Saturday, December 27, 2025

Week 25: Christmas in Fort Kochi (posted by Megan)

Our time in India wrapped up with Christmas celebrations in Fort Kochi, the historic neighborhood where we were staying in Cochin.  Since the whole region (Kerala) has a significant Christian population, Christmas really was in the air - nearly every house and shop was decked out with lights, lanterns, Santa decorations, Christmas trees, or nativity scenes. There were carolers out in the old town one night, and we also made it to a lessons and carols service at St. Francis Church, the 1500s church established by the Portuguese in the heart of town.













We've eaten so well in India, so it was fitting that we wrapped up our time with a cooking class with a local host in her apartment.  She had her granddaughters visiting at the start of our time with her, and our girls also loved getting a chance to spend time with some other kids their age.





We also managed to squeeze in a Kathakali performance on Christmas Eve - it's the local traditional theater performance, with intricate make-up and costuming, and part of the experience was watching the performers apply their makeup for an hour before the show.



Christmas morning included stockings for the girls, and gifts from each sister for each other.  We also squeezed in a few rounds of cards with the Indian Ocean in the background, and a last walk through the festive old town.


Next stop, Oman!

1 comment:

  1. Thank you all for these fascinating looks at various aspects of the India you got to know. Each of your topics--current problems with education, the history of fashion, and Hindu mythology were all very interesting and were all well organized and clearly explained. So much is so similar, no? The stress of school (although American kids don't really face anything as rough as the Indian testing system, though more and more American kids are relying on school for steady food), the strange and almost unimaginable Hindu mythology (the pictures were very helpful, and, of course, often frightening), and the fact that fashion changes and the changes often come because somebody else has stepped into the culture (andthank you, Annie for all those pictures--it would've been interesting to see you in a sari!)
    Isn't Kerara well known for the quality and breadth of its educational system, Megan? I remember something about highly education citizens but not enough jobs for them or something.
    Anyway, thanks for it all. Keep up the good work.
    And I hope you had a good Christmas!

    ReplyDelete

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