India Day 1

My first day in India started a lot later than it was supposed to due to a delay in immigration.  Everyone on the ship was lined up by the gangway on Deck 5 to get off of the ship, but we weren’t allowed to get off until around 11:30 instead of 9AM.  I had an FDP (or field trip) that was scheduled for 10AM, which was also delayed.  I sat in the hall on Deck 2 until someone came by and let me know that the people who had FDPs were being let off the ship.  Then I ran to the gangplank and onto the bus to my Chendemangalam Village visit.  It had been a while since I read the description of what the trip was going to be like, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I just knew it was going to be guided by the women of a Chendemangalam Village.

The bus ride took about two hours and I was asleep for most of it.  When we got to the village there was a welcome ceremony with a drumming performance.  They had a tent set up in one of the houses front yard with tables where our group could sit down.  They gave us coconuts to drink and gave us each necklaces made from Jasmine flowers.  The woman leading the group was probably in her fifties and came to about my shoulder (and I am 5’2, so that is pretty short), she narrated while another lady from the village showed us how to cook a local dish, which we then ate on banana leaves.  I have the recipe, but it is a little long to type out.  I might try that sometime when I get bored.

Next we walked across the street to the guide’s mother in law’s house where we washed our hands and got a short tour of the garden from a couple of the boys in the village.  They were probably around 13 and were very interested in telling us about their village.  We went back to our guide’s house and sat down again.  While we were gone they had arranged the chairs into two groups of seats with a stage in the middle where we were able to watch a dance performance by some of the women of the village.

After the dance we walked around the village for a while.  Many of the villagers were outside of their houses and spoke with us or let us take pictures of them as we walked by.  A few of them were too shy to let us take their pictures, but not many.  When we got back to the house we had some tea before heading back to the bus.   We had one more stop before heading back to the ship.

The bus took us to a factory where they wove sheets for beds, among other things.  It was very interesting to see their looms, but since we were running pretty late already we did not spend much time there.  On the original schedule we were supposed to get back to the ship by 4PM, but we didn’t get back until 6PM.  I went to dinner immediately before heading back to my room to pack for the next few days.  I was planning to leave for the airport with Alexa and Liz K at 5AM and spend the next few days traveling in Delhi, Agra, and Mumbai so I didn’t want to be out late.  I packed my bags and was in bed by 10PM.

(Tomorrow is the Sea Olympics!  Hopefully I will get caught up on these blog posts soon so I can write about what is happening right now.  I will try my best to work on it soon!)