Here are some scenes from the small back streets around Home of Hope, including the always busy arrival of students at Auxilium school each morning. 
In general, though, the shots paint a quieter--and less-common, I think--picture of Indian life compared to Sarah's following of-the-moment impressions:
"India is full of fantastic sights and experiences, if you don't mind dirty and chaotic. Kerala is very rural, different from the more Westernized big Indian cities I am sure. It is so much more foreign than any other place I have ever visited. In a lot of places we were the only white people.
In the countryside, people generally speak no more than a smattering of English at most. Even people that speak "well" usually speak pidgin English. People are very laid back, generous, polite, peaceable and easygoing. Though the place is very chaotic and dirty, and it takes a lot of effort to get things done due to the crowds, traffic, chaos and heat, it's a situation that people just deal with, with aplomb. It is so different from the West - very spiritual, life revolves around religion and ritual. Where we were about half the population are Christian, the rest mostly Hindu with some Muslim. We went to a big festival at a 1500 year old Catholic church. We saw men in dhotis and body paint sitting in a dank overgrown temple shredding flowers into colorful piles for worship. We were there during Ramadan, and each morning and evening could hear the call to prayer from the mosque, a very haunting sound. Of course the down side to a non materialistic focus for life is the fact that lots of things don't get done properly or at all. But it makes for a great view into a totally different kind of life.
What I have been thinking about is that the places we stayed in India all have solar hot water heaters, but they don't have them here. It's a waste not to. While we were there the convent installed a solar water purifier too. We even saw a dairy in India where the kitchen stove was powered with methane from the cow dung. Yes, it is possible! Also, the convent neighborhood in India banned thin plastic bags (like grocery bags) so everything was wrapped in bags made out of newspaper and glue. The bags had been clogging all the drains and streets.
Most streets are as wide as a NYC sidewalk and there are no traffic guides or lights in most places. You constantly have to duck aside but make sure you don't fall into the open sewer. Most shops are shacks. There is no garbage pickup, no maps or addresses of things, no phones in most shops, etc.
The people in this neighborhood are so nice. They are not used to tourists so they don't beg from you. We did encounter that at the last place we stayed. But most places people are entirely friendly and dignified and generous and interested though most people speak Malayalam and only a few speak English - also, most who do have a very heavy accent and a pidgin way of expressing themselves that is hard to understand. People here don't even speak Hindi. The nuns and some others we have met speak very good, heavily accented English but it is surprisingly hard to find people that do.
The markets are filled with piles of nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, vanilla and all the spices are grown here. The men all wear pieces of fabric, wrapped towel style around the waist and when working, pulled up between the legs. It is considered more dignified to wear no shirt or shoes! Even the king (we went to an incredible palace and museum yesterday) is pictured with no shirt or shoes. But men wear shirts and only seem to take them off only at home, in a Hindu temple or when working.
There are Muslims, Hindu and Christian here. They have different ways of dressing but the Sari is the most common for women, then Churidar which is the long dress like top with short sleeves and slits up the sides over long baggy pants. Many Christian women here wear a long dress that looks exactly like a Lanz of Salzburg night gown.
I really enjoy wearing the Churidar. It is from N. India but has spread throughout as a more modern dress for women (vs sari) because it is pretty, good in the heat and very practical for doing things, covers you up well. I bought a blue-gray and pumpkin colored one for about $7 and you can get them for cheaper. I wish we could wear them in the US. Life would be so much prettier. The colors and fabrics are amazing. The saris and churidars are breathtakingly beautiful, deep pink, turquoise, black, gold, green. It is so squalid and poor and yet the women all look so beautiful."
Most streets are as wide as a NYC sidewalk and there are no traffic guides or lights in most places. You constantly have to duck aside but make sure you don't fall into the open sewer. Most shops are shacks. There is no garbage pickup, no maps or addresses of things, no phones in most shops, etc.
The people in this neighborhood are so nice. They are not used to tourists so they don't beg from you. We did encounter that at the last place we stayed. But most places people are entirely friendly and dignified and generous and interested though most people speak Malayalam and only a few speak English - also, most who do have a very heavy accent and a pidgin way of expressing themselves that is hard to understand. People here don't even speak Hindi. The nuns and some others we have met speak very good, heavily accented English but it is surprisingly hard to find people that do.
The markets are filled with piles of nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, vanilla and all the spices are grown here. The men all wear pieces of fabric, wrapped towel style around the waist and when working, pulled up between the legs. It is considered more dignified to wear no shirt or shoes! Even the king (we went to an incredible palace and museum yesterday) is pictured with no shirt or shoes. But men wear shirts and only seem to take them off only at home, in a Hindu temple or when working.
There are Muslims, Hindu and Christian here. They have different ways of dressing but the Sari is the most common for women, then Churidar which is the long dress like top with short sleeves and slits up the sides over long baggy pants. Many Christian women here wear a long dress that looks exactly like a Lanz of Salzburg night gown.
I really enjoy wearing the Churidar. It is from N. India but has spread throughout as a more modern dress for women (vs sari) because it is pretty, good in the heat and very practical for doing things, covers you up well. I bought a blue-gray and pumpkin colored one for about $7 and you can get them for cheaper. I wish we could wear them in the US. Life would be so much prettier. The colors and fabrics are amazing. The saris and churidars are breathtakingly beautiful, deep pink, turquoise, black, gold, green. It is so squalid and poor and yet the women all look so beautiful."
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