So this is of a show we went to awhile back. the band is called Zamsanga and they're a French reggae band...really fun. If you want to check it out, here's the link:
http://www.aurovilleradio.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1121
Auroville radio is really cool and you'll be able to get a feel of what's going on here better than what I could tell you with words. So, going off of the first page...the first one listed, "The Kali Festival", we actually went to but had to leave RIGHT before it got crazy...chicken sacrifices and all. Also, "Drip Drip Dry" with Tlaloc is really good. I wish you all could meet Tlaloc. He's hilarious and just an all around awesome dude. Originally from Hawaii. "Raw and Honest" is good too...Anandi is the sweetest woman ever who has such a wonderful laugh. She makes food for us on Thursdays...yum yum.
aaand, we went to see Emergence last night at Bharat Nivas (the Indian Pavilion). Krishna is the guy who started Solitude Farm (the farm I was working on for a month)...here's their myspace link:http://www.myspace.com/emergencemusic
enjoy!
oh, i was supposed to see South Indian classical music tonight but my taxi never came. doh.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Thiru Travelin'
Although I know I'm incredibly, incrediblylucky to be here...in India...in Tamil Nadu...in Auroville...in the present moment...I feel particularly blessed to have visited the ineffable city of Thiruvannamalai (pronounced Tiru-vana-malai). "Annamalai" means an inaccessible mountain (I guess because of it's ineffableness...it's intensely divine energy that emanates from its presence) and "Thiru" is a prefix to signify its greatness. The name of the city is named so due to the great mountain that dominates the horizon and which seems to tower over the great temples erected here in worship of Shiva (the mountain is an embodiment of Shiva in the fire element...). The mountain's name is known as Malai Marunthu (medicine mountain) as the mountain itself is like a medicine cure. It's also known as Arunachalam (anchala means red), which is the far more common term. Now, the question as to why this mountain is so significant for Tamil Nadu and India must first start with a general summary of the Great Triad of Hindu deities (for those who aren't particularly versed in Hindu mythology. The Great Triad is also known as Trimurti in which the eternal "cosmic functions" of life (as well as the universe) are personified by the great gods: Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer and transformer. Now, one day (if you can call the cosmic, eternal wanderings of the gods days) Brahma and Vishnu were quarreling as to who should respect the other. Brahma argued that if he wasn't there to create the universe, Vishnu couldn't maintain and preserve it. Vishnu countered, "Well, if I wasn't there to maintain it, anything you created would surely die off." And so they argued and argued until Shiva intervened and posed a solution to their problem (Shiva was undeniably the most respected god--his followers argue--as he contains all aspects of the Triad inherent in his destructive force-you can't have creation without destruction/transformation and you cannot maintain without creation). Anyway, so Shiva transformed into a column of fire and said that whoever found the beginning or end of Shiva, they would be the one to shower respect upon.
With arrogance and pride, both gods took up the task. Vishnu took the form of a boar and dug, dug, dug deeper and deeper into the ground to try to find the bottom of this luminous massive seemingly endless column of fire. Try as he might, he couldn't find it and so came up to admit his defeat and the overwhelming power of Shiva. Brahma, on the other hand, took the form of a swan and flew flew flew higher and higher into the sky to find the top of the fiery column. And just like Vishnu, he couldn't find it. But instead of admitting defeat, he came across a lotus flower on his way and so, lotus in hand, flew back down and proclaimed, "I have found the top", thereby giving Shiva the lotus. Shiva knew that Brahma was lying and so chastised him, announcing that Brahma would no longer be worshipped. Thus, there are no temples devoted to Brahma in India.
To make a long story seem pertinent, the light form that Shiva took became the mountain of Thiru. Thus, that is why it's very name means "inaccesible" for Lord Shiva was out of reach for both Brahma and Vishnu. We can also see why it's also named Arunachala (red for fire).
