November 15, 2004,
Dear Parents & Friends,
A quick disclaimer before I begin my letter, in that this letter chronologically comes the week before Jessica's letter but I'm still sending it anyway, though the beginning may be a little repetitive. So without further ado (and remembering this refers to the week of October 23-30)...
I am writing this letter at 6:30 in the morning as my train whizzes by the beautiful South Indian countryside on my way to Kerala or "God's Own Country" with 4 other Globalites who are sleeping soundly on the train bunks. This is the start to our extended break here in India and the group has split off to do many different things. While the five of us are preparing to enjoy time in Kerala, others are taking an overnight safari, some are going on a fishing adventure, and still more are going on a one day safari and spending time around Bangalore with the St. Olaf Bio in South India group who came to visit yesterday. All in all it looks to be a very relaxing break.
This last week has been festival and site-seeing filled. On Saturday a local religious festival was happening in Whitefield, so many of us went to explore. In Whitefield we found that there was a parade filled with colorful trucks, 15 foot tall marching paper mache gods, and more drums, cymbals and synthesizer music than you ever could have imagined. Before we knew it the ever-friendly Indians had drawn us into the parade, and so we were marching and dancing along with everybody. Not only were we
smiling, but you could tell that the Indians were excited that we were joining in. Thomas and Cheridyn were even interviewed for, and featured on the front page of the local paper! Sunday was a free day for us, and after church, the girls spent the day roaming Bangalore looking for the best deals on saree or salwar material while the guys shopped for pants and shirt fabrics. Tailors can be found in abundance throughout both the Bangalore and Whitefield area, and everyone has been happy with the results.
Monday and Tuesday saw lectures on Indian Christianity (which according to tradition dates back all the way to St. Thomas in the 1st century) and Parsee, the Indian Zoroastrian community. Our visit to the Parsee "Tower of Silence" where the deceased body of a community member is placed to be eaten by vultures and crows, had a slightly spooky feel to it. Between lectures, we spend our time playing badminton or perfecting our cricket bowl with the ECC staff, taking walks or bike rides, or just enjoying the peace of the surrounding area to take a nap.
The end of the week was spent on our only overnight field trip away from the ECC. We went to Mysore, which at one point was it's own separate kingdom, ruled by the Maharaja. His palace is a huge, beautiful construction, nearly 100 years old that mixes both Muslim and Hindu archtitectural styles. Other highlights of our two and a half days in the area were a hilltop Jain temple dating back to the late 900s AD that takes 600 steps to climb and is crowned by a 17 meter tall monolithic statue of an early Jain munk. This is the tallest monolithic statue in the world. We enjoyed seeing many different animals at the Mysore Zoo, where signs cautioned you not to enter the animals enclosures, and that
"survivors" would be prosecuted. A bird sanctuary also offered us a chance to see, many crocodiles gliding menacingly through the water, fruit bats hanging from the trees, and the beautiful blue backed red breasted kingfishers skimming the surface of the water. Our final stop before returning to Whitefield was at a large banyan tree, aptly known as "The Big Banyan" which spans over 3 acres and is over 3,000 years old. The tree was also teaming with wild monkeys which one very tall bearded member of our group enjoyed teasing.
Just as the week began with a party and a festival, so it also ended. We have made friends with the youth group from the local church in Whitefield, who invited us to participate in their youth service. On Saturday night we were all invited over to one of their houses to celebrate the 22nd birthday of one of the local girls. The hospitality and graciousness of the entire church community, the youth, their parents, and the congregation as a whole, has been appreciated more than I think we could ever express to them.
This week marked our two month anniversary for the trip, as well as our 1/2 way point in India. It is hard to believe that we have been gone for so long already, for it feels like only yesterday that we were congregating in Geneva for the first of our UN lectures. So many memories; so many unforgettable experiences later all I can do is stare out the train window, watching the rolling green rice paddies, and whitetipped sugarcane fields whip by with the hazy mountains in the
background, and daydream about the so many more unforgettable things that have yet to happen.
Global Love to all back home,
Jacob "Hollywood" Sperati
PS~ The entire group would like to send a special Global THANK YOU to Mrs. Hannawalt for the delicious birthday cookies she sent Dave and shared with the group, and also Andrea Miller, who's 28 separate letters to the ENTIRE group provided a good laugh and a touch of home into our lives. Don't forget that mail is always eagerly welcomed!
