Cochin - One-of-a-Kind

Whatsup everyone?!?!

I hope you all had great spring breaks! Depending on when you are reading this, I either just left India or am about to reach Mauritius. If you are reading this here around Wednesday or Thursday then I just left India about 24 hours ago. If you are reading this after Spring Break then I will be arriving in Mauritius within 24 hours (heck I might even already be there lol). I can’t wait to hear about your all’s Spring Break adventures!

Shout Outs – JT – Yeah Mocha was legit! We beat the SAS rush by about an hour and a half so we actually got to experience the chill factor and meet some of the locals. As far as not seeing as much, definitely saw everything I wanted to in Cochin. Met a lot of cool people and got to experience more of their everyday life. But you can read about that below. Oh and I didn’t make it to a McDonalds, stuck with the cheaper street food lol. Esther – Haha I actually wondered what happened to you! I bet Florida was a blast…glad you enjoyed yourself!! As far as Slumdog Millionaire…I actually never saw the movie because I didn’t want it to impact my perception of the country and give me a preconceived bias. I did however talk to people who saw the movie and they said the movie provides an absolute horrible view of India. I’m actually going to watch the movie this summer and compare but from what I hear, the movie in no way portrays India like it really is. For your two friends who are doing Semester at Sea, give them my facebook profile page and when I get back this summer I will be happy to answer any and all questions they have. JT helped me out and I owe her huge!! I would love to return the favor and I would love to give them tips!! Oh and no Asian Honeys…I’m too busy finding trouble and exploring haha. Oh you know I am going to the ranch at least a couple times this summer! Gotta get back out to the country baby!! Zac – Dude how the heck are ya?!? Can’t wait to get to see you next time you are in Edmond. Glad I could provide a distraction for you during what sounds like a class I would sleep in. You know me and politics/law…just doesn’t quite add up to a good time haha. Some of the stuff I have done I wish you were here for man! You would love the people on this ship and getting to chill with them in port! Wish you were here brotha!! Go blow something up for me (I haven’t been able to blow anything up/light anything on fire lately and I need a fireworks fix bad haha)…peace bro.

Picture – The picture I chose it from the SOS Children’s Village Service Visit I was lucky enough to participate in while in Cochin. The little guy was my friend for the afternoon. He grabbed me before I was even fully off the bus and showed me around, taught me how to play cricket, I taught him the hokie-pokie, and then taught him kickball too. He was one of the coolest little kids and it was a blast hanging out with him and his friends for a couple hours. There is more about him written below so I won’t repeat myself. (If you want to see the picture bigger, then just click on it)

Cochin was our second port in India and it was a totally different experience than Chennai. The people and landscape were similar so I won’t go through all that again (my previous post about Chennai goes into detail about the country and some of my thoughts and opinions). Cochin as a whole was a lot easier to get around in and I was able to meet more locals and see different sites within the city itself. The city is split into 3 major sections that are 3 peninsulas sitting side by side. The middle peninsula is the industrial port area and is where our ship was docked. Then one of the peninsulas was the modern area of the city and the other was the older city of Cochin that was more historical.

The first day I arrived in Cochin I had the morning free so I decided that I wanted to see the older area of the city. I walked off the ship and immediately met up with a rickshaw driver who spoke rough but remarkably good English and I went off with him and his partner. It was just me so they gave me a good deal and just showed me the areas of the city that I wanted to see. I spent the whole morning with them and saw the majority of the old city. I got to see the inner workings of a spice market and meet the people who sifted ginger and then laid it out to dry. It was really cool to get to be taken “behind the scenes” and meet the actual workers. They were like “You want picture? Take our picture!” It was super cool! I saw Hindu, Muslim, and Christian temples/cathedrals that represented the 3 major religions of the region. The area I enjoyed the most was the fishing wharfs on the tip of the Fort Cochin peninsula. The shoreline was lined with Chinese fishing nets that were these huge wooden poles extended over the water with these giant nets hanging down that they would drop into the water and pull up after a little while with fish and whatever else inside. The locals were hard at work fishing and it was cool getting to see them go through their routine. I returned back to the ship a little before lunch and ate on the ship to save my money.

