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Published: April 25th 2013
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Bangalore
view from a rooftop restaurant Hey again,
So....I made it to India in one piece. Erica and I spent the last night in Amsterdam with our two friends and got on the plane at 5 am the next day. We met up with Robyn, another girl in our program, in Paris, where we met at the gate for our flight to Bangalore. Everything went fine until Paris, where we were stuck on the tarmack for three hours because of technical difficulties with the plane. Not an encouraging thing to happen just before a 9 hour flight. However, we landed in Bangalore safely, and spent the night at a family owned hotel near the airport.
Now, this is where the networking began. We talked with the wife of the hotel owner in the morning and she had connections in the city which is an hour from the airport area. She arranged for her friend George who was a friend of a friend who knew somebody who had a membership at the catholic club which was basically like a YMCA with a pool and cheap food. Very safe. Perfect. So, we shacked up there for 4 nights and the next day slept in til 1 pm!!!
Talk about jet lag. We then spent the afternoon finishing our final papers and hanging out near the pool. Hard life I know. Then we bought traditional Indian dresses called salwar kameez and wore them to dinner to celebrate the end of another semester.
The heat here is insanely hot. I just came from - 1 degrees celsius in Amsterdam and it is literally 40 degrees in Bangalore with the humidity. My poor Scottish, Danish ancestry has given me the weakest capacity to deal with heat of this kind.
The next day we hired a taxi driver to take us to Mysore, my old stomping grounds, where I lived at the age of thirteen and my whole journey towards working in Global Health began. We visited the palace, the Chamundi hills, ate masala dosa and butter chicken at my old time favorite restaurant, which has since been renovated, but which still exists!! We then visited a few temples and shrines dedicated to dead sultans, and made our way back to Bangalore, stopping only for coconuts and chikoo (small brown fruit that tastes like a mix between a prune and a pear) along the side of the road. We
Palace
Mysore arrived in Bangalore just in time for rush hour traffic which meant we were stuck in hot, dusty, loud traffic for about 2 hours longer than we should have been. After a long day, we passed out almost immediately when we got back.
From Bangalore we headed to Kerala by plane, to a place called Cochi, which is a little fishing village on the outskirts of brackish water canals that loop in and out of floating villages. They call it the Venice of India: I would argue that it is even more beautiful than Venice, having been there myself a few years ago. I came to Kerala with my mom when I was thirteen, and I have to say, although there is much more development than there used to be, I felt very nostalgic as I walked along the fishing shore and saw the very familiar chinese fishing nets, and the fisherman selling all types of fish and seafood. The three of us bought fish and prawns, and a local restaurant cooked it for us in garlic and butter. Cheap as chips, as they say. And delicious it was!!
Next, we got sarees made (another traditional Indian dress) made of Keralan silk, and we ventured over to a cultural center where we saw traditional Kathakali dancing, which is basically theater dance with large, heavy intricate costumes, and detailed eye movements which convey emotion, rather than actual acting. It is a very cool thing to see, and I would recommend seeing it if you can.
Next we made our way to an elephant sanctuary where we made friends with a baby elephant and watched elephants bathing in the water. Very cool. The rest of our time was spent on the backwaters exploring small villages and taking in the view from the water of the women on shore making string out of coconut husks, which, unlike the way it used to be when I was here ten years ago, is supplemented by the government, which gives these women machines which helps to increase the production of string.
Kerala was probably the hottest place we went to. After about a week in Karnataka state and then Kerala, we ventured to Goa, where we ended up staying for five days. Palolem beach is my favorite beach in India, aside from a place called Gokarna. I was afraid that it would have been ruined by tourism in the last ten years, and although again, there was much more development that before, it is off-season for tourists, so the beach was not busy, and it was JUST as I remembered it. I was home again in some small way, which may sounds weird, but makes perfect sense to me. I think my mom and brother would understand what I mean...
After two weeks of traveling for pleasure, balancing headphone parties and fire dancing/poy on the beach with trying to find internet occasionally to let people know we were alive or finish final papers and assignments, we arrived in Manipal. We are staying in an all girls residence which is very clean and safe, although we have a curfew, and I feel like I am 5 years old again. I guess the university used to have problems with alcohol, drugs, and public displays of affection, so they have really cracked down and made things a lot more conservative around here. I will be here for two weeks working with students from all over the world, and I will start fieldwork at an ART center (anti-retroviral treatment) at the state hospital in Udupi district. I will work with HIV positive patients and health workers to investigate issues associated with the side effects of taking anti-retroviral drugs. I am so excited to have this practical experience, and I cant wait to report on how it goes. I will report back when I can. I can’t believe I only have two weeks left before I am back in Canada! Talk to you soon,
xo Kazz
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