Kochi Sketching

So since I am technically here to draw and paint, everyday I try to do some sketching. It's currently monsoon season in Kerala, which means it can start raining and any time and there are multiple-day periods of overcast and dreary weather, which can make it difficult to do any drawing outside. However, there are breaks in these rainy periods. I think I've figured out a pattern: if it rains during the day it will be pretty clear at night and vice versa. Usually it comes in 3-4 day periods, so it will be rainy for a few days and then clear for a few days. Anyways, the point is that I have to take advantage of the sunny days to sketch outside. Since kochi is on the coast and is renowned for its huge old school Chinese fishing nets, I go sit on one of the benches that overlooks the water/nets to draw. There is a little pathway that runs along the coast with a bunch of benches on it. This is a favorite spot for locals to come sit or walk. At first I found it dfficult to do any artwork here and limited myself to very quick watercolors because people would come and stand next to me and sort of bother me (and as a result my first few watercolors are pretty poor). Now I've sort of gotten used to the passersby, and I've come into a rhythm where if I am focusing intently enough on my drawing or painting, people still come and stand very close next to me to watch me draw but they typically don't bother me. Instead they chat amongst themselves and look at/gesture towards whatever I'm drawing. It's a very strange experience, mostly because there is a lot of pressure on me to be doing a good drawing! But I'm hoping that what I'm really doing is causing people to take a look at something that would otherwise have gone unnoticed (like a tree) and contemplate its beauty.

Kochi

Okay so I am writing this from my phone so I don't think I will make it very long, but just wanted to give a few updates :). So I was having major stomach problems (typical) and was taking cipro but it was doing like absolutely nothing so on literally my first full day in Kochi I decided to go to a doctor. I'm staying in sort of a homestay situation (i.e. a family rents out rooms to people) so they were very sweet and drove me to a doctor. Unfortunately the doctor was away for the week, so then we went to a different one which was across the street. This was just a woman sitting in a rundown building. She talked to me for about two minutes and then wrote a prescription for something I had never heard of. I tried to get her to tell me what exactly it was and gathered it was some sort of all-purpose fever reducer/painkiller/probiotic/antibiotic that would solve all my problems NOT. So I didn't get that filled and instead my host dad drove me to a hospital that was close by. This was a truly Indian hospital, like no foreigners at all and I don't really think they knew what to do with me. Anyways finally they got a doctor who spoke some English and he just basically had a meeting with me (didn't examine me or anything) and then prescribed a whole bunch of things, none of which was an antibiotic or anti-parasite (he actually got annoyed when I asked him to explain what the drugs were supposed to do). Finally after I reiterated that this had been going on for a week he prescribed an anti-parasite, and since then I've been feeling better each day. So that was longer than anticipated and all about health problems haha sorryyyy. Anyways Kochi is absolutely beautiful, full of green coconut palms and brightly-colored tropical flowers. It is right on the coast, and though the ocean itself is not so nice to look at, it really feels like a cute little beach down (in India though of course). It is monsoon season right now, so the first few days here were pretty downcast and rainy, but the past two days have actually been quite sunny! My host family is so sweet and feeds me so much breakfast. My favorite thing that they've made was this warm, doughy coconut flour pancake-ish thing dipped in fresh coconut milk. SO delicious, and easy on the tummy! There is more to say but my thumbs hurt so I'm gonna go, but lots of love to everyone!