India… Part One of who knows how many

I must put this part in there; otherwise Parks would more than likely never stop bugging me about it. So if you are going to fly anywhere around India or Sri Lanka, you should take Jet Airways. They are incredibly courteous, AWESOME in-flight entertainment and free beer. Their food was delicious and still included in the price. Wow. We were able to watch some back episodes of The Big Bang Theory, a television show I have fallen in love while in the Peace Corps. It is amazing how I watched way more television shows in the Peace Corps than ever before. Big Bang, How I Met Your Mother, House (although I did watch this occasionally before with my old roommates… seems like a lifetime ago), Grey's Anatomy, Community, Glee… But even when I do eventually get back to America, I don't know if I will watch television. We will see.

Back to India. So Jet Airways was amazing and made our entrance into India very enjoyable even though the visa people and passport control was atrocious. How is it that three people with the exact information on their customs form each have different experiences? Mine was, to say the least, a frustrating experience I wouldn't want for anyone.

Almost in tears after finally getting in to India, we meet our taxi driver who my Aunty Gindu has arranged to meet us at the airport and then take her to her house, about 4 hours away. Oh, and we arrived around 11 at night… Around 3:30 in the morning the three of us arrived at the gates of the house to lots and lots of barking dogs and a sleepy aunty. We said our hellos and then quickly said our goodnights. We slept in the next day for quite some time, more than planned on.

The next few days were wonderful! It was great to see my Aunt and begin my journey to meet family, the whole point of the traveling. She was kind, welcoming, embracing, and we had wonderful conversations about everything under the sun. She has quite a few view points on life and a few of them struck me. One of the things she said was, "I am too old to tell stories anymore." She was referring to telling made up stories about her life or made up answers to questions that might be incriminating. It was fun to hear stories about family and makes me feel a little more connected to this side.

We also met some amazing characters while staying at Aunty Gindu's in Thiruvannamalai. The day after we settled in, we decided to climb the mountain Arunachala to go see the ashram and the caves where a guru lived for first 16 years and then moved to a cave higher up and lived there for 7 years. We met Aunty's friend Veejay who walks up the mountain every morning and waters the plants on the way. He has been doing this for the last few years and does it because he wants to. He doesn't really give a reason more than that. He is a funny, quick-witted man that told us a lot of jokes and one-liners. He said that meditation was for greedy people because 6-8 hours of sleep a night should be good enough. He also said that he doesn't pray because if God doesn't already know what he needs than he doesn't want to pray to Him anymore.

After coming down, we have a delicious breakfast made up of idlis, dosai, coconut sambhar, tomato sambhar and potato curry. Idli-s are these delicious steamed, soft, spongey type cakes. I don't know how to describe it other than that. We then go for our coffee or tea at the tea shop where people gather to read the paper, meet up, or just to grab a quick cup. Every tea shop is about the same but people definitely have their favorites. We go to Veejay's chosen spot and run into a friend of Veejay's and Gindu's. His name is Dev and he later posted on his blog about us… pretty cool. He is extremely interesting and quick-witted as well. He is a photographer and a proud doer of nothing (his words, not mine). Although he does not have pictures available to show us, he snaps a few of us and Danya takes a few with his camera.

The whole day was such a cool interaction because everyone knew everyone and the ashram had this whole outside community of locals and ex-pats. I know that most ex-pats form their own community but this, from what I saw, was intertwined with locals and foreigners alike. I liked it. While staying at Gindu's, I met a lot of interesting people and I had a wonderful time. Gindu is also a wonderful cook and although she did not trust me to make the chipatis, I picked up a few tips and tricks from her. We ate very well while in her care. I might even become a vegetarian, there was such a variety in her diet. It was delicious and so healthy.

Other things we did while there: went to the temple where I was booped on the head by an elephant. We took a day trip to Pondicherry/Puducherry/Pondi. It was a good day although we went on a Sunday and therefore a lot of the shops were closed. We also went to a really, really weird place that is an international community outside of Pondi. Auroville.  It was weird. In the middle of its community is a structure that apparently houses a crystal, the third or fourth largest or something. But it looks like a golf ball/Epcot ball. Visitors can't go closer than an assigned viewing area. Very bizarre. During our lunch, we also saw a foreign woman who was crazy and being really horrible to a miniature dog that she had chained up and kept dragging around. No one really seemed to know what was going on with her either… very strange.

After spending four wonderful days at Gindu's we decided, on advice from another ex-pat we met there, we bought tickets to Varkala in Kerala. We took a 14 hour train ride from outside of Thrivandrumahal and on to Varkala. We arrived around 9:30 in the morning and jumped in a taxi to our new 'home' for the next 4/5 days. It was sad to say goodbye to Aunty but it was wonderful to see her and to spend time with her. I have a few new thoughts on life and a few new ideas to ponder over these next few months. It was a great time!

Until next time…