A Trip to the Hills over the Weekend!

Wednesday, Oct. 26, Kumbalam

I worked all morning typing mid-term exams, then the electricity went off just as I was breaking for lunch. It was still off after lunch, so I used it as an excuse to go to the cyber café. I made my fastest trip ever. I caught the 1:30 bus from here, spent 40 minutes on the computer, went to the supermarket, and caught the 3:00 p.m. bus back. It was only 2 hours from when I left the compound and when I returned! Yet that was enough of an outing to make me feel good about the day.

I bought cookies and some peanut candy at the supermarket. I like having snacks in my room. Sometimes I’m hungry around 4:00 when school is out. Also, I want snacks for when the girl with lice makes dinner. I also bought some laundry detergent at the store for doing my laundry at the hostel.

Thursday, Oct. 27, Kumbalam/Kollam

Joseph and I have come to the Kollam campus today. We stopped on the way into town at the computer shop to tell them he will order the computers as soon as he finds a computer teacher. We took the job description with us and left it with them. I told Joseph they would probably help us recruit. Actually, I’m thinking that maybe one of the employees there might be interested in the job.

We have reviewed an English textbook series while here at the school. It’s by Oxford Press and looks nice. My guess is that it is used by international schools throughout the word, since Oxford Press has offices in many countries. Two more series are being sent to us, however—another one from Oxford and a series from the company whose science books we use. The fact that they are reviewing and planning to adopt a new English series means that I’ve wasted several days of work doing a scope and sequence chart based on the present series. But no one told me they were planning to change until now.

Rosalind’s (the principal trainee) mother cooked a wonderful meal for us. We had rice, a yogurt-onion-chile pepper sauce, tasty small shrimp, omelet, pickled lemon rind, and a greens dish made with shallots and the leaves of a tree called “drumstick.” The cooking was much more flavorful than what we get at the hostel.

The English teacher here goes to a private home at lunch where a woman provies home-cooked meals to those who want to pay to teat there. If I come here to work on my own someday, I think I’ll suggest that I go to lunch with him.
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Joseph experienced some of the frustration I’ve faced tonight. He was trying to help a 5 ½ -year-old student and realized the homework was too much for one night. He was so upset at the time that he wanted to suspend the teacher!

Friday, Oct. 28, Kumbalam to Kathmangalam

I’m on a farm in the hills. Joseph and I drove up here this afternoon. It’s only about 120 km (70 miles) from Kumbalam, but it took us 5 ½ hours to drive it. That’s because of a combination of bad roads and heavy traffic. In one town, it took us 45 minutes to go about half a mile! We’re here to attend a wedding tomorrow of Joseph’s wife’s niece.

We didn’t leave Kumbalam until 3:45. I spent the day finishing the mid-term tests I’ve been typing. Monday, I’ll need to get each teacher to proofread his/her exams, since there are lots of Indian words on them and also because letters are formed differently here. An “r” looks more like a “v” the way Indians write.

We are staying at Joseph’s wife’s brother’s house tonight. They are farmers raising ginger, pepper, vanilla, saffron, cacao, coffee, rice, pineapples, chickens, rabbits, doves, rubber, etc. It was too dark to see the farm when we arrived tonight, but I look forward to seeing it tomorrow. The family is very nice. The man and woman are only about 40. They have a son who is finishing nursing school and a daughter younger than him who is a zoology major at the university. When we arrived, they served us fresh pineapple. Then they fed us their own rice, chicken, and curries—everything grown here on their farm. It was fresh and so delicious. They understand most of what I say, but they are too shy to try to speak English to me. I’m hoping there will be some people eager to talk to me at the wedding tomorrow. Usually in a crowd like that there is. We still have to travel further into the hills for it.

The air here is fresh and cool. They turned on a fan for me, but I don’t need it and have turned it off. I’d be too cool with it blowing on me. It’s already 11:00 now, so I must get to sleep.

Saturday, Oct. 29, Kathmangalam to Idukki and Back

I’m sitting on the front porch waiting to leave for the wedding. Just in front of me is a tropical forest of the plants they grow on the farm. There are rubber trees with collars around them to protect the cut from the rain and with cups to collect the rubber dripping from the cuts. There are pepper vines climbing the coconut palm trees, vanilla vines climbing another kind of palm that provides a slightly intoxicating fruit that people enjoy here, banana palms, ginger root plants, coffee bean plants, etc. To the back are cages with chickens and ducks. To the side are the pidgeon cages.

