Going, Goan', Goa

So last Wednesday was the beginning of the Ganesh Chaturthi Festival, which is basically a ten day festival celebrating Ganesh's birth. There are statues of Ganesh all over the city, including in my room, and eventually they have to be thrown/submerged in a body of water. Because of this, we didn't have classes last Wednesday, and since most people don't have classes on Friday, it was basically a very long weekend.
A lot of people left for some sort of trip on Tuesday night, skipped classes Thursday, and came back Monday. At least twenty people decided to travel to Goa, which sounded like a lot of fun because it is basically just a giant beach and tons of people I know would be there. However, we (being myself and the girls I generally travel with) wanted to save money, so we decided not to leave until Thursday evening.
We hopped on a sleeper bus Thursday night, and I was pretty excited about it. Basically, it was the Night Bus. It had a/c, provided pillows and blankets, and was awesome. The only down side was that there wasn't a bathroom on board and we had to switch buses for some reason at 2am. It was also incredibly bumpy. Like, at some points my entire body was lifted off the bed,  but it was just part of the adventure.
We got to Goa around 8am on Friday morning and then grabbed a cab to take us to Anjuna, which was the beach area everyone else was already staying in. Once we got there we immediately ran into some other friends and they directed us to a couple of guesthouses. Kaia and I stayed in a little bamboo, beach hut that wasn't actually on the beach. It was really just a square room with an area partitioned off for the bathroom.
We were all changed and on the beach by 10am, and thats where we stayed for the rest of the day. The others we knew that had already been there were kind of wandering around the area with their rented motor bikes, but we saw them throughout the day. The beach was beautiful and hot. The sand, other than being absurdly annoying, was made up of very small pieces of shells,  so if you looked closely it was full of  beautiful colors. I collected a few really fascinating shells. While the beach was fabulous, it did have a major downfall: Indian women.
As soon as we laid out on our towels we were immediately surrounded by Indian women trying to sell us jewelry, trinkets, henna, ect. And they wouldn't leave. I mean, I felt like a total bitch but the only way to get them to go away was just to completely ignore them. You couldn't say "No thank you," or "Maybe later," because as soon as you gave them an inkling of attention they latched onto you like a spider monkey. Eventually they wandered away, but Alanna had it really bad. She just couldn't ignore them, so I'm actually not sure if she had any beach time without being surrounded. Even though the rest of us were trying to ignore them, they would just sit at the edge of our towels and stare at us. I was getting extremely hostile so I had to put in my headphones.

Alanna and her horde

I just had a problem with the whole system revolving around these women. Some of these sellers were children who should've been in school, and I have always had a huge problem with working/begging children. Some of the other people that we met up with said that the women that were following them openly admitted to be beaten if they didn't sell enough, and they said it as if it was just no big deal, because to them thats an acceptable norm. Another woman, visibly pregnant (or at least with a tumor/cloth bump) told Diana that her husband wouldn't give her money to go to the doctor. Even if these stories were true, which they probably were, the entire exchange is solely targeted towards Westerners. The groups of women don't congregate around Indian families on the beach. One time Diana even pointed to an Indian couple and said, "Why don't you go ask them?" and the woman said "No, they're Indian."
I refused to buy anything or even acknowledge these women, because I would not support their system. Yes, it might've given them money that day, but it's an unsustainable and abusive system.
Really this is just a continuation of my hatred of being targeted because I'm white.

Corpse of St. Thomas

For dinner we met up with a lot of our friends at a restaurant they had discovered down the beach called Curley's. The food was reasonably priced, really good, and came out really fast! They also served Hookah, so we ordered a Mango one. Everything was delicious.
On Saturday we got a late start, but got a cab to take us to Old Goa to look at some historical churches (oh joy...) and towns. Overall it was kind of boring, but we did go to the Church of [da] Bom Jesus. It was founded by some St. Thomas in the 1600s, but every now and then they bring out his body/corpse for display during special holidays. We didn't get to see it, but it's an odd practice. We had dinner at Curley's again and had a mint & kiwi hookah. A lot of people stayed out and partied, but my old woman came out and I went to bed pretty early and read.
We didn't leave Goa until Sunday afternoon, so we just walked on the beach and did some shopping in the morning. The bus ride back wasn't on a sleeper bus, so I hardly slept at all.
Now I'm back in Hyderabad and things are back to normal, well, Indian-normal.

The two puppies at a nearby restaurant I fell in love with

Church of [da] Bom Jesus

Largest Church in Asia

Goa at Sunset

Le Beach

Stretch of Anjuna Beach

Poppin' in on Pondi

This past weekend I once again left Hyderabad to continue my exploration of the Indian subcontinent. Myself, Diana, Alanna, Marianna, and Trudy went to Pondicherry to visit one of Marianna's friends, who is studying there. Kaia had friends coming in from Norway, so she met them in Goa and we were without her.

