Slideshow from India

Here are some pictures from India (click here)

Last 10 days

Our last 10 days in Auroville were filled with gift and souvenir shopping, trips to Pondicherry, eating pizza from New Creation and ice cream from Richy Rich, packing, making pancakes at the program coordinator, Abbey's (newly remodeled) house, optional and required seminars and discussions, picture taking, our Farewell Dinner, spending time together, and finally our last teary dinner and good-bye before driving off to the airport.

Sunday night (December 19), we ate dinner with Abbey and our German friend, Friedhelm. We signed off the program and then talked about all the non-negotiable's we broke (we're not even allowed to dive), reminisced, sang a few songs, took back a natural object from home that we gave on our first day in India, and tried to hold back tears as we hugged our teachers, faculty, and two students behind. They were travelling for another month before leaving India. We pull away from Youth Camp at exactly 8:23 pm, then started the 2 1/2 hour journey to the Chennai airport.

We lost someone else at the airport, because he was staying in Chennai with friends for a few days before leaving. The airport was typical India, chaotic and unorganized. They couldn't even get me one of my boarding passes. One girl was leaving a couple hours later because she was going to travel through Europe, so they wouldn't let her through security. We were down to 8 of us.
Finally, we managed to get on our flight to Frankfurt. We were a little worried about what we would do once we got there because of all the weather problems that had been going on, but luckily all our flights left, even if some were an hour or two late. We had to split up in Frankfurt because we were leaving from different terminals and you have to go through security again to get to your gate. So I said goodbye to three more people, and 5 of us made our way to our gates. I had some trouble getting my second boarding pass because of a flight leaving for Tel Aviv from my gate, but I was finally able to do that. I flew to Boston with two other people from my group, and then said tired good-byes to them before my cousin Kim picked me up to take me back to her house in New Hampshire where I was going for Christmas. As I pull into her driveway, I looked at the clock and realized it was 8:23pm of Monday! So after 34 1/2 hours of travelling and very little sleep, I made it. And the next day the Frankfurt airport closed.

The End.

Community Stay - Solitude Farm

I’m finally getting around to finishing this. I’m back in the good ol’ US of A and had a good Christmas and New Year, but more on the later. 

Krishna, in the front right, who owns the farm, and Khaled in the middle, who lives there permanently

 After we got back from traveling, I did a community stay at Solitude Farm for 10 days. (check out their blog - solitudefarm.blogspot.com)  I was the only one from my group that chose to go there, which was a little hard at first. I stayed in the dormitory with three other women, and the cow below us.

It was also still monsoon season, which meant the fields kept flooding. We tried to do some planting and prepare beds, but mostly our work was useless because it would be ruined as soon as it rained. So we spent a lot of time in the community kitchen reading, making friendship bracelets, sleeping, playing music, and being bored. We also made several trips to the closest cafe for coffee and ice cream, of course.

the capsule I stayed in with 3 other women

Four people from my group were staying and a large forest community called Sadhana Forrest.  Short-term quests stay in large dorms, and they get really muddy in the rainy season. The combination of close living quarters, never getting dry and questionable hygiene led to about half of the 80 people there getting sick. Two of them were from my group, so they decided it was time to leave and ended up coming to Solitude (the other 2 didn’t get sick, but they also left and went to another community).  Halfway through our stay, we got together with the group and made pizza from scratch - dough, sauce, everything. We sand songs and ate and had a good time. Now that we didn’t have to be around each other, we wanted to! 

working in the fields

The rest of my stay at Solitude was fun - swimming in the well, climbing up the windmill, and getting to know some awesome people! Oh, and they’re putting on a music festival January 29th, so if you happen to be in the Auroville area, you should check it out!

swimming in the well our first week during orientation

other people in the well

Travels part 3: Hamsah Farm!

