Late on Thursday night, I walked with a friend up to the junction in Aranmula, where I lived at the cultural centre, to depart for (what I expect to be) the last time this trip. As we crossed the street, we were blinded by the headlights of what turned out to be a bus to Chengannur, where the train station is. I had been told the buses stopped running almost two hours earlier and planned to take a rickshaw. The bus flew by without stopping, so I had to take a rickshaw anyway (at about 15 times what the bus would have cost). But I was excited-- as we arrived in Chengannur, I could see that Oven Fresh was lit up and full of people. I had just discovered Oven Fresh the day before and didn't expect to eat there again, since I was leaving. The first time there, I had the best fresh squeezed carrot-apple juice and the most delicious samosas I've ever had in my life. I had told the driver I was going to the railway station, but I tapped him on the shoulder and got him to pull over (it's just a block or two away). They were out of samosas and apples, but the carrot juice was a perfect pre-train treat.
The train station was jammed full of Sabarimala pilgrims on their way home from Ayyappa's temple. They have turned out to be one of my favorite parts of India. I should write a proper post about it sometime. Even better, I have to find a way to post music. I bought a CD of Ayyappa devotional songs. That music is the best representation of my experience of India.
I slept for eight hours on the train. I was in 3AC because Sleeper class was full when I bought my tickets. The cars are exactly the same configuration, but 3AC has air conditioning (which is unnecessary and I don't like it) and the windows have awful tinting on them so you can hardly see out. As usual, I spent most of the morning sitting at the end of the car, where the door is, looking out as we speed by India. The Konkan Railway is supposed to be one of the most scenic in India. I believe it.
I changed trains in Mangalore. I had a few hours, so I checked my bag at the cloak room and went for a walk. I found a temple to Sree Muthappan, who I don't really know much about, but with the synchronous way things seem to be going lately, I'm sure I'll find out more soon. They gave me the best prasad (prasad is food that has been offered to a god or a guru; because it has been offered, it is now blessed and given as a gift to devotees). It was like trail mix: shaved coconut, some sort of puffed grain, grapes, raisins, banana slices, and chunks of rock sugar (I didn't eat that part).
Back at the train station, I was trying to sort out which cars were unreserved on my train (for short daytime rides you can buy an unreserved ticket the day of travel-- great because you don't have to plan ahead but tricky because you may have to scrap for a seat). Earlier I had asked a few questions at the station information desk and befriended the old guys working there. They were quite impressed with my churidar (my Indian clothing) and my height. "How tall you are? 180? Must be 180?" They of course use centimeters here. I told I thought I was about 177, definitely 5'9". One of the guys said, "I am 5'9", but you are taller than me. You have to duck at the window!" (I was talking to them through a plexiglass window.) They were also quite pleased that I was a teacher-- and a Mathematics teacher at that. That always goes over well here in India. They truly value education. (As always, that could/should be a whole post of its own.) So anyway, I'm trying to find an unreserved car, when I hear someone chuckling, "Mathematics teacher." It's one of the men from the information desk. I ask him which car I should get on and he says, "Here I show you. You want good travel companion?" "Of course!" I laugh. He escorts me to the very end of the train, to the women's only carriage. I had heard there were women only cars on trains, but I hadn't been on one yet. It's at the very end of the train, and the door between the cars is blocked so no one can get in or out of the car except at stations. There he introduced me to two other travelers, a woman from London and her four year old daughter. They were headed to the same station I was, and we had a very pleasant trip together.
I am in Gokarna now. More on the town later. I had a great breakfast; possibly the best sambar I've had yet (with a vegetable called "dendli" in it. That's the Hindi name; I need to find out the English name). I complimented the sambar so profusely, the owner brought me more. Then I got him to give me a Hindi lesson. Important questions like, "Who is the god of this temple?" and "May I enter this temple?"
If you haven't already, be sure to check out my last post and the fantastic pictures Martin posted. Also, take the time to read his comments on them. Good explanations, and most (but not quite all) of it is exactly what I would have said anyway....
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
India pictures!
So I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, thinking of all the amazing things that have happened in the last week or two and wondering how I was ever going to get my blog caught up.... There are so many things I'd like to tell you! But internet access during my eight days at the ashram was really limited and then I had a few busy days back in Aranmula, taking care of stuff (like shipping a package and finishing the essays I wrote back in September for my grad school app).
But then, something great happened! (The last two weeks or so, since New Year's Eve, have been so synchronous... it's great.) My friend Martin took the time to wade through about 108 thousand pictures, pick some good ones, compress them, write comments, and post them on his blog.... it's a good summary of my time at the cultural centre and since I actually took many of the pictures, Martin said I could post the links here! Look closely: you might just see the village elephant or me wearing a sari for the first time or me in disguise as Hanuman.....
