where in the world: March 2012

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Pondicherry

A seaside city known for its French culture, Pondicherry has been on my travel list for a few years. It is a difficult place to describe. Yes, it does have more French people per capita, but they are definitely a minority. The sleepy "French Quarter" has some great shops and cafes that are populated by a host of European ex-pats, unfortunately, many of them snobby. In some ways it felt like I was in a different country, but definitely not France (maybe somewhere in the Carribean?). Perhaps the ethos was altered during our visit by the fact that the city was recovering from a recent hurricane. Even so, it was fun to explore and, most importantly, eat some beef!

I spent a lot of time wandering around by myself, and apparently didn't take many photos. Here is an odd assortment!

Pondy has great graffiti!
Photo cred:Okies

This canal is aptly named "Le Petit Canal."

Storm brewing over the shore.

A sleepy street.

Portrait with hurricane debris.

Indian fashion at its finest.

Photo cred: Okies

Silk sari shopping with Bethany.

Photo cred: Okies

Friday, March 30, 2012

Kodaikanal

If ever there was a parallel universe to Woodstock, it is without a doubt Kodaikanal International School. St. Olaf has been sending student teachers to both schools for 30 odd years. Given the option of either, I said "I don't care" and they said "you like camping" and I was sent to Woodstock. I've always been intrigued at the thought of what if I had gone to Kodai.

Kodai is different from Woodstock in that the school is at the dead center of the town. It is in a hill station, but the campus is almost completely flat. Dorms and staff housing are sprinkled around town. A lot of staff have cars. It is appealing to think about stopping for a coffee on the way to work every morning, but I expect the novelty wears off quickly. I prefer walking up a footpath through gorgeous scenery every morning.

Sachi and Jesse rejoined our travel group. Sachi graduated from Kodai, so gave us the student perspective and showed us all of her favorite spots. The rest of our time was mostly spent at the school. It proved to be really good professional development for all of us. We visited classes, met teachers, and got a lot of ideas for collaborations. Our visit really helped me to get back into the mindset of school, which was exactly what I needed.

Our visit was great. I can definitely see the appeal of working at Kodai, but am thankful to be currently working at Woodstock.

We stayed at a sub-par hostel the first night. The gorgeous
view made up for the interior grossness.

Kodaikanal International School and Chapel.

Looking out the main gate to the bazaar.

Center of campus.

Who wouldn't want to climb these steps to Gandhiji?
Photo cred: Okies

Photo cred: Kate

These boats are really inefficient. We needed to take a
lot of breaks.
Photo cred: Okies

The largest dosa I've ever seen. It took about

8 minutes to demolish.

Photo cred: Okies

The chai shop across from the school gate where all the
students stop in the morning.
Photo cred: Kate

Photo cred: Kate

Creeper.

Photo cred: Okies

We went on a scenic walk. Didn't see any scenery, but
found wildlife!
Photo cred: Okies

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Kumily

After the houseboat we ventured via local bus to Kumily, a small town on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The area is interchangeably refered to as Thekkady or Periyar due to its proximity to national parks of those names. It was a relief to get out of the heat and into the hills again.

On our first evening we attended a Kathakali (traditional Keralan) dance. It was definitely a cultural experience, and sadly not because of the dancing. We were all horrified at the behavior of the audience, which was mainly middle-class Indians. Once I realized that the theater wasn't going to address it, I got my teacher face on and dealt with it myself - I shot death glares and shushed people left and right. I must say I did make an impact, though when a father started physically abusing his son because of my admonishments I decided to redirect and target adults only. I had to practice restraint when one obnoxious lady received a mobile call and decided to move closer to the stage, sitting directly in front of me. I was weighing the pros and cons of tipping her over in her chair when, thankfully, the show ended. Moral dilemma averted.

Kumily is known for spices and tea. We traveled by local bus out to a spice garden, where we went on a (mostly) delicious tour led by the man himself, Abraham, with a young couple from Kazaksthan. We also managed to find our way to a tea plantation, but it was closed due to a festival. We still trespassed with pride.

Elephants. We rode them and fed them. I was mildly scared of both.

The final hurrah in Kumily was a safari. India has many national parks and many options for safaris, yet I'd never been on one. It was an experience. Not sure I'd do it again. We made our own fun though, especially with our guide whose name was Prince. We had a lot in common - he's my age, plays volleyball, and we both like to sing "Koleveri Di." He invited me to stay with him and join his volleyball team (this might be due to the fact that Abe told him that I play on the Olympic team).