INDIA

India! India! India!

I was expecting the worst after all the preparation and oh how wrong I was.  Everyone told me how horrible the smell would be, the people will stare at you, guys may harass you, its dangerous, crowded, dirty, hot and so on.  Although some of these are true to a certain degree, the overall feeling portrayed is not what matches to my experience.  This morning, before stepping foot off the ship and physically stepping foot in India, I was terrified.  I rarely get nervous, there are very few things that trigger this response and India was one of them.  I was terrified and worried.  I couldn’t help it, I woke up to a distinct smell in my cabin that has barely any circulation.  My vision of me in India included me being in the middle of a crowd with no breathing space, only disgusting smells that disable any breath from working naturally.  I imagined being lost, hot, tired, and stressed.  At the diplomatic briefing, they spoke of past terror attacks and the worst possible outcomes. 

            With this said, I was over prepared with the worst possible scenario and was pleasantly surprised with the most wonderful day.  Kim, Lisa, and I set off for a day of wandering.  We found a driver who offered a good price and jumped in a riksha for a wild ride.  Mani, our driver said he would give us a tour of town and with little knowledge of how to get around; it ended up being the perfect way to see the city.  Our first pit stop was at a clothing/fabric shop where all three of us bought Saris.  Then we visited a popular temple in town, lots of action going on there!  We witnessed the aftermath of a Hindu wedding.  We visited multiple jewelry and craft shops.  One of the highlights of the day was lunch-authentic Indian meal.  Soooo goood!  We ordered lots of great dishes that were recommended by the waiter.  We followed lunch with more shopping and an epic visit to the national park.  Very similar to a zoo, the park had two different sections-Snake park and Children’s park.  The snake park had a lot of snakes-surprise.  It was cool but not as fun as the Children’s park in which we were the main attraction.  Three white blonde foreign girls walking around caught everyone’s eye.  In the beginning, families would wave and encourage their children to shake our hands.  I met so many young kids; they were so curious.  As we were observing the monkeys in their cage, people were taking pictures, not of the monkeys, but of us.  We were so much more interesting than the not so distant species.  Before we knew it, we had made friends and were taking group photos.  It was hilarious and quite ironic.   As we visited a zoo to view other animals, people were viewing us in a similar way. 

            I am not sure how the rest of the day went exactly because we did so much!  We visited St Thomas Basilica and saw where St Thomas was buried.  The basilica was actually built over St Thomas’ tomb. 

            I was on a mission to try Vadai, I was informed that their fried donut like treat was heavenly.  Mani brought us to a random restaurant in which we ordered the wrong thing.  We ate large thin fried pancakes on a leaf, dipping it in different sauces that they poured onto our leaf plate.  It was extremely interesting, quite the experience.  After pointing to other people’s food we were able to order the right Vadai.  It was definitely disappointing and we spent our time in the restaurant being confused and laughing.  Kim said, “I wish someone else could see us right now”….they would get a good laugh.  We needed some dessert to clear the palet and comfort our foreign state of mind.  Mani took us to the most awesome sweet shop that was hustling with customers.  We got a variety of small home made Indian candies.  We concluded the night with sharing our treats over the India-Ireland cricket game at a near by hotel.  It was a super nice sheek hotel that we could help but order drinks and lengthen our great day.  After we returned home to the ship we quickly changed and headed out to a local bar.  We fit 9 people into a riksha-I know not the best idea but it was pretty cool. 

            I am so excited for tomorrow; I will wake early for my Art of Living trip.