Celebrating Holi, The Festival of Colors

Holi is a festival celebrated at the beginning of spring (according to the Hindu lunar calendar).  The festival has roots in Hindu mythology and celebrates the triumph of good over evil.  Holi is a multi-day event including family gatherings, music, humorous poetry, throwing of colored powder and water, bonfires, and eating special foods.

On the main event day of Holi, around 9 or 10am, women and children walk together and gather in fields to put colored powder on each other and dance.  Men gather too to socialize and drink.  This continues until about 2pm when everyone cleans up and eats.

We had a lovely time and people were very friendly.  They were very happy to have us join them in the celebration.

Apartment

 We are slowly working on getting the apartment to an acceptable state.  It is VERY dirty.  It's going to take a few days to get really clean.  There are also some quirky things to work out such as not having any gas for the stove so we bought an electric burner only to find out the one electrical outlet in the kitchen does not work.
Also, we bought a water purifier that connects to the sink but ours isn't quite the right size so we will have to find the right adapter.
There are quite a few lizards in the apartment on the walls.
We are also trying to figure out the taxi system to go to the market (found out today that they stop running around 5/6pm. (We had to pay $2 to hire a private taxi vs. the $0.40 we paid to tag along with other people in a taxi).
There was running water when we first arrived today, but after we got back from the market, there was no running water in the bathroom (but there is running water in the kitchen).
We have no fridge, hot water, couch, tv, AC, or towel rack.

 Bathroom

 Water heater-put this in a bucket to heat water for bathing

 Shower with only cold water-works well for summer

 My favorite-balcony with garden view

 Living room

 Living room

 Kitchen

Bedroom with closet

Air Travel in India

We took our first domestic flight in India and learned that there are some differences flying in India vs. the U.S.

1. You need a ticket or receipt to even enter the airport. (Airlines have booths outside).
2. You take your checked bags through security before checking the bags in.
3. At smaller airports, you don't go through security until it's close to boarding time.
4. Women and men are screened separately (women have a private cubicle area).
5. Airports are much smaller than in the US.
6. When you get on the plane, an officer checks to make sure your carry-on has an airline tag that was stamped when it went through security.
7. Most importantly: the people arriving and departing never mix (in many airports).  If you have transfer, you have to go through security again.  This was a surprise when we made a connection in Delhi.

Kochi, Kerala

Jason and I went to Kochi for a Fulbright Conference.

We went on a sight-seeing tour of the city with the other Fulbrighters (almost 200 of them)!

First we went to St. Francis Church built built by the Portuguese in 1503.  It was a Catholic church but it has been converted to an Anglican church.

Vasco de Gama was buried here

Then we went to see the Chinese fishing nets

Then we went to "Jew Town" to the synagogue and the Dutch Palace (sorry couldn't take pictures inside either).

We also saw a store called the Spice Market and saw a woman making a sari on a loom.

Earlier, we went to the mall in a rickshaw.

The hotel we stayed at was beautiful.

 This was our view from our room.