3.05.09
Left the ship in the early morning by A/C bus for a village just outside Chennai. We stopped and looked at different temples (Temple to Shiva, Shore Temple) and saw the five Rathas (Chariots of the Gods). The Rathas were beautiful, stone temples from over 600 years ago, still well preserved. We also saw the largest stone carving of the penance of an Indian man who stood holding a stone for thousands of years in order for Shiva to ask Ganga (the goddess of water) to come down to earth, which she eventually did and became the Ganges River.
Slums along the beach
Auto-Rickshaw... DANGER!
At the Five Rathas
All along the way, vendors kept approaching us and trying to sell their wares. It was sort of ridiculous.
Finally, we came to DakshinaChitra, an art village that was put together by an American woman and her Indian husband. The village was meant as a way to preserve the art culture of South India, and they even had houses from each of the four states deconstructed and reconstructed at DakshinaChitra. DakshinaChitra means "the painting".
Once there, we were shown to our quarters, which were simple three person rooms with a bathroom. I was set up in a room with Taylor and Bill, two new people I grew to know. Bill is in one of my classes, and Taylor I had seen around. And we soon learned we were one of the only rooms with A/C. The other rooms envied us and frequented our room for some refreshing, cool air.
After finding our rooms, we were treated to Samosas, delicious baked pockets of curried veggies and potatoes. There was also a sweet chutney (sauce) and orange juice that tasted like drinking an orange.
We then went to our first Art of Living class. It was an hour and a half of introductions and learning breathing techniques. Pramayana. Or something like that. Three levels, putting hands on the hips, the armpits/chest, and behind the head and then breathing in for four counts, holding for four, breathing out for six, and holding for two, then repeating about eight times for each level. It was intense breathing.
Had dinner, which was delicious. A bunch of different things I did not know. But they tasted good. And it was served on a banana leaf! So cool!
After dinner, a women came and told us stories about love, Ganesha, Shiva, the moon; It was a good time.
Went to bed in our A/C room. Got cool enough I had to get under the sheets. That's right. My arms got cold. Everyone sweated to sleep.
3.06.08
Woke up at 6:00 in the morning for cocoa. Delicious, of course. Then had more AoL at 7:00 until 8:30. Did yoga stretching. More breathing. Eye closed the whole time.
Then we moved on to breakfast, our second AoL session of the day (with more intense breathing) where we did slow, medium, quick breathing (So Hum), which led to trance like states were thoughts were gone and people were passing out. Unfortunately, my mind is too crazy. So I never passed out or went into a trance or whatever other crazy things people did. But that's okay. Still a good time.
Then we had lunch, got to walk about the village, bought tons of stuff, found a glass worker, and we basically cleaned him out. We got to see a lot of people working on different things, such as a potter, a sari weaver, fortune tellers, and lots of other craftsman.
After that we got juice and snacks. Then went to our four hour long evening AoL session with lots more breathing techniques, a nice peaceful walk through the village observing nature, and learned more about the entire Art of Living course world. During the end of the session, we had another trance/sleeping part with our eyes closed. Out of nowhere, booming noises burst throughout the area. It sounded like we were being bombed. Then a dog barked, and suddenly it was clear someone was shooting off fireworks somewhere.
Where AoL sessions were held
After that we had dinner and met a new friend, James. He was a dog that sat by us at dinner, barked at fireworks, and slowly got closer and closer to us. We named him James Ubuntu Soma. Then we noticed James was actually a girl. And the workers named her Gobal. So her full name became James "Gobal" Ubuntu Soma. She was a good friend.
After dinner, we walked back to our rooms and James followed. Very loyal.
3.07.09
Again we woke up at 6:00, had cocoa, morning session, breakfast, second morning session, lunch, then we watched a video with the creator of the Art of Living talking about the five arrows of love, got to walk around the village again, enjoyed talking with the glass man, and searching for our dog friends, which had become more than just James. We had met James's friend Cyndi Sudies. Cyndi was a guy. And we felt bad for picking the wrong name for James, so we picked the wrong name for Cyndi, too. They're good friends though, so they didn't mind.
Then we enjoyed the singing and dancing of the Satsang singers, who were teachers and participators in the Art of Living as well. We danced and sang with them. It was quite fun!
After that we were allowed more free time before our last session.
Our last session was three hours long, and we did much more community building and learning to accept each other and the world around us. We danced with our eyes closed, we exchanged small gifts, we formed groups and told stories, we sat across from each, stared into each others eyes, and accepted each other. It was fun and eye-opening. It was definitely a great way to end the entire experience.
We had our last dinner together, then boarded the buses, and returned to the ship. And since it was late, we made plans for breakfast the next day, and went to bed.
I took my first real shower in three days, too! It was nice to be clean again!
3.08.09
Woke up early for some adventure!
AUTO-RICKSHAW!
