Calling all Butter Balls!

I want to finish up the stories about my family coming to visit...I hope that it hasn't been so long that I forget the details! It's been a busy month! We left our Jungle retreat and came down some beautiful switchbacks in order to make it to Calicut. We didn't plan to spend too much time in my city, particularly because there's not that much to see or do and we expected it to be very rainy. But I did however, want them all to meet my friends, see my apt and get a taste of what my daily life is like. We checked in to the guesthouse, where I stayed for my first month in India and had a nice late lunch with my sweet Indian friends that run it. We then decided that we needed a little pampering and since it was rainy this plan worked out well. We decided to visit a salon that my friends and I like here called Waves. I had told my cousin about this glorious treatment they offered called a "hair spa" and my aunt bravely decided she wanted to get her hair colored. I could write a whole other blog story just on that haha!! Let's just say it was amusing for the rest of us and there were a few communication breakdowns! My friend decided she just wanted to get her hair cut. So we all went off in different directions and I felt amazing after my head massage and deep conditioning treatment. Despite the communication barriers, my aunt's hair turned out pretty good (once they decided not to make her a blond!) and my friend's haircut looked amazing with a blown out style that I knew would disintegrate within 30 seconds of going outside in the rain and humidity. My cousin still wanted a manicure so we left her and my aunt to finish up and Urissa and I headed to a local fabric shop where we made the fastest clothing decisions on record, took them to the next little shop down the road to have measurements taken and were back to pick up my family all within an hour before they closed the salon! Whew! The tailoring shop promised to have all four shirts done by the next day at 7pm and although it was more like 10pm, we got them before she had to board her flight. And they turned out super cute! So happy smiles all the way around. You came through India! 

After our pampering, we met some of my friends from the UK and had dinner as a large group with a group of Canadian students that were on their way back after a month in India. It was great food as usual since my friend is an excellent cook and there was great conversation around the table. I was happy that my visitors got to experience the guesthouse and they will definitely say that it was the best food we had the whole trip! We played a few cards games and all went to bed. The next day, we met my boss at a coffee shop and chatted for awhile with him, then I took everyone to see where I worked and meet a few of the staff that were around. Unfortunately my students were all on a break so they were not able to help me with any classes like we had originally planned. It was a hot day and we wanted to go somewhere nice for lunch. However, the place I wanted to take them was not open yet for food, so we basically begged them to let us eat some cake and then we used that lunch time to do some last minute shopping. I took them to one of my favorite stores in the city and we all did some damage to our wallets and then my friend picked us up for our ayurvedic massages (which was another cultural experience included in our tour). I had heard some interesting rumors about the massages and was anxious to experience it myself to see what it was all about. It's a traditional form of medicine done here in Kerala and many people do treatments for up to a month where they daily have these massages done. Well, it was unlike anything I've ever done before LOL! Here's the breakdown of what happened. 

First of all, each of us had to meet with a homeopathic doctor first for a consult where he proceeded to take our pulse and then insult us about our health. His number one message for all of us was eat more vegetables and stop taking meds! Then they ushered my friend and I upstairs to go first. We were brought into separate rooms and as I walked in, there was a bathroom to one side and then a standing wooden curtain separate-r thing that was between the door and this long giant wooden slab. A bit like the stone tablet if you're familiar with the Chronicles of Narnia! They took me into the bathroom and said to change clothes. Now I was not sure what level of undress what appropriate so I did what I was used to back home for massages and that seemed to be the right call. Stripped except for my undies. Well, walking from the bathroom to the table was a bit vulnerable since there was nothing to cover me, the room was bright, with windows wide open, and there were two old Indian ladies watching me approach. Unlike U.S massages, there was no blanket to cover me and they asked me to start face up. Oh dear, here we go I thought. Now I am not one to really get embarrassed over a lack of clothing having experienced public baths and such in other Asian cultures. But when these two women each grabbed an arm and started rubbing me down starting with the tips of my fingers, going up the shoulders and then down my entire chest to my stomach, I had a moment. I could not stop laughing! Never had I been touched in such a way by complete strangers lol. I very maturely continued to have fits of giggles continually through the experience as they eventually flipped me on my back and by this point, I was so covered in oil, that I basically gripped the top edge of the table and hung on for dear life as I slid precariously close to the edge. It cannot have been a flattering sight to jiggle back and forth naked as though I was on some sort of weird slip and slide! There was not much point to wearing the underwear as they hiked it up giving us all the biggest wedgies possible and then pulled it down as they massaged our ass! Not sure this clinic has ever seen such white rear ends in all their lives and I hope they recover! Although there were a few parts, especially the legs, that were quite relaxing, overall I think this is an experience I don't soon wish to repeat. When the madness was finally finished, they carefully assisted me to the bathroom and showed me the buckets and soap to clean off. I spent a good chunk of time trying to get all that oil off and when I finally emerged and saw Urissa in the waiting room, I said, "How'd it go?" and we both started laughing uncontrollably. 

The four of us traded stories about our experience and were pretty much dying laughing the rest of the day. It was a cultural experience none of us will soon forget! After making a quick run to the guesthouse to get some things, we went to my apartment next and I re-packed my stuff while some took showers and my cousin opened up a bottle of wine. Minor problem with the wine since we couldn't track down a bottle opener and pushing the cork through ended up with an explosion but one more thing to add to the adventure right? After we finally got all that cleaned up and I was done packing, I came out of my room and saw that my table had been transformed into a birthday celebration. I was stunned as Urissa explained that she had brought me cards from friends all over the globe to have for my birthday. She wanted me to be able to open one a day until my birthday in July and not only did that happen, but I received such a bounty of letters that I basically had two a day and about 10 to read on my actual birthday. Wow, was I shocked and totally overwhelmed at the outpouring of love! So after a couple tears, toasts and photos, we headed off to meet a friend for dinner and had a great night telling stories about all our escapades around India. I did not want it to come to an end but sadly I had to say goodbye to my amazing friend and we stayed up practically all night talking and fell asleep for like an hour and went to the airport around 4 am. My aunt and cousin stayed for another week and I'll share more on our trip to N. India in the next installment :)