Christmas had me so busy, I even forgot to write in my journal a lot. Sorry all of this information is coming to you late and in a really lengthy post, but I feel that it is important to tell you as much as I can about my experience of a Kerala Christmas.
The week before we left for Christmas I had 3 programs to attend and participate in. I sang with the Speechly College choir on Tuesday the 20th even though I had a pretty awful cold. We sang Oh Come All Ye Faithful, Deck The Halls, Silent Night and 2 Malayalam songs. It was really fun for me to learn the Malayalam songs and I had them stuck in my head all throughout the Christmas season. At the Speechly College program they had a Santa Claus with Michael Jackson-esque dance moves and Santa gave me a really cute little stuffed snowman as a gift of appreciation. I also sang O Holy Night as a solo for the program.
I came home to the hostel after the performance and chatted with the 4 Speechly students who live with us. As we talked, Seenu henna-ed my ENTIRE hand. The design was so intricate and beautiful. It was a great Christmas gift.
On Thursday night the 22nd BI Boarding had our Christmas program. Since the girls had been taking exams for almost 2 weeks, we had to pull the program together really quickly. I was really impressed by their ability to plan so last minute. We had one skit, 2 dances, 3 songs, one nativity scene and a Christmas message by K.T. Kurian Achen, the head Reverend at Pallom C.S.I. church. I also sang my solo for the program.
The program was going really smoothly until suddenly, during the 1st year TTC students' dance, the power shut off. Frantically we lit candles and found battery operated lamps, but the dance had stopped in the middle and the 1st years were really embarrassed. They are not dancers and they were really hesitant to perform the dance in the first place. They all seemed really bummed that the lights had cut them off halfway.
After the power came back on, the nativity scene was the next thing on the program. Unfortunately, they were running behind on time. The angels were having some sort of difficulty with their outfits, so we needed to stall. It was a perfect opportunity for the 1st years to complete their dance! It was a really great show and I also unexpectedly received another gift from Santa. Haha.
We had amazingly delicious food catered to the Mess Hall and went directly there to eat some fried rice and chili chicken. Achen, his wife and son, and the Headmistress of Buchanan, her husband and daughter all came to enjoy the meal with us. K.T. Kurian Achen asked me to sing O Holy Night for the January 8th service at Pallom Church. A little out of place, but a really nice gesture. I am excited for the opportunity.
After dinner I went upstairs and taught the 1st year students how to play a G chord on my guitar. They took turns playing and laughing at each other. We heard the 2nd years get back from dinner. The next thing we knew, we were being rushed down the stairs for what seemed like no reason. Myself and the 1st years stood in a line in the study hall and started to get bored. The 2nd years kept telling us to wait, and we had no idea why we were waiting.
We all were getting impatient when suddenly Vanitha steps forward and yells "HAPPY CHRISTMAS" and starts slamming us with fistfuls of glitter. Every second year had a fistful of glitter behind their backs and they all slowly attacked us, coming up very close and then shoving the glitter onto our faces, arms and in our hair. It was hilarious. We ran around screaming and ducking and trying to pick up enough glitter off of the floor to throw back at them.
Once we were sufficiently coated with glitter we went to the Children's hostel and also attacked them. I remembered something as I watched the children get glitter-mobbed….I had bought them Santa hats! I raced to my room and grabbed the hats, but there weren't enough for everybody. First I passed the hats to all of children, but three were left-over. I distributed the three hats in the most fair way I know how to…by throwing them wedding-bouquet-style behind my back and into the crowd of screaming teenage girls. The method was effective, but maybe not the best idea ever since later I learned that one girl was elbowed in the mouth.
So we returned to the main hostel and danced the night away to songs on my computer. Though my Malayalam song library is a little lacking, we found a way to make it fun. We danced until 1 am, then cleaned up and packed our clothes.
We all headed home on the 23rd. I headed to Jaimol Kochamma's house after the Speechly School Christmas program in the morning. At Jaimol Kochamma's house I chatted with her sons, and then accompanied her and her husband (who is also a Reverend) on some home visits. The specific goal was to visit a woman who has Parkinson's disease. She was only in her early 50s, but has a very rare and severe case. She and her husband live in New Zealand, but they were in Kerala specifically for an Ayurvedic Treatment for her disease.
