1. Have arrived at Auroville..

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The Journey Begins..

Ok.. so I arrived here to Auroville (an eco-city in the making!) in the early hours on the 28th of Nov. Flight was good overall, good old BA. Couldn't quite believe I was India, as the leaving date had snuck up and bitten me on the arse like a manky dog! (No, not you Moses ;c) Wasn't quite sure what to expect on arrival, but had a feeling it might be a bit mental. As those of you who have been to India know.. it never ceases to surprise. I had organised a taxi to pick me up from Chenni airport and take me Auroville, as last time (when I flew into Delhi) I got totally skanked, mainly due to sleep dep.

It was a right hairy taxi ride.. 3 hours through monsoon rainfall. Feck knows how the taxi driver could see, cos the wind screen wipers didn't look like they were working to me! The taxi driver handed me a postcard from 'EverGreen' (the community I'd arranged to stay/work with) saying that they'd arranged for me to stay at this other community till they had a room available. Great.

Anyway, a few squashed cows later.. the taxi turned into Auroville. We drove for about half an hour through tropical rain forest along a red bumpy dusty track. It was pitch black, and I was slightly nervous, but excited. I wasn't scared though for some reason, evern though I was being driven into the wilderness by a complete stranger. I'd already sized him up, and had come to the conclusion I could kick his arse if needs be, quick sharp kick to the head should do it ;c) I was then dropped off at a shack in the middle of the woods, and the taxi driver drove away without any explanation. I found my lighter, lit the candle on the table, and figured there was nothing that could be done till daylight. I crawled under the mosquito net onto a rather un-comfortable bed made for midgets, and attempted to fall asleep to the sound of the night creatures. Welcome to India I thought to myself.

I was woken by the sound of a tropical dawn chorus. Then it hit me.. where the bloody hell was I!? I peered through what you could describe as a window, to find that I was surrounded by lush greenery, flowers, cactus's, and butterflies.. but there was not another soul around. I wandered around, but the community was like a ghost town.. apart from this little indian girl who showd me where the ladies washroom was, then disappeared like a mirage. I got slightly concerned about the lack of people, so packed a day bag and started walking to look for food & drinking water. The first thing I noticed was a gorgeous butterfly (a good omen! ;c), so I followed it up the track to find an old bearded western guy on a bike heading towards me. I flagged him down, and he gave me a lift to the EverGreen project, where a man called Dave greeted me with some tea. It turns out that 'Yap', the guy who gave me a lift, was one of the first 17 settlers here back in the 60s).

I'm now settled at EverGreen in a lovely shack (capsule), opposite the horse paddock. All is falling into place, and I'm beginning to realise why I am here. The project meetings have started, and I am currently in charge of designing the project site.. as well as helping with marketing and writing the curriculum. It's all very exciting, and I'm so happy to finally be using Permaculture tools and principles on a 'real' and worthwhile project.

More about 'The Project' in the next installment.. plus photo's to be uploaded too.

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Comments

[adrian]

wow !
Wow Cat, that all sounds rather amazing :-) nice to hear theres a world beyond hove !.... have a great time applying your skillz xxxxx

[deezel]

Nice one cat! Cant wait to hear about what the project intails... Probably a lot of shelter, and good use of rainwater? X X X Big Hugz X X X Got mark on the phone, his chestnut trees are doing well, and squirrel free, I told him Doug was having trouble with them eating phone lines. Meanwhile Zandas been reading us snippets from his new s.a.s urban survival guide, for when the appocalypse comes....

[alexibrow]

Yeeaaaahhhhh!!
Nice move re the taxi pick-up. I remember we did the same thing in Mumbai, would have been quite scary trying to negotiate a cab at 3am after long-haul from UK! Sounds like you're settling in nicely, look forward to reading more/seeing pics. Alxxx

[jody]

hippy land
...following butterflies down tracks to paradise... you got out of the London vibe pretty damn quick! Sounds amazing, so great you are doing something useful and not just backpacking like the rest of us lazy munters. I'll be sending my boyfriend out to you for a detox soon.... lotsa love xxx jody

[twirlly]

Wicked!
Wowsers... what a journey eh? Love the blog.. keep em coming... just remember though Cat - any bloke that tries anything on... its a kick in the BALLS. Haven't had to use that move yet... but you never know when it may come in handy...And believe me i've got a couple of stories to tell you where i've nearly had to use that method..... So be strong - power to us women out and about in the wilderness... (Ive just got out of Vancouver Island rainforest and had to deal with a dirty drug induced logging guy who knew i was alone in my mates cabin). Big love - can't wait to see picsXXX