WE'RE NOT IN OREGON ANYMORE

We’re not in Oregon anymore ...
Yes, a little bit of India goes a long way. A sensory overload of color, sounds and smells awaits around nearly every corner. After a trans-Pacific flight that resulted in our small band never experiencing Tuesday, Jan. 23 (forever lost in the air above the International Time Line), we landed bleary-eyed in Cochin, India, late Wednesday night. A priest from the Kerala Diocese, Sam Ochin (“Father Sam”) met us with a driver. Wood fires around the city made the air thick and scratched our throats. The smoke turned a crescent moon on the horizon orange. The long journey from Oregon. There was still the two-hour trip on a narrow rural road to Kottayama. Bishop Itty received a ride in a car sent by Bishop Samuel Thomas. The rest of us -- Bill, Mary, Anne, Heather, Larry and Joe -- loaded our luggage into a waiting Volkwagen van and piled in, still trying to keep our eyes open. After a few minutes as passengers on India’s bumpy, narrow roads, we all became alert. Adrenaline starting pumping through our bodies as we watched our driver zig-zag around trolleys, motorcycles and an assortment of other vehicles, often maneuvering from lane to lane as the headlights of on-coming trucks and buses lit up the interior of our van. About halfway to Kottayama, the traffic thinned but wasn’t any less interesting. Speeding through a village we approached a truck carrying a strange, towering cargo. It was only when we were right behind the truck that we realized that the truck was hauling an elephant through the night. The beast, wagging its tail and shaking its ears, stood on the bed of the truck, anchored by ropes tied around it’s back.
Here’s a video of the encounter. Look closely. It’s dark. You can make out the shape of the elephant when the truck passes lights along the road.