Kochi, India

My memory of our time in India seems fitting for the country, as my memories are colorful, varied, spontaneous, and unique. I can't clearly remember the order of events. I don't remember how everything came together. In the end, I have a collection of lasting memories and deeper connections with friends, thanks to the seemingly endless richness of culture in India. I remember Kyle, Aeriel, and I taking many tuk-tuk rides, which often involved unwanted shopping stops. Negotiating with tuk-tuk drivers was sometimes exhausting, when their deals with shop owners resulted in them offering us lower prices for rides if we stopped at a shop or two; offering more for a ride without shopping stops wasn't really an option. Our mentioning that we would take the ferry often resulted in tuk-tuk drivers telling us the ferry wasn't operating today (even though it was). Regardless, the tuk-tuk rides were fun and a great way to see the life of the city moving around us, kids in uniforms going to school, goats wandering in the street, people standing around on the sidewalks, an elephant in a backyard, kids playing in the parks. Kyle, Aeriel, and I walked around the city exploring churches, beaches, cemeteries, ending up in the background of a travel and food show, and running into Matthew and Daphne twice, once for a delicious, sugary, ginger and lemon drink, and another time at Dal Roti for kati rolls, one of the best food items I had in India, and the voyage. I remember Matthew and I walking around, exploring several bookstores, the Chinese fishing nets, and riding the ferries to get around. I remember sweating a lot every day. I went to my first-ever yoga class, a pretty serious and advanced yoga class too. A large group of Semester at Sea faculty and staff members met up at a yoga school, where we were able to drop-in for a class, followed by eating a meal together sitting on the floor in a round circle, where out of fear of stomach issues I mostly ate rice. Another night a large group of us went to a Kathalkali dance performance in the theatre. I was on a homestay one night and stayed with a Catholic family, who showed me their local church and were happy to talk about faith with me. They cooked us an incredible meal, some of the best fish I ever ate. The homestay field program also included a ride in the Alleppey backwaters, visiting a farm in the backwaters as well as a rug factory. Of all the jumbled memories, likely out of order, the clear highlight of our time in India was a 1-night, 2-day houseboat stay in the Alleppey backwaters. Matthew, Jess, Marty, Kyle, Aeriel, Cassie, Kyle, and I gathered together on a houseboat, slowly drifting through the backwaters with nothing to do and no stops to make. We simply lived on a houseboat in the backwaters for a couple of days, eating amazingly delicious home-cooked meals from the small staff onboard, and making much deeper connections with each other, taking advantage of the time we had to talk and share stories. I remember us talking about what our perfect day would be, a topic likely inspired by feeling the perfection of a day in a houseboat in the Alleppey backwaters in India.

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