9/feb yes, the right hand & varkala
February the 9th, ribas birthday!! 27 years… wow, time is passing so fast!!!
And yes, here is hot, very hot!! I don’t know if it’s as hot as in brasil, where ribas is living. But here, the heat and the rain (monsoon) came from the south, and kerala, the state where I’m staying at the moment, is the one at the very south of India. February, march, april and may are the hottest months. But in the afternoons, things get a little bit better, and that’s because of the sea breeze, and for the height of the cliff. 30 to 40 meters above the sea level.
Something important I forgot to write about, is the way Indian have to say yes. As you know, in Europe, the America (both), Australia… when people want to say yes, they move the head back and forth. But here, it’s a little bit different. They move their heads from one shoulder to the other. And to me, this gesture it’s closer to the ‘no’ than to the yes. So at the beginning it was a little bit tricky, because they were saying yes, and moving the head in that way. Anyway, it’s good to know that now!
Another important thing; Indians eat only with one hand, and this one must be the right. The left hand is used for the dirty things, like cleaning themselves after going to the bathroom. So, don’t pay with your left hand (not everywhere) because they will not take the money. Good and clean things are done with the right hand. But this and other things, are done more often in the less touristic areas. They care less about these kind of things, or they think that being tourists, we use other systems to clean ourselves. Anyway, in Kolkata and orissa state, they could get angry, or at least look at you in a bad way.
Kerala it’s called ‘the god’s own state’, since everyone can read and write, there is less poverty, less child mortality, very good level of English… they say they are more advanced that many other states.
Varkala it’s a very nice place, with a wonderful beach, and there are no ‘concrete buildings’ (well, only one, 7 stories). Only palm tree roofs, and bamboo walls. At least at the first 30 or 50 meters from the beach. After that, concrete is the king. So, I guess that this is like this not because of laws and these kinds of things, but because the cliff. The nature has kept the beach free of concrete. And the nature again, has protected the town from the tsunami. I havn’t seen any trace from the tsunami here, and no signs around. But the tsunami has been very bad for the turistic business. The tsunami and the big number of restaurants, hotels… had lowered down the price. From 300 RS to 150 or 100RS. Many Europeans cancelled their trips to kerala because they thought that this coast was affected by the tsunami, but it hasn’t been actually.
Historical picture in the cover of The Hindu, the biggest Indian newspaper written in English; Abu Mazen and Arie Sharon shaking hands. Let’s be optimistic, maybe a new era is starting.
After having breakfast, I moved to my new room, on the cliff. A little big bigger, cleaner, and in the center, if there’s a center in this lineal town. And closer to everything. Before moving, I met a couple of german, from munich. The wife of the Indian owner of the hotel, is british. We spoke for a while, and anna, a girl from mataro, joined us. I like this place! Once in the beach, I met 2 more girls from munich. And it’s so hot!! I spent half of the time in the water, full of small fishes. The come in a kind of dark sea clouds, and started jumping over me! A body surfed for a while, swimed… I think I’ll spend a while in this place. Reading, doing some sport, eating healthy (food is less oily than in other cities), meeting people… I met 2 girls from Russia, and a guy from Australia while having lunch. I spent a while talking with him. He is working in the Australian embassy in Colombo, sri lanka. That island is really affected by the tsunami, and there are 2 ‘governments’; the official one, and the tamil tigers one. Each one of them has an area. I finally got the mail I was looking for!
I had dinner with 2 guys from Holland, one of them owning a coffee shop!
After that, it was already late, and there’s not night life at all in this town. Everything is so peacefull and relaxed here!!
18/2/05
And yes, here is hot, very hot!! I don’t know if it’s as hot as in brasil, where ribas is living. But here, the heat and the rain (monsoon) came from the south, and kerala, the state where I’m staying at the moment, is the one at the very south of India. February, march, april and may are the hottest months. But in the afternoons, things get a little bit better, and that’s because of the sea breeze, and for the height of the cliff. 30 to 40 meters above the sea level.
Something important I forgot to write about, is the way Indian have to say yes. As you know, in Europe, the America (both), Australia… when people want to say yes, they move the head back and forth. But here, it’s a little bit different. They move their heads from one shoulder to the other. And to me, this gesture it’s closer to the ‘no’ than to the yes. So at the beginning it was a little bit tricky, because they were saying yes, and moving the head in that way. Anyway, it’s good to know that now!
Another important thing; Indians eat only with one hand, and this one must be the right. The left hand is used for the dirty things, like cleaning themselves after going to the bathroom. So, don’t pay with your left hand (not everywhere) because they will not take the money. Good and clean things are done with the right hand. But this and other things, are done more often in the less touristic areas. They care less about these kind of things, or they think that being tourists, we use other systems to clean ourselves. Anyway, in Kolkata and orissa state, they could get angry, or at least look at you in a bad way.
Kerala it’s called ‘the god’s own state’, since everyone can read and write, there is less poverty, less child mortality, very good level of English… they say they are more advanced that many other states.
Varkala it’s a very nice place, with a wonderful beach, and there are no ‘concrete buildings’ (well, only one, 7 stories). Only palm tree roofs, and bamboo walls. At least at the first 30 or 50 meters from the beach. After that, concrete is the king. So, I guess that this is like this not because of laws and these kinds of things, but because the cliff. The nature has kept the beach free of concrete. And the nature again, has protected the town from the tsunami. I havn’t seen any trace from the tsunami here, and no signs around. But the tsunami has been very bad for the turistic business. The tsunami and the big number of restaurants, hotels… had lowered down the price. From 300 RS to 150 or 100RS. Many Europeans cancelled their trips to kerala because they thought that this coast was affected by the tsunami, but it hasn’t been actually.
Historical picture in the cover of The Hindu, the biggest Indian newspaper written in English; Abu Mazen and Arie Sharon shaking hands. Let’s be optimistic, maybe a new era is starting.
After having breakfast, I moved to my new room, on the cliff. A little big bigger, cleaner, and in the center, if there’s a center in this lineal town. And closer to everything. Before moving, I met a couple of german, from munich. The wife of the Indian owner of the hotel, is british. We spoke for a while, and anna, a girl from mataro, joined us. I like this place! Once in the beach, I met 2 more girls from munich. And it’s so hot!! I spent half of the time in the water, full of small fishes. The come in a kind of dark sea clouds, and started jumping over me! A body surfed for a while, swimed… I think I’ll spend a while in this place. Reading, doing some sport, eating healthy (food is less oily than in other cities), meeting people… I met 2 girls from Russia, and a guy from Australia while having lunch. I spent a while talking with him. He is working in the Australian embassy in Colombo, sri lanka. That island is really affected by the tsunami, and there are 2 ‘governments’; the official one, and the tamil tigers one. Each one of them has an area. I finally got the mail I was looking for!
I had dinner with 2 guys from Holland, one of them owning a coffee shop!
After that, it was already late, and there’s not night life at all in this town. Everything is so peacefull and relaxed here!!
18/2/05
posted by Unknown at 21:37
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