It looks like this, but not as nice

We left Tagore on Thursday afternoon to get on an overnight train, which I was not looking forward to. I traveled on several overnight trains the last time I was in India and I have not been eager to repeat that experience. Everything is just very crowded and hot, and of course, everyone stares at us. There aren't actually compartments, just two benches facing each other, and the back rest of the bench raises up into a bed. So eventually there are three beds on top of each other and facing each other with no privacy. I don't want to say that I prefer overnight buses to trains, because neither is all that great, but I just really don't like the overnight trains.
Anyway, we woke up on Friday in Chennai, got a quick breakfast, then took a bus to Pondicherry. According to Lonely Planet the bus ride was supposed to be around 2hr, but it actually took closer to 4hr. We had all the windows down to get a breeze, but that also let all the dust in. By the time we got to Pondicherry I literally had black streaks on my cheeks from all the dirt and grime.
We found a hostel, showered, and went to dinner. As we were asking the hostel "receptionist" how to get to the restaurant we met a German named Paul, who was traveling alone and was also staying there, so he joined us and tagged along for the rest of the weekend. It was weird because the five of us, usually six, are used to all traveling together without guys, but as the waiter at the restaurant was repeating our orders he directed everything at Paul, who we'd only known for about 15min.
After dinner we met up with Marianna's friend who led us to a liquor store, where we discovered that Pondicherry doesn't have an alcohol tax. We all got wine and beer and went down to the waterfront to drink. Eventually we split up, but Diana, Trudy, Paul, and I stayed on the beach/rocks for a while and then tried to make our way onto the pier we saw in the distance. Unfortunately, it began to torrentially rain and we could never find the pier, but not for lack of trying god damnit!!
Pondicherry used to be a French colony, so it's quite western with a lot of French influence. For breakfast the next morning we went to Baker St. Cafe (on Baker St. with a Sherlock Holmes logo) and had real coffee and delicious pastries. We met back up with Paul and wandered around for a while until we heard from Marianna's friend. We ended up going to her friend's school, which is basically a Norwegian school in India. The school was incredible and looked more like a 5star resort than a university. There was a pool, spa, restaurant and cafe, and it was all on the beach! We spent all afternoon in the water, jumping into the waves.

I jumped in too shortly after taking this

Once we got back to Pondicherry we met up with some friends from Tagore, who left on Friday rather than Thursday, and walked along the Promenade/beach front.

Pondicherry's Beach Promenade

After a short shower break, we all (the five of us, Paul, Paul's friend, Marianna's friend, and the other Tagore foursome) went to a recommended rooftop restaurant. They offered a selection of Western and Indian food, so I went out on a limb and ordered steak with a creamy mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes. It's borderline heretical to eat steak in India and I didn't know what to expect from the mashed potatoes, but I threw caution to the wind and ordered what potentially could've been a very expensive mistake. It wasn't. In fact, it was incredible. The steak was delectable and the mashed potatoes were wonderful and fluffy and buttery. We sat around for a long while after dinner and then wandered back to the seaside and hung out there for a while.
Sunday morning we all met up again for the last time and had breakfast. We didn't go to Baker St. Cafe, but the place was still cute and yummy, despite the terrible service. After that we all went our separate ways. The Tagore foursome were taking a train back to Hyderabad that night, so they left for Chennai before we did. Paul and his friend were taking a day trip somewhere, so they went on their way too.
We went back to the hostel, showered, packed, and then got back on the bus to Chennai.
Of course, Sunday was also when I needed to get my third (out of five) rabies shot, so once we got to Chennai and got a rickshaw to take us to the airport, we stopped at every pharmacy we passed on the way. However, since it was a Sunday they were all closed.
We were able to get a cheap flight back to Hyderabad, which is why we flew rather than train-ing it, and we got back to our city of residence around 9pm. Thankfully, the third pharmacy our taxi driver stopped at on the way back to campus was open, so I still don't have rabies!! I showered and crashed as soon as we were back. I was exhausted and was genuinely glad to be back in my own, uncomfortable, bed.

Pondicherry was a good time, but overall I didn't feel like it was all that spectacular of a city. The food was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. I'm just really tired of going to areas of India that were colonized for the majority of "modern" history. Because of the colonization, most of the places we've been, other than Hampi, have also been predominately Christian. I am just really tired of seeing churches, I mean, I get enough of that shit back in the South.
 Unfortunately, last night I was peer-pressured into going on a trip to Goa, which is where everyone in India, tourists and locals included, go for beaches, sun, drinking, and partying. GOD, my life is so hard....

