India_2015- The beginning

The beginning of our India trip. We landed in the Bangalore airport and the first problem was... a suitcase missing... of course. We had a rest stop in Qatar for 12 hours and in those 12 hours, the airlines lost one of our suitcases! They had 12 hours to get it right (12 hours is a long time). Come on Qatar Airways!..Oh well.. we got the suitcase a day and a half later. We stayed at a cousins house for the day, and left for my dad's place (only my grandparents live there now) the next morning. He's from the state Tamil Nadu, and it's a 10 hour drive from Bangalore. My sister and I stayed at my dad's place for two weeks.  No matter how much time I spend there, it just doesn't feel enough.

Animals in India are a big thing. You don't even have to go to the zoo to see all the animals. Why? Because it's like all the animals in the zoo rebelled, escaped, and now living on the streets! The mommy-cat on the left picture paid a visit every day. It even had two kitties, but the mom took it elsewhere after sometime. On the right is a picture of a crow. Crows are a nuisance in India because there are way too many, they are too loud, they feed on trash, and steal food in kitchens. The lazy goats are on the bottom left picture. They just roam the streets and have nothing better to do than finding food. Lastly, the bottom right picture is of a cow. These cows trot the streets searching for food, just like the goats. And one of the ways it gets fed is by standing in front of a house. The people in the house will feed the cow and the cow will move on to the next house. (They're pretty smart ;)) For three days in a row, that cow in the picture came up to our house as soon as I stepped outside, and I fed it a banana once :).

Back in the old days, people universally use to collect their water from wells. But now, at least in India, wells are mostly dried up (there's just a little water left). My grandparents still use the water left in the well for various purposes. Although, the water is slightly salty since they are so close to the ocean. The funny thing is that every time I look into a well, my brain automatically goes into a think session. How would I get out if I accidentally fell in? 

Our grandparents house is reallly nice, inside and out. They have a huge backyard with so many different fruit trees. They have mango trees, eucalyptuses, lemon trees, banana trees, guava trees, coconut trees, etc... It's hard to maintain the whole garden, but it's worth it once all the fruits are ripe. Anyway, the point of this picture is to show just how many lemons can grow on a lemon tree. Literally bags full. My Grandmother gave them away to relatives because there were too many. What is she going to with all of them?

 This is the awesome view I enjoyed on top of the terrace. Our house, in my opinion, has the best view on the street because it's the tallest. You can see everything that's happening down on the road, in the backyard, around other houses... and this is the best spot at night too. You can see tooo many stars, like more than your brain can comprehend. And guess what?? There's a beautiful beach 2-3 kilometers away. We went to the beach many, many times throughout our stay. Oh and you can actually see where the beach is in this picture. It's a little past those tiny palm trees on the left side of the picture. The beach is actually really become popular to foreigners because of a New Jerusalem Church next to the beach and a Danish fort right next to that. This Danish fort is called Fort Dansborg and actually has a ton of history piled into it. First off, this was the first Danish settlement ever in India. This was also the first place newspaper was printed in India. And the fort is now an active museum. I walked inside for the first time and it's pretty neat. They have a ton of old artifacts in good condition, tours of the jail, kitchen, artillery, etc, and a great ocean view. Wikipedia states that "the fort is one of the most visited tourist landmarks in the region". Which is very cool since our grandparents live like two kilometers away. 

Coconut trees are like cars in america. They're everywhere. And what comes with coconut trees? Coconuts! Lots and lots and lots of them. There are venders who sell tender coconut water on the streets, which is very convenient. If you're driving, just take a pit stop on the side of the road,  and ask for some through the window. They use their huge knives to cut the top of the coconut, stick the straw in, and give it to you. Once you're done drinking, you give it back and they will cut the coconut in half to get the raw coconut inside. Plus, coconut water is super healthy and feels nice for the hot weather. Aren't there companies who package coconut water into disposable bottles? Well, fresh is definitely better. 

Big events in India are a common thing. What does that mean? You have to mass produce food for everyone. When we hosted a big event, my grandmother hired some cooks to mass cook the food in the backyard. They used these huge pots to cook everything. In this picture, the cook is frying chicken. Speaking of chicken, non-vegetarian food, especially seafood is pretty popular in the coastal areas. You can get the freshest seafood with the best spices! On some days, there are vendors who walk the streets selling fresh shrimp, crab, or fish. A big fish market also exists close by, and i'll tell you,  it's something very interesting... they sell huge fish, small fish, sliced fish, jumbo shrimp, tiny shrimp, crabs, and even octopus. All fresh.. it's pretty crazy.

A common way of eating meals are on banana leaves, and a lot of restaurants serve food on banana leaves too.  I've seen some banana farms and the farms are huge. I assume that's where they chop the banana leaves for these meals. When you sit down to eat, the servers go around in a line and serve one dish/side-dish at a time. It's much different than the way Americans serve food.

This is just the beginning, there are plenty more pictures coming up (from our trip) soon! :)