The Oasis Pondicherry

... br><br>Tomorrow we have the day off for Ramadan. It&#8217;s a month long festival in the Islamic calendar where Muslims fast and eat only before sunrise and after sunset. The fasting is to help teach patience and self-disciple along with many other things. Tomorrow marks the end of the month so many people will be feasting and celebrating. I asked one of the guys that I live with who is a Muslim from Afghanistan about it. I think the idea ...

... nicht fuer die ganze Stadt, aber doch fuer einen Grossteil, vor allem der Teil zum Meer hin.<br><br>Nach dem ueblichen auspacken und ausruhen Prozedere, hab ich mich aufgemacht, die Stadt zu erkunden. Hier ist es so einfach, die Strassen zu ueberqueren, ohne dauernd in Lebensgefahr zu schweben...wie angenehm !<br>Vom Gaestehaus sind es nur ein paar Minuten bis zur Strandpromenade. Das auffaelligste dort ist die 4 ...

... and none of us know Tamil. We really can&#8217;t communicate effectively with them. They are all very nice but it&#8217;s just hard sometimes to live around these people that essentially work for us knowing they have such rough lives. The other day one of them put a metal bowl in the microwave and we had to try to explain to her that metal cannot be put in there. It&#8217;s amazing how differently we live from each other ...

... the Tsunami. Very beautiful people that deserve so much more and I hope that we can bring a small amount joy to them. Tomorrow will be the first day of work, so we will see how it goes. There will be 6 hours of work each day and time spent getting to know the villagers, including play time with the children. We are lucky to have translators on site to help with the communication. Hope to include pics tomorrow.

Lundi 04 mai Nous avons trouver une tres belle maison coloniale,tenue par des francais, pour sejourner qq jours. Lorsque l'on se ballade en ville, la premiere reflection qui nous vient a l'esprit c'est qu'il y a des trottoirs, que la ville est propre, calme et ombragee. Germain rencontre un Francais vivant a Pondy, Jean paul. On se laisse facilement entrainer par ce dernier dans son Rikshow bleu au travers de la ville. Nous avons trouve un super guide et qui a ...

... or interesting documentaries and vegan food is offered complimentary to any visitors or Aurovilians who come to a tour of the property. After this there was a bonfire where some musical instruments came out and people were playing a harmonium,a didgeridoo and also a drum. A couple of people went for a late night mud bath. Being around the people in the community, you very quickly get the feeling that you would like to stay there long ter and contribute.<br><br ...

... pretty physical shift as we are digging land out of one area for it to fill up with water to raise the water table when the monsoons start and stamping down the dirt in the walk way areas to raise the walk way several feet to help guide the water into the ditches we have dug out. Needless to say, our bodies got worked every first shift. The second shift I tried to volunteer for as many different shifts as possible so that I could learn as much as possible. As I ...

Pondicherry, what can you say, the quintessential French quarter of India. We arrived early evening by ambassador saloon after a non to pleasant train journey. Emily had taken the full brunt of Delhi belly and had spent the journey locked in the odious and pungent train loos losing fluids from all ends. That picture still darkens my thoughts to this day. Requiring a clean sterile and ...

... is to realize human unity.... In the inauguration ceremony attended by delegates of 124 nations on 28 February 1968, The Mother gave Auroville its 4-point Charter setting forth her vision of Integral living: 1. Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville, one must be the willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness. 2. Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of ...

... dat meer veel dronken op zondag. Lazarus vroeg ons daarom of we met hem op zee wilden varen. We waren bijzonder blij met dit aanbod, hij was een grote jongen van achttien die eerst een heel onverschillige houding tegenover ons had. Dat veranderde totaal, hij bleek enorm charmant en hij vertelde allerlei dingen over het leven als visser. Met zeven jongens zijn we in een bootje de blauwe zee opgegaan, daar de boot voor anker gelegd en gezwommen, met kleren aan ...