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Last Saturday some friends and I went and visited the Qutb Shahi Tombs, which I learned about in my Lonely Planet before I even got here. We've been meaning to go and see them for a few weeks now, but we've gotten side tracked or been away from Hyderabad. No one here has even mentioned them to us as a suggestion to "go see" and we didn't know anyone who had been to them so far, so we really had no idea what to expect. In fact, I really just expected an old grave yard with some ancient "mausoleum" type structures. Not for the first time, we were totally unprepared for the reality that is India.
We biked to the main gate from Tagore so we could get a city bus to the area where the public park/tombs were. The bus fare was only Rs.11 and the bus ride was exactly how you would expect an Indian bus to be. As usual, we were the only white people and the bus was brimming at maximum capacity. At least there weren't any chickens on board. I really don't mind traversing the city via bus; it's really economical and I like becoming immersed in the real India. The only slight difficulty is knowing which stop to get off on. So far we've survived by depending on helpful Indian women who know a little English.
Saturday was no different, so a nice women told me which stop we needed to get off on, so I signaled to the rest of our "whitey brigade" and we trailed off the bus as it pulled away again.
We payed a small fee to enter the tomb area of the park, rounded a corner and were completely amazed.

The First Tomb

These tombs were all pre-Moghul, ranging from the 15th to 17th century, and all in various states of decay. However, their disrepair made them all that much incredible. Each tomb, like a smaller version of the Taj Mahal but in stone, still has an attendant, and the actual tombs inside are still decorated with shawls, incense, and flowers.
After the first tomb there were another ten, at least, behind a fenced in area. Some were smaller than others, but all were beautiful. The vegetation and life growing through the hundreds of year old stone made them even more beautiful than they might have been when they were first erected.
Not only were our surroundings amazing, but the day was great too; hot, blue skies, and not too humid. Unfortunately I chose to wear jeans that day... We spent all afternoon there, just wandering around and taking pictures.

The only woman's tomb in the group

View from the largest tomb

Successfully playing with my camera

My favorite tomb

My Roommate (Alana) and the Norwegians (Marianna, Kaia, and Trudy) eating corn from a vendor

We decided not to spend money and return to Tagore for dinner, so we got on a larger, shared tuk-tuk and headed back to campus. Of course, it was on our way biking back to Tagore that I finally found my puppy and to top off the exciting day the Norwegians, Diana, and I ended it in the Apollo Hospital ER (for my benefit only).
The night before all this, Friday, was nice too. Again, the Norwegians, Diana, and I went to the theatre with a couple of Indian guys from the Norwegian's International Relations class. The play was Baghdad Wedding, which I swear I've heard of before (I'm sure on NPR), and it was quite exceptional. It was nice to hang out with non-Tagore people in India, and I've actually run into the two guys a couple of times since then.
Sunday, after taking Oogy to the shelter, was nice and lazy and tomorrow, Thursday, we're taking a train to Pondicherry for the weekend. We're keeping our fingers crossed for no rain so we might actually get a chance to wear the bikinis we keep packing. But alas, al-hamdu lilah... (an Urdu phrase meaning "god gives us whatever he likes").

Operation Live Long and Prosper

Last Monday, walking back from Medical Anthropology with some friends, we came across a very tiny black puppy. And NO, this does not go where you're thinking... at least not yet.

We had all seen him before in the various times that we walk across campus, but this time he was sitting in the middle of the road and howling. I don't know what came over me, but I knew that I needed to get that puppy. 

Live Long and Prosper Bitches

So I did. I walked over, followed him for a second and then picked him up. He really was ridiculously tiny with a comically oversized head. However, as I was walking back to where my friends were I realized that he was absolutely covered in bugs. Like, his skin looked like it was moving. I realized that he needed more attention that I could currently give him (I was on my way to a meeting), so my sense of reason took over and I placed the puppy back on the ground, assuring him that I'd come back for him. 

As we finished walking back to Tagore I came up with a plan; Operation Live Long and Prosper. After my meeting (which literally took 5min), I went back to my room and Googled "animal shelters in Hyderabad India." To my pleasant surprise, my search brought me answers in the first link. I was directed to the homepage of Blue Cross Animal Shelter, a no-kill animal shelter that focuses on finding homes for India's stray animals. It was perfect. There was even a printable volunteer application! I had everything I needed... except the puppy. 

I still had to go to Urdu at 4, so I threw a towel in my bag and went to hitch a ride from a motor bike to the Humanities Building. My friend Connor and I usually walk back from Urdu together, so as we began I filled him in on Operation LL&P. He was in, as any creature with a heart would be. The only kink in my plan was that while we were in Urdu a storm blew in, and as we were walking the skies opened up on us and it began to torrentially pour. Despite the rain, we went back to where I had found the puppy earlier, but like any good street-dog he had run off to seek shelter. He was obviously smarter than us, because we continued to look for him calling, "Puppy! Puppy!!" for at least 15-20min. Disappointed, but facing the facts, I cursed fate and we began to walk home. Luckily, two men in a car offered us a ride back, even though we were soaked. Sometimes I like Indians. 

