IiIiiIiIiIIi Aaaaaaaam the raaaaaiin! Jan-29-06

Hello! So, it's been about a week and a half.... I owe a gracious "Thank you" to all the wonderful people of India who recieved the last e-mail and did not correct me: The State of Gujarat is on the Arabian Sea, not the Indian Ocean... sorry to everyone who I lead astray... Anyhow, I am still among the diaspora, exiled from Bangalore... I am in Gujarat still and came down to an ashram here in a small town called "Vasad" (I bet even the Gujaratis don't know where that is!-- It's a "one-internet-cafe" type of town...) Anyhow, I am smack in the middle between Vadodara (Badura) and Anand, which is Gujarat's big college town... about 45 minutes from either.... this is the Art of Living Gujarat Ashram... it's situated on a very nice and calm river, and the countryside here is wonderful... big dusty hills with deep, sharp chasms between them in every direction... I'm guessing this is from the water drain patterns during the monsoon season, since the soil is so grainy.... This ashram is super laid back, and I don't envy not being able to be in Bangalore: word came across two days ago that about 600 people are there now, in within a week, it will be closer to 4000... here in Gujarat, we are a humble twenty now that the last big course of Youth Leadership Training let out.... I've attached a few pictures from my more-low-end-then-expected 25 dollar digital camera... :) one is me doing laundry manually for the first time in my life... and exhausting four-or-so hour process which involves ringong clothes out at least once... there are pictures where I look happier doing this, but I figured you wouldn't want to see pictures of me being happy.... Another picture is a poor attempt at capturing the beauty of this place with a 25 dollar camera... this is the kutir (room) of the founder of the Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar... I took a few photos of the landscapes here, but they didn't come out... beautiful flower beds look like dustings of color... this picture is at least of something so beautiful that it can't be mistaken for mundane :) The last picture I tok while riding in an autorickshaw in Ahmedabad... it's a brahmin cow eating out of a dumpster while someone empties their trash... I figured I'd throw in some of the wax poetic... :) Cool experiences:1- The gujarati thali.... WOW... totally different from "eating Indian" in the states... the basics are the same: Big silver tray with 5 or 6 small bowls of different dishes... but in the States, it ends there... in India: two or three men take turns watching you while you eat (and in my case, we exchange short lessons in each others' languages) as soon as you finish a dish, this guy that's watching you east emphatically squaks to some boys to quickly come and bring you more of whatever you just finished... you have to plead with them over and over again to not bring you any more food while you finish what's already on your plate.... All for about Rs. 80 (a little under $2) for the finest cuisine in the cleanest restaurants.... totally a must :)2- the animal life: Every morning I am graced with loud "Meows" while doing my morning yoga... no, no.... not felines.... however, these sound more like loud housecats than I've ever heard a human imitate (or a parrot!) What is this strange wildlife? Peacocks! Peacocks descend on the ashram from dusk to dawn every day... they act a little like chickens with manners, they are totally beautiful, and they apparently make two noises: They Meow and they make a deer-call... what confused poultry.... Camels pull carriages on the roads here, which gave me a strange kick when I first saw them in Ahmedabad (the pictures didn't come out, sorry) Between the Indian Buffalo, the Brahmin Cows, and the Camels, I was really amused to realize that when a horse-drawn carriage went down the street, THAT was what the locals thoughtwas extravagant... Lastly, there are my lunch companions... the mongeese (mongooses?) these cute little critters give you a longing gaze before you eat your last ball of rice or bite of chapatti, hoping for anything you'll throw to them.... 3- the seva (service) I apparently made everyone at the ashram think I was a whiner by asking (my first day, after spending two hours in the sun and turning red through and through) to not do any more outdoor work until I bought some sunscreen. So, becuase I have thus convinced them that I am a whiner, I have a real easy workload while in Gujarat... my job: Water two lawns and the potting nursery.... it takes between 2 and three hours every day, and I'm free the rest of the day to relax, study... I do more yoga and meditation here than I do service work... an interesting and welcome twist... I am the rain :) So, if I had something else to add, I forgot it... I'll be leaving here within a week, I suspect and heading south to Bangalore.... As far as studying, I finished "Age of Kali" by William Dalrymple, a totally awesome socio-political travelogue.... butt-kicking through and through... I've also burnt through half a dozen batteries using my mp3 player here... the american batteries lasted fine, but I found that I can easily use up a whole AAA Indian battery in one day, as it only fuels my mp3 player for about four or five hours, leaving me dancing to my own drummer.... :( Anyway. no monkeys here, but I'll keep you up-to-date if I come across cooler forms of wildlife... my eyes bulged yesterday when the ashram finance director told me about the panther... "Oh.... don't worry.... don't WORRY!" he said.... I walked away, muttering to myself.....