Thanks Be to God

What a full day! 

Our day began with an early church service beginning at 7:30 a.m. at Christ's Church in Cochin. The other volunteers were very excited because the whole service is in English. Last Sunday they got to experience a service fully in the native language of Kerala, Malayalam. I was also thankful for the English service since my Malayalam is non-existent at the moment. The service itself was officiated by Thomas John and two other pastors in the church. During the service we were all brought to the front of the church and introduced. Claudia Binu and I sang a song called "The Summons" for the congregation. Binu (Thomas John's Son) also accompanied us on the guitar. 

From Left to Right: Binu, Ian, Claudia, Betty Kochamma, Thomas John Achen

After the service we drove to places all around the greater Cochin area. We visited the Jewish Synagogue, St. Francis Church, and the Dutch Palace. It was amazing to see the religious diversity in Kerala coexisting at all of these sites. To the left is a view depicting the Hindu Temple and the Jewish Synagogue all together in harmony. We also got to see many different sides of Kerala's famous back waters. We walked around a local fish market that was situated right in front of these huge fishing nets. They are heavily weighted on one side, so it is actually very easy to pull up the nets! The fishermen let us pull up our catch, which consisted of five small fish, but we were very proud. After that we had a traditional lunch on Banana leaf, ran some errands for our departure to our sites tomorrow, and went shopping at FabIndia as a group. I got two tunics and a pair of pants, which will be practical until I can find a fitted Churidar. We didn't make it back to the house until 4 o'clock! At afternoon tea I was blessed to have a wonderful discussion with Binu about all sorts of intellectual things, including some insight into the teaching world in Kerala. We even talked about Economics, which is a newly growing interest of mine. The group rested until dinner, went over travel plans, laughed, and shared stories. 

Us in front of the HUGE fishing nets!

"Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf." -Rabindranath Tagore (Indian poet, novelist, philosopher)