Pondicherry

Well, things have changed. We disliked our too expensive hotel in Chennai, and we were only staying there because it was the only one in the neighborhood of my school. I also began running a low-grade fever and my now lingering cough became bronchitis---pooh. I attended a day of class at my school and then lost my voice due to the bronchitis, so Vedic chanting became impossible for me. We felt like we were trying so hard to make Chennai, and my time at KYM work, but it just wasn't flowing with any real grace, so we decide to head to Pondicherry to rest near the ocean and to heal my pollution-aggravated lungs. Our last morning in Chennai, we were woken up, again, by the loud boyish staff of the hotel. This time they were buzzing (and buzzing again) our door, until I finally crawled out of bed to look through the peep hole to see what the hell was going on---the bellboy then waved to me through the peep hole. It was then that I thought I should maybe get myself dressed! When I opened the door, now dressed, he said, "You check out today?" And I said, "No. We check out 3 days from now." After closing the door, Luke and I looked at each other and agreed that indeed, it was time to check out. With this decision, we perked up and began to pack up our things. We headed out for an excellent breakfast at the EcoCafe and some shopping too. Then I went off to school to have my lessons, where my adviser told me to skip the chanting and to instead get a consultation with the doctor because I was obviously sick. It is was very sweet of him and I needed him to do this because I was having a hard time not pushing myself through the lesson because I was enjoying them and because I had waited so long to get to KYM and now, terribly disappointed to be sick. After leaving my school and arranging to come back on this trip if our schedule allows, we headed to Saint Thomas' Cathedral which sits on the Bay of Bengal. It is only one of three churches in the world that sits atop the tomb of an apostle of Jesus. It is was beautiful church, but even more impressive was the chapel and tomb room of St. Thomas. What a potent place and a true blessing to have the chance to experience.

We caught a locals' bus to Pondicherry last night and found another too expensive hotel to crash at before heading out to find a the perfect, lovely and much cheaper hotel right on the Bay of Bengal. It is part of the Aurobindo ashram and it is tranquil and beautiful, as long as you are not interacting with anyone at the reception desk. I am feeling better already, in this much smaller, less polluted city on the sea. Luke, my poor sweetie, ate something our first night here that made him puke on the street this morning. He rested all day long in our great hotel room and then we sat in the gardens this evening together before heading to dinner and now to the computer joint. I am putting him to bed soon enough.

We are pooped. We were both saying how weary we felt in Chennai when we remembered that we hit state similar to this at about the same time on our last big trip. At that time we were in Australia with Luke's family for Christmas. There we slept and ate and played and not much more. Now that we are in Pondicherry, we are thinking to stay here for a week or maybe longer. We can't be moving around so much because we are tired. Plus, Pondicherry seems to be quite lovely and I think we are going to be happy here next to the ocean in our sweet hotel. We can also rent a scooter and this means a break from those nearly always horrible rickshaw drivers.

I was visiting with a couple today at lunch while Luke slept. A Swiss woman and her husband, now Swiss, who was born in Argentina. It is their first time in India and they have been traveling since September; they too are weary. David told me that he felt like India would be so perfect if it wasn't for all the Indians here. Ha! To this, in my weariness, I guiltily agreed. For most of these least last few days, Luke and I have been secretly feeling the same way, certainly not entirely, but man, oh, man...We have had some trying situations since leaving Varanasi, so it is that and also that we need to rest for a bit. We are going to rest here on the ocean, eat yummy foods, heal up our bodies and rest our weary traveling feet. Ahhh, that all sounds so good right now and I am so pleased that it is us that I am talking about here *wink*

Keep on rocking in the free world,
Nichole