Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Remarkable experience of Celebrating the Difference


Welcome to Kerala, God’s own country.

The warm air welcomes you, hits you like a wall, and embraces your body immediately. The crowded little airport where people are waiting to pick up their loved ones, friends, relatives, business partners and so on, is overwhelming. Between the hundreds of self-written names boards, we tried to find our names. Realizing what they consider organized and clear, to us looked like complete chaos. We ask ourselves when we are sitting in the car, how do they do it? People everywhere, cars honking, tuktuks rushing, scooters racing by, different odors coming in and out of your nose, the unfamiliar sounds, the heat that beats against our skin, our bodies trying to fight off the tiredness, and yet again absorbing all the new experiences that we are taking in like a sponge.
“Holy cow, we are in India!!”


After being in this little tornado we step into a tuktuk, of which we thought we would never come out of alive. It brought us safely to our house, which we can call our home for the time that we are here.  
Throughout our preparation for our visit, we had our own thoughts and fantasies about the city (which turned out to be a village), the access to certain things, the expectation of being mobile, internet/mobile phone, the campus, the house we were staying in. It all turned out different then we thought. Without knowing what to expect, we immediately felt we had to readjust our reference. This was our first Remarkable experience. 
We challenge ourselves to celebrate all the beautiful differences,
and to embrace it with open eyes.


With sweaty greetings from Kerala!
Peggy-Jane & Karel

PS from PJ:
My heart got overwhelmed by emotions before I even hit the ground of India. The man next to me in the plane said “Welcome to Kerala. Welcome to God’s own country! Tears welled up in my eyes, and I thanked the man with a smile. I found the perfect place to spread out a part of my mom’s ashes.
Lieve mam, welkom in God’s own country, tot tussen de sterren*

4 comments:

  1. Such a great way to start. And a super video. Forget everything Western and just follow the pace of Gods own Country, without loosing track of why you're there, of course. Regards from a less warm but very sunny Rotterdam. Helen

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  2. He lieve Pexie woman,
    Wat onwijs leuk om jullie site te zien en jullie blog te lezen. Wow wat gaaf dat je daar nu bent. Ben echt super trots op je. Geniet ze daar en vooral ook van het heerlijke eten. You go girl en ik blijf je volgen...Dikke zoen, mariette

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  3. YEAH! You're trip sounds like an amazing adventure already. I hear your foundations and expectations shaking to the very bone all over here in Amsterdam (and it sounds good). It's nice to hear you arrived safely. Good luck and laughs with all the adjusting and I'm looking forward to your next story. Lots of love, Heidy

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  4. Wauw, you go girl. Thank you for sharing and taking us on your trip with you, sounds intens and inspiring. Take care and keep celebrating. Love Chantal

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