Bringing closure...

Hello all � It is time to bring about some kind of conclusion to the experience and learnings from this semester, yet we all are in some ways reluctant to let it go. Returning to our families and lives at home are exciting, as is the notion of continuing to travel for those of us that have that in our future. And yet, we know that we have had the gift and the privilege of having created a unique and powerful learning community that will NEVER reoccur in exactly this way again.

Visit to CLOAAT

I think the farm school (also called CLOAAT, or Center for Learning, Organic Agriculture and Appropriate Technology) is a wonderful place.

Colors of Nature

I'm really glad that I visited Colors of Nature, a natural dyeing place, before leaving Auroville. I had thought that the whole operation there would be mechanized and all the processes carried out inside machines, and there wouldn't be much for my base group to look at. On the contrary, everything's carried out by hand.

Hampi

Hampi is really beautiful! The weather is perfect, and the rocks lie around in ways seemingly geologically impossible. Swimming holes look like something out of a brochure for paradise.

Some pictures from Hampi

Last week, students went to Hampi, where they stayed for several days among 4 billion year old rocks, enjoyed the cooling water of various swimming holes, shared their insights of their sacred solos in their base groups and enjoyed the beauty of nature and each other.

Tree of Life Evaluation

The intention of this final activity for our mid-semester assessments was to come together as a community after a week-long focus on assessing our individual learnings, to collaboratively create a visual representation of our collective journey thus far.

Newspapers, kolams, and consciousness...

While we are deeply immersed in facilitating the Fall 2003 Geo group here in India, we are also having some amazing learnings in our own right. One of the ongoing experiences comes to us at breakfast each morning as the all India newspaper, The Hindu, appears on one of the tables.

Approaching mid-semester...

As we approach mid-semester we begin to reflect back on the learnings and our journey thus far. We have four days set aside for individual and group reflection/evaluations next week and then we head out on an eight day backcountry trip on a boulder-strewn island in Hampi, the former capital of one of one of the greatest Hindu empires. Or so we are told!

Auroville nostalgia.

It is so wonderful to hear about the "new" Geos. I was in Auroville as a Geo last semester and miss India wih every ounce of strength in my body. It was good to come home. But a part of me feels that in going to India, I was home. Now back, In America, a piece of Auroville and India is forever with me. Hearing about all of your experiences is so beautiful! What a great way to share what your going through. Although, I know, words can never justify something so incredible. Good...

A great way to re-connect...

Hello fellow GEO travelers. My name is Bryan Rex and I wanted to send a thought and a smile your way from New Jersey. It's been 7 years since my semester with GEO in Auroville. What a nice way to share your experiences online with this weblog...

Interning at Pitchandikulam

My internship at Pitchandikulam isn't what I had originally expected! At first I thought I would be learning about the identification and use of medicinal plants, but turns out my work has nothing to do with medicinal plants at all (so far).

Another day

I worked at Dr. Lucas's farm today, it was fun. I was clearing ground for a compost pile and a cow dung pit and the people on the farm are going to experiment with 'biodynamics' there.

Sharing stories with village women

During our visit to the village, students shared time with other young people from the village. Here Laura and Ashly share stories, while Ting Fong helps with preparing the lunch meal...

Taking a deserved rest under a coconut tree

Maggie, Marrielle and Noah enjoying a rest and a refreshing coconut after a hard morning digging holes and planting trees...

Planting seedlings at a village youth garden

A couple of weeks ago, students went for a morning to a nearby village to help plant herbal plants and trees.

DIVINE DAY

just got off the phone with dear mariel and went directly to the weblog. thanx to all of you wonderful humans for the great posted messages. i am so sorry to hear about your bout, lea. and noah thanx so mucch for your annecdote about b'ball. it just ,makes me feel closer to all of you, being able to read the weblog will never cease to thrill me. your lives sound so fulfilled and exciting. what a great opportunity for all of you to partake of. namiste and hugs and misses, marsha (maiel's...

An entry by Noah

To begin, this weblog is wonderful, but please do understand that words will never do full justice to the sorts of experiences and places we all experience everyday. With that said, I'd like to share with you, the cyber world, a bit about my recent life in Auroville...

