the supreme ordinary

Monday April 2

We woke up early to take a tour out to see the elephant training centre.  This is owned by the government of Kerala Forestry Department but tourist and go and check it out.  They train the elephants for special festivals and ceremonies.  I really wish we’d timed our visit to see an elephant parade with them all done up. 

The point of going to the center is to see elephants get washed and potentially get to ride one.  Two little babies both under two years old were being washed.  They were pretty cute flopping around in the water.  And considering how young they were relatively obedient to the trainers.  The trainer tells them when to go into the water, sit down and roll over.  It’s very amusing to watch them flop over on their sides and stick their little trunks out to breath.  The trainer scrubs them all over with a coconut husk.  I thought this seem quite rough and a bit cruel until we got to touch one. For a small mandatory “tip” we got to go up and pet them.  It was well worth it!  Their skin is so rough and hard.  I was very nervous to get to close with them because like all babies they were kinds of jumpy and unpredictable.

The funniest part was when the trainer gave himself a little soap up, he’s in there anyways-why not, and the elephant decided to help him scrub, rubbing the trainers back with his trunk.  I imagine that trunk does quite the job exfoliating.  The trainer did not seem impressed. 

Unfortunately the person who takes tourists on rides was on holidays so we were unable to go.

And then we went on to some random Water Falls.  Neither of us had heard of them and I still don’t know the name of them.  My expectations and even desire to go was quite low.  It turned out to be a great stop.  They were fantastic!  And the whole area around them but breathtaking lush jungles.  We spent the whole day splashing around in the shallow water near the top and hiking up and down stairs to try and find the best view.  I got a nasty sunburn, due to my own stupidity and not putting on enough sun screen.  It was a scorching hot day.  It was really wonderful.  This area is just absolutely beautiful.  We keep disappointedly saying to one another that we just can’t capture it in photos.  It’s so stunning.  The lush jungles just make you want to stay in this paradise forever. 

As we were walking along the narrow path to the falls all alone I had this thought of just how unreal it all felt.  I wondered to myself if this is what heaven might be like.  I mean I have no clue what God has in store for us in the next life but if things here are good I just think what’s to come is going to be awesome.  Not just awesome but like take your breath away unbelievable.  There are just those times like a really intense thunderstorm or when I drive through the mountains or stand at the foot of a powerful waterfall that it just hits me how great is our God!  And that thought just gets me so excited to seem more of here creation.  People who don’t know God say a lot of things about Him, but one thing God can never be accused of is being boring.  When I travel around at the world God has made I am continually thrilled and stupefied by how incredible and diverse each new place is.  You don’t have to go further than just outside your own front door to see that, if you’re willing to.  The trouble is for myself I have to get out of what I’m used to really notice.  I get used to the amazing thing about nature and people.  I accept the supreme as ordinary.  When you go somewhere else the wrinkles on an old woman’s face can suddenly become superb.  You allow yourself to be astonished by what to locals here is usual.  And I love that.  I want to be a traveler in my own country, in my own home.  I just feel like seeing things that way every day would be really powerful! 

In the evening we did a little bit of shopping and wandered around on the waters edge.  There is a nice brick walk way there. 

Tuesday April 3

Happy 23 Birthday to my very best friend!  Can’t wait to see you again and celebrate with you! 

Set on getting to ride the elephants we woke up early again and went back to the elephant training camp.  Since we regrettably bailed on the camel tour at the beginning I really wanted to get to ride the elephant.  So we watched them do the bathing again.  Today they had an adult female that was being washed as well.  I was shocked by her size!  We had been up very close to elephants in Africa, which as quite a bit bigger but always in a large vehicle. This was the first time I had stood next to a full grown elephant.  She was just enormous!  It was almost unbelievable to me.  I was glad she was so well trained and calm it was scary enough just to be near her. 

We got to go on the elephant ride!  It worked out to about ¢50 per person in a group of four and here were seven of us including some other nice travelers we met.  It was kind of a let down in that it was only like a 50m walk down the road and back but I was so nervous about it I did not mind at all how short it was.  Elephants do not have a smooth gate and I was certain that the wicker saddle was going to slip right off his back.  I was really glad we did it in the end but super scared something was going to go terribly wrong the whole time we were up there. 

Boat ride through cannels in Kerala

Late afternoon we set off for a boat ride the cannels of Kerala.  These cannels are man-made.  They were built for transportation and irrigation.  The boat itself was quite cute.  The one we took seated about a dozen people.  It had a wicker-type cover with nice big windows and comfortable wicker chairs.  Every seat was a window seat.  There was a poler pushing us along, so it was quite a slow pace. 

It was so serene that even to speak I felt we were disturbing the ambiance.  It almost didn’t feel real it was just so perfect.  I’ve never seen plant life like this before.  I wish I even knew how to describe it. The leaves were every shape, shade, size and texture.  The plants seemed to go about two feet into the water from the edge and grow like a wall about ten feet up.  You would have needed a chain saw to pass through any section of it that did not already have a path. There were lots of other boats and many people along the shores. 

The long slow three hour boat rides of life are good reminders to me that I have not reached my goals of becoming more patient or more relaxed.  At one point I said to myself, if only I had no where to be and could just enjoy this, it would be so amazing but I’m so busy.  And then realized that I did have no where to be, wasn’t busy and should just enjoy all the amazing around.  Reading something silly like that when your busy sounds ridiculous how can you not let go and enjoy it when you can.  I think many people like me though can relate to the fact that we decide it is better to be busy and consumed with valuable to-dos until we forget how to live without them.  I’m working on.  I did love the boat ride.  Sitting on boats is just generally something I find wonderful so I try never to miss the chance to soak in its goodness.  We stopped half way to visit a village and see how they make ropes out of coconut hair.  It was so cool!  The whole boat was held together with it, it’s super strong.  And the ladies who make it go so fast!  I was super impressed. 

Tomorrow we will catch a train to Goa at 2pm.  We’ll train through the night and arrive early in the morning.  Pre-sunburn I was really pumped about some tan time on the beach.  I’m feeling less enthusiastic about it now but these two weeks to just unwind and debrief with one another a little bit after our time at the mission is really nice.