New Year's Eve

12/31/11

It rained all night and into the morning. We were bussed over to the Kerala Institute of Management and Government where we received an excellent lecture from Shailaja Nair. She discussed the various issues that arose from slums and how Laurie Baker and COSTFORD have sought to eliminate these problems with proper organization and use of resources.

After a traditional Indian lunch it started to rain even harder and the slum that we were going to visit had been completely flooded. The roads were also closed to there was no way that we could even get there.

With this newfound free time the class unanimously decided to go shopping at Fab India where we all bought various articles of Indian clothing. I bought myself a very suave kurta that makes me look like a giant red carpet, it’s great!

We were later taken to the hotel where we all changed into the clothing that we bought. We quickly left for the Sagara Resort for their New Year’s celebration.

The resort was full of people and right by the ocean! Lizzy had never seen the ocean in person before so this would be a big deal for her. I was very fond of the lighthouse that was nearby as well as the wonderful view from the large terrace.

The celebration would begin with live entertainment. Traditional drummers, a silent play version of the Ramayana and traditional dances all including costumes and music. The play was extremely interesting and at times hard to follow but the ending where Hanuman tears open the demon king’s chest was definitely a sight to see.

Dinner was buffet style and extremely spicy because I still don’t know much about Indian cuisine. Jordan and Alex actually left during the live performances to acquire alcohol and took a rickshaw into town and found a shady liquor shop. After dinner I would use a spoon to open their beers for them… I guess that college education is finally paying off!

After dinner most of us went to the beach to see the lights. I was really excited to see Lizzy’s reaction to dipping her feet in the ocean and eagerly dragged her out to the water. Before we reached the water Jordan and Alex had to put down their unfinished beers because drinking in public is considered taboo and probably illegal, not to mention the police swarming the beaches. Professor Jerry actually warned us about stampedes of people that were quite common on the beaches which explained all the police. Everyone seemed to enjoy the beach and I liked how friendly everyone was until they started asking us for money in hopes that we would be the average drunk tourists on New Year’s Eve.

At 10:30 we headed up to the resort for dancing and further celebration. Lizzy and I started by watching the ocean together on the terrace and soon joined the rest of our group on the dance floor where were met by an army of drunk sweaty Indian men. The presence of children on the dance floor also alarmed me but the familiar techno songs and Union-like atmosphere made me feel more comfortable and Lizzy seemed to not mind my “dance moves”. Because neither of us have any rhythm we both attempted to salsa and did an alright job, seeing as no one else knew how we weren’t judged at all! In fact, we impressed several of the couples there.

At midnight there were fireworks, screams, shouts and that New Year’s Day public kiss that Lizzy had been so keen on getting. Despite the looks we got, it was worth it and I wouldn’t have done my New Year’s any other way. I’m really happy to have her on this trip and don’t know how I would manage without her.

Only 15 minutes after officially ringing in the New Year we were all packed up on the bus and off to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

This was by far the most exciting and unique New Year’s Eve experience I have ever had and am very thankful that I got to spend it in India with Lizzy.