shelling peanuts before breakfast 

 The night before we left Mysore, half our group got sick. A couple were still sick on the bus so we had to make some stops on the way. I was glad I wasn’t sick!  Finally, we reached Hamsah Farm, a small farm outside of Bangalore.  There we met John, a former Living Routes student from 2003.  He met his Indian wife when he was on the program and now lives here with her.  It was a really cool place.  

my capsule - the keet hut I shared with 2 other people

The night we got there, I went to a sufi music and poetry performance. Unfortunately I started feeling nauseous on the way there and got sick that night. It was not fun. The next couple of days I mostly slept and I didn’t really eat. Two other people were also still sick. Everybody else was helping make the roof to a hut that last semester’s group started. 

music festival

working on the roof!

Most of you probably know I’m a big Harry Potter fan, and Bangalore was the only place we were ever going to be close to that was playing the new movie. I was feeling better in the morning, so I decided to take the city bus with two other people to a very American mall to go see it. They checked our bags at the door and then again when we went into the actual theater area. They even made my friend give them her camera batteries! We sat in our assigned seats and felt just like we were in America! Until just after intermission, when I started feeling sick...again. I missed the last 10 minutes of the movie because I was squatting over the toilet, and the bus ride back wasn’t very enjoyable. I crashed again after we got back. It was still a fun day, and I’m glad I didn’t have to wait a month to see it!

the beds we prepped and planted

The fourth day we were there I was feeling tired, but better.  Most of the group went to another community for the day, but I decided not to ride in the bus for 2 hours each way and instead helped John prepare and plant beds. We also went to the market to get food for our Thanksgiving feast!

Thanksgiving day snack (we had more for dinner)

eating area and oven - and some veggies for Thanksgiving!

Our last day at the farm was Thanksgiving! About half the group spent the day finishing the roof, and the rest of us spent the day cooking.  We had found several pumpkins and baked them in their wood burning mud oven the day before, so they were ready to make things with! I made 3 pumpkin pies, a huge loaf of pumpkin bread, and a pumpkin apple crisp. We also made pumpkin soup, mashed potatoes, sauteed green beans with onions and garlic, a papaya coconut smoothie, and ragi bread with homemade peanut butter, rosella jam and pesto. We were all definitely Thanksgiving stuffed! We also did a gift circle in our group, which was nice. Thank goodness I had my appetite back!  One girl got sick today, and another on the way back. I think only 4 people out of 12 didn’t get sick!

my pies!

passing around plates in the newly finished capsule

The next morning we took a group picture and then headed back.  It was nice to be home! We were back at Youth Camp for 2 days and then went off to our community stays for 10 days!

The finished product!

More travels - Bylakuppe and Mysore!

We just got back from a 10 day community stay in Auroville (more on that later) where I didn’t have internet, but I’m finally writing more about our travels.

Bylakuppe:

little monk!

monks debating

This is one of the largest Tibetan refugee settlements that India provided after China invaded Tibet. It was very educational.  We got to talk to some of the Buddhist monks at the monastery we were staying at about their philosophy and their life.  We also went to the Old Age Home.  Traditionally, the elderly in Tibet are taken care of by their families.  But these are people who escaped Tibet with the Dalai Lama and have no families.  Some of the students from the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) school came with us to help translate.  It was so sad but inspiring to hear their stories. We also got to go to the TCV school and talk to more students there.  Most of them are sent from Tibet by their parents, and they don’t know if they’ll ever see there families again. We stayed in Bylakuppe for two nights before driving to Mysore.

The Tibetan students that showed us around!

Mysore:

This was the only place we stayed in a normal hotel! We spent two nights here, and mostly had free time and explored on our own.  We did go to a temple on top of a hill that is famous somehow, but it was quick and we didn’t really know anything about it.  We also saw a large stone bull that belongs to the god Shiva, and went into the Mysore palace.  Mysore is known for its silk and sandalwood, so we did some shopping.  An auto-rickshaw driver also convinced us to let him take us to a spice market and essential oils and incense shop. It was fun, but I think we were all ready to be out of the city again by the time we left.  Not to mention, most of the group got food poisoning. Not fun.

spice market

6 people in a rickshaw meant for 3!

