Friday, January 23, 2009

India: Revisited

So I haven't really put up too many photos from Kerala. Especially ones of me. Don't know why. Maybe I'm just now able to process it. So here ya go!

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The first picture I took in the Amritapuri Ashram. All the windows were barred up. I stayed in this room for only a few hours before they moved me to a temporary dorm with the most amazing view! It was so high that the elevator couldn't reach it. I had to walk to the other side of the building and STILL climb three more flights to get there. Imagine doing that 4 times a day, wearing a saari, in the hot ass sun.
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I often wore the traditional clothes. Especially in the ashram, I wore all white, kum kum, the whole nine. Kum Kum is a powder of chalky stick you mix with water and apply to the head. They also call it bindi.
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We were asked to volunteer a majority of our time to the ashram, BUT, for many different reasons, most of which were not my fault, I did not have a daily 'seva'. Instead, I spent most of my time here! This balcony had the most breath taking view of the ocean and the backwaters. Every morning at 4am the villagers would start playing music. The breeze was wonderful, the sky was so clear, and I did a lot of thinking right in that spot. This is a shot of the bridge, boats, and backwaters of Valical, the small village across the way.
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When my roommate left for Germany and I came to the realization that I couldn't stand one more day in that ashram, I packed my shit, called a cab, and was out! I was terrified about leaving but I knew I had no choice. Sometimes, when you gotta go, no matter where it is, you just gotta go. The ride took 4 hours and we got lost once we hit the town I wanted to stay in. Some how we crossed a picket line and almost got into it between the soldiers and the protesters. But I made it. And I knew once I was there, I was where I was suppose to be. Marble balcony, wide airy rooms, jungle right outside my door. Perfect. Except, the monkeys were thugs!

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I met some really great people while in Kumily. There were a few families I got to know in particular. The kids were so much fun and the women were so great to me. All in all, the best part of the trip.


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When I left Kumily for good, I hopped in a cab with Baba and went to Fort Cochin. I met more peeps and explored the town, but I couldn't wait to go home. Well...it was a bitter sweet feeling really. After traveling for that long on your own you get really use to the silence, the moving, the temporary time that seemed to never end. I could picture going to another town but home was a hard thing to grasp. Yet all things have their time and place, and everything is truly everything!

2 comments:

Cee the photographer said...

Amazing!!

Unknown said...

i bet its wonderful out there...wen iz ur history of dreams droppin?