week Three (late, but hopefully worth it)!

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December 5, 2010

Sorry about the delay- I was going to make this one huge blog, but then I thought it might be a bit much for anyone to read, so I have kept the travel blog to one-week increments. This means you subscribers will get two notifications this week instead of one! Yay!

On Monday we began our orientation. AV has a few of these, some of which are run by units of AV, and others that are sort of ‘ad hoc’- ours was the first type, but, unlike the other orientations we have seen the only fees associated with this one was for meals. We had been told, in the little scrap of paper we had received from AVIS (Auroville Volunteer and Intern Services- also, B’s work place), to meet at the Visitor’s Center at 9am. Well, the Visitor’s Center is large, with a couple boutiques, a book shop, a cafeteria/café, several offices, a few other information buildings including a movie venue, and a large outdoor area.
Fun ensued as time got closer. B & I had arrived early enough to enjoy a cup of coffee and watch as people began to fill up the area. Mind you, fill up is relative- for the airy open spaces of the Visitor’s Center, this means maybe one hundred people. If you have seen any of the photos, videos or news about crowds in India, you will know this is nothing special. Many of the tourists were Indian, and I even recognized some variations of tying the sari on various women (regions have their own manner of tying a sari, which is usually unique to that area). We began to ask the people who worked the Center about this orientation: they had never heard of it. We did attract a crowd of Indians, some eager to help, others curious about this piece of paper and what it might signify, and others maybe wondering what we were going to do that they hadn’t heard of yet. In the end, no-one was able to figure it out.
I don’t know if I have mentioned this yet, but when we talk about AVIS, even to long-time AV people, we are often met with a friendly “what?”… I wondered about this, since volunteers and interns seem to be a vital part of the community landscape. I since have learned/figured out that the individual units of AV often get their volunteers/interns directly. AVIS is a centralized unit for dealing with incoming helpers such as us, but many units muddle through without using the service. Furthermore, I have discovered that many units that are doing similar work, and that could possibly benefit from each others’ experience and knowledge don’t associate with each other- they are usually too focused “on their own trip”, as one AV member told me. This makes my research more interesting, since I am researching in part, communication here. Hm.
Anyhow, with a bit of help from one of B’s workmates, we found our group. It eventually numbered 8, including our two guides. We spent the morning at the café reading the Charter of Auroville, and discussing the philosophy of that founding document. All four points. Somehow, we managed to talk a lot. ☺ We then went to Savitri Bhavan (Bhavan is a type of building) and learned about the Savitri poem, an epic composition written by Sri Aurobindo, and considered to be important to his work. We also received free for the asking, an audio recording on two CDs of a reading of the poem- it is 55 hours long! The Savitri is based off a minor character from the Mahabrahata, and uses that character and related beings allegorically to expound on Sri Aurobindo’s understandings and philosophy. I’ll let you know how it goes.
We then all went off to Solitude, an organic permaculture farm which also serves a vegan lunch. The volunteers there were working hard, hauling loads of dirt in baskets. The farm looked healthy, and vibrant. We were led to a thatched roof hut where we waited for the food to be prepared outside. Some workers began to trickle by, and one jumped in the well next to the slowly turning windmill pump. That worker, an AV member from about 5 years, saw me looking at him swim and told me I should come in. So I did, stripping off my hat and shirt, and removing my notebook from my pants.
We were joined in the water by a small group of workers, mostly women in bikinis (!). It’s been a while since I’ve seen bikinis- the Tamil culture is modest, and for a split second I was taken aback at their boldness. I’m adapting, I guess. Also these were, with one exception who swam partly covered by a wrap, all Westerners. The meal was great. Then, after a brief introduction to the man who heads the farm, B & I set off to look at alternative lodging. In brief- it was more expensive, and far away to boot, although very nice. Our taxi driver offered to find us a house in the village, and we took him up on it. We caught up with our group as they were heading to the formerly called American Pavilion, now the International Pavilion (note- it is now the International House). This is the place where B & I had arranged lodging, and then lost it through our delays. It is a marvel of green engineering- we may live there yet, come summer. One downside- dormitory style, with three beds to a room. :/
We then visited the movie theatre (free with showings once or twice a week), the post office, and a nice public garden with frangipani trees-which are really weird, but had a few fragrant blooms laying about under them. I gave one to B.
I have come to realize that I’m at two pages, and only on day one. Suffice it to say: we saw a LOT. We experienced several restaurants, learned the location of many communities, and made contact with one of the places that will take me as a volunteer! Yay! Our travels took us through the optimistically named ‘industrial region’, the ‘green belt’ and even through the village to one of the AV run schools.

Of note this week, aside from our tours, was an encounter we had with a young American woman. On Monday night we were talking with our hosts over tea in the bakery. I noticed a red haired woman sitting at the table nearby, and also noted that she was occasionally smiling at our conversation (before I get any ‘red head’ comments, I was the only one facing her at the table… anyway): Our talk was about books, and B pointed out that I am something of a book snob. I accepted that this may be true. Later, B & our hostess were involved in a deep conversation, while I had gone back to the room for the flashlight (before it got too dark)- on the way in I asked the young lady what she was reading. Moby Dick. We fell to talking for a bit, with B joining in, and then in classic café style, with me back in the original conversation with our hosts. During this time, we discovered that not only is she American, but she had been traveling India on her own, and she was from Ohio- where one of the communities we both love is!
Later, as the bakery was shutting down, we saw that the young woman was looking a bit lost. Her friends were supposed to pick her up, but she couldn’t get a hold of them. We lent her our phone, and told her she could wait in our room across the street. We even have a spare mattress we could put on the floor if we needed to. Eventually, we learned that her friends were having moped troubles (typical for this place) and she left a couple hours later. We introduced the idea of going to Wisteria to her, so we’ll see if she shows up at a festival sometime!