The afternoon of the first day was by far my favorite experience in India. There was an SAS trip going to an SOS Children’s Village for a service visit that I was going to try and get on. I ended up getting a free ticket from a guy who didn’t want to go and it was incredible!! We drove our bus 1.5 hours outside the city to a rural area where the “village” was located. As soon as we got off the bus the kids were everywhere! They ran at us with balloons and smiles and they all kinda latched onto us. I had a little guy who grabbed my hand before I was even off the bus and was like “Come Come!” He was 7 and just had the biggest smile ever. The first thing was a welcome reception for all of us. They gave us all our own coconut to drink (coconuts are like HUGE in that part of India as far as drinking and eating them goes) and preformed a traditional harvest dance and then 2 of the boys performed a Backstreet Boys dance for us. Haha it was hilarious! We were all cheering and they just smiled and laughed at us.

After the reception the kids grabbed us and started showing us around the complex. The village consisted of a pavilion in the middle with a wide open field. Then a lot of houses scattered throughout the grounds. Each house was run by a mother and contained 8-10 kids at any given time. The mother is not the biological mother of the children but more of a foster care mother for the kids. For those of you in Edmond think of an Indian version of the Boys Ranch Town but with boys and girls, not just boys. The children go to school in the surrounding community and then return to the village afterwards. My little buddy (I couldn’t pronounce his name so I just called him “buddy” and he was okay with that) took me straight to his house and I met his mother who spoke a good amount of English and his sisters who had brought back their own SAS kids. We were served tea, coffee, and shortbread cookies while being shown around the quaint but amazingly sufficient house and learning about the family.

My little friend spoke almost no English and only knew random words so we communicated mainly through sign language and pointing. This was easy for me after some of the mission trips I had been on so we had a great time. After seeing the houses we had about 1.5 hours of free time with the kids to just hang out and play. My friend Brooke and I grabbed about 6 of the kids and taught them the hokie-pokie which they thought was really funny. I can’t even remember the last time I did the hokie-pokie but I remembered it and we were able to teach the kids and they even sang it in English after like the 3 time. I was so impressed with their ability to pick up our language. I already forgot how to say hello in their language (different regions in India speak a different dialect so “hello” and “thank you” were different every city I went to) and it just amazes me that they are so eager to learn my language. Why am I as an American so privileged? What did I do to have my language be so desirable?

Anyways, bottom line was that I had no problem communicating with any of the kids. After some hokie-pokie action we got to play cricket and then kickball. Alright definitely something that was right up my alley!! Who cares if it was hot (nothing compared to Mexico in June) or dirty (I get more dirty at the ranch) it was absolutely amazing! The kids had never heard of kickball so we had to teach them by doing an example. It really just turned into them kicking the ball and running the bases until we either pegged them with the ball or they stopped each other. I loved it! I just stayed in the outfield and let them keep bating over and over again. There was no score, no real rules! Just a stinking ton of fun!! After about an hour of kickball I was covered in dirt and it was SO worth it. The kids were smiling the entire time and just to make these kids laugh put the biggest smile on my face!

After chilling with the kids, learning as many names as we could remember/pronounce, and then taking numerous pictures, we unfortunately had to leave and return to our ship. Needless to say that none of us wanted to leave and it was really hard to get back on the bus with all the kids lined up and waiting. Gahhhhh I want to go back right now and just play some more with em!

We returned to the ship a little after 630 and I caught up with some people who were just finishing dinner. I ate some food cause it was free and I was hungry and then we decided to head out into the city to see what the night would bring us. The group consisted of Candace, Kaylee, Grills, Emerson, and Michael. We took the ferry to the more modern peninsula of Cochin and just started walking. There were a lot of stores and market type stalls and we just kinda walked along with nothing particular in mind. We stopped at some of the shops but I didn’t want to spend any money, actually I didn’t even take any money with me except for 2 U.S. dollars. After walking around for an hour we stopped at an Indian restaurant that was attached to a cinema because some of the people in our group wanted food. Candace, Michael, Emerson, and Grills all ordered food and the portions ended up being HUGE. Well Candace only ate about ¼ of her food and Michael and Emerson about ½ of theirs. Enter Tyler. I just waited till they all said they were done and then picked up a fork and started eating. I finished Michael’s and Candace’s dishes and then made some progress on Emerson’s but I didn’t really like it too much.

