Archives: September 2008
Tue Sep 30, 2008
The exposure of the white elephants
We are going on week three and the days really are flying by. Last week we traveled around Auroville to see some of the possible service learning project sites. We saw a farm, a school, a community center and a few other places all which were amazing. Each new place we traveled to I keep thinking, 'Oh I could work here...no I'll work at this place...oh maybe that one.' I have settled on working at the College Guest House, which is where I am currently living, to help build a garden. While I will be staying in the same place, which at first I wasn't sure I liked, I will be traveling all over Auroville gathering information and advice about how to create the garden. I picked it because it seemed like it would be the most diverse and it would best apply once I returned home. I will be working with two individuals who have extensive backgrounds in landscape architecture and plants. I am not sure what we will actually be doing yet but for what I have heard nearly the entire project will be designed by those participating. I cannot wait to start the project, which will be tomorrow morning, and start being creative in a way I haven't yet experienced.
In terms of the community which we, the all female group, are building has been coming along well. While we are, again only on the third week I feel as though we have are starting to evolve in the direction of forming a true community. Even with the service learning projects starting tomorrow, that will help the dynamics of the group. I don't want to speak for everyone, but for me, someone who hasn't ever lived in a community before, the intense two weeks of being with one another has started to cause friction. On the positive side however, friction is good because it shows that we are making those hard first steps of moving toward true community and not just a superficial bond.
Tomorrow is October 1st...the start of my first full month in India. I am full of excitement for what lies ahead. For you all October 1st means I, along with others, can add photos of some of the coolness of India.
Viva la India!
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Tue Sep 23, 2008
Our Community Heart
This was sent by Martin Scherfler. See if you recognize some feet...
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Sun Sep 21, 2008
Stay to the Left and Mind the Cows
So its been a whirlwind of a week. There are many words I could use to describe the past week but if I had to choose one it would have to be refreshing. It's been refreshing for so many wonderful reasons and to just name a few: to be out of the west, to be more back to nature, to never stop sweating, to be in a place of community that values human unity, to take cold showers, to meet new people, to see new places, to ride a bike everywhere, to be covered in red earth, and to be on an educational and spiritual quest. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed right now with trying to put my week into words. I need to do some reflecting and will be back soon with more. All my Love, Michelle.
More...
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Fri Sep 19, 2008
Group Photo
Hello everyone! We have a great group photo of our India group. If anyone wants the larger image, please let me know and I can email it to you.
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Thu Sep 18, 2008
Arrival Days
We have ARRIVED. Well actually, we arrived quite a few days ago yet and have been pretty active. Around 5:30 AM we finally actually entered Auroville itself. It was nice to ‘sleep’ but it was more of a nap since we had to be up and going at 9 that morning. We did group getting-to-know-each-other activities, had lunch, and some basic program information the first full day. The second day included an introduction to Auroville with Ross who have been here for 16 years I believe. It was a really long day and maybe too much for just a day after being on a plane…but we did learn a lot. Today we had a half day of exploring Auroville and went to an awesome bakery, biked around the Green Belt, and had lunch at and great restaurant. After that we did some more group activities back at our compound and some good conversations were produced about Auroville and our feelings about it. Tomorrow we are going out with Ross all day again and Saturday we will be going to Pondicherry (or Puducherry) to do some shopping. I am in bad need of clothes since I brought so little so I cannot wait to find lots of cool clothes. I’ll leave it at that for now. One last thing though, I won’t be able to post pictures until early October because of internet issues. Later!
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We're Here!!!
Hello everyone!
We all arrived safely in Auroville on Monday morning. It was a VERY long trip but we all met up in franfkurt and got time to sit around and chat a bunch before even getting on the plane. Once we arrived in Chennai the Living Routes staff met us outside baggage with buses to take us to our temporary homes and jasmine to put in our hair like the local Tamil women do. They were all so nice and warming.
more...
More...
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Sat Sep 13, 2008
'Twas the night before take off...
Oh my, tomorrow is the day, the day that has been so far off for so long and now, all of a sudden, it is upon me. I hope I am ready!
