Almost 2 weeks ago, we flew from Tokyo back to Malaysia, where I watched Liban sleep for 6 hours (because sleeping on Air Asia airplanes is the worst, excluding the Royal Air Maroc planes that have duct tape around the emergency exit windows.) Then we had a short flight to Kerala, which is where Liban spent most of his summers as a kid.
The city of Kochi is like a typical Indian city, with just a little more space to breathe. But we spent a couple days meeting relatives in rural Kerala, and it was pretty neat to see the more tropical, local side of India. For example, Liban's uncle showed us around the family rubber tree farm and how they remove the sap. I wanted to see how sticky it was because it looks like Elmer's glue, but Liban wouldn't let me, nor would he let me poke it with a stick.
We stayed with Liban's uncle's family one night, and the two little girls in the family were so excited to have me stay with them. They were so excited that they literally said nothing to me, just stared at me. (I wish I could say this is because I'm super cool or gorgeous, but it's just because I'm white. At one point, they also each reached up and gently touched my hair to see if it felt like theirs.) Eventually, we went to a toy store and bought some Legos and Chutes & Ladders so that we could do something other than stare at me. We had quite a bit of fun after that. In the morning, the girls made sure I walked them out to meet the "school bus" (an SUV of 12+ children), and the whole bus burst out in giggles at the sight of me.
Other random thoughts: The houses in Kerala are generally HUGE for Indian standards and occasionally also for American standards. There is also space in between the buildings, which I didn't really know was possible to have within an Indian city. Kerala also has red bananas, which are regular banana-colored on the inside but have red peels.
This next picture is just something we saw on the way from one village to another. The super curvy roads didn't have a ton of traffic, so we were going fairly fast (for Indian roads). I kept waiting (and hoping, just a little bit) for the truck to tip over towards the right. I just wanted to see what the cows would do with their heads straight up in the air. . .
After our week in Kerala, we finally arrived in Chennai, got our keys, and began the process of moving into our apartment. We started with 2 carry-ons' and 3 suitcases' worth of stuff, and now we have a mostly-furnished kitchen, washing machine, internet, and actual furniture. Overall the apartment is really nice and overlooks a park-to-be, which is currently a dirt plot used for soccer practice and/or cows to chill out. The apartment is also absolutely way bigger than what we actually need, which means 1) you should probably come visit us 2) we need a dog, and 3) I'm even more ready to adopt a little girl.
After our week in Kerala, we finally arrived in Chennai, got our keys, and began the process of moving into our apartment. We started with 2 carry-ons' and 3 suitcases' worth of stuff, and now we have a mostly-furnished kitchen, washing machine, internet, and actual furniture. Overall the apartment is really nice and overlooks a park-to-be, which is currently a dirt plot used for soccer practice and/or cows to chill out. The apartment is also absolutely way bigger than what we actually need, which means 1) you should probably come visit us 2) we need a dog, and 3) I'm even more ready to adopt a little girl.
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