Vanakkam!
Saturday morning, we set out bright and early at 6:45 am. We all piled onto the buses and began our journey to a place called Auroville, which was on the way to Pondicherry. I seriously never get tired of looking out the window here. India is so diverse and so foreign. I am going to do an entire blog post dedicated to describing this crazy land, but for now, just know that it is incredibly fascinating.
After a few wrong turns and a bit of miscommunication, we finally arrived in Auroville.
We really didn't know what to expect from the town, but we knew that there was a golden temple there, so we decided to go looking for that. We had no idea where to go or what the temple was called, but we saw signs pointing in one direction and decided to start by going that way. We walked along this beautiful pathway for quite a while.
We got about 1/4 of a mile up the path, when we were stopped by a man who asked us for our passes. We told him we didn't have passes, so he made us turn around and go back so we could get our free passes. Yep, free. We don't know why we needed them so badly. However, in order to get our passes, we had to watch a short video about Auroville and the temple. It explained how Auroville is supposed to be an idyllic town where people come to learn to concentrate. It said something about how the temple was actually the soul of the town and they had rejected all religion. It was all very weird.
Finally, we were able to head back up the path and go see the temple. In front of the temple, there was this unbelievably incredible banyon tree that I was so fascinated with.
Here are all the long term volunteers in front of the temple. It looks like a gold version of the Epcot dome in Disneyworld. The landscaping and surroundings were so beautiful.
Carl, Julie, Callie, Dane, Danielle, and Me
There was this beautiful bowl of Plumeria flowers floating in water. We weren't sure what the purpose was, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.
After lots of photos in front of the temple, we all walked back and piled on the buses to head to Pondicherry.
When we arrived, we decided our meeting point was going to be the giant Ghandi statue on the beach. This statue was probably about 10 feet tall, and was so amazing.
There were a ton of people gathered around the statue when we got there, so we went over to see what the commotion was all about. We discovered they were filming a Bollywood movie, so we stayed and watched for a moment. I had no idea what they were saying, but it was so funny to see the crowd laughing at the jokes and enjoying that moment.
We then decided it was time for lunch, so we went in search of an Italian restaurant we had read about online called Don Giovanni's. However, we're not very savvy navigators here in India, so we got a bit lost. It was ok, though, because we got to see a bit of the city.
After literally wandering around back and forth in front of the building, we finally found the right place. We went in to this beautiful, open-air atmosphere. We were greeted by the owner/chef, Max. He sat down with us and took our order and asked where we were from. When Julie and Callie said they were from California, he went to the back and changed the music to "California Dreamin'". He continued to sit and talk with us for a large portion of the meal. He was so funny, personable, and wonderful. We ate delicious food, sat, talked, laughed, and enjoyed the view in that restaurant for almost 3 hours.
On the way back to the bus, we met up with a bunch of the other volunteers at a cute little French pastry shop. We talked and enjoyed some milkshakes and coconut cookies.
The day was wonderful and peaceful. It was fun to just enjoy each other's company and relax for an afternoon. I love all the things I am able to experience here in India, and I love my little home at Rising Star with all my heart. Oh, and I love all of you.
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