Greetings from Kerala (Part 2)

arriving in kerala
when we landed in cochin (kochi) on the 13th, it was a vastly different experience than prior visits. for one, kochi has a brand new airport, much larger than the rinky dink airport of yore, which was quaint and camouflaged among coconut, banana, & palm trees. the airport road from kochi to aluva is now littered with large (gratuitous) billboards that portray fair brides decked out in jewelry and beautiful clothes. also, there are flats popping up everywhere. this is development on a massive scale! and people must furnish their new lifestyles so shops abound. what a difference a decade makes. now most middle class folks have internet access. the world has certainly become a global village.

if you click on the map, you'll see i've drawn a line from kochi to aluva, the town my parents are from. we drove this way after we arrived. the airport road is good, as in no potholes. but other roads here are absolutely horrendous. i don't know many non-indians who would be able to bear being a passenger in a car here for very long. it seems that everyone is just on the verge of death: passengers, drivers, pedestrians, dogs, chickens, and cows alike. in fact, i think we ran over a pheasant a couple of days ago. fuck.

the greenest place on earth

kerala is indeed a green paradise (click on the pic). when i go back to chitown, my heart will sprout a coconut tree and there it will sit until i die...