Anyways after everyone watched me clean the table they payed and we set off to make our way back to the ship. We made the walk back to the ferry only to realize that we missed the last one by about 10 minutes. Well we were 13 km from the boat so walking would have been a little far (I was up for it but there was no way I was talking em into that haha). So we went to find a rickshaw that could take us back. Here is where it got interesting, there were 6 of us and so far in Cochin I hadn’t seen any more than 2 in a rickshaw. We were okay with taking more than 1 rickshaw but the trick was haggling the guys down to a cheap enough price. The first guys we talked to wanted way too much money and we were like “Nah we will just find someone else.” Then we found a group and were like “Alright who is gunna give us the best deal?” They started throwing out prices and then one guy steps up and goes “I will take all 6 of you in my rickshaw for one price.” We were like “Well it will be crammed but let’s do it cause it’s cheap!” Okay this was just a normal sized rickshaw. To fit we threw grills in this little compartment behind the seat above the engine that maybe could have fit like 3 backpacks but not much more, then the other four crammed onto the bench seat with Candace sitting on Kaylee’s lap. Now where was I going to go? Well I was sitting next to the driver; now when I say sitting I don’t mean sitting. I had one leg braced against the frame of the car holding me in while the majority of my lower body was hanging outside the car. My arm was holding this bar thing on the inside of the rickshaw that is pretty much the only reason I was able to stay in the cab. I was “sitting” on maybe a square inch of the seat because the seat was barely big enough for the driver, let alone 2 of us. That is why I say sitting in quotes because I really wasn’t sitting. We were all cracking up the whole way back to the ship and saying how this was like the Beverly Hillbillies making their way across the country. Oh and I pretty much almost died every time we made a right turn because they don’t really slow down and I would get flung out of the cab. It was so intense it made the ride way more fun!! We made it back to the ship in one piece and called it a night.

My second day in Cochin was also my last day in India. For this last day I was scheduled on a day trip to the Alleppey Backwaters. Alleppey is a region outside of Cochin that is extremely rural. The majority of the area is at/below seawater so the area is mainly lakes, rivers, canals, and rice patties. This trip was appealing to me because it showed me the country side of Indian life. First thing I noticed…the people were some of the happiest people I have ever seen in my life. Every person smiled and waved and shouted “Hello” or “Yo” at us as we passed them. We got to see people at work in the fields, attending a daily religious service, taking a swim break, and even a wedding preparation for the following day.

Our trip was smaller, only about 25 of us in total which was fine with me. I like the smaller groups, it’s just easier and you don’t feel so much like a tourist. We headed about 1.5 hours outside the city along the coast. Upon arrival we were dropped at a hotel for lunch. Alleppey is a booming tourist location for Europeans and Americans in the last 10 years with the attraction being a nice stay on a houseboat for a couple days. The hotel resort we ate lunch at was very nice and there were a significant number of Europeans around. Our lunch was buffet style consisting of entirely traditional Indian food, which means a lot of vegetables and very little meat. This would be the exact opposite of what I would normally eat but since I was in India I had to try the food. Part of experiencing everything ya know?! Oh and the best part was definitely the fresh watermelon juice, and when I say fresh, I mean fresh. I seriously think they just mashed up chunks of watermelon and poured them in the glass. The fruity part was in the drink so it was thicker than normal juice but it was SOOOOO good! By far the freshest watermelon I have ever had. (Even better than that one we had last labor day at the ranch Nat)

After eating more than I should have, we hopped onto our tour boat for the rest of the afternoon and settled in to see the backwaters. We sailed around for 2 hours and saw everything. Houseboats with tourists, people living life on the banks (like I mentioned above), people swimming, people fishing, the trees, the rice paddies, the wildlife, just everything. It was its own little world and it was awesome! It was a side of India that not many people from our ship got to experience and I was lucky enough to get to. My Marine Biology teacher, Professor Able (but he said I could call him “Doc” which I definitely do…I mean Back to the Future hellllllooooooo!) was also on my trip so I got to sit by him and discuss the marine life in the area and the impact of the locals overfishing. It was very cool getting to experience that with a teacher and talk about the stuff we got to talk about while taking in such an amazingly diverse area in India that is only recently being affected by modernization. Very very rural area. Our tour ended after 2 hours and we were driven 1.5 hours back to the ship with a stop for a “coke break” at a cantina type place in a hotel on the way back. By the time we got back to the ship it was on-ship time so we headed onto the ship and proceeded to eat dinner and unwind from our time in India.

