Dr. Paulose's Amazing Tour of Wonders!

Our friend Jayson Paulose is a native of Kerala, and he came home for Christmas on the 21st. We had to visit him (he insisted) and see his neighborhood and his house. So we did.

As we observed before, there's a lot of religious diversity in Kerala. Jayson's family is Syrian Orthodox - a branch of Christianity reputed to have been founded in the 1st century by St. Thomas, when he came to India. Mackenzie was happy to see a Christmas tree in the Paulose household.

Jayson's father is a business school professor, but he moonlights as a tour guide in his spare time. Dr. Paulose showed us around the backwaters of Kerala and brought us to a dozen churches, synagogues, mosques, and Hindu temples, explaining the religious and historical significance of each.

Here's the Church of St. Thomas Kottekkavu - founded by Thomas himself, not far from where he first made landfall.

Here's the Chennamangalam synagogue, the second-oldest synagogue in the British Commonwealth (the oldest is the one on Jew Street that we saw yesterday.) All of the funding for restoration came from American Jews.

Our driving route happened to take us past a local Hindu temple ceremony. There were three elephants in full battle regalia, with guys standing on them, and a bunch of other guys beating drums in a circle. Photo-op!

Dr. Paulose also took us to Cherai Beach, one of the nicest beaches in India. The December weather was balmy and the waters of the Arabian Sea were warm. Jayson wrote "wheee" in the sand.

Jayson insisted we had to try dosas (a South Indian street food.) They were delicious!

Jayson is sad because his juice box came without a little straw.

Kerala: God's Own Country

France has the Riviera. Mexico has Cancun. The United States has California (this was obviously written by Josh. --Mackenzie). And India has Kerala: a place of great natural beauty, relaxing beaches, and balmy weather. Pretty much the best place to spend the shortest days of the year.

Our hotel in Kochi had two separate buildings, on opposite sides of a lazy river. So we had to take a boat ride just to get from the front desk to our room.

Many spices, including black pepper, are native to Kerala. This has brought traders here for millennia and made Kerala into a rich state. When Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, he was hoping to land here and open up a trade route; when he met Native Americans, he called them "Indians" because he thought he was in Kerala.

Another explorer, who did a better job of getting where he was going, was Vasco da Gama. Da Gama sailed to Kerala from Portugal in 1498 and established a Portuguese colony here. He died in Kochi and was entombed in St. Francis Church - which we visited.

Chinese fishing nets on the beach at Fort Kochi.

Because Kerala has been a trading center for so long, many people have settled here from far away - and they've brought their religions with them. Kochi is the site of the oldest synagogue in the British Commonwealth. It's in a neighborhood called Jew Town. On Jew Street. (Josh felt right at home. --Mackenzie)

There are also lots of Christians in Kerala. They have their own creative ways of decorating for Christmas. This courtyard, featuring a huge Indian-style Christmas tree, is where we had dinner. (I ate some delicious fresh fish... maybe it was caught in one of those Chinese fishing nets.)

More Delhi tourism

Our friends Tim and Nicole happen to be visiting India for some weddings. So of course we had to meet up with them in Delhi and do touristy stuff.


Humayun's Tomb. This is the final resting place of Humayun, a Mughal emperor in the 16th century, and it was the architectural inspiration for Humayun's great-grandson, Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal in Agra.


Mackenzie just has to do that little touristy wave wherever we go.


The mall is ALWAYS crowded around here.


The famous Baha'i "Lotus Temple". Unfortunately we arrived after it closed (great timing) so this is as close as we got.

Next stop: Kerala!

I'm baaaaaaack...

In her previous post, Mackenzie told you about her upcoming travels. What she neglected to mention is that Josh will be traveling with her. That's right - I've just flown in from the States, and I'm ready for adventure. Mackenzie and I are leaving in a few days to visit Jayson in Kerala. Then we'll be flying out to South Korea to visit Michelle; we plan to spend Christmas Day on the beautiful getaway of Jeju Island. After that we'll fly down to Thailand, where we'll take a few days in Bangkok and then spend New Year's Eve on a tropical beach in the south of the country.

We will be blogging about our travels (or rather, I will be blogging, since SOMEbody needs to post in a timely manner.) So keep an eye out!

Where O where did Mackenzie go?

So some of you are probably wondering if I fell off the face of the earth...I did. And I have fallen straight into business school essays. I am working on my Round 2 applications (due early January) and have not had much time to write. However, after this brief holiday/business school hiatus, I promise to be more diligent with my posts.

Some highlights coming up: I promise pictures and tales from The Jungle Book, my trip to the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve as well as some Delhi tourism fun. In two days I am off to visit my friend Jayson in Cochin, Kerala (sunny place near where we went to the offsite), then a lovely trip to Korea to see my college roommate Michelle (hopefully North Korea will be good while I am there), and finally a relaxing vacation in Thailand for the New Year. Pictures and stories are coming right up...after my January 11th final deadline.

Write to you soon!