The actual town probably dates to the early Chola period (AD 871-975). It is definitively a pilgrimage site and is associated with many sadhus and yogis. This town is considered one of the panchabhootasthalas, which are five sacred towns in Tamil Nadu (the province of India I'm in), each one corresponding to a different element. Obviously Thiru represents fire. The most particularly interesting aspect of this town is on the evening of Karthigai Deepam (a festival of lights celebrated by Tamil Hindus on the full moon of Karthikai month (Nov/Dec). This specific day is also interesting since it occurs on the day when the moon is in conjunction with the Pleiades constellation and purnima. ANYWAYS, so on Karthigai Deepam, they light the entire top of the mountain on fire! This specific rite has been going on for 3,000 years since it was mentioned in the oldest text of Tamil Nadu (written in Tamil). On the specific day, they take this huge cauldron up the mountain to the top and fill it with ghee (type of clarified butter). Almost a thousand kg of ghee are used and the flame is up to seven feet and can be seem from up to 35 km away.
There is another ancient rite to this town which is circumambulating the mountain (Arunachala Purana). This is usually done after bathing, smearing the sacred ash (puja), with feet bare, and with lips muttering the sacred mantra. The road around is 8 1/4 miles long. The legend states that anyone who makes a circuit of the mountain, while maintaining these rites, will gain liberation (attaining shivahood after piercing through the Sun's cosmos).
phew. that was a lot to get through. I think I'll wait for another day to actually write about what we did in Thiru (the background info was desperately needed for all of that!) Anyways, until then....sendin' love out in cyberspace to y'all!
With arrogance and pride, both gods took up the task. Vishnu took the form of a boar and dug, dug, dug deeper and deeper into the ground to try to find the bottom of this luminous massive seemingly endless column of fire. Try as he might, he couldn't find it and so came up to admit his defeat and the overwhelming power of Shiva. Brahma, on the other hand, took the form of a swan and flew flew flew higher and higher into the sky to find the top of the fiery column. And just like Vishnu, he couldn't find it. But instead of admitting defeat, he came across a lotus flower on his way and so, lotus in hand, flew back down and proclaimed, "I have found the top", thereby giving Shiva the lotus. Shiva knew that Brahma was lying and so chastised him, announcing that Brahma would no longer be worshipped. Thus, there are no temples devoted to Brahma in India.
To make a long story seem pertinent, the light form that Shiva took became the mountain of Thiru. Thus, that is why it's very name means "inaccesible" for Lord Shiva was out of reach for both Brahma and Vishnu. We can also see why it's also named Arunachala (red for fire).
The actual town probably dates to the early Chola period (AD 871-975). It is definitively a pilgrimage site and is associated with many sadhus and yogis. This town is considered one of the panchabhootasthalas, which are five sacred towns in Tamil Nadu (the province of India I'm in), each one corresponding to a different element. Obviously Thiru represents fire. The most particularly interesting aspect of this town is on the evening of Karthigai Deepam (a festival of lights celebrated by Tamil Hindus on the full moon of Karthikai month (Nov/Dec). This specific day is also interesting since it occurs on the day when the moon is in conjunction with the Pleiades constellation and purnima. ANYWAYS, so on Karthigai Deepam, they light the entire top of the mountain on fire! This specific rite has been going on for 3,000 years since it was mentioned in the oldest text of Tamil Nadu (written in Tamil). On the specific day, they take this huge cauldron up the mountain to the top and fill it with ghee (type of clarified butter). Almost a thousand kg of ghee are used and the flame is up to seven feet and can be seem from up to 35 km away.
There is another ancient rite to this town which is circumambulating the mountain (Arunachala Purana). This is usually done after bathing, smearing the sacred ash (puja), with feet bare, and with lips muttering the sacred mantra. The road around is 8 1/4 miles long. The legend states that anyone who makes a circuit of the mountain, while maintaining these rites, will gain liberation (attaining shivahood after piercing through the Sun's cosmos).
phew. that was a lot to get through. I think I'll wait for another day to actually write about what we did in Thiru (the background info was desperately needed for all of that!) Anyways, until then....sendin' love out in cyberspace to y'all!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
new address
so i forgot to update my address.
Shevawn Von Tobel
C/O Youth Camp
Fraternity
Auroville 605101
Tamil Nadu, India
Shevawn Von Tobel
C/O Youth Camp
Fraternity
Auroville 605101
Tamil Nadu, India
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
More days in India
The days seem to blend together in an amalgamation of sweat, mosquitos, dirt, and exhaustion. We are still not done with orientation (basically trying to visit as many service learning sites as possible before we have to decide where to work on Thursday) so it's been a lot of biking in the hot, hot, hot sun and heavy, heavy, heavy air. The sites are all amazing--still a lot of people doing amazing things--but it is getting exhausting. "Winter" is over here and summer is slowly starting to creep up on us. I've exerted no self control in refraining from itching mosquito bites so it's been quite an irritating--downright miserable--experience. I should take a picture of my feet since they look pretty bad...like I have leprosy or something.