Here and more here
But then, something great happened! (The last two weeks or so, since New Year's Eve, have been so synchronous... it's great.) My friend Martin took the time to wade through about 108 thousand pictures, pick some good ones, compress them, write comments, and post them on his blog.... it's a good summary of my time at the cultural centre and since I actually took many of the pictures, Martin said I could post the links here! Look closely: you might just see the village elephant or me wearing a sari for the first time or me in disguise as Hanuman.....
Here and more here
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Vacation
I realized Sunday morning that I was on vacation. I was sitting outside my cute little hotel room, on a cute little veranda, swinging on a hammock under palm trees listening to sea gulls and breaking waves. I may have been traveling for three months, but this weekend was a vacation.
Varkala is a beach town completely geared for Westerners. Restaurants and shops line the spectacular cliff and crooked stairs lead down to the water and two little beaches. We spent an afternoon playing in the waves-- the current is strong. I love that feeling of exhaustion after swimming in the ocean.
Our train on Friday evening was more than two hours late arriving. The ride itself was only about an hour and a half. Martin and I entertained ourselves on the train platform doing mental math (we were solving quadratic equations and converting numbers to binary). Time flew!
I have more I want to write about good food and how speaking the language (or having a friend who does) makes the experience that much better, but I just got the two minute warning. I am now at Amma's ashram and internet time is very, very limited. Like wait an hour in line for 30 minutes of access. There seem to be about eight computers and something like 3000 residents on the ashram. So, don't expect updates for a few days!
Varkala is a beach town completely geared for Westerners. Restaurants and shops line the spectacular cliff and crooked stairs lead down to the water and two little beaches. We spent an afternoon playing in the waves-- the current is strong. I love that feeling of exhaustion after swimming in the ocean.
Our train on Friday evening was more than two hours late arriving. The ride itself was only about an hour and a half. Martin and I entertained ourselves on the train platform doing mental math (we were solving quadratic equations and converting numbers to binary). Time flew!
I have more I want to write about good food and how speaking the language (or having a friend who does) makes the experience that much better, but I just got the two minute warning. I am now at Amma's ashram and internet time is very, very limited. Like wait an hour in line for 30 minutes of access. There seem to be about eight computers and something like 3000 residents on the ashram. So, don't expect updates for a few days!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Abundance
I know it must be hard to believe that I leave any details out of my epic blog posts, but... I do! Sometimes intentionally, but sometimes because I forget... in the latter case, when I wrote the post about the Laundry Stone, I was going to say something about water and energy usage when hand washing laundry. I know my energy consumption-- in terms of electricity-- has decreased, hand washing and air drying my clothes. I started to say that my "Brianna energy consumption" has increased, but I don't think that's really true. Considering how little clothing I have with me, if I wash what I wear each day, it doesn't take any more time or effort than dealing with machine washing, drying and folding loads and loads of laundry at home.
Sometimes I can't believe how much water it takes to wash my clothes. I'm pretty sure it is still less than a washing machine, but when you are standing there filling up a bucket and then dumping it out.... you really see how much water gets used, mostly for rinsing the soap out. I'll admit it's satisfying to see the dirt in the first bucket of water: makes me realize that my clothes really are cleaner now!
The style of toilets and showers common here reduce water usage as well. Some squat toilets flush, just like Western toilets, but most have a faucet and little bucket that you fill and use to rinse the toilet-- way less water than the gallons needed to flush the toilets we are used to using.
The last week and a half, since leaving the centre, I've been enjoying bucket showers. Many cheap hotels here do not have hot water that comes from the shower head, so if you want hot water, you have to fill up a bucket and scoop the water over yourself. Others don't have a shower head at all (or hot water for that matter), so I've had a lot of bucket showers lately. Interestingly, bucket showers still feel good, I still get clean, and I know I am using significantly less water than during a normal shower. It's amazing how little water you actually need to soap up and rinse off.
(I just heard a loud "moooo" and looked up to see a guy walking along wheeling his bicycle with one hand and holding the rope for his cow with the other. Guess it's hard to ride your bike in traffic and walk a cow at the same time, although it's about the only thing I haven't seen someone do on a bike in India-- from woman riding side-saddle in a sari behind the driver to men with a load of egg crates higher than my head strapped on the back).
One of the things I love about backpacking is that it reminds me how little stuff I really need. I can carry everything I need in my pack. And at that, I still have about twice as much stuff as I really need. I played a game yesterday: I took everything in my pack and made two piles, one with stuff I had used in the last week and one with everything I hadn't. Guess which pile was bigger! I'm still struggling to weed stuff out of my pack, though, because my brain keeps thinking "what about this hypothetical scenario" or "what if this happens." It's amazing how busy it can keep itself.
