And on to Trichy, Tamil Nadu

I am leaving for Trichy tomorrow afternoon. I cannot believe that my time here in Kerala is almost over for this summer. It has been one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. Before I go, I want to close with a few things I have learned.

One thing I think we take for granted (at least I have) is the ability to communicate with people (friends, family, etc..) so easily. In America it is so easy to understand and carry on a conversation. Here in Kerala it has been a little bit more "interesting" than that. Sometimes the person doesn't speak very good English, so I find myself cutting out extraneous words like "is" or "and" sometimes. Basically, only stating the words in the sentence that carry the most meaning to what I am trying for the person to understand. Other times, the person doesn't speak english at all, so I have used more hand jestures (pointing, number of fingers, etc..) to communicate. Sometimes, a simple smile or a laugh conveys 1000 words and a common understanding is met. Communication here has not been too difficult, but it does make you appreciate the ability to talk quickly and using a lot of new age slang with friends back home.

Every day I walk to the Kovalam Junction for a meal, etc, I always say hi to everyone. The village people sitting in their houses are so nice and love to say hi and ask you to come talk. One house in particular has two girls (about 18 and 19 years of age) and they are very nice to me. I can't remember a single time I have walked by without them running to the door to wave or yell "HALLO" or "BYEEE BYEEE!" The other day I was walking (conveniently wearing a banyan) and stopped to talk to one of them. Her name is Chyma and she loves to watch cricket and loves the Kerala Hero, Mohan Lal. Her mother came to the door as well, but she doesn't speak any English. Then...the girl said..."Are you Marriage??" (meaning, are you married) and I said, "No, no marriage." After that she turned to her mother and they both giggled. It was pretty funny for all of us I think. Many girls there are constantly on the lookout for boys to marry around here. It is very different than in America...or is it???

I walked to a nearby lake the other day with my friends Linnea and Lal. Linnea is another volunteer here who is originally from Sweden. It was a lovely lake and you can see it from the roof of Avis Lyons house. There were some very small boys swimming and playing the water and I took some videos. It was priceless to see the boys run out of the water to me to see the video. They all watched the videos and laughed and wanted me to keep taking videos so that they could do it again. The look on their faces was just wonderful...they couldn't have been much happier.

Today I took a vitural 20 min tour of the whole Animal Rescue Kerala Shelter. I am currently transferring all of my pictures and videos to give copies to some of the staff members (Dr. Arun, Avis Lyons, Lal, etc..). I have had a very good experience here and it's sad to leave. I am going to be catching a bus tomorrow at 6 pm to Trichy...

Dr. Sequeira at work

The lake in the evening

Cute little "putty cootie" (puppy).