Most of you (including myself about a month ago) do not know much about the city I'm in, Kochi, and the surrounding area. I'm going to try and break down what I've learned so far so all of you can grasp a little bit of what life is like here. Keep in mind I've only been here for a little over 3 weeks, so this is my perception as of now, I could end up learning more about certain subjects that will give me a more holistic view.
*I currently live outside of Kochi in an area called Kalamassery. The state is called Kerala which has over 33 million people in it and Kerala is about the size of Maine. India itself has about 1.2 billion people and I can honestly say I did NOT know that when I came here. I knew China was crowded, but I didn't realize India was this populated.
* There are 3 main religions in Kerala. Hindu, which makes up about 60 percent, Muslim, about 20 percent, and Christian, about 20 percent. Outside of Kerala, Hindu makes up more than 90 percent of the religious demographic. I was hoping to learn about Hinduism while I was here, but given that I attend a Catholic college and typically am surrounded by Christians, it makes that a difficult task.
*Speaking of religion, people here associate extremely strongly with their religion. There is no such thing as not being associated with a specific faith. (I'm sure it exists, but not admitted). People always associate with the religion they grew up in, there is no (or extremely limited cases of) switching faiths.
*The local language spoken here is called Malayalam. Most people also know at least a little English. English is considered the educated language so most post secondary schools teach in English. Hindi is the most widespread spoken language in India, but hardly anyone speaks that in my area.
*There is no animal shelters here, which means there are a lot of stray dogs and cats, which breaks my heart. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in one of those commercials with the abused animals, you know the ones, with Sarah McLachlan playing in the background. Some of the dogs and cats are so skinny, and it makes me sad that I can't do anything about it :(
* Although the monsoon season is not as heavy as it usually is, so far, it is just really some heavy periods of rain throughout the day and some heavy rain at night. The sun will still come out throughout the day and will almost instantly dry everything up again until the next rain comes. At its heaviest times, it is almost like someone dumping a bucket of water on you head, but that doesn't last very long. Sometimes the rain can come out of nowhere, and I have got caught in some heavy downpours where an umbrella was almost pointless. I've also heard some of the Indian students will shower outside during the monsoon rain to save water...only in India...
*Sometimes things just don't work here. The internet is spotty and the electricity cuts off multiple times a day. People are used to it. I've been in a few situations where it's cut out in a meeting, and the room goes dark, but the presenter just keeps talking like nothing happened and us Americans are looking at each other like "What the heck?"
*Kerala is a democratic socialist state. Which really boils down to the government provides a lot of public programs. Healthcare is virtually free and a lot of education is free, and cheaper. Leaders are elected and the socialist party is currently in control. There are a bunch of different political parties here, but from what I understand, there are still general labels of left being 'liberal/socialist' and right being 'traditional/conservative.' I'm not well informed on the politics here, but I (of course) find them fascinating and I plan on learning a lot more to help me understand what is really going on politically here.
*Women make up 50 percent of the political body here, but still experience cultural discrimination. This is something that has been very difficult for me to adjust to. Women cannot drink or smoke at all. Legally women can drink, but if they do, they will get labeled as a whore. Us Americans sort of get a free pass on this. They know Americans drink so they don't hold us to the same standard. I do want to be able to talk with local women here to get a good idea of how they really feel and possibly see what can be done about certain issues, but I have a feeling I won't get very far. I tried to talk to a BSW student on campus about their curfews, but it didn't get the response I was hoping. Women have a 7pm curfew, EVERYDAY. Men have a 10pm curfew. WTF! Having curfews as a Master's student is of course, ridiculous to me, but the fact that women always have to be home by 7 and the men can be out until 10 is blatant discrimination in my eyes. I plan to post more about this topic in the future as I gather more information, including my conversations with some of the students, so I won't say anything more about it here, but don't worry, I'm not letting this go!
*I currently live outside of Kochi in an area called Kalamassery. The state is called Kerala which has over 33 million people in it and Kerala is about the size of Maine. India itself has about 1.2 billion people and I can honestly say I did NOT know that when I came here. I knew China was crowded, but I didn't realize India was this populated.