It's a hard job, but somebody's got to do it

I was offically the first group member to get really ill. last week i had dysentary.

shooting stars

i just rinsed my body after enjoying amazing communal food and conversation to cool off for the evening hours-- i love taking showers here ...

being here

I love this place; it is so beautiful and not at all what I expected. Some of my favorites are the

Botanical Garden

I visited the Botanical Garden today because there's no work at Pitchandikulam (I have to paint some posters but since I don't have paper I haven't started yet). Joss's friend, Stephen, was holding a class for Tamil villagers about the importance of leaving hedges near farmland. I helped to plant some hedges for the farmland there with villagers.

matriel freeman and all the geo students

still waiting for more pix and postings. still enjoying the site. thanx to ting fong lee for all her postings, they are both informative and fun. i know she can't be the only one having these phenomial experiences. tell us more! life here in n.j is nowhere near as thrilling as your journey. at least today the sun is shining.

Ashram School

We visited the Ashram School in Pondicherry on Saturday. It's a school established by the female founder of Auroville, the Mother, for local children.

Canyon Walk

I found the Canyon walk the best outing I've had so far. The canyon is near Gaia's Garden. It's carved out by severe erosion.

KEEP WRITING TO US

Hi our Leah (Freedman), Leah R., and all othe rest of you, I finally had a chance to see the Weblog and enjoyed all your notes and pictures. Please keep posting things often. It makes us feel like we're almost with you! Work hard and have a lot of fun too. Namiste - Shalom

Mohanam Cultural Center

Today I visited Mohanam Cultural Center in Sanjeevinagar Village. I saw how people cook a meal for forty people with a stove built out of some rocks and wood from a broken door. The center also teaches boys to make a living by making traditional craftworks. I felt immensely regretful that Hong Kong hasn't made too much of an effort to keep its indigenous craftsmanship alive...

LEC

I really loved the visit to the LEC (Life Education Center)!

namiste

to all you wondeful adventurers, and of course our dear mariel, we just wanted to greet you all and tell you how great the weblog idea is. it so helps put our worries and misses to rest. we love the pix, and comments. you are all so lucky to have this opportunity, make the most of it. love and misses, marsha and franlk (mariel's parental units)

getting out all the glitches.

this is the first time i have been able to sign on to the weblog. there were some glitches but with Daniel's help we seem to have worked them out. unfortunately the computer i am using has a tendency to insert extra spaces and extra letters from time to time, so this will have to be short and sweet. things are going really well here. today and tomorrow we are visiting possible internship sites. i visited a place that makes organic foods and oils and sells them both in auroville and...

Sites

So far I have visited some potential internship sites, which includes Pitchandikulam (medicinal plants center), 2 farms, an organic food production place, some communities and CSR, a building baterials research place.

Auroville at first sight

I found the guesthouse at Auroville very hard to get used to at first. There's not much privacy.

Travelling to Auroville

ON the way from Fireflies to Auroville I was struck by how 'cheap' things were.

Fireflies Community

I stayed a week at Fireflies community, which was pretty much like a holiday resort to me, because we slept in rooms with mosquito screens and bathrooms were included in the rooms, which was nice.

Arrival at Bangalore

I was surprised that bangalore was really cold. I had to put on a jacket.

Another wonderfully full day exploring Auroville

So much to see, so many places, so many new people from all over the world, and so much to learn. Today, we traveled by bike to several small communities within Auroville, including: Creativity, Vikas, and Adventure. We concluded our morning with a delicious lunch at the Visitor center. We even got some ice cream!

No idea whether this will work...

I'm in Auroville now! Feeling great and not sick yet. I'm definitely looking forward to...

Leaving for a morning of exploration on our bicylces

Ross and Emely Click on More for other pictures of students and faculty bicycling

Ross, our Auroville orientation guide

"This group is really great. I feel I can be who I am and I also get to know...

Getting ready for a day of orientation with Ross

Our Yoga Teacher Thulasi

"I love teaching these students and already during the first weeks of practice I...

LivingRoutes.com: Auroville -- Fall 2003

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