March 11, 2011

Okay! I have a lot to write about right now.  So today is the last day in India. It has been an amazing 6 days experiencing a brand new culture. I will admit, India has been a huge adjustment, but it has really helped me to understand more about myself, at to appreciate all that I have, especially being an American.
        While in India... I feel that I really got a great taste of the country. I spent the first day with Colleen and Kristin out around the city of Chennai. First off- it smells like rotten hard boiled eggs and curry everywhere in India, so that was an interesting first adjustment, also... its absolutely dirty everywhere. The government does not look much into public sanitation, and does not provide many, if any public garbage cans, so there is trash everywhere. Anyway, we took the shuttle to the port gate where we hoped in our first Auto- rickshaw... which ended up being quite the adventure. Our drivers name was Raja, and he was pretty great... and knew english pretty well also which was a major plus.  We had him take us first off to an Indian clothing store, so I could pick out some modest indian clothes for Maggi and I (who needed them for our orphanage visit the next day). The first place was pretty expensive, but since I didn’t know any better I bought two dresses for both myself and maggi... which cost about $25 US each... which is wayyy overpriced.  The next place was much better, almost half the price so I got another dress and pants for both of us.  Lots of Semester at Sea people were at that store, and almost every girl was trying on a saree. Kristin ended up buying one there and colleen bought some dresses as well. Our next stop was lunch. Kristin thought it would be a brilliant idea to ask for the restaurant where only locals go... not tourists, because she wanted real Indian food, but in retrospect... prob not the greatest plan for a first meal in India. We had no idea what to order, so we guessed, and it didn’t turn out too bad, but it was way too spicy for Colleen and I. The hardest part for me was watching their table manors, which are very, very different from what I was used to. Our driver ate with his hands, chewed with his mouth open, reached across the table, had his arms completely on the table, and burped really loudly. It was difficult for me to watch, but I eventually got over it. Anyway after lunch our driver took us around to like 4 different shops that he told us would give his children free tshirts if we went in and looked around for a while... so we did that for him.  One of the shops was a jewelry store, so Kristin had the guy show her all of the loose stones, something that I had no idea about before then.  I ended up buying a necklace, and then we drove around a little more before heading back to the ship.  I didn’t do much else that night, just went to bed early because Maggi and I had a very early flight to catch.
        We woke up at 5:30 am, got ready and headed for the airport. It was an hour drive, but somehow our crazy cab driver got us there in only 30 mins. We ended up being at the airport for the next 4 hours, because on top of being early, our flight got delayed. Finally though, around 1 we landed in Kerala, and met Sunni who was there waiting for us with a sign that read “Maggi”. So Sunni took us to Malayarla (the town of the Mercy Home) and we stopped to get some groceries and head to the mercy home. The mercy home was actually really nice, compared to most of the buildings in India.  Sunni introduced us to the three women who worked at the orphanage, who didn’t speak any english- but ended up being the three sweetest ladies ever.  He showed us our room, which was really nice. Two twin beds, and our own sink and bathroom.  We took a nap until around 6, where we ended up going on a spider killing rampage... litterally 6 within an hour- which lead to ants marching throughout the room eating all the dead spiders... really gross. This particular mercy home had  27 boys age 5-14 who lived all lived together in a big room with a ton of bunk beds.  To make this blog a little more brief, instead of a journal i’ll try to just get to the gist of things.  So everyday the boys woke up at 5:30 am (which Maggi and I decided we would be a part of as well). They woke up for a devotion, which we ended up being a huge part of for the 2 mornings we were there. During the morning devotional, along with the night time devotional Maggi and I had to lead a sermon for the boys, about the bible, which Sunni and Das (the manager of that particular home) would translate for us.  So this was easily right up Maggi’s alley (she loves talking about the bible) but it was even new for her to whip up some kind of bible teaching. FOR ME... wow, not my thing. For those who don’t know me... I was raised Catholic, and have never really been big into reading much of the bible, or praying outloud... so this was very new to me.  I had to pretend like I was some born again Christian, bible reading... something- which im not.  But because I do pray and go to church, i’m sure it could have been much worse if I was someone else.  Overall, it really was a rewarding experience being around something completely different from what I am used to. Other exciting things that happened while we were there... we took a day trip to see the backwaters, we rode ELEPHANTS!!!! (sooo cool), we drank wayyy too much coconut water (with huge smiles on our faces... but would dump it out when no one was watching), we ate local food(which came in a variety of yumminess.... really grosss eggs to really good chicken). Back to the elephants... so cool, we danced with them, they put their trunks on our heads... then we rode one of them. On our last day, Sunni and the boys presented each of us with beautiful wooden rosemary elephants... which was a great gift, being an elephant collector myself... something ill keep forever
        The last 24 hours, we spent at Sunni’s home, with his family.  It was probably my favorite day of all of them, because his wife and daughter were absolutely fantastic. His 6 year old daughter, Linda, spoke better English than most of the adults in India, and she was just adorable. She was very talkative, and so friendly. She spent about 2 hours playing with my hair because she isn’t aloud to have long hair herself. We played with her kitchen set and she told me all about her friends and family. His wife, Minni... was fantastic. She told maggi and I all about being a women in India and I was amazed and learned so much from her. She told us how the women have no freedom and her opinion doesn’t matter to anyone. She cooks 4 meals a day, no matter if she is ill, or tired. She is the most patient and kind person ever. The day we left, we stopped at a park and then went to the beach with them. I played in the waves with Linda, and spent time talking with Minnie about Indian life. She truly helped me to appreciate how amazing it is to be a women from America. I really wish I could have taken her with us on the boat, and back to the US.
        Finally, we left Kerela for Chennai again, and back to the boat...after a 2.5 hour hell cab ride back. It was really nice to get back to the boat and take a real shower.  We had been doing the bucket bath thing for the 4 days before. Suprisingly... bucket bathing (big bucket with little bucket) is really efficient, and refreshing...so maybe ill switch methods back in the states. I passed out from being sooo tired, but we woke up really early for our last day in India.
        Colleen, Maggi and I woke up for 8am breakfast... then head out to go spend the rest of our rupees. We ended up being out wayy too early before the shops even opened... so we walked around Chennai for a little before heading to the shops. We bought some scarves, henna, and some cool pants- most of which are gifts for people. We decided to head back to the ship after that to get back early so we could avoid the lines, and get back for lunch.

