“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher Hershey

In my last two weeks in Coimbatore, I have visited a Jain temple, a Sikhism Gurdwara, and finished all of my classes and course work. I am now in the process of packing for my travels through the northern part of the country. I will be leaving in a few days for two weeks of extensive train travel. Coimbatore and the southern portion of the subcontinent have been wonderful, but I am excited to explore more of this incredibly diverse country.

 The Gorgeous Night Sky

 A Street-side Vendor

 Over 90% of India's population is employed in the "informal sector" which means they are like this woman, selling goods whenever and wherever she can. They have no meaningful job security in any meaningful sense, and the number of these workers is swelling with India's exponentially increasing population

A market for flowers and produce

 A Fabric STand

 A window of my apartment building

 Just a glorious scene I came across

The wall around my apartment complex

“Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you traveled.” – Mohammed

I spent almost all of last week in Kerala, India, which is the westernmost state in the southern part of the country. Kerala is developmentally unique in India, with the highest literacy rates, lowest infant mortality rates, and more gender equality and equal aptly named. I took classes in the morning and traveled in the afternoons. The book “1000 Things To Do In The World Before You Die" includes sailing on the canals of Kerala, India. So, my friends and I "checked" that off our Bucket List. The canals of Kerala are referred to as the “Venice of the East.” My group sat on top of our boat, dangling out legs over the dazzling water, frantically snapping as many pictures as we could of the setting sun. When we finally lost our light, we all laid down, lulled into a profound state of relaxation by the water below us as the stars above.

 Sunset over the Arabian Sea

 Shore of the Arabian Sea

 The Backwaters of Kerala

 The jungle of Southern India

 The radiant back waters of Kerala again

 The sunset of the back waters of Kerala

 Another sunset shot over the back waters of Kerala

The sunset's reflection on the water