an early monsoon

Hi Everyone!

Well after over 36 hours of being in transit from London to Cochin, I made it! After some severe culture shock and a lot of sleep, I have awakened to an absolutely wonderful place. To begin, my host, Benson, it just wonderful. He has set me up with all sorts of things to do. Yesterday I went on a boat exploring the backwaters of Kerala. And when I got home he had a massage waiting for me! Today I'm exploring Cochin and going to a Kathakali performance. Tomorrow I am headed off on a three day trek through an Elephant training center, a wildlife preserve, and Kerala's famous tea plantations.

Similarly to what Jaki said in her last post, the people here are so kind. Since I stepped off the airplane and a man said to me, "Relax, try to enjoy it. Worrying will get you nowhere," I knew that I would be well taken care of here. And I have been.

Last night was Benson's wife's birthday, and they insisted that I join. I walked in the house and their entire extended family. ages 3-80 were all praying together in Malayalan, the beautiful language of Kerala. I sat with them and closed my eyes, just listening to everyone in harmony, singing and praying. It was so moving. Occassionally one of the youngsters would take over. There are four young boys in the family, who are so fun. The youngest, Rubin, was painfully shy, hiding his face until he found hid dad's camera phone and started giggling and taking pictures of me. By the end of the night we were buds.

Oh, and everyone stared at me throughout the night, impressed with my right handed eating skills. The only things the grandfather said all night was "Have more," while heaping more food onto my plate, and "Good job!" when he noticed me mixing all my food together and shoveling it in. He also made me eat two desserts.

The monsoon came early this year. It usually comes on exactly June 1st, when all the kids go back to school. But it is here now. The power goes off every night in the storms, and I just walk around during the days with my camera in a drybag, enjoying being cooled off by the rains.

So much love.
Oh and I have a new phone number in India: 9633134605 call itttt. i miss you all.