The man here showed me how he processes the rubber. Every other day, each tree is cut. The rubber drips into a cup for about two hours and then is collected. It’s put in big pans like large birthday cake pans and left until the next morning. By then, it has hardened into a single white piece of rubber within each pan. He takes each piece and puts it through two differest presses several times to squeeze out as much water as possible. Then he hangs the pieces on a line to dry further. Eventually, he hangs them in a drying room which is much like a smokehouse. The pieces dry and turn golden brown. Then they are ready to sell. He gets about 250-300 rupees ($6-7) for one day’s harvest.
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It was another long drive to the wedding. Family members from east of here who were supposed to be here at the farm at 9:00 didn’t arrive until 10:00. Then it took two hours over very rough roads to get to the village. It was a beautiful drive along a river and through high, rocky (yet green) hills. The problem was all the potholes caused by the waterfalls and the rainfall which is high in this area.

The village is very remote. The last few miles were on a road that can only be managed by vehicles high off the ground. Parts of the road had deep potholes. Other parts had loose stones as big as grapefruits or melons.

The wedding was already 2/3 over when we got there. It was in a local Catholic church. Here, there are no seats. People remove their shoes outside and either stand or sit on the floor. The priest sang much of the ceremony to electronic music playing in the background. The women stood on one side of the aisle while the men stood on the other.

There was a big luncheon afterwards that required two different sittings before everyone was fed. We started with dosa (bread-like pancakes) made from rice flour. We had chicken masala (spicy sauce), fish in another spicy sauce, and small cubes of Asian buffalo meat. There was a salad of red onions and peppers, a green vegetable dish, and pickled tomatoes. Later, rice was served with a yogurt sauce and the same meats and side dishes. It was all eaten with one’s fingers. For essert, there were ice cream cups eaten with wooden sticks.

The groom wore dark pants and a cream colored shirt. The bride wore a red sari with a white veil. She carried a spray of white flowers.

As I expected, I found 3-4 people who visited in English with me. Two were brothers who are best friends of the groom. One lives in Dubai selling real estate and the other works for McDonalds in Leeds, England. Both spoke English well. The one who liked me the most and spent more time with me was a cousin of the bride and a best friend of the nursing student in the family where I stayed last night. His English was limited, but he was curious about me and eager to talk. He stayed with me after the meal until we left an hour later.

There is a hand loom weaving room in the village, so we stopped there as we were leaving. The women bought some nice cloth after the tour. Mainly, it is used for the wrap-around skirts that both the men and the women wear around the house here.

Joseph and I had intended to drive back to Kumbalam today. It was too late and he was too tired, however, by the time we got back to his brother-in-law’s farm. So we are staying here one more night. They’re a nice family, and I’m comfortable here. I’m sorry we have to disrupt their sleeping arrangements another night though. The 23-year old son has finally gotten comfortable enough with me to speak English, so that makes it even better for me. He has finished his 3 years of training and gotten his diploma, but he still has to do a 1-year practicum followed by an exam.

Sunday, Oct. 30, Kathmangalam to Kumbalam via Allappuzha

We ate buffalo meat again last night for dinner. This time, it was dried, salted beef that had been soaked in water to get rid of salt and then fried. It was much like carne del sol in Brazil. We had it with rice, boiled eggs in curry sauce, and a mixed vegetable curry. This morning, I had milk tea made with buffalo milk. So the buffalo is their source of meat and milk here.

There are showers this morning. I got a couple of pictures of the plants and house, however. We’ll go to 7:30 mass with Joseph’s family, have breakfast afterwards at his mother-in-law’s house, and then drive back to Kumbalam.

Mass lasted 1 hour 15 minutes. The church was full. Joseph told me that probably 80-85% of the congregation attends mass each week. Of course, in these small villages there is little more to life. The church is the center of all social life. Like yesterday, the men were on the left of the aisle and the women were on the right.

