Cochi
Trip Start
Jan 08, 2007
1
11
14
Trip End
Mar 03, 2007
Cochi,Kerala, India
Friday, February 9, 2007
2. Kerala-language, culture
3. My first official GROPE
4. Jews of Cochi
1.I arrived in Cochi a few days ago (it's the place showing on the map). I thought I'd hate it here, but I could actually imagine living here. Europeans have certainly left their mark here beginning with the Portugese in 1500, followed by the Dutch and then the British. The result is Indian mixed with Europe, and it really works. This is the first place I could imagine staying to teach. hmmm. And even better, I'm staying on one island, Ft.Cochi, nearby is a big city (a safe tranquil 10 minute-2 rupee-ferry ride away), and on another island is a lovely beach. So basically all the elements are here to keep me happy: culture, beach, and some familiarity mixed with India.
2. I had studied very basic Hindi before coming here, but it is useless in Kerala where they speak Malayalam. After a few days, I got frustrated not having access to the native tongue, so I sat down with someone to get the basics. Now everywhere I go, I use what I can, and as a result, everywhere I go a small gathering comes around to tutor me, add to the vocabulary, correct pronunciation, etc. For a linguaphile, India is definitely the place to go.
So far I can say:
ende pare Rita (my name is Rita-they can't pronounce Rachel)
Sue gah mah no (how are you)
GWBush cheetahh (Bush is bad)
Nala (good)
veen.dum kannum (see you again)
And others. Numbers I'm getting, but I often have to look in my notebook. Tomorrow I leave Kerala. Back to Hindi I guess, but they're not nearly as supportive as the Keralans are.
Culture-
The famous dance of Kerala is called, Katakhali (Kata=story, Kali=play). The performances take place at temples and can last 6-10 hours. The abridged tourist versions are much shorter. I've seen two performances and loved them both (pics upcoming on the flickr site), but I guess the show wasn't short enough for a lot of the audience last night because many people walked out. Pretty damned rude. Personally, I wouldn't last 10 hrs, but I love it for 2. It's a really dynamic presentation where the actors use a form of sign language to tell stories. They use their mouths in a twitchy fashion, their eyes bugged out, their eyebrows, hand symbols and postures to tell their tale.
Kerala is a Communist state (though that changes from time to time I've heard). The literacy here is quite high, and it's a wealthy state. I've heard a lot of the money comes from the Gulf.
Overall, I've been so impressed with Kerala. The people are magnificant, the food is tremendous (everything has coconut and / or rice flour), and there's none of the aggressive staring I experienced up north.
3. GROPE
well, it had to happen. I was on a local bus headed to a beach for a couple hrs. I felt something poke my butt, but it must've been the guy's package (no pun intended!) or something-an accident sure. The second "accident" I thought about the logistics of where his hands would've had to be in relation to the back of my seat, and I felt a bit more convinced that these were no accidents. I decided on the third time, I would reach around slap his hand and yell "POH NARI" (go fucker-or some bad word-I said it by accident once and someone told me it was a bad word; poh-does mean go though). No third time, and he pretended to be asleep when I got off the bus, so he missed out on a dirty look.
Other than that, it's been a pretty grope free trip. People do,however, pass by you and their arm just happens to rub against your butt, but it's subtle enough that I never know if it was an accident or what it probably was. Anyway, no harm done.
4. The Jews of Cochi
Well, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this area of Cochi where there once were Jews. Currently, there are a lot of Kashmiris. The only Jews there appeared to be westerners. It was nice to be in the synagogue and explain to two Indian men from Delhi what the significance of everything was, what the Hebrew said, and laws re. keeping kosher, etc.
Tomorrow I'm jumping on a plane and heading up to Hampi. It's supposed to be a pretty significant town for Hindus, but I've heard its low prices have made it like a little Jerusalum. So, the Jews weren't in Hampi, but they're sure to be up north a bit. I'm sad to leave Kerala, but I'll gladly say goodbye to the ants that keep biting me and leaving little red marks. No such thing as ant-borne Malaria?
