The Wobblin' Sprocket

Check, check, check… we aren’t the only fans of Kerala.

http://www.articleszoom.org/travel-leisure/destinations/kerala-tours-–-attractions-tourism/

We left the Thurisangu Haven near Kuttinam early at about 7:30am. Last nite we had a magic show. It exceeded my expectations. IThe best act was when the magician “ate” about 15 colored tissues and then pulled a multicolored ribbon of cloth from his mouth. Graeme tried it ended up with a mouth full of yuck.

We rode out the way we came in on small narrow roads throught tea country. There were many photogenic and friendly ladies “picking” tea leaves. You don’t actually pick leaves these days…..most pickers use something that looks like a hedge clip with a basket underneath to catch the cut leaves when they fall.

We stopped for lunch near Vagamon. After that. the road dropped away in dramatic fashion down to the plains.

Near Kottayam, I put my bike in the van and Raj, our local guide, and I thenvisited Snevi Bhavan which was about 10k off the main road. The surrounding area includes a lot of small rubber plantations and is quite picturesque. Snevi Bhavan is an orphanage that Chantal has recommended to support through the annual on-line auction of the Officer’s Club of the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC.

Snevi Bhavan began in 2000 when a local couple, Sanjini and Mathew came across a couple small kids on the side of the road, both of the kids parents had remarried and basically were abandoned. They took them. Before too long, people got wind of this and started to bring homeless children to them. Right now, in addition to their own son Matthew, they have 13 girls living with them. The girls range in age from 7 to 20.

All the girls took the day off from school, so I had a pretty substantial greeting party. Sanjini and the girls showed me around the place. The building is a two story cement structure, but looks to be one story in front since it is built into the side of the hill. All the girls sleep downstairs in a single concrete floor room. Next to that sleeping room is a kithchen with an open, wood buring fire for cooking. There is no refridgeration.

The girls showed me out back, where there is a great view. It was slippery though and I almost fell on my ass a couple times.

I asked Sanjini what she needed and the girls needed at the orphanage and she said an embroidery machine. I told her that I’d get her one. We all then piled into the cab and went into town to look for one. After stopping by the exchange office so I could get some more cash, we went to an appliance store. No luck they did not have one. We went to a 2^nd store and received the same answer. Finally we went to the a third store, The third store was unlike the others. It was only 5 feet wide, essentially a walkway, but crammed full of nothing but sewing machines and spare parts. It was a repair shop, but they had a brand new Raven embroidery machine. These things are essentially tanks. They come with a stand and huge electric motor mounted underneath the table surface with a cord mechanism used to transfer power. A big foot pedal controls the speed.

For the next hour and ½ or so, we watched Asu (the friendly repair shop guy) assemble the machine. It was no small job and we all watched with interest. He asembled bobbins to hold thread, he assembled the cord to transfer power, he mounted control arms and a bunch of pieces and parts. He clearly knew what he was dong. When he was done, I tried the machine and Sanjini tried it also. It worked great. Ihave to tell you it is not the easiest thing to do. Your knee controls an arm that determines the width of needle strikes. Your foot controls the speed of the needle moving up and down and your hands control the material and therefore the line of the embroidery. It clearly would take some practice. I gave Sanjini and Mathew some rupees so they could hire someone to cart the heavy machine to the orphanage and Raj and I went on our way. Raj and I continued on to Allepey where the group was already cruising on 3 houseboats. One pulled over to pick us up. We have a nite on the boats.

Best, Bob

The girls and I:

The youngest:

Their kitchen:

Painting for Chantal:

The sewing machine shop:

Sanjini and Mathew in the shop:

I’m now zeroing in on Trivandrum, India.  It is a long 17 hours of flying time.  I can’t say that flying is my favorite thing.   Interesting things do happen though.  The guy in the seat next to me on the long flight from JFK to Abu Dhabi was hypoglycemic.  He told me this information after it became clear that he was about to pass out.  In fact he said,  “If I pass out, just ignore me, I’m hypoglycemic”.   That is easier said than done…I mean the ignoring part.   He never did completely pass out, but I think he was very close to it.  I will have to do some research.  I’m not too sure what the right protocol is for dealing with an unconscious hypoglycemic person other than to push the stewardess call button.  I suspect the way he was feeling had something to do with the meal he had just eaten (which was actually pretty good on Air Etihad).

I heard a lot Malayalam being spoken when  boarding  the plane. for Trivandrum.  Malayalam is the fastest language I have ever heard; very distinctive and so totally foreign that it is hard to describe.  There just aren’t any sounds that you recognize.  It seems complete gibberish and I don’t mean that in a negative way.   I suppose English would seem the same to someone who knew only Malayalam. 

We have about an hour of flying left.  I know perfectly well that there will be a big crowd of people at the airport…people meeting others, porters, drivers, travelers, hangers-on.  While driving to the Wild Palms I know that there will be people just standing or walking down the road.  I have no idea what they are doing or where they are going.  You do get used to seeing people all the time, but it is very different.

There are plenty of other differences from what we are used to.  As in a lot of places, many people eat with their fingers.  Why not?  No silverware to wash.  In fact, the guy next to me on this flight was going the no silverware route,   It seemed to be working out fine until he met up with the tapioca pudding.  Expert as he was, the pudding got the best of him.  He switched over to Western mode. 

Best, 

Bob