Joseph’s mother-in-law had been rather quiet in the truck yesterday and at her son’s house last night. But she came alive in her own home this morning. It’s a huge place that I’m sure is considered to be a mansion by all the villagers. It has a large curving stairwell built around an indoor grotto with flowing water. The kitchen is bigger than the living room in most U.S. homes. She made us homemade idly—rice noodles that are steamed in small bundles, sprinkled with grated coconut, and served with a spicy vegetable sauce. She mixes the dough for the noodles and presses it through a cookie press with small holes on the disk. She presses them into a pan with about six dips in it (like an egg poacher pan) so that the noodles form separate bundles. Then she puts that pan in the steamer. After they are steamed, she keeps them hot in a slow cooker with the lid over it. I’ve heard of idly as a specialty of Kerala, but this was my first time to eat it. It was delicious.

The drive back was horrible. It rained all the way. Joseph’s driving is scary enough without an extra danger factor. He is too cautious at times, and that is part of the danger. For instance, he’ll come to a complete stop as he approaches a bump or a pothole in the road, slowly change gears, and then start moving again. In the meantime, the traffic behind gets upset and starts trying to pass us. When he finally does start moving, he’s not aware of the fact that a car is coming around him by then and jerks the wheel to the left when he does realize it. That makes us move too close to a pedestrian or a bicyclest on the right side of the road. In general, too, he comes too close to pedestrians and bicyclists who are on the shoulder of the road. I kept fearing that I see him bump a pedestrian killing him right before my eyes. Anyway, after stopping in Allapuzho to visit his brother for about 1 ½ hours, we made it back to the hostel around 6:30 with no accident this time.

There’s a new boy at the hostel. His family delivered him late today. The mother was so hesitant to leave! The boy doesn’t speak English very well, so it will probably be a little lonely for him at first. The children are expected to speak in English most of the time.

I’m tired. The trip was really too long. Added to that is the tiredness that comes from the tension of worrying about the driving. I hope I will sleep well. Tomorrow will be a busy day.

Monday, Oct. 31, Kumbalam

None of the kids here know anything about Halloween. They are excited about tomorrow which is a Hindu holiday when lots of fire crackers are popped. Jerry is hoping Joseph will buy them some, but I doubt he will because of the danger involved.

I attended another Catholic wedding today. The electrician invited Joseph and me to his daughter's wedding. Joseph is always invited and treated especially honorably, because it is anticipated that he will donate a generous sum to offset the cost. We were personally escorted, seated, etc., by the bride's father. In the ceremony, we were given candles to carry forward. (it's a ceremony I don't understand. We carried a candle to the front, handed it to the priest, and he put them to the side. I guess it was symbolical to represent a gift to the couple.) We were placed at the head of the table that was served first. We had rice biriyani, chicken masala, fish in a spicy sauce, pickled tomato, onion-yogurt salad, papadam (fried flat bread), a slice of pineapple, a piece of cake, and a small galass of homemade wine. The cake and wine were served and eaten first like at birthday parties here. We ate with fingers off banana-leaf placemats. There were three differing sittings to serve everyone.

The rest of the day I tried to get teachers to proofread tests. So far only 3 have done so. there's a rush because both Tuesday and Thursday are holidays. Exams start Monday, so we must print copies Wednesday and get teachers to add drawings. Then we must take the copies on Friday or Saturday to get photocopies made for the students. These teachers have no idea what a hassle it is to type their tests. I spent days doing it. I hope Joseph doesn't want me to type the tests for December.

The English teacher who is being dismissed has finally realized what is happening, and he's taken a wise attack today. Joseph insisted that our cook who had bad encounter with the English teacher be on the dismissal committee to represent a parent. I told him he should put someone else on the committee and call the cook to tell the group about what happened with her. Now, the English teacher is saying she was against him even before the meeting took place (which is true and why I didn't think it was wise to put her on the committee). Anyway, there is another meeting this afternoon to consider the English teacher's complaint. It could have been avoided so easily. Joseph didn't have to stack the committee against the guy; any group would have recommended dismissal fo him!
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Things worked out well with Joseph. He convinced the English teacher to resign!!

I finished reading Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. I gave it 4 stars out of 4. I had read it beforwe, so all the stories seemed familiar as I got into thtem. They are so well weritten, however, that it was a pleasure to read them again. Now I will begin Atlantic Shift by Emily Barr. It's a British novel given to me by Nurse Grethe. I hope I will like it as much as I did the other book she gave me: The Black Englishman.