When backpacking, a good rule is that everything in your pack should serve at least two purposes. You also find how you can make do is almost any situation. I noticed both of these principles in action on the farms in Italy. There was very little running out to buy something to solve a problem. A solution-- a good one-- could almost always be found/made/put together with stuff already on hand. And everything served multiple purposes: there wasn't a table to cooking, one for eating, a desk for writing, a computer desk, a place to fold laundry, etc etc etc ad nauseam. One table could serve all those purposes. And here's the funny thing: when you do that, you are not doing without. Typically, I've noticed, you wind up with MORE because you aren't spending energy (attention, time, and money) investing in and keeping track of all that stuff (notice: I keep saying "stuff", but there's another word I keep thinking....). As for my pack, less stuff means much more happiness because whatever I have, I am carrying! Being wisely frugal-- simplifying-- leads to abundance.
Now notice, I said frugal, not miserly. There is a point at which the scales tip and go the other way. When life is too cramped or you don't have the things you need. But I'm pretty sure most of us writing and reading this blog don't have that problem. The thing is, by simplifying, when you really do need something, you have the space (and money) to get it. And the crazy thing, about traveling in this day and age of inernet cafes and guide books, is that, even in a village in India, when you need something you don't have-- which you will, no matter how much stuff you carry (who ever thought I'd need bobby pins India?)-- you can buy it! And that experience will almost always be more entertaining than lugging it about all over creation.
(Speaking of conserving, this internet cafe-- with its three computers--turns off the monitors between users!)
Happy New Year (again!)
Sometimes I can't believe how much water it takes to wash my clothes. I'm pretty sure it is still less than a washing machine, but when you are standing there filling up a bucket and then dumping it out.... you really see how much water gets used, mostly for rinsing the soap out. I'll admit it's satisfying to see the dirt in the first bucket of water: makes me realize that my clothes really are cleaner now!
The style of toilets and showers common here reduce water usage as well. Some squat toilets flush, just like Western toilets, but most have a faucet and little bucket that you fill and use to rinse the toilet-- way less water than the gallons needed to flush the toilets we are used to using.
The last week and a half, since leaving the centre, I've been enjoying bucket showers. Many cheap hotels here do not have hot water that comes from the shower head, so if you want hot water, you have to fill up a bucket and scoop the water over yourself. Others don't have a shower head at all (or hot water for that matter), so I've had a lot of bucket showers lately. Interestingly, bucket showers still feel good, I still get clean, and I know I am using significantly less water than during a normal shower. It's amazing how little water you actually need to soap up and rinse off.
(I just heard a loud "moooo" and looked up to see a guy walking along wheeling his bicycle with one hand and holding the rope for his cow with the other. Guess it's hard to ride your bike in traffic and walk a cow at the same time, although it's about the only thing I haven't seen someone do on a bike in India-- from woman riding side-saddle in a sari behind the driver to men with a load of egg crates higher than my head strapped on the back).
One of the things I love about backpacking is that it reminds me how little stuff I really need. I can carry everything I need in my pack. And at that, I still have about twice as much stuff as I really need. I played a game yesterday: I took everything in my pack and made two piles, one with stuff I had used in the last week and one with everything I hadn't. Guess which pile was bigger! I'm still struggling to weed stuff out of my pack, though, because my brain keeps thinking "what about this hypothetical scenario" or "what if this happens." It's amazing how busy it can keep itself.
When backpacking, a good rule is that everything in your pack should serve at least two purposes. You also find how you can make do is almost any situation. I noticed both of these principles in action on the farms in Italy. There was very little running out to buy something to solve a problem. A solution-- a good one-- could almost always be found/made/put together with stuff already on hand. And everything served multiple purposes: there wasn't a table to cooking, one for eating, a desk for writing, a computer desk, a place to fold laundry, etc etc etc ad nauseam. One table could serve all those purposes. And here's the funny thing: when you do that, you are not doing without. Typically, I've noticed, you wind up with MORE because you aren't spending energy (attention, time, and money) investing in and keeping track of all that stuff (notice: I keep saying "stuff", but there's another word I keep thinking....). As for my pack, less stuff means much more happiness because whatever I have, I am carrying! Being wisely frugal-- simplifying-- leads to abundance.
Now notice, I said frugal, not miserly. There is a point at which the scales tip and go the other way. When life is too cramped or you don't have the things you need. But I'm pretty sure most of us writing and reading this blog don't have that problem. The thing is, by simplifying, when you really do need something, you have the space (and money) to get it. And the crazy thing, about traveling in this day and age of inernet cafes and guide books, is that, even in a village in India, when you need something you don't have-- which you will, no matter how much stuff you carry (who ever thought I'd need bobby pins India?)-- you can buy it! And that experience will almost always be more entertaining than lugging it about all over creation.
(Speaking of conserving, this internet cafe-- with its three computers--turns off the monitors between users!)
Happy New Year (again!)
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