Morning began bright and early at 6 am. yay. Thankfully, this was the day that will go down as my best southern Indian breakfast ever. EVER. Egg curry. I’m in love.
I made it into a burrito, despite my host mother’s insistence on not doing so. I’m a real rebel.
The morning continued in awesomeness as I was chauffeured with my little host brother and sister (who were dropped off at school). They are just so cool. I can’t believe they hang out with me.
I really enjoy seeing all of the various Christian churches, but it sure would be nice to stop at one of the many mosques we are constantly passing. Just saying. Anyway, it was very beautiful, as usual.
Jennifer did her thang thang and snagged another interview. She’s a religious reporter and if you want to read about our trip from the perspective of an intelligent person who can write, you can do so here.
After that, we went to the Malayala Manorama newspaper (third largest circulation in the world) to visit with their editor-in-chief and staff. All of the other girls are in industries that are heavily related to marketing and media, so they were quite excited. Vanessa in particular was ready for business.
Once we concluded those discussions, we quickly jetted off for lunch at a local Rotarian’s house. Still don’t know what I’m eating. Ever.
At lunch we met this fabulous woman who told us her greatest desire is “to have the freedom to be herself.” She discussed dressing like a westerner in India and several of her other unpopular life choices. She had such a different perspective on life in India as a woman and we all pretty much fell in love with her. Facebook friends!!
A random member of parliament also dropped by to say hi (WTF right?? No big deal…). My “Dr. Smart” card earned me the seat to his right. Hellllll yes. Also, I don’t have to pee, I just don’t know where to put my hands when I’m nervous.
The close encounter with a celeb wore our leader out so much that he passed out. I’m jealous of people who nap easily.
After we brought him back to life, we headed out to a Syrian Orthodox seminary. It was man city. A seminary would normally not be an ideal place to pick up men, but Syrian Orthodox men can marry (unless they wish to be promoted to a Bishop). Anyway, we had a great time and all of the men we talked to were very friendly and eager to share their knowledge.
The priest (I think that was his title…) composes mountains of music and let us watch the rehearsals. He had a book without about 2000 ish pages (see above) that were full of his original compositions. Insane.
We stayed to hear the evening prayers sung and made it back to our host’s house just in time for another festival.
Artsy lamps floating on water or I’m too impatient to wait for the shutter to close? You decide.
And then we went to another Rotary meeting that didn’t even begin until 9 pm. We were so tired and sweaty. It was a bit of a rough day.
Not too shabby for being awake and on the go for 16 hours without getting to change, shower, or clean up. Jessica was losing it at that point.
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On the wildly off chance I may never get to India, thank you for bringing India to me. It is my daily dose of incredible.
Reading your India posts are seriously fascinating. I’d be interested to hear someone from India’s perspective on our country and food! Also, I wanted to ask what kind of camera you use. It takes great photos!
I want to be that woman’s Facebook friend too…or just a stalker. Great pictures, again. And if you can will you send some of that food home, please??
Get your own Indian food…or just pick up the phone and order it? Last time I ate take out Indian food, I spent more time sitting down catching up on the funny’s than I did eating it.
No indian food here. :-( Sigh. Will have to make my own!
Hey Cely I know you’re crazy busy, but if you ever have some down time and Internet connection can you explain why your group is visiting so many churches and schools? Is Rotary trying to show how Christianity and schools are around the world? I saw you mentioned wanting to visit mosques and I honestly figured if I were to ever visit a house of worship in India it would be a Hindu temple, not a church.
Just curious! You look like you’re having an amazing time!
Your host little sister looks so hip and cool! I’m jealous of her glasses!!
Mary and I are looking at your pictures. She’d like to know why you’re sitting down in the last picture “is she sitting down for a break from shopping mama or is she at dance class?”
I laughed so hard I had to share.
Bahahaha. Omg i love her. Definitely not in dance class hahaha