Brianaaimee

Thursday, April 15, 2010

India Travels- Madurai

Feb. 3, 2009

One of my favorite pictures from the trip!

Journal Entry:
"So I totally skipped journal entries while in Madurai. Harsh as it is to say, it was not unlike every other city in India: busy, noisy, crowded, smelly, dirty, etc. Though again, like every other city in India is was also: beautiful! The temple we planned to see there ended up being not one, but 5 huge temple entrances that surrounded an inner temple. Funny story, we were told there was an inner, inner temple that only Hindus could go into. Wanting to respect the culture, we totally agreed, and understood. So we took our shoes off (ick!) to get into the main entrance, and then walked all around, looking at small shrines, etc. We then wandered into the main temple, which was amazingly beautiful, filled with small shrines, wall carvings, etc. Travis even got blessed by an elephant! He put the coin in the elephants trunk, the elephant blessed Travis with it's trunk and then swung it back and put the coin into the owner's hand! (Travis has a small, dark picture of this on his Facebook page, it was poorly lit in there and we were weary of using flash) So back to the "funny" part. We were meandering through the temple, walked up these steps to see what the other room was, saw a sign for no cameras, and some other signs in a couple languages, though not English, which is unusual in India because everyone here speaks at least a little English, if not fluently, at least enough to speak to us Westerners who failed to learn their language before we came here... ok I digress, again... So needless to say, the one place where no English signs existed was the one place we weren't supposed to go! We were yelled at by security guards, and almost yanked down the stairs! Fortunately Travis is so calm in situations like this and proceeded to apologize and explain our ignorance. Things boiled down, and we hurriedly left and waited until we were outside the temple to laugh "hysterically" about almost being thrown into an Indian jail like that one movie with Claire Danes... ok not exactly, but for a couple who loves spending most of their free nights watching movies, everything feels like it has a movie reference. After leaving the temple, and getting my shoes back (hallelujah!), we were told that this beautiful temple gets painted every 12 years! What?! If you saw the intricacy of this temple, the colors, details, characters, height, etc. it seems unimaginable. But it is their city's main glory, and it is a sacred place, so I can understand. (But wait 'till you see the pictures below.) This fact definitely blew my mind!
We are off to Auroville next, this is the place I have most been looking forward to on the trip. I hope Travis feels better, (he got E-coli poisoning a few hours before we are to get on the night train to leave Madurai) so he can enjoy this eco-friendly, self-sustaining community."

Emails from home:
"I am so glad to hear you are loving it much better. Beautiful pics in the link you sent below. ( link I sent her) That is so neat about the elephant! What a fantastic experience. I don't know if I have Skype, and I will be leaving for San Francisco with the girls this Friday, so I won't be able to see you." - Take care, Love you, Kelly

"Hi Briana, It was great to spend the time with you Sunday on Skype. Mom and I will have dinner with my cousin, Sam tonight. I'll really be interested in hearing about Auroville." -Love, Dad

Pics from Madurai:

So excited about the "gold" and red bindi's I got!

Travis looking through his gold, aka, his wonderful pictures from India.

Pictures from the Temple in Madurai:
All 5 entrances

Main Entrance

Closer...

Could you imagine climbing this to paint every 12 years?!

So cool!

I think this is Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, but I could be mistaken...

Could you imagine painting all these?

Inside the main entrance, outside the main temple. Ganesh "the Hindu god of success. He is both the beginning of the religion and the meeting ground for all Hindus."

Inside the temple.

Could be Goddess Kali because of the many arms, but unsure because of the scaffolding and my horrible lack of knowledge of the over 150 gods in the Hindu religion.

Cool painting on the floor.

Meandering throughout the city, we came upon other temples.
The ceiling of one such temple.

This temple sold fabrics, bracelets, and offerings for the gods.

You know how I love the male bonding...

A great leader to India, Gandhi is seen in images throughout his mother country.

Cows! I love it that they have free reign.

Cows are sacred in India! Yay! Go vegetarians!

These guys were carrying a huge, heavy, gold statue. The amount of effort and strain these men undertook cannot be displayed in this picture.

Now what?!

Another temple in Madurai.

The tent being prepared for the night's festival.

So beautiful here. So many colors to see and so many beautiful people around.