The family was very open and welcoming and they had a really cute little nephew. I visited with her and her family, but her 2 year old nephew was enamored with me and continued to pick up the telephone next to me and give me the phone. I would answer it and say things like "Hello? Oh happy Christmas to you too! Do you want to speak with him? Oh here he is!" then I would give him the phone back. You know, just standard fake phone conversation. Elsie, the woman with Parkinsons, conversed with me freely and was really such a happy and optimistic person. I felt so blessed that I was able to meet her and her family.
We kept walking and met three other families that were somehow related to the first family we visited. They were all equally hospitable and gave us Christmas cake each time we walked in the door. It was delicious, but by the end of the night I was almost too full of cake to have supper. We also walked to Claudia's church and saw the Christmas lights by night. Jaimol Kochamma's husband is one of the reverends at the church. The choir was practicing for their carols service, and sure enough, we saw Claudia! She and I briefly chatted about our excitement to be at Thomas John Achen's house for Christmas!
The next morning was Christmas Eve. I boarded my train to Aluva, and arrived around lunch. Ian arrived at the house shortly after I did. We were both exhausted, so we napped, had dinner, then sang some Christmas carols until we were ready for bed. Achen heard me sing O Holy Night and asked me to sing it (once again) for the Christmas church service.
We got up early for a church service at Achen's congregation in the nearby town of Ernakulam. At the service I met Bishop George, a long time friend of Grace Presbytery. He was instrumental in bringing the Grace Presbytery/ Kerala exchange program to life. He even knew the name of my home church and remembered the name of my Grandfather who traveled to Kerala on this exchange program. The church service was great. Bishop George gave the sermon, and in the middle he broke out into a gospel song in his graceful baritone voice. It gave me chills!
We got back to the house and Claudia arrived shortly after. We mostly slept after the church service, and Claudia had a pretty bad cough. Achen informed us later that day that Claudia and I would be leading a Voice Training Workshop for both children and adults at the Ernakulam church on December 28th and 29th. After we rested we started planning our training workshop, checked out some options for our All India tour and watched A Christmas Story. We ended the evening with more carols.
I also got to Skype with SO many of my family members at their Christmas Day celebration. It was so wonderful to see my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and parents. My mom even called her mom and dad and one of her brothers and held the phone up to the Skype microphone. Haha.
We relaxed all day on the 26th, and on the 27th in the morning we went to Athirapally Falls. We took a taxi and saw some amazing views of the waterfalls. We also got to climb down and take some pictures. The climb down was easy but the climb up was STEEP! Claudia and I took it slow , hacking and coughing in the back as the boys, Binu and Ian, raced up ahead. We then drove a little bit further up and saw the source of the falls, some beautiful rapids.
There were also some nice areas with fresh, clear, slow moving water in which people ignored the "NO SWIMMING" signs and jumped in. I dunked my toe in just for fun. We also drove through a conserved forest that was so peaceful and clear. Before we drove in, a park ranger had to count how many plastic bottles we had in our car so that he could make sure we still had that same number when we exited the camp. In other words, the "NO LITTERING" signs were serious business.
Once back at the house, Claudia finally headed to the doctor and found out she had an infection. She took her medicine and went to sleep and Ian and I enjoyed the free internet, caught up with friends, and prepared for the Voice Workshop the next day.
The next morning we headed to the church. Claudia took it slow, but together we led warm-ups, then she taught the children something called Kodai rhythms. It basically involves the top part of a note and gives that notation a rhythmic value. For example: |- this straight vertical line is "ta"….in other words a quarter note. It was a really great tool. You are teaching kids music when they really think they are playing a game!
After the lunch break we played some get to know you games and I taught the children some fun songs while Claudia got some much needed rest. We got back to the house and crashed.
We woke up the next morning and poor Claudia had gotten a rough sleep, but the exciting part was that her sister was en-route to Kerala. Her sister arrived in the middle of the voice training Claudia led, and soon after the training was over, she headed to the hotel to meet her sister. During the second half of the adult choir's training we learned a nice piece called "O Sacred Head Now Wounded." I taught the alto part to two girls who are in the junior and senior choir at the church. They were really sweet girls and did a great job catching on. It was their first time singing harmony in the choir.
We got to meet Santhosh on the 29th. He is the person who runs the YAV India website. He taught us how to use blogger correctly and gave us some cool tips on how to make our pages snazzy. He also gave us advice on the content that should go in to our YAV India blog. It was great to hear the ways in which we can make a lasting contribution to the YAV India program. The website is a great way to help.
The 29th was also my parents' 26th wedding anniversary, so I gave them a call at night to congratulate them on all of the wonderful years they have spent together! I am so thankful to have their example of love in my life.