Basically, this situation has defined the past few days...it's really all I can think about as the sweat makes the bites even more itchy....plus, the group dynamic here has been off and on. Sometimes I feel as if I can really relate to the people in my group but other times, I'm not so sure. Plus, I need my alone time so I've been having a hard time trying to be 'cheery' and whatnot. I'm still glad and grateful that I'm here...and I think it's just a matter of time to get adjusted.
In other news...tomorrow is a strike day here in southern india as Tamils are going to show their "solidarity" with the Tamil Tigers. Here in India, even a general strike can be turned easily into a mob crazy-like fiasco so we will be spending most of our time in auroville (youth camp, where we're staying, is right by a village instead of being 'in' auroville), just in case. February 7th is "black flag day" where they will be parading the streets with black flags to also show their solidarity.......both of these acts have been declared by the government as illegal so we'll see what happens. A little freaky but I have trust in the universe.
I would love to videochat (skype) with some of you loved ones...usually, the best time for both us, would be...my time 7:30 am...your time around 6:30 pm? my id is shevawnv....post yours and find me.
Basically, this situation has defined the past few days...it's really all I can think about as the sweat makes the bites even more itchy....plus, the group dynamic here has been off and on. Sometimes I feel as if I can really relate to the people in my group but other times, I'm not so sure. Plus, I need my alone time so I've been having a hard time trying to be 'cheery' and whatnot. I'm still glad and grateful that I'm here...and I think it's just a matter of time to get adjusted.
In other news...tomorrow is a strike day here in southern india as Tamils are going to show their "solidarity" with the Tamil Tigers. Here in India, even a general strike can be turned easily into a mob crazy-like fiasco so we will be spending most of our time in auroville (youth camp, where we're staying, is right by a village instead of being 'in' auroville), just in case. February 7th is "black flag day" where they will be parading the streets with black flags to also show their solidarity.......both of these acts have been declared by the government as illegal so we'll see what happens. A little freaky but I have trust in the universe.
I would love to videochat (skype) with some of you loved ones...usually, the best time for both us, would be...my time 7:30 am...your time around 6:30 pm? my id is shevawnv....post yours and find me.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
the heaviness of air and lightness of mind.
*big breath*.
okay.
Where did I last leave off? I think Pundicherry. Ah, yes...Pundicherry (aka formally known as Pondicherry). So, we walked around (five girls in all) the city looking around wide-eyed (well, at least most of us...two have already been traveling in India for some time) and attentive. Again, one word I keep reaching for is chaotic. All of these different people, smells, colors, ideas, sounds, and light all collaborating together to make the "Indian" experience come alive in full force. There are no traffic lights (in case you didn't conclude from my last post), no sense of "police presence", no "sanitary" regulations and rules...basically (obviously) many many aspects are completely different from life in the States...yet it makes sense--it seems to have some basic structure (even if that structure is to have no structure at all)....yet it works for some unexplainable reason. Surely it would work since all these people live here like this....but you could also say that surely it doesn't work since they are so poor, so "unclean". I, for one, cannot answer that, being a Westerner. I'm sure the enigma will continually present itself in new and sometimes very disturbing ways (but also very enlightening ways, as well).
Oh, and for those who were wondering...I did NOT see the Dalai Lama! I know...it's sad. My school did not notify us that he switched the date to a prior day...but I was glad that I came early. We were able to adjust to the time a little bit better than those who did come on the specified day...as well as take some time to get to know Auroville and each other by ourselves (instead of by prompt and group activity--which also has its place)....I did hear that the Dalai Lama's talk was very good....that and that there were tons of people there (in Auroville alone are 2,000 people but it is interspersed with Tamil villages).
I also have to mention the cute dogs that lived at Snevehal's place....they followed us all the way to the Visitor's Center where we had to tell them to wait outside of the Info. building....which they did! We then got into autorickshaws to take us into Pundi where they ran after us for awhile...quite hilarious.
Hopefully these pictures will successfully upload.
Anyways, onto the story (I guess)...