UPDATE: We got back to the ship and we heard of the Japan earthquake and tsunami warnings. So the whole night we have been broadcasting the news over the televisions. Its really sad to hear about the devastation going on... so we are all hoping it isn’t too horrible. As of now... we don’t know if we will be able to get to Japan, or even across the Pacific. Our journey won’t be affected through Singapore and Vietnam... but China, Japan, and Hawaii are still up in the air.  I’ll update as soon as I can. But we are safe... India is farther away from Japan than the US- so we are safe for now.

India reflection:  Great experience- because it contrasts so much from America.  Its absolutely filthy, its smelly, the food is yukky, and the manors are poor, the traffic is horrendous and the air is polluted. The people are beautiful, the environment is like a gift from God (so many beautiful trees, and the beaches were gorgeous), the people were very friendly, and so eager to learn from us Americans. I do plan to return someday to maybe see the taj, go to mumbai, or see more of the north.


MISS YOU ALL MORE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE. SEND ME MORE EMAILS!!!!!
love,
keira

PS. HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAREST SISTER MCCALL. WISH I COULD BE THERE TO CELEBRATE, BUT I’M STUCK ON A BOAT IN THE INDIAN OCEAN.  HAVE FUN, LOVE YOU!

ALSO, someone tell ANNIE McCarthy I wish her a happy 20th as well!