On the 30th, Ian and I were internet zombies. At my site and at his site, the internet access we have is difficult to find. At Buchanan, I never get to use my laptop. I do all my work on my usb drive and then transport it to another computer. So he and I played internet games and downloaded TV shows to keep us entertained. In the middle of the day we took a walk around UC College and talked about life. It was relaxing. Claudia's mother also arrived in Kerala on this day.
On the 31st Ian and I decided that we should go to a movie. It was New Year's Eve and I was getting a little antsy from staying in the house all day. We adventured to Oberon Mall for an 11:30 showing of a Hindi movie called Don2. We got to the Aluva bus stand by autorickshaw, but once we got to the bus stand….we realized we had only remembered a few details of the way Achen and Binu told us to get there. We knew we needed a bus to Vaithala or Cherthala or a bus that went to Edapally pass.
It was raining and really crowded, and my tactic was to ask everyone that I saw if they knew of any of these buses. We luckily found one of the fancier buses that had "EDAPALLY PASS" scrolling over it. We barely jumped on in time and the ride was expensive and a little unpleasant. Mist streamed in through the windows and all over my glasses and face during the ride. We got off with the plan to take an auto, but instead we walked.
We got to the mall much at around 11:50, so we had to buy another ticket. The only options were a Malayalam movie, or Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. We went to Mission Impossible and enjoyed a hot cup of coffee since the rain made us pretty cold. The movie was really good! We also went to the food court and had fried chicken for lunch! We then walked back to the bus stop, but first we wanted to check out this store called Emmanuel Silks.
The back story on our desire to see this store can be summed up in one word: Sha Ru Khan. So basically Sha Ru Khan (whom I began calling SRK because that is how Ian refers to him) came to Cochi to speak at the opening of this MASSIVE department store. It is rumored to have a day care and a doctor's office inside.
On the walk to the store, we called Claudia to see what time she, her mother, and sister would be heading to Achen's house for our New Year's Eve celebration. When she answered, she said they were at Emmanuel Silks! I was a weird coincidence, but pretty fun. We got to meet her mom and her twin sister Jocelyn at the store.
The inside of the building was just as crazy as we hoped it would be. They had a live band, an aquarium, kids riding around on a big golf cart type thing, and coffee dispensers on each floor. Everywhere we went someone was asking if they could help us. It was a little overwhelming, but interesting.
We headed back to the Aluva house and hung out until Claudia and crew arrived. They purchased Churidars and got them stitched for our New Year's dinner. We had a 3 course meal with fish and bread, beef biryani, and a delicious pineapple bread pudding. Afterwards, we played Catch Phrase and laughed a lot. Everyone but me and Ian fell asleep pretty early. We rang in the New Year on the porch Skyping friends and hearing fireworks blasting off. We didn't see any but the BOOMS sounded like they were pretty close to the house.
We all parted ways on New Year's Day. I am now back at Buchanan, typing away and saying Happy New Year to everyone I see! I am so thankful for all of the things that last year brought me. During 2011 I learned more about myself, spent time with my family, grew in my faith, had an incredible internship at a church that I love, decided to come to India for a year, and met some really amazing people. I know that 2012 will bring just as many blessings.
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| My Speechly College friends! |
The week before we left for Christmas I had 3 programs to attend and participate in. I sang with the Speechly College choir on Tuesday the 20th even though I had a pretty awful cold. We sang Oh Come All Ye Faithful, Deck The Halls, Silent Night and 2 Malayalam songs. It was really fun for me to learn the Malayalam songs and I had them stuck in my head all throughout the Christmas season. At the Speechly College program they had a Santa Claus with Michael Jackson-esque dance moves and Santa gave me a really cute little stuffed snowman as a gift of appreciation. I also sang O Holy Night as a solo for the program.
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| Candles for Silent Night |
I came home to the hostel after the performance and chatted with the 4 Speechly students who live with us. As we talked, Seenu henna-ed my ENTIRE hand. The design was so intricate and beautiful. It was a great Christmas gift.
On Thursday night the 22nd BI Boarding had our Christmas program. Since the girls had been taking exams for almost 2 weeks, we had to pull the program together really quickly. I was really impressed by their ability to plan so last minute. We had one skit, 2 dances, 3 songs, one nativity scene and a Christmas message by K.T. Kurian Achen, the head Reverend at Pallom C.S.I. church. I also sang my solo for the program.