* There are 3 main religions in Kerala. Hindu, which makes up about 60 percent, Muslim, about 20 percent, and Christian, about 20 percent. Outside of Kerala, Hindu makes up more than 90 percent of the religious demographic. I was hoping to learn about Hinduism while I was here, but given that I attend a Catholic college and typically am surrounded by Christians, it makes that a difficult task.
 |
| Catholic Church on Campus |
 |
| Jesus statue on campus |
 |
| Mosque |
*Speaking of religion, people here associate extremely strongly with their religion. There is no such thing as not being associated with a specific faith. (I'm sure it exists, but not admitted). People always associate with the religion they grew up in, there is no (or extremely limited cases of) switching faiths.
*The local language spoken here is called Malayalam. Most people also know at least a little English. English is considered the educated language so most post secondary schools teach in English. Hindi is the most widespread spoken language in India, but hardly anyone speaks that in my area.
*There is no animal shelters here, which means there are a lot of stray dogs and cats, which breaks my heart. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in one of those commercials with the abused animals, you know the ones, with Sarah McLachlan playing in the background. Some of the dogs and cats are so skinny, and it makes me sad that I can't do anything about it :(
* Although the monsoon season is not as heavy as it usually is, so far, it is just really some heavy periods of rain throughout the day and some heavy rain at night. The sun will still come out throughout the day and will almost instantly dry everything up again until the next rain comes. At its heaviest times, it is almost like someone dumping a bucket of water on you head, but that doesn't last very long. Sometimes the rain can come out of nowhere, and I have got caught in some heavy downpours where an umbrella was almost pointless. I've also heard some of the Indian students will shower outside during the monsoon rain to save water...only in India...
*Sometimes things just don't work here. The internet is spotty and the electricity cuts off multiple times a day. People are used to it. I've been in a few situations where it's cut out in a meeting, and the room goes dark, but the presenter just keeps talking like nothing happened and us Americans are looking at each other like "What the heck?"
*Kerala is a democratic socialist state. Which really boils down to the government provides a lot of public programs. Healthcare is virtually free and a lot of education is free, and cheaper. Leaders are elected and the socialist party is currently in control. There are a bunch of different political parties here, but from what I understand, there are still general labels of left being 'liberal/socialist' and right being 'traditional/conservative.' I'm not well informed on the politics here, but I (of course) find them fascinating and I plan on learning a lot more to help me understand what is really going on politically here.
*Women make up 50 percent of the political body here, but still experience cultural discrimination. This is something that has been very difficult for me to adjust to. Women cannot drink or smoke at all. Legally women can drink, but if they do, they will get labeled as a whore. Us Americans sort of get a free pass on this. They know Americans drink so they don't hold us to the same standard. I do want to be able to talk with local women here to get a good idea of how they really feel and possibly see what can be done about certain issues, but I have a feeling I won't get very far. I tried to talk to a BSW student on campus about their curfews, but it didn't get the response I was hoping. Women have a 7pm curfew, EVERYDAY. Men have a 10pm curfew. WTF! Having curfews as a Master's student is of course, ridiculous to me, but the fact that women always have to be home by 7 and the men can be out until 10 is blatant discrimination in my eyes. I plan to post more about this topic in the future as I gather more information, including my conversations with some of the students, so I won't say anything more about it here, but don't worry, I'm not letting this go!
*Most people still do arranged marriages here, and most of those include dowreys. This means that nobody at my school dates, which is very bizarre to me. So those of you who were thinking I would fall in love, get married and stay here, my chances are very slim. Once again, this issue is something I'm still trying to gain knowledge about and will discuss more about dating/marriage customs in future blogs.
*Things are just dirtier here.
*Things are just dirtier here.
I assume there is a part 2 to this post since it ends with "Things are just dirtier here." Intriguing cut off point :)
ReplyDeleteWell more than likely there will be a part II, but I really didn't have anything else to add to the last one, everything really is dirtier, or seems dirtier. Lots of mud and grime.
DeleteWoah - the curfews thing blows my mind! I can't wait to read more about the conversations you have with women over there.
ReplyDeleteI know! I think you would die here Bethany...or start a revolution :)
DeleteSo this means I don't have to worry about my future grandchildren living halfway around the world? Whew . . . I am so relieved. Miss you Polly, but love the blogs.
ReplyDeleteFor now...unless I meet a peacecorps worker or something... :)
Delete