Later that night I tried not to focus on my puppy, but I was still thinking about him. I worried if he had enough food and if he had suitable shelter for the whole night? I hoped the other dogs were nice to him despite his "bug" problem. 

Really, it's not my fault this is the way I am. My grandmother was also a notorious dog-lover and I was practically raised outside with a dog at my side. I openly admit to liking animals more than people (no offense, sometimes people are great too). But no animal has ever lied to me, crossed me, or said hateful things. No animal has ever started a war (well, except Chimps...) and they generally only kill to feed themselves. 

While I do completely trust and believe that animals are capable of taking care of themselves, it physically pains me to see an animal destitute due to human interference. I mean, if people could tell their pets that they lost their job and have to move into an apartment that doesn't allow animals and that they're not willingly being put into a shelter, maybe I would look at life differently. But that's not how things work. 

It is actually impossible for anyone to communicate to that puppy that his mom was probably killed or collected by humans, or that stray populations in urban areas make his chances at survival infinitesimal, which is why he is hungry and sick and scared. 

Maybe this is just me being all "lovey" and such, but I see it as an attribute rather than a flaw. My love for animals and contempt for humans makes me more human. Sometimes I like to think that my spirit animal could be a snail, because I'm tough, hard, and kind of cool lookin' on the outside, but I'm just squishy, soft, and slimy underneath.  

I decided that I would continue to look for my puppy every time I passed his way, which is nearly every time I go to class. So for the rest of the week I went to class with a towel in my bag and everyday after Urdu Connor and I got off our bikes and looked for him. I really tried not to worry about him, which is actually very hard since I have obsessive thought disorder, and I left everything up to fate. 

Saturday was a beautiful day. It was sunny, hot, and after lunch we went to explore some old tombs that turned out to be awesome. We had riden our bikes to the Main Gate to catch a bus to the tombs, and on our way back to Tagore guess who I saw sitting in the road. Damn right. It was my puppy.
I pulled over and picked up my puppy. He didn't even try to tun away, so I assumed he remembered me and was agreeing to accept my love. But alas! There were two more puppies too! They were small enough to perhaps be my puppy's siblings, but they were different colors and looked better. But I'm a firm believer in No Puppies Left Behind, so I handed off my puppy to Connor and went in search for the other two. 

I lost one in some bushes, but I was able to encourage/chase one into the corner of a building. Upon trying to pick him up, he bit me. I tried again and succeeded. So I carried him by the scruff over to the others, who were crowding around my puppy, "oohing" and "aahing". The second puppy looked, and was, much healthier than my puppy, and since one puppy is enough of a handful I set him back down to run off with his equally-healthy sibling (still in the bushes). 

I took my scarf out of my bag, unwound it from around my camera, and swaddled my puppy in it. Diana, who was riding on the back of Connor's bike, carried him back to Tagore. Now, one of the most crucial aspects of Operation LL&P was to safely get my puppy into Tagore and have him stay through the night without any of the staff knowing. Obviously, I would have taken all the blame if we/I was found out, but I didn't want to deal with having to pretend I was sorry for something I would more than likely end up doing again. 

So outside the gates of Tagore, mere feet from the security guards, we transferred my puppy into my Kavu-patch bag. Holding my breath, I breached the gate, parked and locked my bike, and walked though the front door. It was tense, but my puppy pulled through like a champ. Diana and I quickly changed and met in the bathroom to give him a bath, in an attempt to get some of the bugs off him. We managed get a lot of them off, but he was still fairly covered by the time we called it quits. The bath was long and exhausting, be he only ever cried when we got too much water on his head, an unfortunate necessity since the bugs were also crawling over his face. 

I sat and dried him off while Diana went down to get him some chicken from dinner. He gobbled it up, but as soon as he was full he PTFOed on my lap. He was out cold, and who can blame him? And amazingly, besides a few girls who passed us on their way to shower, no one realized why there was such a mess in the bathroom...

Fate stepped in again when my roommate, Alana, got the package she had been waiting for, which was shipped in a nice big box. We lined the bottom with towels and let him sleep. Thankfully Alana is also an animal person, so having him in our room for the night was no big deal. She also didn't mind watching him as I was escorted to the hospital later in the night (see previous post). 

Oogy in his Box

I woke up this morning bright and early, around 9:30, to a quiet, bright-eyed puppy peering up at me from his box. Everyone was preparing to leave for an organic market at 10, so I got ready and we headed out with them. I had the address of the animal shelter with me, including a map I got off the internet, but I still figured we'd have a hard time finding the place, because this is India after all. I was super right. 

