1-23-09

Today we moved from Sonetta Homestay to Walton Homestay. There was a slight inconvenience because we had to check out of Sonetta by a certain time and our rooms at the Walton’s were not yet ready. Mr. Walton kindly let us leave our bags in the reception room and I got left in charge watching the bags while Mom and Dad finished some business at the last hotel. Fortunately there was a book exchange and I spent the next half hour browsing. After much consideration, I got the book ‘Nightrunners of Bengal’ by John Masters. It is about the 1857 Sepoy rebellion, told from the point of view of a British officer who survives, but sees his world falling apart around him. It promises to be both exciting and interesting. After I picked out the book I was going to keep, I settled down to read something else, something that I couldn’t read later – Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders. I didn’t get very far. The beginning is somewhat intriguing, but I don’t think it has much potential. Mr. Walton, seeing my obvious obsession with books from the way I scribbled titles and authors in a notebook, also recommended something: The Rise of Unmeltable Ethics by Michael Novak. It looks quite interesting.
The rooms are quite nice. I especially like the window seat; if I ever build my own house, I will make sure there is a window seat in my room, with some comfy pillows and a blanket and a curtain in front so I can hide away from the world and read.
After we’d settled in, Mom and I took off to tour the city. We visited the Santa Cruz Basilica which was originally built in 1506, making it the second church to be built in India. However, the current building dates to 1902. The statue of Our Lady of Fatima made our visit to this Portuguese, Catholic basilica something of a homecoming for Mom. She said, “This is my Virgin; this is Her.”
On our walk around town, we saw many examples of Jewish architecture. The Jewish people have traded in India since the 587 BC when they were forced to flee Jerusalem. Legend says that the first Jews actually arrived in the eleventh century BC as part of King Solomon’s trading fleet. When the Catholic Portuguese arrived and started persecuting them, the Maharaja of Cochin granted them asylum. Today, Fort Cochin and the surrounding area is one of the few places to see a remnant of the once flourishing Jewish community. There is wonderful architecture in this city: Jewish, Portuguese, and Dutch. It is great fun just to walk around. Mom and I stepped into several old houses-turned-hotel just to see the inside, even though we weren’t considering moving. The employees humored us, but I’m not at all sure they didn’t laugh at those crazy tourists, trying to fit in by wearing saris but still gawking at everything.