Friday, March 2, 2012

Waking up to Natural Beauty

When you arrive somewhere late at night amongst dark surroundings, you do not know what it will look like in the daytime.  I was hoping to get a good rest and wake up at 9 or so, but I was woken up at 7am by the captain. He is standing at the foot of the door with a cigarette in his hand and telling me the boat leaves at 8am. 
He knows I am heading to Cochin and he wants to make sure I make it out there on time.  I tell him I would like to enjoy the area and I will take the boat at noon. We walk outside and I see a bunch of liliponds and charming houses.  The captain opens up the cage and out comes two ducks where he places his hands inside to collect two eggs-breakfast. 

Then we walk together over the bridge to meet his whole family, which basically consists of five different homes in the village.  At each home, they offer me Chai and I politefully accept.  We go from house to house meeting each of his lovely family members.  He introduces me as, "Priscilla-america."  He always tell them my mix, "Mommy America-Daddy India" ha.  After 5 cups of chai, I  am on a tea high.  We head back to his home where he gets ready for work- shaving with a razor and a glass of water and puts on a nice, clean shirt.  We say our goodbyes and  he gives me his address to send the pictures to him, which I tell him I will do. 
His wife makes breakfast for me which consists of the two duck eggs, roti, and a sauce consisting of green peppers and onions.  We sit together and watch some local soap operas and I then venture off to take a walk. 

The area is absolutely beautiful-it is villages among lilipads, ricefields, and rivers.  Men are boating through with coconuts and performing various tasks, people are working in the rice fields, a man chases around the ducks near the pond, and  mothers are preparing their children for school and everyone is bathing inside the lily ponds.  I spend time with his family members in the neighborhood as they get ready to head to school.  His families homes are not village like, but they are made of bricks-quite nice homes are around the village area.

It is approaching 11 am and it is time to walk to my boat.  I say goodbye to the woman whose face and kind nature stays close to my heart.  I head on another nice boat ride back to Allepey bus station where I arrive just in time for the 10 hour journey to MUNNAR

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