clothing in india

i almost forgot a really fun event of today. during our adventure near the synagogue, which is the most touristy place on the island, i got a comment on my milo in maine fish t-shirt. in front of every shop (and there are lots of them) there is a man harassing you to come in and take a look; they all have different methods. complimenting is my favorite. one man in front of his shop looked at my fish t-shirt and said: "I like your shirt, fish! you cook (slight pause) and then eat!"

this evening we went to the "teapot," which was a semi-touristy tea shop. we ate samosas with masala chai and i had an additional coffee. the coffee was yet again weak and kinda strange; maybe this is what southern indian coffee is like? anyways the tea makes up for it. then we were on the hunt for some ice cream and found another semi-touristy place. zoe had a deep-fried banana with ice cream and i had a coffee with ice cream. that concluded our bizarre dinner.

afterwards we went to listen to indian classical music. it was northern style, which was a sitar and drums. the music was great and i think the person in front of me fell asleep. i found it great to meditate and let the mind wander. apparently there are over 100 different kinds of drums just with inside kerala.

benson just made the awesome list. benson is the owner of the place we are staying at, which I would recommend to anybody (costa gamma.) i think benson made my night. when we returned from the music he was standing on the fount porch with his buddy who picked us up from the train station two days back. benson complimented zoe's salwar kameez, then looked at me and asked where my indian clothes were. i laughed and then told him i was working on it. i really am interested in indian clothing. benson recommended a local tailor and the amount i should pay ($1.60-$2.00.) he added that he would also show me how to wear my new clothes once i got them, which would be so great because i am clueless.

i mentioned after this exciting news that zoe was really wanting to learn how to wear a sari. he replied: "oh, i'll get my wife to come over here tomorrow to show her how."

tomorrow should be fun.

lunch in kochi

today we went to a local restaurant and had thali. first they laid down a banana leaf and then put a mountain of rice on it. it was followed by five or six different sauces ladled from cans the waiter carried around. two addition small cups were laid on the table for each of us; one of them was curd and the other a dessert. the curd I put on the rice immediately and it was tasty, i then, unknowing poured half the dessert on the rice as well which you are suppose to drink straight from the cup. the surprised waiter said: "no, no, sweets, that is sweets." oh well, i am learning quickly. i suppose that's like putting ice cream on steak. 

then there  was the problem of getting the food to my mouth with just my hands. it was rice and a bunch of runny sauces, so i began mixing them all together. not quite the way to do it, but it was successful. i am not sure if the people were staring at me because i was white or because i was mixing my food. my aim was to mix the main sauce with the rice and one other sauce at a time, but i ended up mixing in more. the real trick is getting the rice and sauce to the right consistency when it does not drip from your hand or fall apart on the way to your mouth. using your fingertips you grab and scoop a little bit at a time.

next time i will definitely make a pool of the main sauce in the middle of my rice and then mix smaller amount at a time rather than my entire dish at once. the walk back to the hotel was really hot. along the way we found a lost baby goat which was heart wrenching, it just kept running and calling out for its mom. we also stopped at a fruit stand and got 4 bananas. the man weighed them and held up two fingers which i interpreted as 20 rupees; only when we were back at our hotel did i realize it was probably 2 rupees. 50 cents for 4 bananas would be a lot in india, but if it was 20 rupees it would probably be the white-guy-charge, a very common charge here.

kochi

we have been doing a good job of exploring indian food, although we have not even started sweets. our method is ordering things that we have never heard of, and for me, cannot pronounce. today for breakfast we went back to the krishna cafe, which is some of the best local food around here, and cheap! i had a donut that was made of potato and herbs. that's my best description.

tea is a lot of fun because it is always served in a steel cup resting in a steel dish. to cool off the tea you pour it back and forth between the two vessels, although you have to be careful because sometimes they are different volumes and the steel dish will spill over. so far the coffee here has been crazy sweet with a lot of milk.

yesterday we went to the touristy area and picked a restaurant out of desperation to get away from the heat. we sat on the roof of the place across the street from a giant catholic church. it was a lot of fun watching all the children in uniform walk out of there, pile 2 or 3 on a bike, and go home. we ordered french fries, vegetable fried rice (chinese), and two curries; it was weird but fine. service was not very good but we tipped because during our wait for our food the waiter/chef/host (only guy there) hopped on his scooter and went to the grocery store. we were one of two customers. at least the food did not make me sick, yet...

later we met up with two travelers who are also staying in the same place as us. they are coming down from nepal and going to thailand, and we are doing the opposite, so we went out to eat and swapped stories. we ate at this awesome vegetarian restaurant (about 50% of restaurants here are vegetarian) called the pumpkin, and it had awesome authentic indian food. it's silly to even mess with non-indian food here.

this photo was taken from sitting on the doorstep of our hotel; which we love. we find the people working here to be incredibly nice and helpful.

i understand why people worship cows; they are so peaceful. i see cows just standing in the middle of the narrow streets with cars, buses, and scooters zipping by on either side, and they could care less. these cows were just taking advantage of the shade, usually they hang out in groups of 2 or 3 but i see some on their own just wandering. there are also lots of goats which i believe are around simply to keep the grass short.

unfortunately we did not take the ferrari motorized rickshaw; we took the one that was more like a 1993 toyota corolla.

the photos cannot capture the heat of the sun. it is so hot here, and also humid. standing in the sun it feels well over 100 degrees, but in the shade its only mid 80s, i'm guessing. it's the kind of heat where you drink a liter or two of water and don't have to pee.

one of the biggest attractions where we are is this synagogue. the area has served a large jewish population that has been here for thousands of years. it is unbelievable how many religions are present in india.

tonight we are going to listen to some indian classical music at an 8 to 9 show after dinner. i am definitely looking forward to that.