cochin.

okay so cochin is beautiful. as far as scenery goes, it's easily my favorite place we've been so far. everything is so lush and green here! it's incredible! it's only about 10 degrees north of the equator, so it's pretty tropical. also, it's monsoon season, which means it rains at least once a day--definitely thankful for the cooler weather. another random thing you should know about cochin--it's one of the most christian places in all of india. it's about 1/3 hindu, 1/3 muslim, and 1/3 christian. that's HUGE. i kind of love that they all know how to live with each other peacefully...maybe another thing we could learn from them...

the place where we're staying is literally across the street from the arabian sea....no big deal. we watched the sunset last night on the beach--maybe one of my favorite moments of the entire trip.

this morning we went to st. francis church. it's somewhat like india's version of westminster abbey. vasco de gama died here in cochin and was buried at st. francis for fourteen years until his body was moved back to portugal. pretty cool to see his tomb i guess.

spent some time at a fishing market. fishing is HUGE here. we even got to help bring in the nets! the fishermen LOVED us.

there's a part of cochin known as "jew town." unfortunately, all the jews that used to live here have moved back to israel, but it's still a cool part of town. the oldest synagogue in the entire british commonwealth is there--pretty neat.

tonight we went to a kathakali show. basically it's a play/dance with no speaking but lots of music and crazy make-up and costumes. it was definitely a cultural experience....i mean, way bizarre, but definitely fun.

bright and early tomorrow morning we leave for jaipur. it'll be quite a transition from the tropics to the desert, but i'm excited to see the city and be hosted by some of dr. stroope's friends. thanks for your prayers. can't wait to update again soon.