I got a rickshaw at South Gate, showed him the map and he agreed to take us. It was just me and Oogy ("my puppy" was christened Oogy Boogy due to his bug affliction) headed to shelter, so I had him on my lap for some of the ride. However, he quickly became terrified so I put him back in my bag where he burrowed back down in the corner between my hand and scarf. Our ride was abruptly called to a halt when my rickshaw driver stopped to ask for directions, then told me to change rickshaws. So we got into our second rickshaw and continued. 

Once we got to the neighborhood where the shelter was located (a richer, suburban area of the city), we were obviously and completely lost. The driver started to ask everyone we passed if they knew where the Blue Cross Animal Shelter was. No one really did, and some said just that, but others still pointed us in the "right" direction until we were basically going in circles. Eventually someone did know what he was talking about and we finally arrived. 

I got the rickshaw to wait at the driveway, while I walked through the gate and up the hill to check everything out. It turned out to be quite a nice facility. We waited around for about 10min, but then were seen by a doctor. The vet immediately identified the "bugs" as fleas (gross) and then proceeded to rub Oogy in this baby-powder/anti-flea stuff. Oogy was so small and covered that they actually just poured some on the table then turned him over and rubbed him in it like they were flouring a chicken for dinner. Once I told the vet that I couldn't keep Oogy, he told me I was free to go after I filled out some paperwork. 

I knew how this story would end as soon as Operation Live Long and Prosper first began to formulate in my squishy, snail-like brain, but that certainly did not make things easier. It was simply heart-breaking when I put Oogy on the exam table and he immediately pressed his little body as close to mine as possible. But I know I made the best choice. Oogy would never have survived on the streets and hopefully he'll now have a chance to be adopted by a local family.
As I was filling out Oogy's paperwork I also dropped off my volunteer application. The guy at the desk said that I could come by whenever I wanted, and when I asked what I'd be doing he just just kind of gave the Indian head nod and said "helping." Touche India, touche. 

Remember that time I almost got rabies?

How I almost died. 

So today, despite being beautiful and filled with fun activities, I almost died. In a chain of events that surprised no one, I was bit by a dog. Actually a puppy. A very small puppy. And yes, I might've backed it into a corner so I could more easily pick it up, but that's not important. What is important is that I survived.
On our way back from some way awesome tombs(more on that later), I stopped to rescue a puppy(also, more on that later). One of the puppies tried to run away from me, obviously misunderstanding my attempts to grab it and shower it with my love as "aggressive movement." I followed/chased it around a building and into a corner. I just almost had it when it bit me. Just on the hand, above the wrist. It was shallow and didn't hurt, but it broke skin and bled a little.
But did I let this life threatening wound deter me from this puppy? Fuck no. I grabbed that puppy by the neck and I drowned it with love and affection. However, after a quick look over I decided that this puppy was in fine health and could survive on it's own. It was a born and bred street dog, and it didn't know it needed my love. So I put him back down and focused on the more sick and feeble puppy.
Upon telling my compadres that I had been biten I was immediately advised to go to the hospital, but I wasn't worried. It was, truly, hardly a scratch and I had an adorable, needy puppy to focus on. However, once we got back to Tagore I began to think "hmm, maybe I should get this checked out." So like any responsible, sentient being, I googled it. After reading a report of an English woman who just got scratched by a dog then died of rabies three months later, I decided I really should go to a clinic. I mean, there are much more exciting and less excruciatingly painful ways to die. Like a shark attack or getting mauled by a tiger... at least ways where I won't end up in a hospital bed.
While I was busy eating dinner, Skyping my man, and showering, dear Trudy was researching nearby hospitals and booking taxis. At 10 o'clock sharp-ish, Trudy, Diana, Marrianna, Kaia, and I were off to Apollo Hospital!
I won't lie, I was getting quite nervous. Although I really didn't think I had rabies, I really didn't want a rabies shot. I don't even mind shots, but I'd heard that rabies shots are notoriously painful and have to be in your stomach muscles. I didn't want that.
After what seemed like hours, we got to Apollo. It was actually a very nice hospital, very clean and quite Western. We all went back into the ER and I was ushered into a rolley chair right by the center nurse's station. I told a doctor what had happened, he got another doctor, and then I told him what happened too.

Apollo Hospital

Doctor: What is wrong?
Harper: I was bit by a puppy.
Doctor: Was it a pet?
Harper: No, a street dog.
Doctor: When did this happen.
Harper: Uhhh, 6pm?
Doctor: Was it provoked?
Harper: What?
Doctor: Was the bite provoked?
Harper: Oh... well, uh I guess. Probably... yes. It was.
Quite soon upon arrival the other girls decided to go wait in the coffee shop in the lobby, since our group was taking up a lot of space. So I sat there. Alone.
Very quickly I was told that I would be receiving two shots; one tetanus and one rabies. So I sat in my little rolley chair and waited. The ER was probably average size, but since it's India there is no concept of privacy. I looked incredibly out of place. Here were all of these obviously sick people, laying on their cots, crumpled in pain, and me. A small redheaded white girl who can't NOT pet puppies, even though EVERYONE tells her not to.
One of the beds had a little boy, maybe 4 or 5, on it with a big bloody head-wound and a bunch of gauze over it. While I was sitting, they loaded him into a wheelchair and stopped right in front of me to exchange paperwork or something. He was so small, completely being swallowed by this huge wheelchair and swaddled in some scratchy hospital blanket.

