Memories of Half a World Away

People often ask me why I choose to study in a remote part of India, with little Western influence on the social structure. The majority of college students who are looking to study abroad generally want to explore European culture and the major cities in this part of the world. While this would have been an amazing experience and I love to live through my fellow world travelers on all their adventures, I discovered so much about myself in this about 100 miles north of Sri Lanka. Unlike my previous trip in the northern part of India, my five months abroad brought me to a small city called Madurai. Looking back now four years later, it feels like I was there yesterday, laughing with my classmates, eating meals off banana leaves, and seeing life through a different lens. Sure, not all my trip was fantastic, and maybe it has taken me four years to appreciate everything I learned over there, but the point is I did learn so much more than the classroom could have ever droned into me. 

If you want to live through my entire trip with me, please look through the ten million albums I posted on Facebook. But if you don't have the patience to look at every picture, here are some of my favorites from life half way around the world:

 Lady Doak College Chapel

 Walk Way to Classes: Definitely made coming back to plain sidewalks difficult. I actually loved walking to my morning classes. 

 Lady Doak College Guest House: This is where I lived!

 Science Building: I took Physical Chemistry and Calculus here

(Word to the wise: when studying abroad, take fun classes! Calculus not so awesome when your teacher speaks broken English!)

These flowers bloomed all over campus when I first arrived. 

  

 Boating in Kohlikanal

 National Forest in Kerala. I love how the bushes look like a turtle shell. 

 Temple outside of Madurai

Visit to the village of one of my classmates. In the village, they live in huts like the one above. Village living is still fairly rustic. In this particular village, they grow sugar cane and process molasses. 

 One tradition in the village is to hang a bell here every time a wish comes true. Wishes range from wanting a good rain to being blessed with children. According to local lore, when the wind blows and the bells ring, new wishes are granted for the villagers. 

 We actually visited on the first day of a funeral. This village honors life very differently than US culture. Here they are blessing the family and making a sacrifice in honor of the recently passed. 

 Madurai Palace: Now a museum, constantly undergoing construction, the palace's architectural features are absolutely breathtaking. This photo is of the hallway outside of the main courtyard. 

Palace decortations

 Small temples are everywhere in India. This one is in the middle of the main shopping district in Madurai. Often times, shopping areas and markets have been built up around the local temples to draw in tourists and local temple goers. 

While there is plenty of wildlife to go around, monkeys roamed around much like squirrels in the US. Here is a family unit in the mountain region of Kerala. To all you future travelers to India, don't keep food easily accessible in your backpack. You might have an extra load drop on. 

I hope these inspire you to look beyond the major tourist areas. Take a chance and go to somewhere unexpected. You might discover yourself in a world of others.