Traveling Theology

The past few days have been lovely. I stayed at Jaimol Kochamma’s house and really enjoyed spending time with her and her family. I also experienced many “firsts” during my stay that were fun and very memorable. Here are a few of them:

1. I Skype-d with my parents for the first time since moving to Kerala.
2. I saw an iron that runs on coconut husks for the first time. Yes, I do mean an iron that irons clothing. Jaimol Kochamma had one small husk that had already been burned. She then set another on fire and placed it in the top compartment of the iron. The burning husks heat up the bottom, and sure enough it worked! I was fascinated.
3. I ate the entire body of a fish for the first time. Bones and all! I know this sounds strange, but they are tiny little minnows that are served fried very crispy. They have rubbery little bones that you can chew and are apparently full of Calcium. They were tasty!
4. I saw my first music concert in Kerala. It was a quartet competition called Quadrimonium held at CMS College. There were 27 groups! I got so into it. It made me miss my ACapella singing days something terrible. The songs were mostly Gospel and were sung beautifully. It was great to see the local talent. Claudia, one of the other volunteers, got to be a judge!
5. I bought my first Housecoat. For you Americans, it is basically a prettier version of the moo-moo. Women wear it around the house for various tasks. Mine is dark purple and blue and so cozy. I feel very much like a true Keralite in it.
6. I witnessed my very first blessing of an automobile. Jaimol Kochamma’s husband is the pastor at Ascension Church in Kottayam, and yesterday a family from their old parish came to the house to have their new car receive a blessing.

These are only a few of the new things I have experienced in India. To count them all would take forever, but I thought I’d give you all an idea of the daily surprises here. I would like to expand a little further on the blessing of the car idea so you don’t get the sense that it is strange. God is everywhere, and people here in Kerala understand that God is also on the roadways. Most, if not all vehicles are named, and many are named after Gods, Goddesses, or Saints. Icons and religious motifs are everywhere, even inside the public buses. As a person who enjoys naming objects (car, camera, computer, you name it) I really like the concept of naming your vehicle after a deity. This also makes sense because in Kerala and in most of the rest of India, the roadways are pretty dangerous. I think in the States it is easy lose touch with the people inside of vehicles and only see the machine itself. In Kerala I feel like recognizing that God, Baby Jesus (yes…8 pound 6 ounce Baby Jesus is on all kinds of vehicles), Lakshmi or Vishnu are with us as we drive gives each passenger a history to cling to. It doesn’t necessarily give each passenger a face or a name, but it gives a collective identity to the people inside each vehicle. A micro-community. We are all people, and we are acknowledging that we can’t make it very far without our God, no matter what we call him/her. I find that this notion is instrumental in my excitement each time I get on and off of a bus. It is a huge relief getting to each new place safely and successfully, but it is also a relief that even if I fail on the roadways, I still enjoy the journey. Maybe it is the icons talking, but I feel strangely at peace with being along for the ride. I think there is a metaphor for life somewhere in there, but I’ll let you figure that one out.

“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey; we are spiritual beings on a human journey.” -Stephen Covey