I spent the day making copies of all my important documents and doing last minute packing things and I still have yet to zip my suitcase for the last time. I am looking forward to my trip tomorrow and I think it will finally feel real when I step onto that international flight. For so long I have been caught up in the details of packing, saying goodbye, and summer vacation. Now it is time for me to say goodbye to long hot showers, drinking from the tap, and my cell phone. It is time to make the final goodbye calls, give hugs to the family and step out into my adventure, my future, and awesome India.
More...
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Thu Sep 04, 2008
It's Coming!!! It's Coming!!!!
HOLY CUPCAKES!!!! I can't believe it's already September!!! In February when I decided to apply for the Living Routes, Auroville program I didn’t think the fall semester would ever come, but here I am a little over a week away from departure and not nearly as prepared as I probably should be :-P I’ve got to finish up some of the presemester work we were given a while back. I’ve been struggling with one of the presentations we have to give, but I’m sure it’ll all fall into place- these things always end up coming together in the end. As far as packing goes, I am starting to make piles of stuff to bring along with me. Including all the wonderful stuff my Mom, Jim, Helen and Sarah bought me!!! I have to say I’m most excited to use my handy dandy Swiss army knife!!! I've always thought those were the coolest little doodads, and now I have a reason to have one! Nothing is actually in my bag thus far but I’ve set up our guest room as the packing room so it’s mostly organized. I’m also currently trying to get all of my grad school applications finished up and ready to mail away. So much to do, yet so little time left to do it in.
More...
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Tue Sep 02, 2008
11 days and counting
The days are slowly ticking down. As my face shows, I am shocked that I have 11 days till I fly out of Louisville. I have almost everything done...but my homework. I am working on all of that now. The assignments are as follows:
1) A personal overview: who you are, what has happened in your life so far, and how did your past contribute to ending up with LR in India. This will be presented to the group the first week so we can get to know each other better. There is also supposed to be a visual aid of some sort.....not sure what I'm doing yet.
2) Three different journal entries. One dealing with the word sustainability, one on community and lastly the pre-semester readings: Why Sri Aurobindo is Cool by Craig Hamilton, The Mindful Traveler by Richard Slimbach, Auroville: A Dream Takes Shape (which is general information about Auroville, which can be found on their main web page), and lastly the first half of the book You Are Therefore I Am: A Declaration of Dependence by Satish Kumar. My feeling on these reading vary. I had already looked up the Auroville main page -- so article was more of a re-cap for me. The one about Sri Aurobindo I read after the Auroville one, which helped a lot because I then knew who the people mentioned were. It was a fun article and I learned more about the people behind Auroville and their spiritual ideals. The Mindful Traveler however.....not so fond of. I'll explain. My dad traveled last fall to Ireland and on his journey, before, during and after, he read a book by Phil Cousineau titled The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker's Guide to Making Travel Sacred. Over the summer, I have been reading through this book to prepare for India. Cousineau, as well as the author of The Mindful Traveler Richard Slimbach, are the two head honchos in their field (or so my father says...I'm pretty sure he knows what he is talking about), making travel more of a sacred act. After reading Cousineau, Slimbach looks more at the problems of travelers today and not on how to change or solve any of the issues. True, he does give little thoughts here and there but it's just not as personable and down to earth as Cousineau's writings. I would strongly suggest and recommend Cousineau's works to anyone who is traveling and looking for a deeper meaning during their time aborad. Even the crazed business man (or woman) can find peace within after reading Cousineau. He has many other works which are just as intriguing. The last reading from Kumar's book was fantastic. While he has another book for his autobiography, this one touches on some of the main highlights of his wonderful life. He questions things that he has been taught to be correct and slowly shapes his own ideas and views about the world. This is a wonderful book to compare your views against his and to create new or shift current thoughts and ideas about people and the world.
3) The last assignment is a personal passion presentation...try saying that 10 times fast! This one I hit the wall on, drawing blanks --nada. After thinking for awhile I came to the conclusion that I do not, as of right now and probably before the trip, have a passion. That's an issue when I'm supposed to give a presentation on one. By my definition of what a passion is I just can't find one within myself. Sure, I have many likes and enjoyments....but not a passion. So what I have decided to do is look at other people and how they define, search and/or find their passion. I will then turn these questions upon myself and see where it leads me. I have several readings I'm doing at the moment that will hopefully guide me as well. I also have considered looking into my supposed field, Art History. Artists, of any kind, have passion or at least I believe so. So how did they find it? How hard of a road did they have to travel? What does this passion feel like? I'm more optimistic now about this assignment then when I first looked at it. Overall, I hope that this time abroad will help better define me and possibly guide me to my passion.
