INDIA INDIA INDIA (day 1)

October 21st- Pondicherry

We are finally here.  My most anticipated port has arrived.  I stood off the back deck of the ship, watching us pull in and I couldn’t wait to get off.  I felt some sort of energy truly pulling me towards the land.  I was ready to explore and wanted to go at that particular moment.  After making it through the madness of getting our passports and customs forms from the pursers desk, I met up with Jill and Jess to discover the temples and ashrams in southern India.  We ran into three of our guy friends who were interested in going with us and made our way off the ship, out of line, and onto the bus out of the port.  The bus drop off was congested with people coming at you in every direction, hoping you would take their particular rickshaw to your desired destination.  The six of us were pulled a part by different drivers until we decided to split up, three and three and have them take us to a bank.  Our first drive in an auto-rickshaw was crazy.  There is absolutely no organization when it comes to driving in India, at least none that I could see, however, the drivers all know what they are doing and instead have created organized chaos that works for them.  After the bank, we finally make our way to the train station where we abruptly decide we are going to go to the temple and ashram that is three hours away instead of the one that was an hour away, so we could get away from everyone and fully immerse ourselves in southern India.  Our bus fare was 150 rupees (so a little over $3) and we were off.  We drove through a part of India that I have never really imagined with palm trees, oceans, grasslands, and a lot of space, with very little people and other cars around.  It was a good transition into what we would be experiencing in the next few days, but at the same time you could still feel that you were in India.  There were even times on that bus ride that I felt like we were going to crash or hit a cow which were feelings I became very familiar with during my time there.
 
I came back to my envisioned India when we arrived at the train station in Pondicherry.  People were everywhere, of course, just going about their daily routines, while the six of us are trying to figure out exactly what to do.  We got a rickshaw to take us to the temple, cramming each of us in the little tuk-tuk as he insisted. Sam sat up front talking to our new friend and the other 5 of us were pilled on top of each other, sitting on laps, watching our lives flash by our lives because of this mans driving, yet we never stopped laughing.  Laksmi the Hindu elephant was standing outside the temple blessing those who were waiting to go in the temple.  The idea was great- a painted Asian elephant that would place its trunk on your head after putting your donation to the temple into her trunk.  However, after seeing the African elephants in South Africa it was a tough site to see because Laksmi was in captivity.  Those types of thoughts kept crossing my mind, but it was time for me to experience and enjoy the temple for what it is.  The boys and girls decided to separate having the boys go in the temple first while we held their stuff and shopped.  The number of shops outside of the temple surprised me. Most of the stuff was geared towards tourists but we were definitely the only white people around so it seemed strange.  We later learned that there are a lot of Indian tourists in India or particular temples others in India want to see because the country is so big.  It was finally our turn to go into the temple and left our shoes and purses with the guys.  Jess, Jill and I walked in the temple not really knowing what to expect or do.  The inside was covered in Hindu art all around the walls and ceiling which was gorgeous.  They told so many ancient stories that are important to all of Hindus and did a great job depicting the stories with only paintings. People were standing in a line to go through this small room in the center of the temple so we diced to join in line.  In that line we relieved the white ash to spread across our forehead and said a prayer to the God at the end of the line.  Although our skin color definitely made us stand out, we were welcomed and embraced.  After stepping outside of that room we wanted to look around the temple some more so we started wondering admiring the beautiful architecture and paintings.  A man came up to us telling us we were walking in the wrong direction so we quickly turned around.  He walked with us for a bit inside the temple explaining what we were supposed to do inside the temple.  In essence, you walk around clockwise three times and pray to the various deities that are set up.  When you are finished you can receive the red dot on your forehead and then join on the floor for your own personal meditation.  We did exactly that.  Realizing the boys might hate us if we took any longer, we cut the meditation short to meet up with them outside.  After our time at the temple we decided to walk around and find other things to do in Pondicherry.  Jill and Jess stepped inside a herbal shop and asked what else was recommended to see or do in the town.  She mentioned for us to go to the ashram, the place we thought we just left since our rickshaw driver told us just that.  However, we were wrong and the site we actually came to Pondicherry for was just a few blocks away.  We only had 45 minutes before the ashram closed to the public, but that actually ended up being the perfect amount of time.  Once we arrived, we all separated and made it each of our own experience, which is always nice to do. I said a prayed at the bed of flowers, bought books on meditation in the bookstore, and then meditated for the reminding time.  I was calm and feeling at peace.  The drive to Pondicherry really opened my eyes to a different India than I was expecting but at the same time it was a good thing for me to see.  It allowed my first day in the country I had been most excited for to be calm and relaxing, getting me settled in.  I was finally there and of course my anxiety was high, ready for me to explore everything, but the time in Pondicherry was calm.  Meditating allowed me to soak it all in and prepare for the next few days. 

We left the ashram refreshed and ready to see what the rest of the town had to offer, specifically in food and shopping.  The main street felt like the Vegas strip with all of the lights, colors, and people except this strip was crowded with rickshaws, bikes, people, unfamiliar smells, dirt roads, and shrines.  We were all so happy. We walked around for about 3 hours until we decided to grab some food.  There was a small sign for a restaurant that looked pretty authentic so we decided to climb the five flights of stairs in this narrow building to make it to the restaurant on top.  Again we were the only white people, making us comfortable that this would be some good Indian food.  We weren’t really sure what we ordered but it was delicious.  You really get to know people when you are in a foreign country, eating local food, enjoying local beers, and talking about life.  Connections are instantly made and you catch yourself talking about the most random subjects, but they always have some sort of meaning to you.  Although I had learned a lot about myself over these past months, I have learned a lot about the types of people I enjoy hanging out with.  They all have taught me a lot and when you can get deep into a great conversation with people you don’t know that well, you know there is something more and fun times only continue you build.

A little after ten o’clock we decided to wrap it up and head back to the bus station and then to Chennai.  We found out that the bus ride all night, not hurrying us, but instead of taking the 150 rupee bus, we decided to take the “more local looking” bus that was around a dollar for a $3 hour bus ride.  There were bright neon lights flashing and a Bollywood movie playing in the front, so we were excited to take the “party bus.”  There was absolutely no space, the seats were super close to each other, the ride was extremely bumpy, and the doors were left open a lot of the time so people could hop off, but I thought it was great.  We didn’t arrive into Chennai until about 3 o’clock in the morning and after arguing on prices for 30 minutes, we finally got a ride back to the ship.  The entrance to the port, however, was blocked off and after spending a good amount of time trying to figure out how to get in, the driver dropped us off near this ditch thing for water run-off.  He gave us crazy directions to get to the port from there, telling us to go down in this ditch thing, and go up and around and across railroad tracks and we just did it.  It’s funny because you are always taught not to talk to strangers and take advice that tells you to go into a water sewage sketchy area, but in India at that moment, I completely felt safe and that he was telling us the truth.  We finally saw the lights illuminated on the MV Explorer and took a big deep breath at four in the morning, so excited to finally lie down in bed.  That first day was so much fun and such a great way to be introduced into India.  Although it was great to be back on the ship, I couldn’t wait to get up in the morning because we were heading to New Delhi for our Taj Mahal and Varanasi trip.