A few days ago we were taking a taxi to a nearby bus stand for a 2 hour trip to the next town, but were met with confusion by the taxi driver as to why we would take a bus ($1) when we could afford to take his taxi ($20) the entire 2 hours. Of course he was partially motivated by wanting our business, but there was also a little bit of genuine non-understanding. If I traveled like that I would have to go home next week! Yet I meet people almost daily that believe I have a never-ending cash supply. That's what it means to be American to many who have only dreamed of going there. The harsh reality awaits them if ever they make it stateside... it has all of the problems of unemployment, homelessness, etc that exist in their own countries. High-paying computer jobs are not necessarily awaiting them on arrival. Unfortunately explaining that to someone who desperately wants to emigrate falls on deaf ears.
We spent a few days in Ft. Cochin as well, a small island off the coast of Kerala with good food, plenty of atmosphere and oppressive heat, before moving on to Alleppey to arrange a backwater cruise. Much of Kerala is lush and green and filled with waterways collectively known as the backwaters... miles of canals that snake through little villages and coconut groves. It has become enormously popular to rent a houseboat for 24 hours which cruises slowly through the waterways, and comes with a friendly captain and talented chef. Most of the villagers also rely on the waterways for their transport, and there are ferries that ply the major routes, including school boats taking kids to and from school. It was a fun way to see this area, but also strange to be floating in our own private palace viewing life from our contained little bubble, eating amazing Keralan food. It was fun for a change, but I'm used to, and prefer, walking down the dusty streets and eating 10 cent samosas from street vendors.Getting short on time now and following Kim's desire to see a few things in Tamil Nadu we decided to step on it and get to the east coast for our last week together before she heads back to Kerala for school. First stop was Pondicherry, which was a French colony, and thus atmospheric and filled with some serious food. South India has amazing food, as I've told you before, but it's certainly nice to come across something different after eating the same things day after day. So eat we did... delicious seafood, crepes and good coffee. Pondicherry is probably most famous as the site of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Many of the cheaper hotels in the city are owned and run by the ashram as well, so we decided to stay at one and also check out the ashram. Sadly the people running our hotel were miserable wankers, all led by an 80-ish year old women with something incredibly large wedged up her ass. I wasn’t exactly inspired to dig any deeper into the ashram there, but Kim and I were both very curious about Auroville, an international community set up about 10 miles north. So there we headed, to see what it was all about.
Their mission statement: "Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity." It was started in the 60’s by the Mother, Sri Aurobindo’s French side-kick, and is a pretty interesting, if difficult, place. We had planned to volunteer there for a week in some manner which would help us to meet more people and hopefully gain a better feel and understanding of the place, which is pretty spread out and rural feeling. Unfortunately Kim ingested a nasty stomach bug around this time, which made her incredibly sick. I was willing to write it off as traveler's diarrhea except for the intense stomach pains and cramps, and severe body aches. Starting to worry about Malaria or typhoid we took a taxi to a nearby hospital to get some quick tests done and hopefully rule out anything serious.
I made it really clear to the doctors when we arrived that we were not yet interested in antibiotics or any serious medicine (she had only been sick about 2 days at this point, and usually the stomach will clear itself up within a few days). All we wanted was some tests done… they take some blood and usually you can come back later that day for the results. The doctor asked me to wait outside while they took blood, but after a minute or so of that, I decided I didn't trust them without me there and went back in to find her attached to an I.V. and a nurse holding a syringe up to her ass. The doctor then says that he wants to admit her. ‘What are you talking about!!!!!!!! You don’t even know what she has yet, she’s not dying!!!!!’ I lost it for a minute, but soon realized that maybe it was a lot easier to get her well fed here and nourished until she felt better, and also would be able to take quicker action if the test results came back positive.
I left her in their capable hands and went back to Auroville with the taxi to get my rented scooter so we weren’t stranded at the hospital. After showering, eating and driving back to the hospital I arrive to what looks like a cross between a war-zone hospital and a mental ward… a huge room filled with rows of single beds and sick Indian women staring at me wondering what the hell I’m doing… and am quickly accosted by two ‘nurses’ asking me where I’ve been and telling me I need to feed my sister, that she’s been waiting for me for hours.‘What??? Are you freakin’ crazy?!??! What the hell are YOU here for, isn’t that your job?’
