Kochi

Kochi has a colonial flair. Vasco de Gama made it here a few years after Columbus reached "India". The Portugese did thier raping and pilliging for a couple hundred years. And then the Dutch came. Followed by the Brittish. And now here we are here- the western tourists in independent India.

There are basilicas here. Kochi has a major Christian influence. Our guesthouse manager Jerry pointed out the Basilica de Santa Cruz to us as we walked to his place and said we could visit it if we were Christians. I thought Jesus loved everyone- I responed to Jerry. He smiled awkwardly. 

The Christians here in Kochi seem to be a colonial remnant (Catholic) opposed to the Christians represented by our friend Johnson who is of Syrian Orthodox roots. It can be complicated at first and easy to group them all together. The Syrian Orthodox Indian church denounces the Catholics and like wise. Kind of like Catholics and Lutherans back home. Ahh, love can be very complicated in the hands of men.

Standing over the tomb of Vasco de Gama (which is now empty as his remains were shipped back to Lisbon 14 years after his initial burrial) my overwhelming  sense is that the world would be very different if it wasn't for this man. Not in a good or bad way, just different. He was a major player in the history scene. What ever happened to Portugal? I'm just guessing, but I think it was eaten up by the Habpsburgs? Spanish-Dutch?

100 gsti points for a brief explanation for Portugal's demise in world domination.