Mysore palace

Honey Valley

coffee!

As you may know, I’ve been traveling around South India for three weeks and have had little access to the outside world.  

The first place we went was Honey Valley, which is in the mountainous area Coorg.  It was so beautiful and green there - it was hard to remember we were in India! The area is mostly known for growing coffee, which we made sure to drink every day.

The main purpose of our trip was the sacred solo, which was in the middle of our week long stay.  The first couple of days, we spent our time swimming in a waterfall, hiking, and exploring the area for our solo.  I went on one hike with two of the guys in our group, and we ended up climbing straight up the mountain, holding on to the sharp lemon grass for dear life. It wasn’t that dramatic, but I did cut my hands quite a bit on the grass, and my feet completely covered in leeches.  Oh yeah, the LEECHES! Who knew they could live out of water? Well they can, and they like dark damp areas. Good thing it was misting on that hike.

checking for leeches

We hiked up to the mountain where we were doing our solo twice to explore and find our spots. It was about a 45 minute hike up, with an amazing view at the top. We finally chose our spot and spent some time there getting to know it.  We were within shouting distance (or sometimes much closer) but out of sight. Finally, it was time for the solo. We ate breakfast and then hiked up in silence with all our stuff.  We were given:

a tarp

sleeping mat

rope

lighter and candles

salt to keep the leeches away

3 pieces of paper and a pen

nuts and dried fruit

3 liters of water

After a parting ceremony, we went to our spots and set up camp.  And then we spent 48 hours there by ourselves.  Everybody chose to fast, but most of us ended up eating the dates from our fruit and nut mix. They were super good. It was so cool to be on the mountain and watch the clouds change.  In the middle of the day, they would move so fast over my head making so many different shapes - I spent a lot of time just lying on my back and watching. In the late afternoon, the bigger, lower clouds would move in and we’d get a bit of rain. Sometimes they passed through us too. It would stay foggy and misty all night, and in the morning the valley was completely covered in a sea of white.  Then, the sun would come out and it would clear up, and then it started all over again.  We were allowed to make a little fire, which was nice to have at night.  It was a really great experience and I’m so glad I did it.

look at the clouds!

The last two days, we took advantage of the sun and hand-washed some of our clothes. We did more hiking and swimming, and we also ate the delicious but not so healthy food. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out too well for me.  The fried breads (poori, chappati, parotha - they are all amazing!) didn’t agree with me after fasting, and the night after the solo I threw up. It was an uncomfortable night. I felt nauseous until we left for our next destination, so I took it easy and used the time to read my required books. 

I really enjoyed Honey Valley. I love that this is school!

popping popcorn (Deepavali/Diwali)

Indians love their fireworks. I don't think there's been a day yet since I've been here that I haven't heard fireworks go off. But today is special. It's Deepavali, or Diwali (the contraction), the festival of lights. They've been celebrating all week! And fireworks have been going off constantly since last night. I'm counting the time in between each BOOM, and I haven't gotten more than 10 seconds. It sounds like I'm in a war! Or in a pan of popping popcorn. or a bag if you like the microwave.

There's different stories behind this day, but the most basic is the victory of good over evil. Another popular one is that Lord Rama went to Sri Lanka to rescue his wife, Sita, from the demon Ravana. The people loved him so much that when he got back they all lit lamps and danced and celebrated throughout the night.  It's typical to give sweets and new clothes as gifts to everybody. Employers also give a 2 week bonus with which to purchase new things, but unfortunately many people (well, the men) spend it on alcohol. Apparently it gets pretty crazy!

This is probably my last post for a while, because we leave to go travelling in two days and I won't have much internet access for three weeks. I'm very excited!!