‘No sir, your responsibility.’
‘But this is a hospital, you don’t feed your patients?’
‘No sir, and you also need to go to the pharmacy and pick up medicine and supplies for her I.V. drip.’
‘Maybe you should have told me when she was admitted?’
‘Not our problem sir.’
‘You guys are insane!!!! She’s been sitting here starving all day because…. AAARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!’
I decide to stop talking before my conversation with the bored and careless nurses turns into a full-fledged wrestling match. Can somebody please define hospital for me? If I’m providing the food and medicine why not just keep her at home? Isn’t that the very nature of a hospital? I stop contemplating these infuriating questions and head to the pharmacy and canteen, and then back up to the inhospitable hospital. They’re now asking her if she wants coffee, which I’m sure will be GREAT for her stomach cramps. And there’s no soap in the bathroom. Oh, it’s also my job to dispose of the trash, they won’t take it out of her room. Surely there are at least a FEW requirements that a facility must meet before being able to legally call itself a hospital? Not to mention the ‘nurses’, of which there were at least 5 on duty at all times filing each other’s nails.
Anyhoo, Kim was feeling better by day two, just a little runny doodie, and the tests all came back clean, so we skipped the antibiotics and screamed ‘smell ya later’ as we sped out of the ‘hospital’. The good news is that 2 nights there plus extensive blood and culture tests cost something like $40. So there ya go. We headed back to Auroville to try and get our head around that finally, but all we really came to understand was that is was beaurocratic and a little snobbish, pretty much the antithesis of it’s purpose. Even being there a week we found plenty of difficulty. Most places run on an account and don’t take cash, but they wouldn’t open an account for us for a stay of less than 10 days. More difficulty awaited while visiting the Matrimandir, a giant golden lotus meditation center, which looks like a golf ball.
Endless procedures and a healthy dose of attitude kept us out, and we didn’t have the patience or desire to stay another day or two and make it happen. After staying there a week I still can’t tell you how I feel about it, I certainly found it interesting as a concept, but can’t quite tell if the reality is something I can enjoy. It’s a little Heaven’s Gate-ish. And it would take a lot longer than a week for me to gain a good understanding and feeling of it. I didn’t hate it either, it certainly has something to it – a beautiful place, and very peaceful. I just won’t be moving there anytime soon. I think.http://www.auroville.org
Our last stop would be Mamallapuram, an okay beach community on the road to Chennai
with a dirty beach and okay food, but the highlight was visiting a children’s orphanage and playing with the kids for an hour, mostly with our cameras which naturally they love. Some of them borrowed my camera and were pretty interested and enthusiastic about it, reminding me of that amazing documentary that was out a year or so ago, ‘Born Into Brothels’… if you haven’t seen it you should, what an incredible film.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388789/
On to Chennai, where Kim and I would head separate ways!!! She took a train and arrived back in Kerala today, and I flew to the Andaman Islands, and am now sitting in Port Blair! I still can’t believe I’m here but am really excited to spend the next month exploring the islands and investigating the underwater life which is supposedly incredible… stay tuned. I tried to find the plastic underwater case for my camera while in Chennai, but it just wasn’t possible. How amazing would it be to have pictures and videos of the reefs and fish! Oh well.
SOME BAD NEWS
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/11/international/asia/11kites.html?hp&ex=1142053200&en=3c2cded9c3c9f61f&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Note the last commenters organization name... wow.I would liken this to prohibition in the U.S. I’m no expert, but I’m expecting riots. Do they really think nobody will fly kites? People LOVE kites in that part of the world.
SOME GOOD NEWS
I was able to upload some recent photos…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wesolson/sets/72057594078207691/
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/opinion/12jaffrey.html?th&emc=th
I’ve heard about these… bring on the Alphonsos!
An interview with Imran Saithna, one of the volunteers I was with in Pakistan…
http://radio.un.org/story.asp?NewsID=3738&KW_txt=nomad%20volunteers
OK, I’m off to give myself something else to write to you about.. hopefully more positive. The last month has been filled with unfulfilled attempts… hugless hugs from the Hugging Mother, ashram-less visits to ashrams… this trend has got to end!
Wes