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| The Children's hostel's dance |
After the power came back on, the nativity scene was the next thing on the program. Unfortunately, they were running behind on time. The angels were having some sort of difficulty with their outfits, so we needed to stall. It was a perfect opportunity for the 1st years to complete their dance! It was a really great show and I also unexpectedly received another gift from Santa. Haha.
We had amazingly delicious food catered to the Mess Hall and went directly there to eat some fried rice and chili chicken. Achen, his wife and son, and the Headmistress of Buchanan, her husband and daughter all came to enjoy the meal with us. K.T. Kurian Achen asked me to sing O Holy Night for the January 8th service at Pallom Church. A little out of place, but a really nice gesture. I am excited for the opportunity.
After dinner I went upstairs and taught the 1st year students how to play a G chord on my guitar. They took turns playing and laughing at each other. We heard the 2nd years get back from dinner. The next thing we knew, we were being rushed down the stairs for what seemed like no reason. Myself and the 1st years stood in a line in the study hall and started to get bored. The 2nd years kept telling us to wait, and we had no idea why we were waiting.
We all were getting impatient when suddenly Vanitha steps forward and yells "HAPPY CHRISTMAS" and starts slamming us with fistfuls of glitter. Every second year had a fistful of glitter behind their backs and they all slowly attacked us, coming up very close and then shoving the glitter onto our faces, arms and in our hair. It was hilarious. We ran around screaming and ducking and trying to pick up enough glitter off of the floor to throw back at them.
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| Merin and I |
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| The Craziness |
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| Attempting to demonstrate my glitter covered face |
So we returned to the main hostel and danced the night away to songs on my computer. Though my Malayalam song library is a little lacking, we found a way to make it fun. We danced until 1 am, then cleaned up and packed our clothes.
We all headed home on the 23rd. I headed to Jaimol Kochamma's house after the Speechly School Christmas program in the morning. At Jaimol Kochamma's house I chatted with her sons, and then accompanied her and her husband (who is also a Reverend) on some home visits. The specific goal was to visit a woman who has Parkinson's disease. She was only in her early 50s, but has a very rare and severe case. She and her husband live in New Zealand, but they were in Kerala specifically for an Ayurvedic Treatment for her disease.
The family was very open and welcoming and they had a really cute little nephew. I visited with her and her family, but her 2 year old nephew was enamored with me and continued to pick up the telephone next to me and give me the phone. I would answer it and say things like "Hello? Oh happy Christmas to you too! Do you want to speak with him? Oh here he is!" then I would give him the phone back. You know, just standard fake phone conversation. Elsie, the woman with Parkinsons, conversed with me freely and was really such a happy and optimistic person. I felt so blessed that I was able to meet her and her family.
We kept walking and met three other families that were somehow related to the first family we visited. They were all equally hospitable and gave us Christmas cake each time we walked in the door. It was delicious, but by the end of the night I was almost too full of cake to have supper. We also walked to Claudia's church and saw the Christmas lights by night. Jaimol Kochamma's husband is one of the reverends at the church. The choir was practicing for their carols service, and sure enough, we saw Claudia! She and I briefly chatted about our excitement to be at Thomas John Achen's house for Christmas!
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| Inside the church on Christmas Day |
We got up early for a church service at Achen's congregation in the nearby town of Ernakulam. At the service I met Bishop George, a long time friend of Grace Presbytery. He was instrumental in bringing the Grace Presbytery/ Kerala exchange program to life. He even knew the name of my home church and remembered the name of my Grandfather who traveled to Kerala on this exchange program. The church service was great. Bishop George gave the sermon, and in the middle he broke out into a gospel song in his graceful baritone voice. It gave me chills!
We got back to the house and Claudia arrived shortly after. We mostly slept after the church service, and Claudia had a pretty bad cough. Achen informed us later that day that Claudia and I would be leading a Voice Training Workshop for both children and adults at the Ernakulam church on December 28th and 29th. After we rested we started planning our training workshop, checked out some options for our All India tour and watched A Christmas Story. We ended the evening with more carols.
I also got to Skype with SO many of my family members at their Christmas Day celebration. It was so wonderful to see my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and parents. My mom even called her mom and dad and one of her brothers and held the phone up to the Skype microphone. Haha.
There were also some nice areas with fresh, clear, slow moving water in which people ignored the "NO SWIMMING" signs and jumped in. I dunked my toe in just for fun. We also drove through a conserved forest that was so peaceful and clear. Before we drove in, a park ranger had to count how many plastic bottles we had in our car so that he could make sure we still had that same number when we exited the camp. In other words, the "NO LITTERING" signs were serious business.