As I am writing this it is March 17 and I have been on this ship for 2 months. It’s hard to believe that just 2 months ago I was sailing away from Mexico and starting this journey. Just 2 months!! When I look back on what I have seen and done in just 2 months it is amazing!! My journey is more than halfway done and in just a month and a half it will come to an end when we pull into Florida. This is sad but at the same time how can I be sad?!? That would just be silly! I am about to go to the 4 ports that I am most looking forward to and I CANNOT WAIT!!

After two months we all feel like we have known each other for a lot longer than we have. I feel like I have known some of my friends for years and we are at the point where we are comfortable with each other and can talk about anything. Then even the people that I’m not super close with I still feel like we are all one big group of brothers and sisters and it is amazing getting to travel around the world with this group. Everyone knows now that I always wear a hat and if I don’t wear it then I have like 50 people asking me “What’s wrong Ty” or “Dude where is your hat?” Haha wouldn’t have it any other way. Oh this will make some of you all smile. I have been givin the nickname of “Garbage-Disposal” by some of my friends because I eat so much. Yeah the food on the ship isn’t just absolutely amazing but it is in no way bad, AND it’s buffet style. At lunch and dinner I usually eat about 3 plates full of food plus dessert and everyone is just amazed. I don’t even consider it to be that much food. It’s just 3 plates? Part of it is also the fact that there is nothing to snack on between meals unless you wanna buy the over-priced snacks (which I don’t) so I don’t get to snack and only have the meals. So therefore I eat more when I get the chance to eat the free stuff! Really just simple logic. Oh and then some people think that I am like the biggest hick ever. Maybe because they have just never seen people wear camo before but for some reason they just think I am just a huge hick. I think it’s just cause I always talk about being outside and going to the ranch to get away from the city, but I try to tell them I’m really not that big of a hick and they just laugh and say "Okay whatever Tyler." Haha oh well I really don’t care because I like being a laid back, content country boy. Just a little bit of reflection for you guys. Felt it was appropriate given that today starts the 3rd month of our voyage. Crazy huh?!?

The following are the lyrics to a song by Hillsong United that have been weighing on my heart heavily. Listen to the truth in this song. It is so simple and so powerful!

“Falling on my knees in worship, giving all I am, to seek Your face.
Lord all I am is Yours.
My whole life I place in Your hands, God of mercy, humbled I bow down.
In Your presence, at Your throne.
I called You answered, and You came to my rescue and I, wanna be where You are!
And my life…be lifted high.
And my world…be lifted high.
And our love…be lifted high...higher HIIIGGGHHHHEEERRRRR!!”

These lyrics are my cry for the remainder of this voyage! I don’t want this to be for me but for God. But why should I limit this to this voyage? No, I want this to be my attitude ALL the time. I wanna see Jesus Christ to be lifted high. Not me. I am NOTHING. I want my WHOLE LIFE to be Christ’s and Christ’s alone. I bow down before Him in complete surrender. I am His!!

Think of what God could do if we had this attitude. I’ll tell you…ANYTHING!! He could do whatever He wanted. Nothing is impossible. So why do we not live like this…why do we keep ourselves in reserve? Why do we not live to the fullest?! I challenge you to take this song to heart. Listen to these lyrics and live this out. This can be simple, so why do we make it hard? Love like Jesus loved! That’s easy. Show people what Christ has done for you. That’s easy too. Share the gospel with them. Show them Christ’s love for them, by loving them like He does. Again…easy.

Thank you all for your prayers these past couple weeks, they are felt and greatly appreciated! If you can continue to pray about what I mentioned in my previous blog I would greatly appreciate it! Love you all!!

T