Sari Sari Sari Time

Ok friends! So after a relatively uneventful veterinary day on Sunday, except for Shibu's daily American lesson which I will elaborate on later, I had given myself 2 options. If it rained, I was going to see the Hill Palace and if stayed beautifully sunny...well then I was gonna spring for the 250 rupees and go for a swim at the Grand Hotel.

Well it was sunny baby! And I spent 3 glorious hours lounging in the pool, sitting on a lounge chair in the shade, and reading a wonderfully witty and pointless romance novel. It was absolutely glorious and then was topped off when Becca and Laura got back from Varkala and we got to go to Dal Roti, our favorite restaurant, for dinner! It was absolutely brilliant and then we watched Valentine's Day and went to bed.

Now Shibu's and my discussion for Sunday was, oddly, about tattoos, tramp stamps, prostitutes, and strip clubs. The last one was especially shocking to Shibu because when he tried to look all knowing and say “ah yes are all bars strip bars in America,” and “so what does this entail? Just pole dance and two pieces?” I think I blew his mind a little when I said they got naked in front of other people. He looked both uncomfortable and intrigued as to the very fuzzy line between legal and illegal when it comes to sex in the US.
“So looking at naked women is fine? Do women go there? Men do it too?! But a whore is someone who has lots of sex? And this isn't illegal. But if they get paid, then it is?”
Highly amusing...Especially because it originally started with asking whether most women in America have their navels pierced.

Today I got up an hour early to have breakfast with the girls before they leave for Mysore and before I had to go to the hospital, only to be called a few min after I awoke and hear the Shibu had fallen in the bathroom and possibly broken, turned out it was only sprained, his leg. So then the girls and I had all day! We sent Becca's bedspread home and I found a sari I liked and haggled until I got it for about $20, I still have to make the top/blouse bit made for underneath and the Margaret said she will help me wear it.

I seriously think she and my grandmother would be best friends. She was just looking at me today, after being reassured that I wasn't leaving today - “I just love seeing your FACE everyday”- and said that I would look pretty in a sari, and luckily I had just bought one. After an amazing lunch at Krishna Café, the best rickshaw driver ever took us on a half willing half reluctant trip to a place where they grind up spices, a pretty statue, a pretty tree, and a local sari shop where....yea I bought another one :-) I couldn't help it and both blouses will be able to go under either sari and its beautiful and only cost me $10. Totally worth it.

So the girls are off to Mysore but I will try to meet them in Ooty on Friday or Sat and then we will travel Hampi together which is way better than going alone. I may hit an animal sanctuary on the way back and then I will leave 2 or 3 days to say goodbye to Cochin before I leave. I cannot believe I only have 3 weeks in India, and I could happily spend another month just in Kerala, but I need to get at least some traveling in. I'm so happy that I chose to stay and make a little home for myself in Fort Cochin because I think I have really gotten to know the people and the culture and meet so many interesting people, but I am glad to have a bit of traveling. Veterinary Hospital tomorrow and then off to the tailor to get my blouses made so I can be schooled in the art of proper sari wearing.