Arrival in Kerala

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I hopped a 90 min flight from Mumbai to Kohizikode (Calicut) in the state of Kerala. Kerala is the most educated state in the region so to be honest I expected to have more of my western standards met here of all places...not really the case, for example see pic of toilet at Calicut airport. Even though I was starving I figured i would first hire a cab and try to get to my destination rather than hangout and eat in Calicut. I had researched enough to know that a cab should be about a 75 minute drive from the airport to Kannur, however it feels a bit longer when you apparently drag-racing. The route there is one road that is a 2 way "highway" but the cabbie spent most of our journey either in the opposite lane of oncoming traffic or creating his own lane directly in the middle of the road. I mentioned to him I wasn't in a rush but he didn't really speak English so I decided to just go with it and look out the side window rather than the front, thank God he was very proficient with the horn and we made it. To paint a picture: we are crusing at about 50mph on curvey potholled roads on a 2 lane highway that is traversed by cars, huge overcrowded buses, auto rickshaws, bike rickshaws, mopeds (sometimes carrying a family of 4 on one bike,often with a baby tucked in there somewhere) and there are tons of pedestrians either waking on the small brim of the road or trying to cross)...it is chaoctic yet somehow it all flows and this is part of the beauty.

Kerala is beautiful! All you see for miles is coconut groves mixed in with some ornate temples and architecture. I checked into my no-thrills hotel (though its actually a 4-5 star bc hot water and ac...yay because its about 90 degrees). Everyone is super nice and the staff keeps joking with me because I'm on the 5th floor and I like to take the stairs...each time they remind me that "the lift is working miss."
I was sad to find that dinner didn't start till 7 and I was starving cause I didn't each lunch do the staff got me a butterscotch milkshake of all things, random but yummy.
I spent most time at hotel...I started to walk around but I'm still not use to so many people and all of them staring, it's a weird feeling. I went to bed early and used my mosquito net but somehow woke up with lots of icky bites, see pic.
Today is Dec 5, 2011 and I am supposed to meet my group at a bus stop down the street...hoping I find them and onto the next place where I will stay till Christmas.

As I mentioned, Kerala is the most educated state, people pay much attention to what is happening politically and socially in the country. In 1957 Kerala was the first place in the world to elect a Communist government and many here believe their balance of a "socialist democracy" is responsible for their success. The literacy rate here is the highest in the developing world and healthcare here is low-cost and widely available. The future of their political climate may face many obstacles; while the government upholds many principles of socialism Kerala is still a democracy and the younger voters are pondering what reforms are right for their future. The government has oppossed most FDI and therefore the economy is heavily reliant on the tourism and textile industry.

Kerala is also very rich in the arts and dance...which I am super excited about, apparently there are performances daily during December. And because it is on the sea everyone raves about the quality and abundancy of seafood.

So far everyone I meet is so nice and helpful if I haven't already mentioned that. I've had many great conversations with people openly discussions theory lives and traditions and very interested in mine.

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