Pundi was great...many stories there that are too long to go into. I would really like to go into the past two days which have been orientation to Auroville. Basically our group has been biking around Auroville to stop after different places to determine first, our service learning site and second, our community stay (the options sometimes overlap). We get a guided tour from the individual (or couple, sometimes group of people) who started the program/organization/school/etc (too many options...). Each and every person has been immensely inspiring--I still am in awe of how many incredible people there are here doing so many incredible things....and actually doing as opposed to just talking as I feel that I've been falling too much into that trap back into the states. Our first day of orientation was led by one of the faculty (a soon-to-be Aurovillian)'s friend, Lola, who has lived here since '99 and who is originally from Spain. Very funny gal. The first stop was Aspiration (a community stay option), basically a community with some schools on site (one an art school)...they have the highest percentage (80%) of Tamil's living in the building (I cannot remember specifically how many people live there). They take all of their meals together and try to foster the idea of "community" (definately a broad concept that I'm sure I'll go into more later since in my group we are attempting to strive for the same thing). Next was Evergreen (another community stay option) that consists of three households--6 adults and 4 children, I believe. One of the couples (with their amazing, bright girl Zia) led us around the land. They focus on ideas of 'deep ecology' and, of course, 'ecological thinking'. Their house was absolutely amazing--an open aired bungalow (kind of like the one we stayed in the first two nights) and their community was also pretty mesmerizing. Edible trees and bushes were everywhere, treehouses and tiny bungalows for the guests/volunteers, a vegetable garden, a water tank for filtration and irrigation, and even a horse stable complete with the largest bull I've prob. ever seen (to help to drag trees that fell from the cyclone that happened earlier in the monsoon season which they now use for building materials). They also had some bamboo drying which they were going to use to experiment with in building a structure (house)....this is a concept that we came across more in other sites (after all, this town is one big experiment)....basically, the concept is that if you experiment and experiment and experiment, you will finally get it right....so far it looks like they're doing it right.
A note on the bamboo: it's amazing! There's huge stalks in youth camp (this is where we are staying) that make this mesmerizing sound in the wind...I wish you could hear it.
Anyways...we biked by the Solar Kitchen (home to the world's largest solar oven) and the Free Store (self-explanatory) which are defintely going to be a spot to check out in future months...
next was Solitude Farm which I am thinking heavily about for a service learning commitment. It is a 6 acre farm dedication to self-sustainability ( in every arena). It is sufficient in grains and most of its veggies and dhals (lentils), some oil seed and fruits seem to be growing exponential so I'm sure soon they will be good in that dept. They run an organic restaurant that serves lunch for keeping the whole thing goin' (we ate there for lunch...absolutely delicious.)...WHat was interesting about this place is that they try to keep to Fukuwoka's natural farming so are trying to grow non-tilled rice in experimental plots (again...experiment) for three years now....they just harvested one field that they said was an okay batch. They are also interesting since they try to keep to traditional grains such as millet, red rice, etc. (which is very good by the way)...these grains have been slowly dying out in the local culture due to the supposed "green revolution" of the indian government (a push for industrialized food). Since they are working with permaculture practices and ideas, they try to foster an intregal perspective, thus working with the local people and attempting to foster close relationships with the community at large (as well as inner exploration, education, and other types of relationships such as soil and water). Krishna, the guy who runs it all, came from Britain at age 19 from England and seemed like he would be a very good mentor. There is also a blacksmith working and living there who could also share his skills and expertise with those who service learn there.
After lunch, we went to the Matrimandar (you can't go in the first time) and got a guided tour from a French guy (forget his name...) who came to Auroville when it was first coming to birth in the 1960's. Very interesting guy and spent a lot of time on issues of spirituality. I will have to come back to this concept later as I am already past my "bedtime" as I have to wake up for yoga at 5:30 in the morning...it's not as bad as it sounds...I'm actually quite loving it!
okay.
Where did I last leave off? I think Pundicherry. Ah, yes...Pundicherry (aka formally known as Pondicherry). So, we walked around (five girls in all) the city looking around wide-eyed (well, at least most of us...two have already been traveling in India for some time) and attentive. Again, one word I keep reaching for is chaotic. All of these different people, smells, colors, ideas, sounds, and light all collaborating together to make the "Indian" experience come alive in full force. There are no traffic lights (in case you didn't conclude from my last post), no sense of "police presence", no "sanitary" regulations and rules...basically (obviously) many many aspects are completely different from life in the States...yet it makes sense--it seems to have some basic structure (even if that structure is to have no structure at all)....yet it works for some unexplainable reason. Surely it would work since all these people live here like this....but you could also say that surely it doesn't work since they are so poor, so "unclean". I, for one, cannot answer that, being a Westerner. I'm sure the enigma will continually present itself in new and sometimes very disturbing ways (but also very enlightening ways, as well).
