A Skeleton on Fire - Normal Here?

Well hey, it's Quinn and Hunter. Sorry for the delay, but we're finally going to fill you in on the first day of December. We woke up to the sounds of yoga, and began our early morning exercise. We cleared our bodies of stress and gasses, and headed down to breakfast. We had ada, which is a rice flower crape; in the center is coconut, sugar, cardamon. All of these ingredients are grown locally. It is absolutely outstanding, as one might imagine.

We then hopped on our fancy legs, and walked to the nearby, St. Peter's School. We were involved in an assembly, along with the presentation of World AIDS Awareness Day. The presentation was a bit... unorthodox. After a few words by the principal, Mr. Palma and Shannon, we were sitting at the front, when suddenly, India techno began to blare out of the speakers. The students began to to cheer; we were a little confused. Then, a gangly Indian man, in a skeleton costume, burst forth and began to dance in front of the cheering crowd. A lit torch was passed to him, and he continued his dance moves with fire. He even made Mr. Palma grab onto the torch, rather exhilarating. He disappeared as suddenly as he had come. After the performance, Mr. Palma was given the opportunity to play his saxophone for the school. With about 700 cheering students, he loved every second. After his jeering performance, the skeleton man returned, this time dressed as an old alcoholic. The same techno still blared in the background. We later learned that man was an actor in a roaming awareness troop. The first act was to show the emotions of someone with AIDS, the second was about the problem of alcoholism in Kerala.

After the assembly, we were taken to a Q&A session with the students. It was very interesting, and we were able to break the stereotypes, on both sides, about our cultures.

Then we went home, to have a siesta, as people were exhausted and needed a nice rested. The days at school are very tiring.

In the late afternoon, we boarded the bus to visit a town with an ancient Hindu temple for their yearly celebration. We saw very beautiful elephants being dressed in gold plated trunk covers and bells. Yet, we were not able to view the procession as an awesome downpour and lightning began. The undercover areas flooded with people and water. The bus finally rescued us after about an hour and a half of watching the storm lash around us. We drove off to dinner, lightning still crackling in the sky. We ate at a resort by the river, and partook in a meal consisting of fish, curry, nan, some pastry-stuff, and ice cream. The fish was actually a type of piranha and had many bones, so getting any meat out of it was a chore.

We all returned home, for a much needed rest.