the final lap

we have arrived in trivandrum, our final stop before we head up to delhi and then home. it is almost impossible to believe the adventure is about to be over. it is both everything and nothing that i expected, and i think this experience, and india, will be teaching me for a long time to come.

we came to trivandrum after spending a few days in quilon. we did some shopping, visited a marine processing factory, and a cashew processing and packaging operation. i tell you what, i will never eat a cashew nut the same way. every step of the process... picking, shelling, scraping off the skin, removing blemishes, sorting by size and quality... it is all done by hand. by hand. by mostly women, who make the equivalent fo $7 a day. pretty incredible.

yesterday, when we arrived in trivandrum, we had lunch with some of the rotarians, including mine and ruby's host, suresh mathew, and had what we all agreed was the first honest conversation we've had with indians about politics (plagued by corruption), the indian perception of america and the role of women in indian society (men and women have always disagreed, they said, but now it is more acceptable to do it in public. more on this in another post, i think). we had a wonderful beachside dinner last night and, in the most exciting news of all, we met a mahuraja and some princesses! we put on our pretty indian clothes (we all had gorgeous skirts and matching tops tailored earlier in the trip) and went to the palace. suresh warned us "not to have an imagination," that the mahuraja and princesses were ordinary, simple people, but it was still a complete thrill to meet them. they were warm and spoke perfect english and were so glad we had come. we had tea and played with grandkids and took lots of pictures. i sat on the same couch as jackie kennedy and the same chair as eleanor roosevelt and heard stories from princess gouri about touring the united states in the late 1970s on a greyhound bus ticket that cost $99 for 99 days. an experience that will never be replicated.

which is how i feel about this whole trip. i have been jonesing for my bed, a big greek salad and a peanut butter milkshake, but here are some things i will miss terribly about india.

1. women in saris riding sidesaddle on the backs of motorcycles, sometimes carrying groceries and/or children.
2. elephants walking down the street.
3. a temple procession (not to mention a temple) everywhere you look.
4. fresh, sweet water, straight out of a coconut.
5. warm sun and light breezes.
6. putting my dirty laundry out in the morning and having it appear, clean and fresh and warm that afternoon.
7. going barefoot.
8. palm trees, enormous flowers, huge gardens everywhere you look.
9. signs such as, "infant jesus nursery school," shops named after hindu gods, stores like the "pants palace."
10. women and men balancing baskets, buckets, pails, piles of sugar cane and bags of rice on their heads.
11. indian warmth, hospitality, care and concern. i hope i have learned how to be more welcoming, kind and caring.
11. my team. ruby said last night she thought that by now we would all be sick of eachother, but really just the opposite is true. i think we are all, in some way, dreading the end of our time together. i know i am. life won't be quite the same without my team.

there is so much more to say, and, eventually, i hope i find a way to say it all. we'll be here in trivandrum, mostly relaxing and enjoying our wonderful hosts, until the morning of the 30th, when we fly to delhi, drive to the taj mahal, and then come home. there will be lots more stories and pictures when i get back, if not before.

love and namaste.