VI. Cochin

The bus was as crowded as the worst of public buses, and every seat I managed to procure seemed to be a "ladies' seat" and I was immediately evicted, along with my giant bag. Ayesha had only our small backpack to take care of, and I was left with the behemoth rolling red thing to fend off the crowd and try to keep my balance, all with my hands in my pockets to keep my wallet from getting stolen. When a seat finally did open up I went for it with such vigor that I slammed my skull into the overhanging shelf, and was immediately rewarded with a bleeding lump, which I nursed for the next four hours until we arrived at the Vasco Homestay in Cochin.

Allegedly the residence of Vasco De Gama, this old Portuguese mansion was easily my favorite lodging. We had high ceilings and multiple rooms, along with a nice view of St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral across the street. The only downside was the open air bathroom, and over the course of a single tooth brushing 50-60 mosquitoes were killed on average. Cochin was a much more touristy place, and all in all we were far more comfortable there. We sampled the delicious, hippie style restaurants, and enjoyed the evening entertainment, which included a Kathakali performance, and an Indian classical tabla, harmonium and voice concert. The Kathakali performance was particularly interesting because of the incredibly ornate costumes / makeup, and the amusingly graphic content. The two actors depicted Jayanthan, son of Indra (King of all Heaven) and Nakrathundi, sister of a powerful demon, who falls in love with Jayanthan and disguises herself as a beautiful woman to seduce him. Just to give you a taste, the dialogue starts with
Lalitha (disguised demon sister lady): Oh no! I cannot wait. I want you now! Come here and hold me in your arms. Stay here with me. I want to be with you always. I want to make love to you.
And ends, after the discovery of Lalitha's true identity, with
Jayanthan: You have treacherously entered our Heavenly Kingdom and seized our beautiful maidens. For those crimes I'll cut off your nose, ears and breasts!
I guess old Jayanthan was happy to cut off anything that stuck out. At any rate, it was quite the cultural experience.

On another note, who knew there were so many Jews in India? Apparently there was a Jewish king in Cochin for some period of time centuries ago, and now there is a Jew Town, and synagogue to commemorate this triumphant time period, and to stand as yet another testament to India's all-accepting nature. We also went to the Portuguese Musuem, the Dutch Cemetery, and the Basilica of someone or other. We also took a ferry to Vypeen Island, and a bus to Cherai Beach, where I swam in the Arabian Sea. In general, Cochin was a wonderful place for tourists, with many attractions and appealing places to eat and sleep, which is why the only danger that could befall me had to be something weird and unexpected, like spotted hands. I was just sitting in a restaurant one day, and I looked down to see my hands as spotted as a leopard... seen through binoculars... attempting a dangerous gymnastic trick... Anyway, to this day I have no idea why the little red bumps appeared all over my hands, but they faded just as mysteriously as they came after a week's time.

So the trip down south turned out to be quite wonderful, and I'm glad we chose to go in spite of the terror threat. I guess it's important not to get too terrified, and to keep living our lives, but that's not to say we should be reckless. I guess that's the kind of attitude that prompted me to hitch hike to the airport when our car broke down on the way to JFK three days ago. I guess that's the kind of attitude that compelled a young, vulnerable Columbian woman whose father had been killed by car jackers to pick me up and take me to the plane train. There are a few malicious people out there, but there are many, many kind people as well. People around the world have a lot to be afraid of, but we must remember that we have so much to be grateful for as well, and not let that fear stand in our way.