Kerala is a beautiful place made up of rivers, canals and other bodies of water for miles of land. I will update with details when I finish uploading all the photographs. Until then, I have a video from the boat and will state my trip resembled the Wikipedia article on tourism on the Kerala Backwaters.
Thus far, best trip from India.
Dupattas! Kurtas! Bangles!
In Bangalore, Commercial Street is where you go for the shopping.
Bargaining is difficult, however. I can’t get the prices anywhere close to where I know they can go. I’m told anklets can go as low as 10 rp, but the prices for me start at 50rp and go down to 25 rp. I refuse to pay more than 100 rp for a small scarf, but I’m getting prices around 150-250 rp.
Funny thing is that even the prices I can get are much lower than at retail stores. But I know those prices are much higher than most other people pay. While I still have time, I enjoy watching other people bargain to see how low others can get prices. Maybe I can pick up some tips.
In addition to going to visit churches, I spent some time at the beach. Large crowds and monsoon season really prevented us from fully enjoying the beach, but the seafood was delicious and the views were gorgeous.
In the future, I would advise people to go during the peak tourist season. It maybe pricier, but it is so difficult to blend when everyone in the town is local. We never found those mythical nice secluded beaches in Goa and were the only foreigners in many areas. As a result, we had to take many photos with tourists.
I have one of those photos with the tourists and a couple others up at Flickr. Pictures are up here.
I think my parents will be surprised to see the pictures from this outpost of Christianity here in India. The Portuguese set up these buildings and churches during the 15th century. The most famous of these churches is the Basilica of Bom Jesus which has the remains of St Francis Xavier, co-founder of the order of the Jesuits. But the interiors of these churches are beautiful. Like their Spanish counterparts, the Portuguese spared no expense for their churches. I have video of the Basilica of Bom Jesus and Sé Cathedral up at the Flickr account.
When I went to the Villa de la Virgin de Guadalupe, I felt odd buying too many souvenirs so I ended up with a couple paper benedictions and a key chain. Since I now know that some relatives and friends interested in mementos from distant churches, I bought some wooden rosaries “de la India.”
Photos of Old Goa are up on Flickr.
St. Francis de Assisi Church
The beaches of Goa. Taken by Chamko Rani on Flickr
This weekend, I went to the state of Goa with a large group of interns. The trip was interesting to say the least. I’m in the process of uploading the nice photos of the beaches and churches to Flickr.
We went in the off season, which meant we were among the only foreigners in the area (Except for a group of New Yorkers I saw in the Old Goan churches). While we were warned about glares in Bangalore, it was nowhere as bad as in Goa. Any one who sees my tagged Facebook photos knows about how un-photogenic I am. But I had to stand to take or run to avoid so many photographs from Indian tourists that weekend.
The beaches, on the other hand, were alright for off-peak season beaches near affordable housing. The seafood: delicious. The churches: gorgeous. Panaji bus station: the opposite of that.
Last summer, Fourth of July was disappointing. Studying abroad you learn that the United States is not the center of the universe. And that’s just a mild shock for recovering political news junkies like myself.
This summer, I have hope. I just discovered this Infosys video this week. So long as there are fireworks or sparklers to appease my inner kid, I’m totally set. Pretend baseball is just icing on the cake.
Day Two: Fighting off Jet Lag
I arrived in Bangalore at 3:00 am yesterday. The city is huge and Electronic City is somewhat isolated from the rest of the city. I love the hostel that Infosys has put me in. Most of the Instep interns are living on my floor and everything I could need for a comfortable stay is located in my room. I even have a television and fridge.
Yesterday, I went with a few of the interns to the Forum mall in the city. The highlight of that trip was the bestselling man-lit novel I found at the bookstore. Of Course I Love You… Till I Find Someone Better. Really, the title is enough for me.
The reason I brought back this web blog.
Classes are resuming on January 20th, which is also the inauguration day of one President-elect Barack Obama. While I am sad that I missed the election day activities on campus during the election season, I’m glad to be sharing the festive conclusion with old friends.
Last note: I am not sure how often I will update this website since I intended this to be a travel log. I may use this opportunity for a hiatus before updating this website.
Looking back at my time in Washington DC, I am so relieved that I made the extra effort to secure an amazing internship. Everyone at K&L Gates ensured that my experience was a positive one and that I learned about Capitol Hill and the legislative process.
Back in the summer, I asked each organization I interviewed with about how the election would impact the legislative season. Many organizations hired fewer interns in what was expected to be a slow pre-election and lame duck session. The economic crisis changed all of that. I watched so many committee hearings that Barney Frank seemed like the third candidate running for the presidency.
Covering the election was also a fun task. On election night, I partied with the Virginia Democrats. The next morning I worked on compiling a massive election guide encompassing every congressional election. This guide posted on the K&L Gates website on the day after the election and included possible committee changes and all election losses. (It’s available for download here, in case anyone is interested.)
