Aaacckkk! Running out of Time!

This past week or 2 have gone by in a real blurr. I have been going to surgeries, catching babies, running off to see places that I've seen and places I haven't seen, meeting more new people, reconnecting with people whose babies I've caught or whom I've met elsewhere along the way, and trying to arrange my exit journey from India.

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I will be stopping at Coimbatore to tour the organic cotton mill and catch the bus or train to Mettupalayam. There I catch the Blue Mountain Railway to Coonoor. I'll stop there and make a side trek to Kotagiri (okay, maybe bus there and walk back) where I will visit a Women's Cooperative where they teach handicrafts. Then I'll get back on the Blue Mountain Rails to get to Ooty (Oodagamandalam), the famous hill station. From there the BMR takes me back to Mettupalayam, where I take a train or bus to Bangalore. In Bangalore, I will check out some cashmere for spinning and maybe some silk to bring home. I'll take a flight from there to Chennai. In Chennai, I will get to meet Jeremy's friend Rekha and visit the Enfield motorcycle factory before catching my flight home on the 31st.

It has been great being here, but I am really looking forward to getting home and cooking some good old fashioned American food (okay, good old fashioned American hippie food), seeing my family, playing with the dogs, playing with my grandbabies, playing with my spinning wheel and getting cold while camping out at the Folks Festival.

This has been an amazing three months. The things I've learned about people and life and the friendships I've begun will affect my outlook forever. I am already looking forward to a return trip so that I can continue exploring this place and see my friends again. Who knows when that will be, but when I leave, a piece of me will stay behind, pulling me back.

Waterfalls, Weddings and a Wild Weekend

Hi All! Sorry for the long silence! I have been too lax in posting and not because I have been lazy, just trying to do everything I can in the last 4 weeks I have here in Tirunelveli. I went to 2 weddings in one day, the first was my first Hindu wedding, for which we had to walk barefoot to the temple. The second was another wedding of a family member of the doctors at our hospital. Of course, both involved copious amounts of wonderful food. In fact, at the Hindu wedding they insisted on feeding me before and after the ceremony!

Mirko, Justin and I went shopping one day last week and inadvertently got lost before we actually arrived at our intended destination. Instead, we bought lunghi's at a different store and having become further lost, were rescued by 2 sisters who turned out to be teachers at a local secondary school who were dying to ask us in for tea and snacks. They then guided us back to the bus stop from which we made our way back into charted territory.

On Sunday, June 24, we went for a day trip to Courtallam(Kuttrallam) to see the waterfalls. You have to hike a fair distance to get to all fo them but the views and the water itself was worth the effort. At the main, lower falls, women and men go into opposite sides of the falls, but in the upper falls the situation is slightly less formal. Still, all the women go into the water fully dressed and the men go in bathing trunks. It was still quite refreshing to just stand there and let the water pour over you. The monkeys were also entertaining. We saw the biggest jackfruit in the world and ate adventurous stand food...

On the weekend just past I accompanied a few volunteers to Pondicherry, a former French colony. There we experienced some culture shock in not eating Indian food for a solid 2 days! Wild! Hot Breads is everything they are cracked up to be! Great fresh croissants, omelettes and REAL COFFEE!!! Found some workshops that are connected with the Sri Aurobindo Society which incorporates spiritual training with training for the solid world in the form of handmade paper, incense, fabric printing and book publication. We saw the ocean but I did not swim in it as the "beach" was mainly comprised of large rocks and there was a very strong "side current" which was moving people swiftly down the beach when they tried to walk in the water...

Saw the Ghandi memorial and some lovely neighborhoods and the Botanical Garden. Unfortunately, the great distance between Pondicherry and Tirunelveli made it a quick trip despite having taken the whole weekend.

I have been told there is a party planned in my honor in the final days of my visit. I will be sure to get some photos.