Day 3

I will start with the free flow observation as in the previous note. There is a lot of public displays of affection (actually, whole thing is such a big topic here that they have short for it: PDA). Just it is directed mostly at the people of the same gender. Boys often hold each other hands, they lean into each other, they caress other boys backs. Same thing with girls - they also often hold hands. I actually think that boys are even more affectionate to each other than girls are. But it's possible that I just notice guys doing that more often, because it's more striking for me. It's not limited to young people though, adults or even elderly do that. Seeing someone holding hands with his grandpa wasn't weird at all. And knowing Indians I wouldn't take a guess that it was actually his grandpa - it could be elderly neighbor.

I was a little bit mistaken and little tour with guide will be there for me tomorrow morning, but either way I went to explore on my own. I reached places where I was day before, but was closed then - today I was there at its lively moment. Bazaar Route and Mattanchery. I also managed to reach Jew Town and it was amazing to see place which I read whole book about. Speaking about books, I saw two bookstores finally and there were so many books from my to-read list. But I restrained myself with heavy heart, because I would need to carry these books with me for whole month.

Christmas is celebrated here with full swing as joyful public holiday. And not public as our public commercialization and shopping. I randomly stumbled into crowd of Santas and they were just starting their procession with the main Santa put on the sleigh with reindeers on a moving platform. On another occasion I saw Three Kings from biblical story, I assume, riding also on a platform. Moment later whole group were singing Christmas carols on the street while motorbikes and cars were passing them by. At evenings there are visible many color light decorations. People put a lot of effort, but also joy into celebrating their holidays. Christians are leading a way here with Christmas, but I know that people of all religion celebrate it in some ways.

I went for whole theatre show that covered kathakali, kalari and theyyam. I came earlier to see how they put out makeup. Kathakali was funny, dramatic, but also simply quite weird, even though I had some familiarity with it already. It was very good that they started with explanation, because this artform relays on many conventions and otherwise it's hard to understand without context. It's shortened version, because kathakali show can last for whole night, but it is what it is. Kalari was damn cool. I saw some shots of that martial art, I watched Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha, but I never dwelled into it so what I saw on the show was big positive surprise. Theyyam was quite wild and I can see why some people consider it scary. I wanted to see it and I'm happy that I did, even though it's more like theatrical version, but proper theyyam is ritualistic and religious and is performed in certain contexts only.

I bought sandals finally, but because I actually never wear sandals in my life, it feels weird and I'm not sure if I'm comfortable. I'm not sure how to regulate them maybe. Sometimes I feel they are put tight, other that it's too loose. But I already have some bumps on feet, my feet are bitten by mosquitoes and I really not sure what is the problem. Are shoes actually okay if I exclude the other problems that trouble my feet or not? And I need to find something for mosquitoes.

I hear that homestay's family is watching some dramatic movie with Mammootty and I would love to listen, but I need to wake up early and it's already late.

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