I took the red Styracosaurus 

*Interlude*
Hey, mom and dad? Remember earlier this summer how you guys got all upset with me for stealing a small, plastic dinosaur from a display at Nordstrom's? Even though Nordstrom's is a giant, stick-up-their-ass, caucasian, "We don't believe in sales" company? Remember that? Good.
*End*
So I took a small plastic dinosaur that's been in my purse for a while and gave it to him. He didn't smile, which was fine because he bad a big hole in his head, but I do think he liked it. He seemed a little less defeated as they wheeled him away.
In not too long a nurse came over with two syringes and told be to roll up my sleeve. At first I was confused. Were they really just going to give me this torturous rabies shot in my stomach muscles right there in my rolley chair? Fuck yeah they were.
Then the nurse rolled up my sleeve, wiped it down with some vodka(alcohol soaked cotton ball), and shot me.
Nurse: Other arm.
Harper: [points at second shot] In the other arm?
Nurse: Yes
Harper: What shot was that?
Nurse: Rabies. Tetanus, other arm.
And then it was over. Just like that. And I didn't even get cartoon bandaids over my punctures.
I paid, probably under-the-table since it was with cash, checked out, and walked out. My whole life-saving medical treatment, including cab fare and the chocolate shake I got at the coffee place where the others had been waiting, was all less than $20. Technically I have to go back and get another shot in two days, then a week, then two weeks, then another two weeks, but whatevs.
So you know what this means? Soon I will be immune to rabies. So Indian dogs, cats, and furry things, except the monkeys: get ready for a whole lot of ginger love.

Monsoon Vacation

About two weeks ago I got back from classes and I was bombarded by Trudy and Kaia, "Harper! We have a long weekend the week after next! Let's go to Kerala!"
"Okay!! Let's do it!" says I, not knowing  where or what is in Kerala, but mere hours later we had our plane tickets purchased and our plans set. As I said, I really knew nothing about Kerala, which is a southwestern Indian state, but I was assured that there were beaches and "backwaters" so I grew more and more excited as our departure loomed closer.
Last Tuesday, me, Diana, Alanna, and the Norwegians (Trudy, Kaia, and Marrianne) left for the airport and arrived in Kochi around 9pm. Stepping off the plane was like being back in Nashville. It was steaming hot and we had to swim through the humidity to get to the baggage terminal. As I was standing in line waiting to get a taxi to a guest house we found in Lonely Planet, fate would have it that the others stopped at the Tourist Info desk to grab a few maps of the area. I guess they saw some pictures of house boats going through the Kerala Backwaters, and the guy at the desk asked if we would like to book a private boat while we were there. Obviously we said yes, but assumed that it would be way too expensive. Much to our surprise it was pleasantly within our budget, which is cheap, so we left the airport giddy with excitement about being in Kerala and anticipation of our upcoming private boat tour!!
After an hour taxi ride we got to our guest house. We were exhausted and slightly disappointed; Lonely Planet said that this guest house would have "pot plants" lining the balcony, but there were only "potted plants," but at least there was wifi.
We go up early the next day and began to explore Fort Kochi. The girls did a lot of shopping, but I was more in an exploring mood. We were in a part of town called Jew Town which houses a plethora of antique and craft shops, which start out as tiny store fronts but then went back into deep rooms and passages just filled with old indian artifacts and stuff. It was awesome. I went into every shop and touched everything. I fell in love with these wooden Bull heads and carved Hindu deities, but they were all too large and precarious to travel with and I couldn't talk the prices down far enough (which is saying something because I'm quite an accomplished haggler, if I do say so myself).

I really wanted one of these two, but settled on a smaller blue one

Our first day was a good indicator of our whole trip, at least weather-wise. It's monsoon season in India, which means it rains on a pretty steady basis. In Hyderabad we get rain at least everyday, if not every other day, but in Kerala it rained almost the whole time. Luckily we were able to take shelter in various fish stalls, spice shops, and cafes, but I don't think any of us quite anticipated the amount of rain we actually encountered. On a historical note, Kerala was a Dutch colony before the British took it over in the mid-1700s, so it is a mainly Christian state (well, except for Jew Town) and there were churches everywhere. It was quite different from the rest of india that I've seen so far and by the end of our trip I was real tired of seeing Jesus everywhere. I mean, I get enough of that back home. Also, Kerala is the Indian state with the highest literacy rate, which is great, but we had a difficult time getting around with English and the other girl's minimal Hindi. English is usually pretty universally spoken around India, but that didn't seem to be the case in Kerala. It made traveling even more tedious and confusing, but we made it out all right.