Oh, and for those who were wondering...I did NOT see the Dalai Lama! I know...it's sad. My school did not notify us that he switched the date to a prior day...but I was glad that I came early. We were able to adjust to the time a little bit better than those who did come on the specified day...as well as take some time to get to know Auroville and each other by ourselves (instead of by prompt and group activity--which also has its place)....I did hear that the Dalai Lama's talk was very good....that and that there were tons of people there (in Auroville alone are 2,000 people but it is interspersed with Tamil villages).
I also have to mention the cute dogs that lived at Snevehal's place....they followed us all the way to the Visitor's Center where we had to tell them to wait outside of the Info. building....which they did! We then got into autorickshaws to take us into Pundi where they ran after us for awhile...quite hilarious.
Hopefully these pictures will successfully upload.
Anyways, onto the story (I guess)...
Pundi was great...many stories there that are too long to go into. I would really like to go into the past two days which have been orientation to Auroville. Basically our group has been biking around Auroville to stop after different places to determine first, our service learning site and second, our community stay (the options sometimes overlap). We get a guided tour from the individual (or couple, sometimes group of people) who started the program/organization/school/etc (too many options...). Each and every person has been immensely inspiring--I still am in awe of how many incredible people there are here doing so many incredible things....and actually doing as opposed to just talking as I feel that I've been falling too much into that trap back into the states. Our first day of orientation was led by one of the faculty (a soon-to-be Aurovillian)'s friend, Lola, who has lived here since '99 and who is originally from Spain. Very funny gal. The first stop was Aspiration (a community stay option), basically a community with some schools on site (one an art school)...they have the highest percentage (80%) of Tamil's living in the building (I cannot remember specifically how many people live there). They take all of their meals together and try to foster the idea of "community" (definately a broad concept that I'm sure I'll go into more later since in my group we are attempting to strive for the same thing). Next was Evergreen (another community stay option) that consists of three households--6 adults and 4 children, I believe. One of the couples (with their amazing, bright girl Zia) led us around the land. They focus on ideas of 'deep ecology' and, of course, 'ecological thinking'. Their house was absolutely amazing--an open aired bungalow (kind of like the one we stayed in the first two nights) and their community was also pretty mesmerizing. Edible trees and bushes were everywhere, treehouses and tiny bungalows for the guests/volunteers, a vegetable garden, a water tank for filtration and irrigation, and even a horse stable complete with the largest bull I've prob. ever seen (to help to drag trees that fell from the cyclone that happened earlier in the monsoon season which they now use for building materials). They also had some bamboo drying which they were going to use to experiment with in building a structure (house)....this is a concept that we came across more in other sites (after all, this town is one big experiment)....basically, the concept is that if you experiment and experiment and experiment, you will finally get it right....so far it looks like they're doing it right.
A note on the bamboo: it's amazing! There's huge stalks in youth camp (this is where we are staying) that make this mesmerizing sound in the wind...I wish you could hear it.
Anyways...we biked by the Solar Kitchen (home to the world's largest solar oven) and the Free Store (self-explanatory) which are defintely going to be a spot to check out in future months...
next was Solitude Farm which I am thinking heavily about for a service learning commitment. It is a 6 acre farm dedication to self-sustainability ( in every arena). It is sufficient in grains and most of its veggies and dhals (lentils), some oil seed and fruits seem to be growing exponential so I'm sure soon they will be good in that dept. They run an organic restaurant that serves lunch for keeping the whole thing goin' (we ate there for lunch...absolutely delicious.)...WHat was interesting about this place is that they try to keep to Fukuwoka's natural farming so are trying to grow non-tilled rice in experimental plots (again...experiment) for three years now....they just harvested one field that they said was an okay batch. They are also interesting since they try to keep to traditional grains such as millet, red rice, etc. (which is very good by the way)...these grains have been slowly dying out in the local culture due to the supposed "green revolution" of the indian government (a push for industrialized food). Since they are working with permaculture practices and ideas, they try to foster an intregal perspective, thus working with the local people and attempting to foster close relationships with the community at large (as well as inner exploration, education, and other types of relationships such as soil and water). Krishna, the guy who runs it all, came from Britain at age 19 from England and seemed like he would be a very good mentor. There is also a blacksmith working and living there who could also share his skills and expertise with those who service learn there.
