Cochin, India - Monday, March 15 and Tuesday, March 16

Monday

So as I have stated before the job I am in sometimes necessitates that I am taking care of some student concerns so some of this was while I was traveling on the ship and then when I arrived to Cochin so it took me a little longer to leave the ship then I anticipated. So at 3pm when I finally got off of the ship I left the Island of Willingdon (where we were ported) with Chris (a friend who works in the Field Office) and we headed out by rickshaw to the Fort Kochi area to see what Cochin had to offer. When we walked out of the port we had to go through immigration and customs and had our paperwork checked and rechecked before we could leave the port area. Once out we were bombarded by rickshaw drivers asking to take us places and we negotiated with one man to drive us to the island of Fort Kochi and show us all of the sights to see.
Views from the Rickshaw:

Chris and I:

I really liked the Cochin area, it seemed calm by Indian standards and though there were some stands we would walk by with vendors who wanted us to buy their wares I did not feel overly harassed as I did when I was in Chennai or even when I traveled through India 2 years ago. Also it seemed as though this area of India is more affluent then others I have been to. I did hear a statistic that the literacy rate of the state of Kerala (where Kochin is located) has one of if the highest rate of literacy in India, something like 97%. We were given a tour that included the Dutch Palace which was some sort of museum the chronicled the past rulers of Cochin:

Santa Cruz Basilica:

Street Cows:

A ginger plant of some sort, this is ginger:

What you see here is the dust coming off of the ginger - it was burning our eyes:

 Unfortunately for us the oldest Jewish Synagogue in India which is located here was closed by the time we visited so we were unable to go inside. We also got to see the Chinese Fishing Nets that only exist in this part of India, they were put up between 1350 and 1450 by traders from the court of Kublai Khan (isn’t he from Mario Brothers…hee hee). Our driver dropped us off at the restaurant, Dal Roti, that had been suggested to us by a friend and also we read some reviews about on trip advisor. But it was around 5 and we were not meeting others until 6:30 so we ventured out some more, walked around by the water and then sat an watched some guys playing cricket in a park.

When it was time for dinner we were amazed by another delicious meal that may have been just as good as the one that I spoke about in Chennai. After having a rough start to my day to end it with an amazing meal and for less than $4 was really helping me to seelk pleasure in all that I do. When Chris and I got there we thought we would order Samosas. On the menu it was something something samosa (2 or more people) we ordered it anticipating the arrival of our friends and then thinking we would order a meal after they arrived. The waiter laughed and told us it was to much food and we said it was OK. This is what arrived:

It was like an Indian Calzone and it was a little bit of amazingness in my mouth!!! So our friends finally arrived helped us polish this off and because there were 6 of us we each split a dish with someone else which worked out great.

After dinner it was back to the ship and back to work but I knew that I would be able to leave for a little bit the next day.

Tuesday

Today was pretty low key and I was able to get off the ship for a few hours and explore the Ernakulum part of Cochin. I was able to eat street Samosa (the real kind) and Chai Masala (finally!!!) Look how joyful I look:

This was where we got our food from:

Cindy and I walked to the water and were able to take in the view of our ship. So I was looking to buy some scarves because the last time I was in India I was able to get “Pashmina” scarves for a really good price. When I was in Chennai I did not have a chance to shop so I figured I would do it here. Well at the end of the day I was determined to do a little bit of shopping and Cindy and I found ourselves on a street that looked like where the local people shopped and up until the last half hour or so of our day we did not see any Westerners. We could not figure out why there were no scarves to be found until I realized if this is where the locals shopped why in the world would they have any sort of heavy scarf it never gets cold enough to warrant one. So I left realizing it was not that important for me to buy these and I was happy that I got to experience a space amongst some of the local people.

Here are some pictures of that walk around town:

Large Gandi statue:

See no evil:

The Rainbow Bridge:

India was interesting for me because I did not see what many others saw (this time) and know I should feel grateful that I have been to this magnificent country twice in my life and most people I know have not even been to once.  It is just something I have been thinking about and have gotten through.

Everyone made it back to the ship for an on time departure and now I am on the ship to Mauritius. My goal between now and then (besides putting on a talent show) is to learn a little something about Mauritius.

Usually the night that we are departing I am ready to just be back in my cabin on my own.  But I was invited in by some students on my sea (my neighbors) to have Henna painted on my hand because I did not get to do this and a lot of others did. 

It was a great moment to get to know some of my students who I had not had a chance to really connect with before and now I feel as if we have a connection.

Friday, March 19
So tonight is the night before Neptune Day and I will blog about that experience.  But it is a ritual that people who travel by ship across the equator experience.  Also tomorrow is the night of the talent show which means that after tomorrow night I can breathe a little buit because my two major projects will have been completed.