I really wanted this Parvati statue, but
just couldn't justify the Rs 1300

On Thursday we left Kochi pretty early and took a 2hr bus ride to where our private house boat(mansion) was docked. I had envisioned the Kerala backwaters to be small river paths through mangrove forests and what not, but that really wasn't the case. It reminded me a lot of Vietnam, with wide channels surrounded by trees, rice paddies, and some small villages. Our houseboat was great though, it was even similar to the Chinese Junk I went on in Vietnam back in 2009. It was two floors with three bedrooms and a fabulous balcony that we spent all afternoon on. It was a bit rainy and overcast, but we stayed up there anyway, reading and being creeped on by other Indian tourists in their own boats.
We stopped at a small fish market and bought/chose our own fish, prawns, and crabs for dinner, although I was not equipped with the proper "crab" tools, so I felt like I failed my Echo Hill education with our crabs during. We were told that the boats didn't specifically serve alcohol, so in Kochi we prepared and brought our own liquid sustenance along. We had a very enjoyable evening after dinner with our wine, beer, and, of course, gin.

The Backwaters with rice paddy

Our private boat

We started Friday early and left the boat around 9am. In an unusual step for myself, I completely left the planning to everyone else, which was fine. As I've said, I really didn't know what to expect from Kerala, so Trudy and Kaia took the reins and ushered us around the state. We got a 2hr bus ride to another city where we were supposed to catch another 5hr bus to Munnar, a city in the South Indian Mountains. Once we got there we had about an hour until our bus left, so we grabbed a quick lunch and then waited at the bus station... in the rain. In true Indian fashion our bus was canceled or delayed or something, but we ended up waiting around for nearly 2hr, still in the rain... Once we finally got on our bus we sat right up front and settled down for another long haul.

Driving through monsoon floods

However, our bus driver felt the need to pass every vehicle that ever suffered the misfortune of being in front of us, whether it was a rickshaw, car, another bus, or a truck towing a backhoe. He did this for the entire 5hrs, during the monsoon induced floods and on the treacherous mountain roads that only have room for about a car and a half with a sheer drop off a cliff on the other side. It was terrifying, if not exhilarating. Obviously we didn't die, but my knuckles were white and clenched around the bar in front of me the whole ride.
We got to Munnar late and only just got dinner before all the restaurants closed. As it turns out, Munnar is one of the Indian cities where all the tea is grown and produced. On Saturday we woke up, again much earlier than I was comfortable with, and we hired a guide with a jeep to take us to a nearby wildlife sanctuary. Unfortunately Alana was sick, so she had to stay behind, but it was an incredible day. The jeep was all safai-like, so I got to sit in the back and hang my head/body out the side to take in the views. Driving out of Munnar we passed through tea country, where the hillsides were just absolutely covered in tea plants and waterfalls. Our driver stopped every now and then to let us take pictures and stop at the waterfalls, and whenever we passed by a tea factory the air smelled absolutely heavenly. Finally, around noon, the sun actually came out and the day became even more gorgeous.

Neon Carrots in Munnar

Tea in Munnar

Tea with tea pickers

We got to the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary around 1pm and hired 2guides to take us on a 3hr trek (*a three hour toouuurrr*).
Our very lofty goal was to see wild elephants, but it's best to see them in the early morning and even then only if you're lucky. Almost as soon as we began our hike we saw a Giant Indian Squirrel (which is classified as threatened). It was cool, but mostly just weird lookin'. Not too cute. That and a snake that Kaia nearly stepped on (just a teeny-tiny brown one) was the only wildlife we saw. However, we saw signs of elephants everywhere, including elephant poop from that very morning! and tracks leading to the river.

Some Eagley-thing over Coffee Farm

Our trek destination from way off

Indian Giant Squirrel

If you've ever gone hiking with me, or just walked with me outside, you'll know that I'm a very slow hiker because I have to see and touch everything. So me and one of the guides brought up the rear, which turned out to be just fine because he told me neat things about what we were seeing and hearing. one of the coolest things was a low-laying branch that was polished smooth by elephants scratching their backs up against it! Our trek culminated in a beautiful, giant waterfall. Our guides didn't really speak much English, but they made  it clear that I wasn't supposed to go to near the waterfall. However, I thought that was dumb because I was wearing my bouldering shoes and I know how to climb on slippery things. Once Diana said that she wanted to go closer as well I made my move. I don't think I ignored our guides, I just feigned ignorance as they motioned for me not to go further up the waterfall. Then Diana followed me, so we kind of pressured one of the guides to follow us up the whole side of the waterfall until we were way up and behind it. Right before we left I got my first chance to wash my hair since we left the boat (and by "first chance" I mean that I refused to shower in the freezing water in the guesthouse, and by "wash" I mean stuck my head in the river and beat my hair with rocks).

