Settling In

Jan 31

After getting ready for the day and jotting down my dreams from a night full of crickets and birds chirping, I rode into Kuilapayam, a small village 4 minutes from my hut. There I bought an adapter to plug in my electronics. I explored the area a little bit before heading to the Pitanga building for a morning yoga class.

I met up with Sean and some of his buddies for lunch at the Solar Kitchen. Sean and I decided to journey to Puducherry, a city about 15 minutes from Auroville. There we explored the third-world shops, got some ice cream, meandered through the fish market, and took plenty of photos. There was a small shop full of ancient, broken fans and a man sitting on the floor repairing them. I have no idea how someone can make a living out of that.

Back on the bike we noticed that the back tire was flat, but we quickly found a repair shop. There was an alley next to the repair shop with four young boys playing with spin tops. They were playful and tried to show off their moves, so I showed them some of mine (without using the toys). Soon I had a crowd of twelve kids and three adults, and I had a great time playing with them. The father of three of the kids told me to take pictures of his wife and children, and bragged about how he had sex with his wife and, clicking his tongue, popped out another kid. He couldn't speak English for beans but it was fun trying to talk with him anyway.

After Puducherry Sean and I went to the Auroville beach. At 4pm the place was packed and still very warm out. I can tell I'll be hanging out there a lot. A couple natives joined Sean and I for a chat, and then all their bros came and joined us. A drummer came up and played some beats for us and about ten of us danced in the sand. When the drummer asked for money the natives covered for us.

Sean and I had a nice dinner by the beach, and on our way out we noticed the bike was flat again. We each hitched rides back into town and met up at the Visitor's Center for the 9 o'clock French reggae concert. There were about 300 people, including fifty or so dancing in front of the stage. I was surprised to see so many beautiful girls. This really is paradise. I felt my heart opening while dancing; I am realizing more and more than I may not want to leave.

After the concert about twelve of us went to a field and played a drinking game. It was pitch black out other than the stars, moon, and a flashlight.

Feb 1

Meetings, chillage, beach, and a kick it at Sean's house where I got Sean, Carl and I to freestyle.

Feb 2

Meetings, hanging out by the banyan tree, and discussing my potential work opportunities.

Just started work today. it seems that the majority of my work, at least for the next few weeks, will involve cutting up fallen eucalyptus trees, loading them onto a huge cart with 7 Tamil natives, and taking them to our wood storage center which will be processed later to make new buildings and shaz. I'll also be helping out on other projects soon. I already have a few on new ventures to start up here, like a recreation and event center with events going on every afternoon and evening. Another thing I thought of would be to set up a volunteer center with a roof over a smooth floor to pitch tents under so that new volunteers can come and check out the place before deciding where they want to live and work in the community. This would help Auroville bring in more volunteers and organize them properly.