emilyinthiruvananthapuram

I should probably post something about Thiruvananthapuram. Since I'm pretty busy here--and more importantly, lazy--I'll just copy and paste some paragraphs I already wrote in emails. Sorry if you were a recipient of any or all of these emails. [Editor's notes are in italics and brackets, like this sentence.]

Thiruvananthapuram is a funny place. Yesterday [Tuesday April 13] I saw 3 fake lifesize elephants, dressed Thrissur Pooram-style, complete with fake lifesize mahouts and umbrellas. Even the trunk was moving around. It was actually very realistic and a bit creepy. Why were these fake elephants in the middle of a market? To advertise a jewelry store, of course. Amazing. Also, there are advertisements for Qatar Airways, Emirates, and Kuwait Airways [Hi Nadeen!] everywhere. As should be expected. As well as red hammer-and-sickle Communist flags. As should be expected.

The city is very green, with tons of palm trees. It feels like a city growing in a forest; it seems like they didn't cut down any trees in between buildings and roads. Many buildings have red-tiled roofs, similar in style to Spanish missionary architecture in California. But in many cases, the tiles have turned brown or black with age.

Yesterday [Sunday] I went to Poovar, an island where the backwaters meet the sea. There was a big sandbar, which would've been a really nice beach, if all the trash from the villages of the backwaters didn't land there. (Well, the ocean side of the sandbar was nice, but the backwaters side was nasty.) But it was a good day because we spent most of it hanging out in the swimming pool of a resort. I haven't been in a swimming pool in over 2 years I think (I've been swimming in the sea, though, of course) so I was pretty excited. And I tried to teach Manju [coworker/roommate] how to swim, but I couldn't convince her to let go of the wall. Now I'm bright pink and sunburned from 8 hours in the sun, despite 3 applications of sunscreen, and my coworkers are calling me Gulabi Emily [gulabi = pink in Hindi]. My coworkers are talking about checking out Kovalam one evening this week (it's only 25 minutes from the guest house/office), but they don't like the "international food" there [we never ended up going].

I have never felt more American/different in my entire life--even more so than in a Bhutanese village, which is weird. Well, ok, that's an exaggeration, but somewhat near that level. It's weird that whenever I say something, everyone responds "you just think that because you're American" but then they often say things that suggest they think the ways of America are better than the ways of India (example: individualism vs. do whatever your family wants) (though I feel a lot of family pressure from my family too! Maybe because I'm Jewish and Jews and Indians are the same).

One specific example would be when we were discussing Bhutan during dinner. The PI of the project brought up Gross National Happiness (I forget the context). you know that any conversation about Bhutan gets me going. so at one point I started saying that while I support the government's efforts to preserve culture, I think that people are entitled to choice--if someone wants to wear Nepali clothes (the Nepalese minority is forced to wear Bhutanese dress at work), watch Hindi TV, or listen to Western music, let them; it doesn't necessarily dilute the culture, as cultures are inherently dynamic and it is ridiculous to think Bhutanese culture has been static for centuries (besides even young Bhutanese are very proud of their culture, and I really don't think it's in danger of dying out). This led to "you only think that because you're American, and Americans are all about individualism and their own notions of 'liberty.' Of course you think choice should prevail over government-mandated cultural preservation [not exactly what I said--I do think cultural preservation matters]." Most of the "you're so American" comments are due to my individualism, apparently.

The food here is INCREDIBLE, as I've said a million times [but not on this blog, apparently]. Nothing is better than Alleppey fish curry and appam. Yummm. [I've had an epiphany about South Indian food since this was written. I am now ridiculously sick of our daily rice-and-sambar lunch, and today I couldn't even bring myself to eat it. In reality, I like a higher number of North Indian food items than South Indian food items, but the South Indian food items I do like I like better than North Indian food items. ...if that makes any sense.]

Late last night [Tuesday night] a decorated elephant carrying a local goddess walked down my street, with blaring music that probably woke up everyone in the neighborhood. Apparently this happens once a year. Here's how this was described to me: "all year, every person goes to the temple. Today, the temple goes to every person." So basically these men with fiery torches and a giant tusked male elephant were "bringing the temple home," going around to each house collecting offerings, such as coconuts. I have to admit that the elephant scared the shit out of me because it was dark outside and at first all I saw were the men carrying torches. Then all of a sudden this humongous creature appeared out of the darkness. I was quite startled.

...and those are all the emails I sent about Thiruvananthapuram. I am going to Thrissur for Thrissur Pooram this evening, so you can look forward to pictures of heavily-decorated elephants with giant umbrellas upon my return.