"is that human shit in the middle of the street?"

this week has been overwhelming.

today was the first day we got to sleep in and it was fantassssstic. i woke up, made tea for myself, took a long shower under the bright, blue sky, and then biked over to the "tibetan pavilion" for a lunch fundraiser to fix up the pavilion before the dalai lama's visit in january. we had veggie dumplings, grated carrot salad, fresh cucumber and tomato salad, grated cabbage and green peppers, fried noodles, and interesting soups and breads for lunch. not as much a fan on the tibetan food, not going to lie. it actually tastes bland compared to all the indian food we've been eating, haha..

then we went to the visitor's center to look at more clothing and drink iced coffee. you have no idea how intensely fantastic it was to have an American-sized glass of coffee. when i woke up the first morning i realized one of my looming fears had come true... there was no coffee. only spiced "milk tea" was sitting on the breakfast table and after two large cups, i was still feeling drowsy and spaced-out. then our group met for a "check-in", which is basically a time for everyone to check themselves physically/emotionally/spiritually and report back to all the other girls, jake, bindu, and martin. as we went around the circle the first couple of days some people cried and talked about upset digestive systems, missing boyfriends and parents, and feeling overwhelmed. when it was my turn i said, "i know this might not seem like a big deal.. but it really is to me. there is NO COFFEE and i feel really out of it." and of course i also miss family, especially after hearing about the little get-together at kim and chris's new place.

besides the bugs, the layer of sweat that constantly covers my body, and only being able to get cups of coffee that are gone in two sips and taste like pure palm sugar, india has been wild and beautiful. yesterday we went to pondicherry, where we visited the sri aurobindo ashram, the lakshmi ashram, and all the clothing/art stores on the main streets. sri aurobindo and the "mother" (the two founders of auroville) are buried in the sri aurobindo ashram, so it was interesting to see all their admirers meditating and praying by their resting places. we also were blessed by an elephant at the lakshmi temple.. although i didn't get blessed officially because i tried to pet the elephant as he lifted his trunk to touch my head and he got distracted, haha.

the street vendors and beggars were WILD. some ladies approach you and physically push/elbow you until you notice them or give them some kind of response. lots of men followed us with mini chess boards, necklaces, and other trinkets, waiting to get a reaction from one of the many American girls filing down the busling alleyways. as i walked around the crumbling buildings and roads, i couldn't help but feel that it looked like the end of modern industrialization/mainstream product production. i know this is not the case, as india is becoming more industrialized each year, but it felt like the crumbling structures represented perhaps my expectations of india. not that my expectations are crumbling.. but that i expected a certain conquest of industrialization/modernization to exist since farming is still huge in india and many trades are still common. therefore the buildings represented what i expected in india. i don't know if that makes sense.. it is hard for me to explain.

anyways, the difference between the dress of men and women was quite evident as well. quite a few men walked around in tight, embroidered jeans and flashy t-shirts. almost all the women however wore saris and jasmine flowers hung from their pinned back hair. much more traditional and BEAUTIFUL! in the stores, everyone knew english and some people knew french as well. it seemed that most of the guys spoke more english and the women were less willing to speak with us. it is this way even with the local tamils who live in our village and the living routes community. kalai and nandu (spelling correct?), the guys who sleep above our bikes at night, have been slowly teaching us some basic tamil phrases and we have been helping them with their english grammar in return. gandimathy (spelling correct??!) and the other woman who cleans the Joy family's house seem more hesistant to interact with us though. for the most part (not all), women in auroville who are native indians are less willing to smile and shoot the shit with us so far..

the other people who live on "our" little compound is the Joy family. there is jason, laura, and jason's son and daughter. oh!- and they have two puppies and kittens as well! anyways, we played a variation of the game called "mafia" with them this past friday and it was really great. we played with two new aurovillians who were more our age, laslo (russian?) and nikolai (english), and the entire Joy family. laslo kind of looked like a pirate and nikolai was a very sweet guy who was dressed in quite unique attire. hopefully we'll continue our mafia and cookie time this friday as well because there was bushels of good, warm familial energy there!

this afternoon i did my laundry outside, read some of Siddhartha, made more tea, and talked to the other girls about why i was starting to feel a little overwhelmed by india. nothing major- i just felt a little homesick after reading e-mails and facebook messages from people. also, everyone pretty much agrees that it feels like we've been here and known each other for months, which is overwhelming to consider with the realization that this is only the first week. so at this point i am just looking forward to getting into more of a routine and starting my service learning project/research projects.

anyways, tonight we are celebrating jo and jenny's birthdays at the tibetan pavilion with a movie and hopefully some cake of the non-chocolate variety. :) and tomorrow morning we start tai chi with our smiley, perpetually shirtless instructor bright and early at 6:15 AM! wooooo. oh jeez... sans coffee. should be good though. i am excited to visit more places in auroville (like solitude farm!!) this week and to spend more time with people around the village.

in sum: there is no good coffee in india. with our loud dance music (MGMT, the knife, and grateful dead often blast through our small, tinny laptop speakers), hula hoops, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and tie dye tees we are slowly creating a lively, American microcosm of joyful, progessive energy in auroville!

to everyone who reads this: i hope you are well and smiling while reading this. much love!