I want to go back to something I mentioned last time about housing. B & I felt that first week that the place we are in is expensive. It is, compared to what we expected. Also, we got told by some people- specifically long-term people- that we were being overcharged. Sometimes, however, we heard that what we were paying was pretty much normal. Prices have risen in AV even over the past year or two. Sadly, this is evident not only in housing, but in massages: the AV website a year and a half ago put massages at about $6 American. Now, they are about $45 or more. ☹
We have discovered that our housing issue is not as bad as some would have us believe, but it is still not as good as we would have hoped. With it being tourist season, we are limited in our options, and furthermore, our hosts are really nice, dedicated people. Our taxi driver called us and told us he found a house, but B & I have decided to continue to live in AV, rather than commute. The villages are amazingly noisy day and night, so we will be better off for a variety of reasons, not the least being sleep quality. So, unless a real change happens, or something worthy of prose happens, I’ll stop writing about it.

Friday and Saturday were both rather dead days for us: we were shagged out from the amazing amount of bicycling we had done, and the weather was getting, as the British say, ‘beastly’- monsoon season came back with a fury. The dogs are still being set off late at night too. This is because they are doing their jobs: apparently a drunk from the next village over has tried to sleep in the bakery at night. Weird. We had been told during orientation that women should not travel at night alone, and this guy staggering around in the neighborhood seems to convey that message well.
Sunday was interesting. We wanted to go to lunch with our French neighbor- who is moving out- and then go see the beach where he is moving, but the skies were full of low, rapid moving clouds. The three of us were talking on the deck and I noticed a flock of large birds- possibly cranes, maybe a dozen or so- flying swiftly south. I cant say why, but to me they looked panicked a bit. The monsoon cyclone was supposed to hit north of us, towards Chennai, so I pointed it out, then relying on my sea coast upbringing, decided I didn’t trust the weather. Turns out I was right. We would have been fine going out there, but we would have come back in the cyclone.
We want to see the beach, but not during a cyclone!

So, on a personal note I thought I’d share some of my dietary musings. We eat out often, since we have no real cooking facilities other than an electric kettle. I had decided, before I left, to try two things. One, was to quit coffee. I am an addict, but a willing one, and so that didn’t really go over too well, especially since during travel one cannot really deal with withdrawal on top of the stresses of travel. Besides, coffee has been a life-long friend, and, in moderation is perfectly ok. I have been moderate- no more than two cups a day (real cups, not the jumbo super-tanker mugs we have back in the USA).
The other dietary choice was to go vegetarian. In truth, this is something I wrestle with anyway, mostly for moral reasons (USA factory farming) since my digestion and metabolism seem to do much better on (especially red) meat than without. Still, part of Yoga is ahimsa or ‘not doing harm’ – which can mean a whole bunch of things but in this community seems to mean mostly doing as little harm to the food as possible. I have been a little lactose weakly intolerant for a while, since I cut it almost completely out of my diet years ago (exception: ice cream). Now, I have discovered, my body is insisting on 100% non-dairy, which is ok by me. Well, since being here I have eaten no meat except once- the first week here I was jet-lagged and tired, craving protein, so I caved in. The GB serves curry chicken and a few other dishes with fish and chicken, so I go the chicken biryani. Mistake. Even after only a couple weeks the meat tasted unsavory, and I stank of flesh for two days. I now get my protein in concentrated form from spirulina, nuts (almonds mostly, and native cashews), and mixing grains and beans. I feel lighter, but not weaker. It’s kinda neat. When we get back to the USA I will find it easier to eat only ethically raised (if at all) meat, and to focus on veggie food sources.
Many places here serve fresh fish, which B enjoys, and chicken. A lot of the chickens we have seen here at AV look healthy: they are definitely free-range and get a good diet. The issue with them out here is actually price: AV chickens are rare, due to Civet Cats and Mongoose. Off-topic, and just to give some environmental flavor: Mongoose are everywhere out here. Every day we see at least a few as we make our rounds… awesome.

Otherwise, we are still safe, happy and well. Weather permitting, the next blog will be on time.
Peace,
Beryl & Stacey

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Comments

[Kim]

Spirulina
Hello Friends! Love your blogs! I feel like I am there with you both, sort of hovering overhead (invisible) but taking it all in. . . Excellent writing as always! I saw that you mentioned Spirulina. I've never heard of that so I looked it up. I read wonderful reviews on it, so I just bought some (supplement form) from Amazon.com. Thanks for the tip! I purchased the kind that you need only take once a day. I can't wait to see if I have more energy thus burning more calories. I am starting to feel like a fat lazy American who can't get off of my ass and step away from the computer! Keep the blogs comming! Glad to hear you are both well. Hugs ~ Kim