the park

One of the reasons we chose to come to Kochi was the parks. Our initial match was with Chennai, a huge city with not much green space. We talked with a couple who had just returned from a Fulbright there, and they told us that they walked on the roof of their building in the evenings to get exercise. Jeez; with active children and a runner for a husband, I was worried about that. But just looking at the map of Kochi, you can see that not only is the city right on the water, but also there are several large parks. As it turned out, we hit the jackpot with our housing, which is not only very near the largest park, but also faces on the "marg," a pedestrian walkway along the waterfront. 

There's even a little park directly across the street from us, on the triangle of land that separates our building from the college. But not everything is what it seems. It is a "Traffic Park," sponsored by the national petroleum company. It's almost always locked, although it is meticulously swept and cared for. It seems to have tiny roads through it-- is it intended to be a little driving course for pint-sized humans and vehicles, like the one at Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster? But no one is ever in it, there are no tiny cars, no children to drive them, and when the gates are open, the pathways are blocked with potted plants so you can't even walk in. Maybe it is a tax write-off for the company, a park in name only? Maybe all of a sudden one day its true purpose will be revealed. If I solve the mystery, I'll let you know.

The next green space just to the south of us is a children's park. But that is a total wreck, locked and under construction, with piles of dirt and rubble and uprooted brush everywhere. Okay, that one didn't work out either. But keep walking south; first you pass the ferry terminal, which will take you across to Fort Kochi, and then just south of that is Subhash Bose Park, and it is a wonder.

It's beautiful, clean, and large. Michael and I run there in the morning (well, I do more walking than running), and to make his route longer Michael then runs up the marg as well. In the early mornings the park is quiet but busy with people walking briskly, maybe jogging slowly, and often doing stretches or other gentle exercises. Indian people seem to favor gentle exercise in general. There's one old guy who claps rhythmically and wishes everyone good morning. It's very friendly. In the late afternoons and evenings, it is full of people strolling and lots of kids playing. We take Agatha there to play almost every day, because she's antsy after sitting still all day at school.

Often there are large groups of schoolchildren there on class "excursions." Excursions seem to be a common feature of education here. We run into groups from Trivandrum or Kollam or Thrissur who are here for long day's outing that might include a trip to a museum and chicken biriyani for lunch. The children are always in matching uniforms. Agatha herself went on an excursion last week with her class; they drove to a natural area in the hills, went to a museum, stayed overnight in a hotel, and went to a water park. Her teacher WhatsApp'ed us photos along the way:

They left school at 6 am to get a move on-- that's common practice here. We were so proud of her adventurousness, and she had a good time. Here's the entire 5th grade (those who opted to come) on the excursion:

The funny thing about this photo is, our neighbor in the building saw it and recognized Agatha in it, and came down to our apartment to offer us a ride to pick the kids up when they returned. (We hadn't realized our kids were in the same grade, although we see each other at the bus stop.) Let's just say it is easy to pick her out of a large crowd!

In fact, we stand out quite a bit, because there are very few white people here in Ernakulam (the downtown business/government/education district where we live), and certainly none who are not obvious tourists. Many days we don't see any. When we do, they are usually older couples or young backpackers, and usually Europeans-- almost never families, and rarely Americans. We're just not in a touristy area (unlike Fort Cochin, which is packed with foreign tourists). But anyway, back to the park: we draw a lot of attention in the park. I guess we do everywhere, but the park is a place where people can approach us. They want to know where we're from and what our names are, and they want to practice their English, but mainly they just want to take selfies with us. I always agree, but it really makes me curious. I wish I could ask them why they want the photo, and what they do with it. What does that photo mean to them? Do they post it on social media? What do I/we represent to them? I like to think that it is mostly about human connection: like, "wow, here's this person from the other side of the world, and in this moment we are together. That's cool." I think that might be what it is, because there's also a habit here of people holding your hands gently when you are having a conversation-- it's very intimate and loving, like "we're here together now." But I don't really know.

But nobody draws attention like Agatha. Wow, people are fascinated by her. While she plays, they come up to me and ask questions about her. I think it's a combination of things-- she's a very rarely spotted white kid, she's playing much more physically than most kids (flipping on bars and things), and she's a girl playing physically. And she's beautiful, of course, with long blond hair. I took this photo the other day, because it was just comical-- adults and children gathered around, watching her:

Just openly gawking! She really hated it at first, but now she's pretty used to it.