After lunch, we went to the Matrimandar (you can't go in the first time) and got a guided tour from a French guy (forget his name...) who came to Auroville when it was first coming to birth in the 1960's. Very interesting guy and spent a lot of time on issues of spirituality. I will have to come back to this concept later as I am already past my "bedtime" as I have to wake up for yoga at 5:30 in the morning...it's not as bad as it sounds...I'm actually quite loving it!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
India en dia
Well, here I am. India. Traveling around I wondered to myself how I could put this experience into words. Like anything--since our language system is too general--I could never effectively describe India for anyone who hasn't been (though I suggest you all do). It's chaotic yet structured, disgusting but beautiful, ephemeral yet so concrete. I do have to admit that since I read many, many travel books, stories, weblongs and the like I couldn't help but to expect the poverty and seemingly crassness of the culture so, for me, it hasn't been too much of a culture shock or surprise. Even the dying (sometimes already dead) animals, the stink of rotting trash and excrement, the penetrating stares that result in the feeling of being the absolute minority, and the endless stream of hawkers and beggars calling you for your money don't seem to phase me as much as some. I actually enjoy the chaos and craziness of India. The drivers are crazy and roads unstructured--everything and anything can be on the road (no "middle" lines to divide the flow of traffic, mind you) from cars, trucks, and buses to autorickshaws, cows, bicycles, and carts. Pretty much cows have the right of way and everything yields to that. Next is the largest-fastest vehicle. Thus, everyone is trying to weddle their way through--endlessly honking their horn to let others know that they're there (no side mirrors). It's fun, scary, and nerve-wrecking and you never know what to expect. The constant barrage of horns and exhaust aren't too bad to get used to. The colors of India is what attracts me to this country the most I believe, besides the inexpressible presence of spirit--I think these two factors are interconnected anyways. I'm really not sure where to begin and how to go on from here so I guess I will go by day to day....
My journey to India really started on the plane ride over (Jan. 19), especially from Chicago to Chennai. I sat by this man (called Izudin...Izu for short) who was originally from Bosnia. Him and his family had to move when he was eight because of the war there so he was going back for the first time since leaving. The next 7 hours were spent in conversation and it was a very incredibly experience--emotions ranging from uplifting to heart-wrenching to blessed. We talked of many things--war, what it's like to be Muslim in America (he was Muslim), the possibility for an American civil war (he brought that one up, not me...but we certainly agreed on a lot of things), poverty, materialism...all in all a very good talk. In Frankfurt, the two other girls who I went early with and I went to sit in the cafe before our connecting flight to Chennai. I had a beer and a pretzal (after all, it was Germany)...we talked and I knew right away we would all get along. The next plane ride (for 8 hours and 45 minutes) I spent sitting next to a woman originally from India (her and her husband moved to Chicago in the 1960's) and who was going back to decide about moving back. We talked and I did sleep for a bit. It was pretty crazy to know that I was flying over the Middle East--Saudia Arabia, Iran, etc. Pretty cool. Well, we arrive at 11:50 at night in the Chennai airport...it wasn't too crowded (not as much as I thought it would be). Auroville had a taxi waiting for us so we hope in with our driver. As we're leaving Chennai, he puts on the radio (Tamil Nadu's top hits) and we got our first taste of Indian driving. I sat in the front and so I had a pretty good view on all sides. It was pretty surreal being at night. People along the road hunched near small fires, run down buildings with chipped paints, cows nosing through trash, the smell of pollution and exhaust wafting though the car. ....Our driver would stop at random food/drink stands along the way (the drive took about 3 hours) to talk, take a piss, and wash the front windshield with bottles of water. Pretty interesting. We finally arrived into Auroville around four in the morning and call the couchsurfer we were supposed to stay with, Sneheval. At first he didn't answer but finally--after fifteen minutes--came outside and told the taxi driver where to take us. He came along for the ride to show us....Basically Sneheval is trying to create a volunteer based system of dormitory-like housing, the "kofi-bar" (a self-service, pay as you feel, cafe/tea/coffee hang-out where you can cook for everyone if you please, clean up for everyone if you please, or basically do whatever you please--hang out, talk, play chess, play guitar, etc.), and hopefully soon a school where volunteers can come to teach whatever they want to teach. The dormitory-housing is on his family's compound and is a three tiered bungalow house. The living quarters are one floor up (all open aired) and there's a third story for additional living. Very rudimentary but I enjoyed myself greatly ( I will hopefully have pictures soon).....The next morning we met up with two other girls who came early and we all went to Pundicherry (a still very European town). Walked around and tried to find food which turned out to be more of a debacle than I thought possible.
