The next morning, after 3 rollercoaster days in northern India, we boarded a flight headed back to the ship in Cochin.
Once we got back to the ship and showered off the day’s travels, we headed right back out and into the heart of a city which we knew absolutely nothing about. Come to find out, this wasn’t exactly our best move. ‘Downtown Cochin’ (whatever that really means) is not a place that welcomes foot traffic.
I repeat: do not walk around there. Ever. Just don’t do it.
There isn’t anything to see and the only places you’ll find to eat are restaurants named things like Arabian Fiesta that will take you on wild adventures with meals that looks something like this:
Were we concerned? Yes.
Was the chicken cooked? No.
Did we live? Thankfully, yes.
But honestly, just skip that part of town. It’s meant for cars and cars alone. Definitely not 5 white girls walking around blind hoping to stumble on something cool. Trust me—the only thing you’ll stumble on is a stranger’s inappropriate hand graze and a possible case of Traveler’s Diarrhea.
Pass.
So after our ‘meal’ we continued on to one of two major hotels in town in search of a nightclub. We had heard earlier in the night (don’t ask me where, these things just sort of float around the ship) that the Ava Lounge had a great dance party, so we were clearly excited to see what that was all about. We ended up meeting a couple local boys who asked to be our dates so that they could skirt the cover at the door which was the equivalent of $40 USD for any unescorted men—so, I guess some things aren’t very different after all!
We got to the club at 8pm. Yes, I’m aware that is very uncool. The DJ wasn’t scheduled to come on until 10pm (apparently he was a big deal), so we had some time to kill. Heather and I decided to explore the rest of the hotel, and wouldn’t you know it, our good fortune landed us at a dessert buffet.
Just what the doctor ordered for a rumbly Delhi-belly.
Desserts and buffets are two of my favorite things: SO GOOOOOOOOOOD!
After we enjoyed the buffet… three times… we rejoined our group for some very entertaining music and dancing. Apparently Indian men love to break it down on the dance floor—with or without ladies around. That was a sight to say the least.
From there we joined the rest of our Semester at Sea friends at another hotel bar called Glow. We sang, we danced, we drank, all the basic stuff. But the most interesting part of the evening was how we were getting from place to place. Let me introduce you, friends, to the ubiquitous means of travel throughout the mean streets of Cochin: the tuk-tuk.
Don’t worry! I wasn’t driving! This was just a pose for posterity.
These little guys were petro-powered mini-machines! They. Just. Flew!
So that night we spent zipping around from place to place for about $1USD if I remember correctly. Not bad.
The next morning, we hopped right back into the tuk tuk scene. It was a Sunday, so I was determined to find myself a church. Thankfully, some vestiges of Portuguese colonialism and missionary work still remain in the city, so I found myself at St. Francis, the oldest Catholic Church in town as well as the first burial place of Vasco de Gama. Pretty cool stuff.
The entire Mass was spoken in Malayalam, the local dialect, and lasted—get this—two hours!
Thankfully, I had two amazing friends with me who were willing to stick it out, and our determination was rewarded with an amazing message and an even cooler experience. The priest spoke vehemently about love, justice, kindness, and compassion (we’re pretty sure, anyway). Then, the Mass was capped off by communion, for which I was the only white participant. All of the ladies present went up together, kneeled around the altar, and waited as the priest fed each of us communion. The moment was really spectacular—the choir music surrounded the altar, light streamed in from the sides, the purple vestments shone brightly—and for just a second, we were all as one.
Another great start to the day.
From there we went on to do what Americans do best: shop for stuff and stare at things. We got ourselves another tuk tuk driver, who showed us through some random vendor stalls and a couple different sights around town including the Dutch cemetery and the only remaining Jewish synagogue. It was precisely there, in Jew Town (yes, that’s what it’s actually called), that our day went from average to amazing.
Our first driver told us that his house was just around the corner, so he was going to check on his family. In the meantime, we would be taken care of by another man. This new guy was much older and came up to just about my hip, maybe a little higher. We didn’t think much of the switch at first other than the fact that it was a bit odd.
What learned was that the tuk tuks have an agreement with local vendors in the form of a very crude points system. Every time a driver brings a tourist into a government owned shop, the driver receives one point. Once the driver accumulates enough points (I think it’s 10), they receive a free liter of petro for their tuk tuk. So what happened was that our first driver realized that we had been to a couple of these shops already (he wouldn’t be receiving any points from us) so he pawned us off on another driver.
But our new friend, who we finally nicknamed ‘Ken’ because he had nicknamed Heather ‘Barbie’ turned out to be a GEM!
He took us ALL over the city and showed us some of his favorite local stops along the way. We made such good friends with him that we demanded he stop at some of the local shops so he could benefit from the point system too. We must have stopped at least 10 times along the way, but we still managed to see an incredible amount of the city.
We saw a local candy maker at work:
We got a bird’s eye view of Fort Cochin:
We ate biriyani chicken at the best local spot in town… with our hands:
We snuck into a private dock full of fishing boats:
We saw the sunset on the beach:
We went to a Hindu festival:
We saw a parade of elephants:
And we had the most AMAZING dinner at Dal Roti that included alu paratha, rumali roti, chicken kati, vegetable thali, palak chicken, gulab jamun, and qubanika mittai (and we actually knew what all those things were!):
And had the pleasure of being served by the kindest man I’ve ever met (who just so happened to look like Indian Santa):
It was one of the most amazing days of the trip.
Until the next day… which, believe it or not, was even more amazing.
On my field lab for anthropology, we went out to a remote village on the outskirts of Kerala to learn more about local culture. We spent an entire day with the women of the village who taught us about classical music, traditional dance, home cooking, and local textile manufacturing. The music was inspiring, the dances were spectacular, and the food was just out of this world. But the best part of the day for me was Valentina:
There I was, halfway around the world, looking at a woman who was literally half my size (I’m completely bent over in this picture and she is standing up straight), dressed in a bright sari, speaking with an accent I could barely understand when it hit me: THIS WOMAN IS MY MOM!
Seriously, if I didn’t know any better, or better yet, had my eyes closed, I could have sworn I was speaking with my mother. It was insane! We just clicked. We spent the whole afternoon together talking about life, family, God, faith, love… you name it! At one point she looked me in the eye and said “Yes, you will have hardships in this life, but with faith, you will overcome them.”
Now, I know I’m incredibly sentimental and this might not be the most ground-breaking statement of all time, but for a girl who’s looking for her next big step in life, those words could not have been more meaningful.
I just about lost it.
That day just made me realize, yet again, how fortunate I am to be here. You just never know when someone, anyone, will speak to your heart. I am just so thankful to be in a place where I am open to hearing that voice again.
Next stop, Mauritius!
One day in this island nation should treat body just as well as this last day in India treated the soul.
Question of the Day: What random encounter abroad has spoken to your heart?
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