There was to be a fire ceremony here that night, they were going to light the pink boat on fire. Travis and I did not make it back, we were passed out by 8! haha

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

India Travels- Ashram recap

Feb. 3rd, 2010

Journal Entry:
"We checked into a nice hotel in Madurai today, thank you Travis for the foresight of knowing we would need intermittent nice places throughout our trip to make things a little easier for a few days. We need this place to rest, re-connect and eat. The ashram was hard for me and I was legitimately "running" across the bridge the night of our train ride, to get away from that cult-y place. Looking back, the views were amazing, and it probably wouldn't have been that bad, but it gave me the creeps, and I wasn't allowed to show any affection or sleep in the same bed as Travis, (two small twin beds adorned the room, and it was specifically requested that no funny business go on so people could focus on their meditation. Something I totally get, though, I needed a good cuddle in that place is all I'm saying.) the lunch/dinner plates were barely washed that we ate from (they were washed by people with ash and then re-used immediately however well washed or not by the next person, the nurse's daughter in me cringing) the women walking around were all Travis' "type"(hippies with long flowy hair and garments- to which I felt equal jealousy, and weird "Big Love"(Polygamist-mormom show on TV) creepiness from) and all these people were worshipping a person, which is totally against everything I have believed my whole life. I felt like telling this guru to be more humble, don't have people pushing themselves in line, acting crazy, for a person! You are not God!... Ok, I'll stop.

Because of all these feeling of mine, and Travis' totally valid feelings in the contrary, we fought. Well, not because of the ashram, but because I had 2 hours of sleep both nights, was feeling really vulnerable from being at the ashram, generally feeling wiped from being in India, and then there was a triggering incident, with a rooftop display, and some sssshhhh'ing, which I hate, and I blew up. I walked away, and didn't speak to him all day. It was good for me to get space, it didn't feel like the last time where I wanted to leave, just that I needed space from this person I had been spending 24 hours w/ for weeks. I called my parents for the 1st time since I'd been in India, had a nice but short convo with them, told them all about India so far, and then proceeded to cry about it being hard here and me being home sick. I wish I could be more tough sometimes, but India is hard and I am trying my best. My parents were reassuring and sweet. After the phone call I had a full day: I ate and then saw and got my new Italian (funny, great) friend's facebook, helped move a thousand or so pamphlets, emailed, sat outside by the river, slept, read. And then I woke up from sleeping and saw Travis had gone to eat without me (as he should have). I got really sad that I was acting this way and that he wasn't there. I went and found him in the waves of people and sat by him to eat. We had a nonchalant talk on the beach, he went to volunteer, I went to volunteer, and by dinner it was quiet but a little better. But with another sleepless night, I broke down, telling him we weren't right for each other, etc. He just let me talk, said maybe we weren't and let me cry alone. Once we got to Madurai to a clean, safe hotel, all my anxiety melted away. We ate, napped, showered (warm water!), talked, napped, ate, woke up in the AM and were completely in love. We had talked it through and I need to work on being less jealous, for sure, but I told him it was more, I needed to be looked after in that "creepy" place and I felt abandoned... We held each other that day, ate and rested, and everything felt possible again."

Email from home:
" Hi Briana, I was thinking after you called that you should not underestimate the magnitude of what you are doing. You are traveling to a place that under the very best of conditions is quite difficult to endure...By everyone's account, it is one of the toughest places on earth to visit. You are staying for a very long time to be away from home and the things that you are used to and that give you comfort, even if you don't realize it at the time. It's hard enough to be away for a week or two, let alone a month. I always feel that way when I am in Ecuador, but even western Europe because it is just different from what we are used to, out of our "comfort zone". You are spending 24/7 with someone - absolutely every minute of every day - again something you are not used to.... So even though Travis is your love, it still leaves you with no recharge time at all. So no wonder you are having a tough time! (In reference to a wonderful Italian woman I met who said her "English was catastrophic", to which I responded, "If your English was catastrophic you would not know that word!" haha) And if you run into more Italians, use the English word "sub-optimal" for things that are catastrophically not right. That is Attilio's favorite word in that situation." -I love you, Dad

The bridge to 'safety', haha

India Travels- Ashram

Jan. 28, 2010

Journal Entry:
"I got here after a 4 hour, intense, horn-honking, chaotic, aggressive car ride, and drove up to these huge (color taken out for identifying purposes) 15+ story buildings and colorful temple. We went to register and everywhere we looked there were people dressed all in white. Cult alarm bells started going off in my head. I freaked. (I took a cults class in high school, and another in college, so every warning sign I learned about was instantly present). Then the paper said something about us separating, sleeping in dorm style rooms with 3 other people. 'Oh HELL NO!' 'You don't want to lie, ok, I will lie. I will tell them we are married so we do not split up. I don't care, I am not being separated from you in this place.' So I went up and we didn't even have to say if we were married, he saw we were a couple and had registered together so he gave us a room together. Phew. Made it through hurtle #1.

