A little update on what's been happening over here in India:
Last week was an eventful one! The weekdays were spent in pretty intensive study sessions. Joshua (my fellow American student) and myself set a pretty rigorous pace for ourselves, going through two different textbooks, a chapter from each a day. We are hoping to keep this pace and finish with the grammar books by the end of June. Then, the plan is to start working through larger chunks of text to translate.
But anyway, on to the more interesting stuff. Last Wednesday, we broke the monotony of the week up by going out to see a Bollywood filmi: "Ready" starring the ever-popular Salman Khan. Khan is apparently a big enough Indian star that he can create a comedy like this one which draws much of its humor by making fun of the stereotypes and conventions of Khan's other movies. This was actually quite funny when I had some of these explained to me: for example, invariably, Salman Khan will take off his shirt in every movie he is in....and lo and behold, near the end of this movie, off the shirt goes! It was really a funny movie though, funny enough that a lot of the humor needed no translation.
On Friday, we went on a walking tour of Kottayam's churches with Fr. Raju and Fr. Thomas, two of the teachers here. Of particular interest were the two oldest churches, both of which date from the 16th century: Cheriapally ("Little Church") and Valiyapally ("Big Church"). Cheriapally has art in the chancel which dates from the original construction of the church, making it roughly contemporary to many of the great Mughal dynasty monuments you might see up near Delhi, like the Red Fort or Taj Mahal. This was pretty amazing to see: it was recognizably depictions of the life of Christ, but in a distinctly Asian style. Pictures are on my facebook if anyone is interested in seeing that sort of thing. Valiyapally, not to be outdone, has its own interesting features: a big stone cross in front of the church and two smaller stone crosses engraved inside the church which date from the sixth century. These two stone crosses contain the earliest Syriac inscriptions in India, and the earliest physical record of Christianity in India... Really cool stuff! It was a special feast day at Valiyapally as well, so the festival flag was flying high, and the umbrellas were out on the steps to mark the occasion. I also met two of the orthodox bishops who were there for the celebration.
On Saturday, Joshua and I went to the backwaters of Kerala, a system of canals and waterways connected to a large central lake. It's sort of hard to describe, but it was a fascinating trip. We set out in the afternoon from the Kottayam boat jetty on the public transport ferry, a three hour trip which only cost us 10 rupees. The boat took us (after many stops) from Kottayam to Allepey. A trip through the backwaters gave a different perspective on life in Kerala. We rode past people's homes which fronted the water. We saw women washing clothes in the river, kids playing in the water, and little towns with their churches, mosques, and temples. Certainly it was a quieter side of India than I had yet seen. The backwaters eventually left populated areas and the journey took us by thin strips of trees above the water which separated vast fields of flooded rice paddies from the backwaters and lakes. Eventually, we made it into Lake Vembanad, and then into the town of Allepey, where canals run through the middle of the town like a sort of Indian Venice. After dinner, we took the bus back to Kottayam from Alleppey, and saw our lives flash before our eyes a few times when our bus tried some maneuvers I might have previously thought impossible for buses.
On Sunday, we went back to experience a Syrian Orthodox liturgy at Cheriapally. We also went to an Indian Coffee House, and then to see X-Men: First Class to experience a little bit of America and enjoy the movie theater's AC (it was really hot that day).
Now, the weekdays are back, and my studies are in full-swing again. The monsoon is back too, after taking a short leave of absence and leaving us all pretty miserable with the heat.
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