Mysore and More!

    Last Week I embarked on a journey with the 1oth standard classes at Buchanan. We went on tour to Mysore in two buses fully packed with students. There was one English Medium bus and one Malayalam Medium bus (“medium” means which language they focus most on in school) and I sat on the Malayalam Medium bus. I sat next to two girls, Adira and Shruti for the entire trip. They were very good companions to me while I was on the bus and off. So we sat down, ready to drive all night and some of the next day to get to our destinations. Parents crowded around the bus yelling in the windows telling the girls to stay safe. We pulled away and not 2 minutes down the road, the lights suddenly went off and the music was pulsing-in-your-chest loud. The girls all started dancing in the center aisle. The next time I looked up there was a LASER SHOW in the bus, I kid you not. The girls dragged me on to the dance floor and I danced with them like no one was watching. Dancing with them amidst the lasers and the far too loud music that first night is a feeling I will not soon forget.  The original excitement of the music (the first pop music I have heard since being here in India) faded over time. At 6 a.m. (maybe earlier) the music was bumping again. I tried to stay enthusiastic, but given my awful sleep in the bus, I was just plain exhausted.
We arrived in Mysore, freshened up and then got in the bus to drive another 150 km to Coorg, a place with a working Tibetan Monastery that has been running since the Dalai Llama's first exiled community. 



I actually dozed into a pretty nice two hour sleep despite the music. Anyway the monastery was beautiful and elaborate. We also saw an awesome sight of monks playing with the ducks. It cracked me up to watch the monks dunk a swimming dunk into the water playfully. At night we travelled to the amazing Vrindhavan Gardens to see the place all lit up at night. We watched a fountain with a light show set to music. It was fun walking through the garden paths and singing songs with the students.  We stayed in a nearby lodge and ate all of our meals at the attached hotel next door. We woke up the next morning and toured St. Philomena's church, a gothic church built by one of Mysore's most popular kings. Later we took a trip to the zoo! It was an overwhelming collection of mammals, birds, reptiles, and other wildlife. We took turns pointing and sharing why we liked our favorite animal. My favorites were the 5 giraffes they had in the very front of the park. Many of the girls liked the Gorilla because it is the only Gorilla in South Asia!

 They said they liked it because it was such a rare sight. We then headed to the Mysore Palace. It is an amazingly beautiful structure that we walked through so quickly that I didn't obtain much information about it, but it was definitely a popular tourist spot. I talked to a nice German couple because the girls pointed them out to me. The halls were filled with mirrors, stained glass and ornate painting. We took some great photos on the lawn thanks to a funny photographer with instant photo printing. We also shopped in the tourist area.  Jaimol Kochamma taught me how to bargain as I shopped for keychains for the hostel students. The man told us one keychain was 30 rupees. Now, that is less than one U.S. dollar, but here that is a pretty outrageous price for a silly keychain. We kept telling him we'd only buy it for 10 rupees. He lowered the price ever so slightly each time he made an offer and when he finally said 15, we walked away. I was going to buy 22 keychains from him, so either way he was going to end up with a lot of money. He finally ran after us with all of the keychains in tow yelling “okay madam, 10 rupees, only 10.” So that is how you bargain in India. It is an interesting concept because it requires the buyer to be able to accurately assess the value of what they are buying.  It was an interesting insight into the lives of the people who buy and sell goods. Everything is so unpredictable! Even the prices! So, we headed back toward Kerala in the evening. We reached Pallom by 6:30 a.m. the next morning. I was dead tired and so were all the teachers and students. We took the day off of school and rested.

This weekend was restful but eventful. On Sunday I went to Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kottayam and led Children's church for about 15 kids. Jessy Teacher (one of my favorites) invited me to come because she knows I like interacting with small children.  The group's ages varied from 3 to 12. We sang three songs and I told them the story of Zaccheus, who is called Zacchi in the Malayalam Bible. Much of it was graciously interpreted to Malayalam by Jessy teacher. She then invited me back to her house for lunch and I spent time playing with her son Jis and her daughter Jiya. They were a joy. I got back to Pallom just in time for a fun “mini-tour” with the hostel girls. We probably walked close to 2 miles out to the Pallom lighthouse. All around us we had amazing views of the Kerala backwaters. We took tons of photos, laughed and sang some of the pop songs that I learned on my trip to Mysore! They were impressed that I could so closely replicate the lyrics of languages I don't know. Haha. I will upload photos later.

I am also taking this time as an opportunity to get creative. I decorated my walls with pictures and quotes this weekend. I also made an Advent calendar for the hostel with one word in each calendar day. We will focus on that one word during our prayer time leading up to Christmas. This Thursday is also Thanksgiving, so needless to say, all of my classes are making hand turkeys this week. We are listing what we are thankful for inside the handprint.

During my trip to Mysore, I also saw some very sad things. Things that I can't ignore. Everywhere we went many women holding babies and young children were present and asking for money. I do not know these women or these children, but my heart aches for them still.  Even more than that my heart aches for the world. My friends all across the world are seeing similar hungry bellies from a system that has failed these people. So today I am extremely thankful for the food on my plate and the support I have in this world. I am thankful and simultaneously undeserving of the life that has been handed to me.  I will work my whole life to help others live a life in which all of their needs are met.

We may wonder

Whom can I love and serve?

Where is the face of God?

To whom can I pray?

The answer is simple.

That naked one. That lonely one.

That unwanted one is my brother and my sister.

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten

That we belong to each other.

-Mother Teresa