मई टीक हूँ । (I am fine)

After three weeks of constant travelling, it feels good to finally have some time to slow down and think. My week has been relaxing and therapeutic thanks to a slower pace of life and my cultural lessons in woodcarving. I enjoy relieving my stresses as I patiently carve every day, but at this point I still feel like an infant hitting blocks with a hammer. I enjoy watching the woodcarving guru, accurately described as an Indian Groucho Marx, quickly and carefully chisel away at his masterpiece until

the chunk of 2 x 4 becomes a folding table and chairs. I don’t anticipate becoming a phenomenal woodcarver, but I will definitely have a deeper appreciation for the complicated art.

The other class I’m taking, required of all the cross cultural students, is Hindi. Needless to say, the idea of learning a language in three weeks is daunting. It’s easy to feel resentful towards the teacher, Nisha Jee, for the strenuous class time and lengthy homework, but we are actually learning quite a lot in a very short time. Hopefully I can retain more than one language...

At times I felt discouraged during the week, but the thought of the upcoming weekend propelled me through. On Saturday morning, we left the V.K.V. and spent the day floating down the river on houseboats. I was pleased that the boats were a little more accommodating and safe than the Huckleberry Finn rafts I imagined. However, the newspaper on board with an article about the recent sinking of a houseboat was unnerving. When the boats docked along the riverside for the night, I opted out of sharing a double bed with Bryce/Jeff and chose to sleep outside on a padded bench. Bryce also ended up sleeping outside, because the thick haze of gasoline fumes in our room made us worry that we wouldn't wake up in the morning. Thankfully, the sun rose with all boats above water and no student casualties from excessive gasoline inhalation. Although, said fumes may have caused permanent damaged in unmentioned individuals (see below).

When arrived back in Aranmula, we were alerted that had graced the nearby temple for over 60 years had died. The community was a bustle and the elephant's caretaker was quickly accused of foul play. For the purposes of disposal and determining the elephant's cause of death a massive autopsy was performed. It was an amazing thing to see, and definitely the only one I'll have the opportunity to watch. Some of the men from the town got right up in there with no care for sanitary garments and simply hacked away with their axes. I won't go too in to detail, for your stomach's sake, but I would like to share an amusing fact I discovered: elephants and humans smell the same on the inside. :)

In case I haven’t made it clear, I’m having a great time at the V.K.V. and on the trip as a whole. The amazing people and incredible sights are quickly making this trip the experience of a lifetime.