I was more than happy to be a guest lecturer at the invitationn of the head of the programme at the Sacred Heart College in Cochin. Meeting the Principal of the College was definitely a fine moment, as the Syrian Catholic Priest personified the sentiments of the age old presence of Syrian Catholics (since AD 49) in Kerala.
The students loved to hear about things that they would normally wouldnt hear, as they dont have opportunity to meet travellers. So I put together the following slide presentation and gave explanations, mostly anthropological, stressing the sustainability of Tourism and our individual responsibility.
I showed them the following pictures and wanted them to guess where they were. at the end of the lecture I showed them again and told them where each one of them were situated and some simple stories about them,
This was the right time to introduce the great chinese navigator Zheng He/Cheng Ho. He brought the chinese fishing nets to Cochin but as can be seen in the above photo, he also brought them to other parts of the world he travelled to, such as the Mekong delta, above
Eventhough Sacred Heart College is a Catholic Institution there are plenty of non Christian students in the College, in fact the young woman who introduced me was dressed in the local costume of a specific Moslem group.
I wanted them to read the papal encyclical about responsibility about our earth, not as a religous edict but a caring persons thoughts about protecting our earth
Then I showed them some pictures of my island, CUBA
Kerala was the first place in the world to elect a communist government by the power of the vote, and thus has a good memory and relationship with Cuba. Most people knew about Fidel and Che.
Above the Hotel Nacional, the hangout of the gangsters before the Cuban Revolution
Below the beautiful village of Baracoa which gave me a Golden period in my life
Entry into the La Habana harbour above and the vintage cars Americans are so thrilled about. For us, they are old taxis that take us from place to place
A dream catcher crafted by Indians along the Amazon River, above
I am seen here with the members of a family of Ticuna Indians from Nazaret , the tribe that banned tourists from their land. Using the lessons from UmonHon, I was able to befriend them and soon be involved in projects relating to their health
When it comes to friendliness you cannot beat CUBA. This is my friend Ochun who works at the Mexican Restaurant along the Rampa opposite Cine Rivera. Say Hello to her if you drop by!
I talked a little bit about my good friends Dr M and G and wanted the Kerala students to know what exactly did we eat in the west? They think we are KFC MCDO Donut eaters as they are not exposed to good western food. I also wanted to show them some recent food pictures from my camera.
A small selection of Lebanese appetizers
Sundanese food of West Java, in Sentul City
Kerala has delicious food and there is one particular dish which is the local fish prepared in banana leaf
They were surprised to see the above picture of fish prepared in banana leaf, but this was at Restaurant Tierra Amazonica in Leticia, Colombia
Northern Mexico
Seafood from Brittany coast in France
I ended up showing them a picture of my UmonHon Indian sister W, as Kerala people have no idea about American Indians.