Anyway, I'm tired of writing....I will be posting pictures and that may be more easy/interesting to follow. For now, it's getting cooler in the day and I want to bike down to the bakery to get some snacks and read/write. I'm sitting in the courtyard/dining area of our guesthouse in Auroville surrounded by trees and singing birds. Absolutely brilliant and mesmerizing to say the least. I miss everyone back home-hope you're staying warm.
My journey to India really started on the plane ride over (Jan. 19), especially from Chicago to Chennai. I sat by this man (called Izudin...Izu for short) who was originally from Bosnia. Him and his family had to move when he was eight because of the war there so he was going back for the first time since leaving. The next 7 hours were spent in conversation and it was a very incredibly experience--emotions ranging from uplifting to heart-wrenching to blessed. We talked of many things--war, what it's like to be Muslim in America (he was Muslim), the possibility for an American civil war (he brought that one up, not me...but we certainly agreed on a lot of things), poverty, materialism...all in all a very good talk. In Frankfurt, the two other girls who I went early with and I went to sit in the cafe before our connecting flight to Chennai. I had a beer and a pretzal (after all, it was Germany)...we talked and I knew right away we would all get along. The next plane ride (for 8 hours and 45 minutes) I spent sitting next to a woman originally from India (her and her husband moved to Chicago in the 1960's) and who was going back to decide about moving back. We talked and I did sleep for a bit. It was pretty crazy to know that I was flying over the Middle East--Saudia Arabia, Iran, etc. Pretty cool. Well, we arrive at 11:50 at night in the Chennai airport...it wasn't too crowded (not as much as I thought it would be). Auroville had a taxi waiting for us so we hope in with our driver. As we're leaving Chennai, he puts on the radio (Tamil Nadu's top hits) and we got our first taste of Indian driving. I sat in the front and so I had a pretty good view on all sides. It was pretty surreal being at night. People along the road hunched near small fires, run down buildings with chipped paints, cows nosing through trash, the smell of pollution and exhaust wafting though the car. ....Our driver would stop at random food/drink stands along the way (the drive took about 3 hours) to talk, take a piss, and wash the front windshield with bottles of water. Pretty interesting. We finally arrived into Auroville around four in the morning and call the couchsurfer we were supposed to stay with, Sneheval. At first he didn't answer but finally--after fifteen minutes--came outside and told the taxi driver where to take us. He came along for the ride to show us....Basically Sneheval is trying to create a volunteer based system of dormitory-like housing, the "kofi-bar" (a self-service, pay as you feel, cafe/tea/coffee hang-out where you can cook for everyone if you please, clean up for everyone if you please, or basically do whatever you please--hang out, talk, play chess, play guitar, etc.), and hopefully soon a school where volunteers can come to teach whatever they want to teach. The dormitory-housing is on his family's compound and is a three tiered bungalow house. The living quarters are one floor up (all open aired) and there's a third story for additional living. Very rudimentary but I enjoyed myself greatly ( I will hopefully have pictures soon).....The next morning we met up with two other girls who came early and we all went to Pundicherry (a still very European town). Walked around and tried to find food which turned out to be more of a debacle than I thought possible.
Anyway, I'm tired of writing....I will be posting pictures and that may be more easy/interesting to follow. For now, it's getting cooler in the day and I want to bike down to the bakery to get some snacks and read/write. I'm sitting in the courtyard/dining area of our guesthouse in Auroville surrounded by trees and singing birds. Absolutely brilliant and mesmerizing to say the least. I miss everyone back home-hope you're staying warm.
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