Once back at the house, Claudia finally headed to the doctor and found out she had an infection. She took her medicine and went to sleep and Ian and I enjoyed the free internet, caught up with friends, and prepared for the Voice Workshop the next day. The next morning we headed to the church. Claudia took it slow, but together we led warm-ups, then she taught the children something called Kodai rhythms. It basically involves the top part of a note and gives that notation a rhythmic value. For example: |- this straight vertical line is "ta"….in other words a quarter note. It was a really great tool. You are teaching kids music when they really think they are playing a game!
After the lunch break we played some get to know you games and I taught the children some fun songs while Claudia got some much needed rest. We got back to the house and crashed.
We woke up the next morning and poor Claudia had gotten a rough sleep, but the exciting part was that her sister was en-route to Kerala. Her sister arrived in the middle of the voice training Claudia led, and soon after the training was over, she headed to the hotel to meet her sister. During the second half of the adult choir's training we learned a nice piece called "O Sacred Head Now Wounded." I taught the alto part to two girls who are in the junior and senior choir at the church. They were really sweet girls and did a great job catching on. It was their first time singing harmony in the choir.
We got to meet Santhosh on the 29th. He is the person who runs the YAV India website. He taught us how to use blogger correctly and gave us some cool tips on how to make our pages snazzy. He also gave us advice on the content that should go in to our YAV India blog. It was great to hear the ways in which we can make a lasting contribution to the YAV India program. The website is a great way to help.
The 29th was also my parents' 26th wedding anniversary, so I gave them a call at night to congratulate them on all of the wonderful years they have spent together! I am so thankful to have their example of love in my life.
On the 30th, Ian and I were internet zombies. At my site and at his site, the internet access we have is difficult to find. At Buchanan, I never get to use my laptop. I do all my work on my usb drive and then transport it to another computer. So he and I played internet games and downloaded TV shows to keep us entertained. In the middle of the day we took a walk around UC College and talked about life. It was relaxing. Claudia's mother also arrived in Kerala on this day.
On the 31st Ian and I decided that we should go to a movie. It was New Year's Eve and I was getting a little antsy from staying in the house all day. We adventured to Oberon Mall for an 11:30 showing of a Hindi movie called Don2. We got to the Aluva bus stand by autorickshaw, but once we got to the bus stand….we realized we had only remembered a few details of the way Achen and Binu told us to get there. We knew we needed a bus to Vaithala or Cherthala or a bus that went to Edapally pass.
It was raining and really crowded, and my tactic was to ask everyone that I saw if they knew of any of these buses. We luckily found one of the fancier buses that had "EDAPALLY PASS" scrolling over it. We barely jumped on in time and the ride was expensive and a little unpleasant. Mist streamed in through the windows and all over my glasses and face during the ride. We got off with the plan to take an auto, but instead we walked.
We got to the mall much at around 11:50, so we had to buy another ticket. The only options were a Malayalam movie, or Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. We went to Mission Impossible and enjoyed a hot cup of coffee since the rain made us pretty cold. The movie was really good! We also went to the food court and had fried chicken for lunch! We then walked back to the bus stop, but first we wanted to check out this store called Emmanuel Silks.
The back story on our desire to see this store can be summed up in one word: Sha Ru Khan. So basically Sha Ru Khan (whom I began calling SRK because that is how Ian refers to him) came to Cochi to speak at the opening of this MASSIVE department store. It is rumored to have a day care and a doctor's office inside.
On the walk to the store, we called Claudia to see what time she, her mother, and sister would be heading to Achen's house for our New Year's Eve celebration. When she answered, she said they were at Emmanuel Silks! I was a weird coincidence, but pretty fun. We got to meet her mom and her twin sister Jocelyn at the store.
The inside of the building was just as crazy as we hoped it would be. They had a live band, an aquarium, kids riding around on a big golf cart type thing, and coffee dispensers on each floor. Everywhere we went someone was asking if they could help us. It was a little overwhelming, but interesting.
We all parted ways on New Year's Day. I am now back at Buchanan, typing away and saying Happy New Year to everyone I see! I am so thankful for all of the things that last year brought me. During 2011 I learned more about myself, spent time with my family, grew in my faith, had an incredible internship at a church that I love, decided to come to India for a year, and met some really amazing people. I know that 2012 will bring just as many blessings.
"If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves."- Maria Edgeworth
Rachel thank you for your postings. I love sharing them with our Mission Ministry at FPC Grapevine.
ReplyDeleteNancylee