Crazy. Almost got hit by five buses. Here in India, they drive on the left side. Most of the time. Maybe 60% or so. The other 40% is spent driving backwards after missing a turn and driving in the other lane to get around buses, which also happen to be heading towards you in that lane, so then it suddenly becomes a test of skill and reaction time for the driver who speeds ahead towards the bus, only to squeeze through the two buses at the last moment and narrowly miss two motorcycles and a sedan all at the same time. It's intense. Also, with driving, lanes on each side do not actually exist. If you can fit between cars you go.
City Center - walked into slums on accident. Slowly moved further away from main streets. Eventually found way back to street. Sad to see all the garbage piles, shacks, and people, but they all mostly seemed happy. Smiling, laughing, enjoying themselves. It was depression, but almost relieving and envious as well.
Street vendors/shops.
Getting rickshaw to Spencer Plaza. "50 Rupees to Spencer Plaza" Just leaves.
Spencer Plaza Mall
Food Court - Swarm of guys with menus for their food place. Swatting them all off. Attempting to declare our choice. Hussain gets angry at the Just Juice guys.
Awesome Chicken Tikka and Chicken Masala and Tandoori Chicken and Garlic Butter Naan. So delicious.
Did shopping.
Grocery Store. Kurkure! Masala Munch! Apple Fanta! Spending less than 200 Rupees on 3.2 liters of Fanta, 100 grams of chocolate, two bags of Kurkure Masala Munch! 200 rupees equal 4 dollars.
Took rickshaw back to port. Disha fighting for 150 rupees. Guy wants 200. Disha and Hussain bartering lower, but guy says, "It's far! 30 km!" So I'm just like, "200 Rupees is fine." That's one dollar a piece.
Cooled off.
Rickshawed to find an Apple Store that wasn't actually an Apple Store or open. Went back to Spencer's. 20 Rs/minute international calling. Jessica. Cheap books. Chi Yuan, Chinacy Star, Converse knock-offs.
Began play of the Rickshaw game.
Went to find Mystic Masala. Never found. Went to Mocha Cafe instead. Great Indian Wrap, fries, Hookah, Mt. Brownie. Weird service. Rickshawed back.
Sleep.
3.09.09
Woke up early again. Got breakfast on the ship and set out. Met up with Johnny, the awesome Auto-rickshaw driver, as told to us by fellow SASers. He set us up with two drivers (for nine people). Unfortunately, they weren't as great as Johnny's supposed to be.
We went to the Shiva temple. It was a large outdoor temple consumed by color. All the gods and goddesses, walls, and tiles were colorful. It was incredible. There was incense burning everywhere, people praying, and a wedding reception. It was quite a sight to see.
After that we argued with our driver to take us back to Mocha Cafe, which, according to him, did not open until noon (it being 10:30), and he wanted to take us to his friends' shops. We said no and he took us to Mocha. Then we argued about the price. He decided to double it for us. It was a long disagreement and we basically just gave him money and left. And then guess what? Mocha had already opened. And it was just 11:00. Oh my! Drivers lie to you get you to spend time at shops while waiting for things to open. Our drivers to Spencer's Mall did that too, but we insisted, "Just take us there. We'll wait for it to open". Of course, when we got there it was open.
And here at Mocha I sit. Typing. Attempting to update you all on my life. We leave at 8:00 tonight, have five days at sea (tomorrow a day off to just rest), and then we will be in Thailand. And between arriving in Thailand and leaving Japan, we will have just about a month and only six days of class. It's gonna be AWESOME! And I'm sorry mother, but I will be purchasing a Katana sword in Japan. But don't worry, I'm shipping it home to Dad's. So you don't have to worry about it showing up at your house and it jumping out of the box while you sleep. Hee hee.
Thoughts on India:
Loved it. It was definitely a land of extremes. You'd have high population city centers with malls, cinemas, and restaurants right next to slums filled with landfills, dirt, shacks, and impoverished people. It was intense to see it all, but it was a wonderful experience.
The food was spectacular. At the Art of Living trip, we eat entirely vegetarian, and I didn't really care. So many flavors, colors, textures, it was amazing. And bread is awesome. Food in Chennai was good, too. Didn't get much authentic food, but did eat Punjabi (North Indian) food at the mall. The Garlic Butter Naan was just what I had dreamed of. So good.
The people were so nice. People helped us find our way around the city, the mall, and at the village. The only people that weren't so great were the rickshaw drivers. We relatively lucky considering the other stories we had heard, but they always seemed to be trying to cheat you out of money.
Problems with India. Incredibly dirty. Dust, dirt clouds, everywhere trash, the water (such as rivers, streams, etc) were disgusting. So it was definitely not the prettiest in terms of nature and appearance. At least Chennai. DakshinaChitra was pretty clean.
Funny picture:
Hussain with a dot:
