Written by Koni Tiffany
Greetings Oregon!
This past week and a half have been… Interesting to say the least. During our amazing stay at the ashram, I was walking down the stairs and completely twisted my ankle. Not the way I would imagine a twisted ankle would happen at a place where we are doing yoga multiple times a day, but still, it happened. I sadly spent most of our last few days in the ashram in the dorms, but on the bright side, I had the opportunity to journal, draw, and catch up on some well-earned rest. And Netflix. But when the day to transition to Munnar finally came I couldn’t be more eager to get outside into the fresh (and cold) air. We took a Van to Munnar and transitioned to Jeeps once we got into town. The van/jeep rides were absolutely STUNNING. It felt incredibly nice to get higher up in elevation, feel the temperature drop, and get a break from the heat. When we arrived at Munnar we met our super friendly trek guide, Shabeeb, and got settled into tents. I obviously couldn’t make it on the trek, but I still enjoyed the million-dollar views and beautiful atmosphere. The next day while the rest of the group went on the trek to location number 2, I rode in the jeep and took in the bumpy, yet beautiful ride. When the rest of the group got to the place we were staying we spent our time resting, eating, playing card games on the porch, and playing games by the fire.
While traveling to Kochi we met Divya, our homestay and internship organizer. She welcomed us into her home and we met her family and had a super great lunch. Later that day we arrived in Kochi, settled into our new hostel, and went out for dinner. The next few days consisted of a tour of the city, a martial arts performance, a canoe ride and dinner in the middle of a lake on Chinese fishing nets, a trip to the mall and a movie in a theater, and free time to explore the city. Our canoe ride was really fun and beautiful (and scary, but we don’t talk about that). They served us drinks and snacks, 2 courses, and fruit for dessert. We watched a movie called Manjummel Boys, it was completely in Malayalam and even though we couldn’t fully understand what was happening, it was still a very intense movie. Tears were shed. During our free day, Me, Bitsy, Elijah, Kai, and Lucas took a 30-minute tuk-tuk just to go try Indian McDonalds. It's pretty good, but it's funny that McDonald’s is considered weirdly boujee in India, while in America it’s fast and cheap. Later in the week we made our transfers to our Homestays as well as started our internships. Some people are mainly focusing on one class, while others are taking lots of different ones. Our homestay families have been wonderful. They are so kind and welcoming into their house and their lives. I love talking with them and sharing our different perspectives of the world and sharing about our respective cultures.
Although I have missed out on a couple of amazing opportunities this week because of my ankle, I have done and seen some beautiful things I'll never forget.