I call this picture "Shroom in [elephant] Poo"

The drive back was equally beautiful but we were exhausted. Alana was feeling better once we got back and we went to a restaurant that had been suggested to us earlier by someone at the tourist station. It turned out to be an all-you-can-eat buffet at this snazzy hotel, which we were not at all dressed for. They let us in when we got there at 7, but it didn't start until 7:30, so we just sat there and started at the food for 30min. We were all so hungry and the food was sooo good, so we didn't leave until around 10. We just sat there and let all of our courses settle until we went back for thirds and fourths.

On Sunday we went to the Munnar Tea Museum, which was fun. It was an absolutely beautiful day and it didn't rain at all. It would've been a perfect day for a trek, but, unfortunately, we can't tell the future, so we had to go ahead and head back down the mountain. This time we weren't traveling at night and our driver was considerably tamer, so it wasn't as bad.

Munnar

However, once we were down the mountain we randomly stopped at some station and were all ushered off the bus because, "bus is broke down. Move bus," although it seemed to have been working just fine, but whatevs. We got on our way again soon, but we weren't positive that we were going back to Kochi and no one would give us a definite answer. A few hours later the bus came to a final stop, but we legitimately didn't know where we were. Of course, no one spoke English or Hindi so they just kept telling us to get off. I tried asking young people where we were (because young people seemed most likely to speak English), but everyone thought I was asking "where in the city are we?", not "what city are we in?" Eventually we discovered that we were, in fact, in the right city, so we got a rickshaw to a new guesthouse.
By the time we had all showered and were ready for dinner we were all just exhausted, cranky, and utterly spent. Evidently we were in apart of town that doesn't get a lot of tourists, so we were once again the only white people to be found and we got A LOT of stares. By the time we actually found a restaurant, we went in, walked through the fairly crowded dining room and a general silence fell through the restaurant as everyone watched the six white girls make their way to the semi-hidden table in the corner. It was not a happy time. Luckily, the food turned out to be really good and we went to bed in better spirits.
On Monday, our last day in Kerala, we woke up at 6:30am to get a taxi that would take us to an elephant training camp an hour out of town. According to Lonely Planet, if we got there by 8:30 we could help the trainers bathe the elephants in the river, so obviously we made the sacrifice. I think we all fell asleep in the cab on the way there, where we were unceremoniously dropped at the end of a road that dead ended into a river. There were some other white people there, so we just kind of awkwardly hung around for 15-20min waiting for these elusive elephants to show up. Finally they did and it was glorious!... kind of.

We weren't immediately allowed to touch them, so we just hung back and took pictures. Unfortunately all the elephants had chains wrapped around them, which I can only assume was for their own safety (yes, ignorance is bliss). About 15min after the first three got there it became apparent that these three must be female, because this huge bull elephant, ivory tusks and all, came meandering down the road. He was huge. I didn't even know Asian elephants could get that big. He was awesome and automatically my favorite.

Unfortunately we were never invited to help wash the elephants. According to another taxi driver, there happened to be a park warden/inspector(?) there that day, and since technically touching the elephants is illegal we couldn't help out. Also, since Monday was the last day of Ramadan, the training camp was closed to visitors for the holiday, so we couldn't even go and poke around or ride the elephants. While it was very cool to go and see the elephants bathe and play in the water, it was kind of a bust since our taxi ride was quite expensive to go all the way our there to stay less than an hour.

the BIG guy

We went back to Kochi, checked out of our hotel and our little group split up. Some of the girls went to go see some of the old churches, but I went to go do some of the shopping that I was too distracted to do when we were there before. I got some nice tops and this cool, silky, kimono dress thing. When we met back up to head to the airport it turned out that the others had ended up getting an Ayurveda massage because all the churches were closed on Mondays. We got back to Tagore after midnight and I took a badly needed shower, did some laundry and passed the fuck out.
We really did have a wonderful get away and none of us particularly wanted to leave, although we were quite happy to be back. I'm not sure what the highlight was... probably the trek and waterfall, but I also immensely enjoyed just exploring Kochi our first day there. In the animal sanctuary we went to it's possible to see tigers, but there are specific Tiger Treks to take that makes seeing them more likely. Seeing a wild tiger is an opportunity that is just too good to pass up, so luckily I'm already in talks with some of the other students who will also be here for a year for us to go back this spring, in the dry season, to take a 3day trek devoted to tiger spying.