The view from our floor is beautiful. Spectacular. We are on the 14th floor. The buildings are on a small piece of land that is bordered by a river on one side and the ocean on the other and then palm trees and mist as far as the eye can see. Beautiful. I hope Travis takes pictures because it's amazing. No photography is allowed, but...

Otherwise, the chanting is uninspiring, the people's behavior today to see (the Guru) was atrocious. Cutting, pushing, lying, finagling. At an Ashram you would expect more peaceful people. Instead, it just seems like a big commune of people, self serving at best, vying for (the Guru's) attention. I don't get the whole Guru thing, must be a cultural thing, but worshiping a person, even if she is 'holy'?? Mother Theresa didn't want, request, vie for worshipers. She got down on her hands and knees and washed toilets and fed the poor. Yes, the work (the Guru) does for the poor is amazing, though, so was Mother Theresa's. Maybe the same end with different ways of going about it?

Email repsonses from home:
"Dear Briana, Glad you are aware of the colt possibility- don't drink any cool aid-- I'm glad you have Travis with you and glad it is clean!!!" -Love, Mom

"HI Briana, Interesting! I can't wait to hear more when you have spent time elsewhere and have some time to reflect on the experience." - Love, Dad

"Sounds like you are having some amazing experiences:) Breathe it in and out everyday, so you can remember it for a lifetime." - Kelly

A few hidden camera pics from the Ashram

Blowing laundry, so beautiful

Two pics of the sunset from our floor, same time, both beautiful..

A man chanting, it was wonderful to watch.

Ashram gear, sandals, check!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

India Travels- Kochi, part 3

Jan. 24, 2010

Such beautiful Saris in India.

Journal Entry:
"Today was a beautiful day. I went to church at the Basilica, the 2nd Oldest church in India, right here in Kochi. (The oldest being some 6 blocks away, but now it is a ?Anglican? church instead of Catholic, I think?) All the women were wearing the most beautiful Saris. Every color imaginable, red, blue, teal, purple, gold, yellow, green, etc. They all had their heads covered with different color shawls that matched the color and farbic in their Sari. I wanted to if not wear a Sari, at least cover my head in these beautiful silks/cottons/chiffon shawls. I have always wanted to cover my head during mass and now I know why. You should have seen it, it was one of the most beautiful things I have seen in my life. It's indescribable, and of course, since it was mass, I couldn't and wouldn't take pictures. Oh well. That one will have to last in my memory!

We have switched hostels. Wow, it's funny how you think the next place will always be better, perpetual hope and optimism I guess. Well, not so much. (This ended up being the WORST place we stayed at our whole trip, I will not call them out, but email me if you are going to India so I can tell you what hostel NOT to stay in ;) It was barren, hardest bed I've ever felt, might as well have slept on the floor, except for the bugs that would've eaten me alive even more. As it was, ants got to Travis' chocolate bar in a matter of an hour's nap. I got more mosquito bites in 2 days from this place than the rest of the trip. Needless to say, I feel tired here, and restless. We started getting fussy about being in the room, so we decided to go explore this side of Kochi. We were duly rewarded for getting out of there with: an ELEPHANT! He was just walking down the street with a couple of guys?! We followed him to a random back alley where he proceeded to eat palm fronds using his truck to rip them apart, coolest thing to watch. He was just chillin' in front of some closed shops, or warehouses. The few other people that saw this random show stayed and watched like us for at least 20 min. We weren't sure what was going on, if he was safe, ok? Eventually he seemed great, so we wandered on and found a cool tea house. Later, after meeting a woman from LA :/, we learned that he was in a parade, filled with flowers, drummers, painted dancers, etc. A little lesson learned, when feeling low and in the dumps, go outside, change your scenery!

Email responses from home:
"Wonderful to hear things are going better." -Love, Dad
"...I am so glad you are doing so much better..." -Love, Kelly

Catholic symbols (cont.) throughout India:

"Kochi boasts the first Catholic Church in India, St. Francis Church. Allegedly built in 1546 by the Portuguese, about a hundred years later it became Protestant with the Dutch invasion, and still about a hundred years later, the arrival of the British made it Anglican. In 1949, the congregation joined the Church of South India." reference