, and get to know the family we're staying with a bit better. Anyway, we decided on Kochi, the largest city in Kerala, which is the other state making up the southern tip of India.
We're staying at a wonderful bed and breakfast called Leelu's Homestay. The patroness, her husband, and youngest son are wonderful people, very helpful and caring, and have treated us like family. Their house, is around three hundred years old but has been renovated a number of times in the intervening years. It is bright, airy, and restful (it's also the nicest place we've stayed at since coming to India, possibly because this is more of a tourist area).
They also have a dog named Marshall who is supposedly a golden retriever, but looks more like a golden retriever crossed with a bear. He usually spends most of the day plopped down on the floor quietly waiting for someone to give him a belly rub.
Kochi has a fascinating history, as it was a center for the spice trade (specifically black pepper) from the earliest years of colonialism. The area has been inhabited by Christians, Jews, and Muslims, and ruled by Portuguese, Dutch, and British at various points in history. The neighborhood we're staying in, Forth Kochi, is an island off the coast, and one of the areas first settled by Europeans, giving it a rather eclectic feel.
We've spent the past few days quietly, wandering the area and taking in the sights, museums, spice shops, and relative lack of business, noise, and people. We went to a Kathikali show one night as well. Kathikali is a sort of traditional Kerelan play with elaborate make-up and costumes, but all the words are acted out in mudras and body movements, with a great focus on eye and facial muscle movement. They gave us a demonstration of the facial movements at the beginning, and honestly it was borderline scary so see someone moving they're eyes like that!
We've also visited an elephant training center, and washed some baby elephants in the river, enjoyed a Kerelan cooking class with our hostess, and spent the past few nights watching the sun set over the Arabian Sea (and we've also been stuffing ourselves with the amazing cuisine in the area!!). All in all, it's been just the quiet respite we needed. :)
Pictures - Chinese fishing net
Bathing the baby elephants
Marshall
Our room at Leelu's
Santacruz Basilica
Sunset over the beach
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
So my homestay partner and I decided we wanted to go for a more simple vacation, rather than a mad dash from one end of the country to the other. It seemed to us that when your study abroad involves more than the usual amount of travel, it might be nice to actually stay in one place for a while. And honestly, I think it's helped us to understand the area better because we've been able to do more than focus on the tourist attractions, and get to know the family we're staying with a bit better. Anyway, we decided on Kochi, the largest city in Kerala, which is the other state making up the southern tip of India.
We're staying at a wonderful bed and breakfast called Leelu's Homestay. The patroness, her husband, and youngest son are wonderful people, very helpful and caring, and have treated us like family. Their house, is around three hundred years old but has been renovated a number of times in the intervening years. It is bright, airy, and restful (it's also the nicest place we've stayed at since coming to India, possibly because this is more of a tourist area).
They also have a dog named Marshall who is supposedly a golden retriever, but looks more like a golden retriever crossed with a bear. He usually spends most of the day plopped down on the floor quietly waiting for someone to give him a belly rub.
Kochi has a fascinating history, as it was a center for the spice trade (specifically black pepper) from the earliest years of colonialism. The area has been inhabited by Christians, Jews, and Muslims, and ruled by Portuguese, Dutch, and British at various points in history. The neighborhood we're staying in, Forth Kochi, is an island off the coast, and one of the areas first settled by Europeans, giving it a rather eclectic feel.
We've spent the past few days quietly, wandering the area and taking in the sights, museums, spice shops, and relative lack of business, noise, and people. We went to a Kathikali show one night as well. Kathikali is a sort of traditional Kerelan play with elaborate make-up and costumes, but all the words are acted out in mudras and body movements, with a great focus on eye and facial muscle movement. They gave us a demonstration of the facial movements at the beginning, and honestly it was borderline scary so see someone moving they're eyes like that!
We've also visited an elephant training center, and washed some baby elephants in the river, enjoyed a Kerelan cooking class with our hostess, and spent the past few nights watching the sun set over the Arabian Sea (and we've also been stuffing ourselves with the amazing cuisine in the area!!). All in all, it's been just the quiet respite we needed. :)
Pictures - Chinese fishing net
Bathing the baby elephants
Marshall
Our room at Leelu's
Santacruz Basilica
Sunset over the beach
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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