I do believe that is enough for today. Next time I'll introduce my "must haves" that I've discovered for traveling.
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The exposure of the white elephants
We are going on week three and the days really are flying by. Last week we traveled around Auroville to see some of the possible service learning project sites. We saw a farm, a school, a community center and a few other places all which were amazing. Each new place we traveled to I keep thinking, 'Oh I could work here...no I'll work at this place...oh maybe that one.' I have settled on working at the College Guest House, which is where I am currently living, to help build a garden. While I will be staying in the same place, which at first I wasn't sure I liked, I will be traveling all over Auroville gathering information and advice about how to create the garden. I picked it because it seemed like it would be the most diverse and it would best apply once I returned home. I will be working with two individuals who have extensive backgrounds in landscape architecture and plants. I am not sure what we will actually be doing yet but for what I have heard nearly the entire project will be designed by those participating. I cannot wait to start the project, which will be tomorrow morning, and start being creative in a way I haven't yet experienced.
In terms of the community which we, the all female group, are building has been coming along well. While we are, again only on the third week I feel as though we have are starting to evolve in the direction of forming a true community. Even with the service learning projects starting tomorrow, that will help the dynamics of the group. I don't want to speak for everyone, but for me, someone who hasn't ever lived in a community before, the intense two weeks of being with one another has started to cause friction. On the positive side however, friction is good because it shows that we are making those hard first steps of moving toward true community and not just a superficial bond.
Tomorrow is October 1st...the start of my first full month in India. I am full of excitement for what lies ahead. For you all October 1st means I, along with others, can add photos of some of the coolness of India.
Viva la India!
[0] comments (551 views) | [0] Trackbacks [0] Pingbacks
Our Community Heart
This was sent by Martin Scherfler. See if you recognize some feet...
[0] Trackbacks [0] Pingbacks
Stay to the Left and Mind the Cows
So its been a whirlwind of a week. There are many words I could use to describe the past week but if I had to choose one it would have to be refreshing. It's been refreshing for so many wonderful reasons and to just name a few: to be out of the west, to be more back to nature, to never stop sweating, to be in a place of community that values human unity, to take cold showers, to meet new people, to see new places, to ride a bike everywhere, to be covered in red earth, and to be on an educational and spiritual quest. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed right now with trying to put my week into words. I need to do some reflecting and will be back soon with more. All my Love, Michelle.
More...
[0] comments (508 views) | [0] Trackbacks [0] Pingbacks
Group Photo
Hello everyone! We have a great group photo of our India group. If anyone wants the larger image, please let me know and I can email it to you.
[0] Trackbacks [0] Pingbacks
Arrival Days
We have ARRIVED. Well actually, we arrived quite a few days ago yet and have been pretty active. Around 5:30 AM we finally actually entered Auroville itself. It was nice to ‘sleep’ but it was more of a nap since we had to be up and going at 9 that morning. We did group getting-to-know-each-other activities, had lunch, and some basic program information the first full day. The second day included an introduction to Auroville with Ross who have been here for 16 years I believe. It was a really long day and maybe too much for just a day after being on a plane…but we did learn a lot. Today we had a half day of exploring Auroville and went to an awesome bakery, biked around the Green Belt, and had lunch at and great restaurant. After that we did some more group activities back at our compound and some good conversations were produced about Auroville and our feelings about it. Tomorrow we are going out with Ross all day again and Saturday we will be going to Pondicherry (or Puducherry) to do some shopping. I am in bad need of clothes since I brought so little so I cannot wait to find lots of cool clothes. I’ll leave it at that for now. One last thing though, I won’t be able to post pictures until early October because of internet issues. Later!
[0] comments (449 views) | [0] Trackbacks [0] Pingbacks
We're Here!!!
Hello everyone!
We all arrived safely in Auroville on Monday morning. It was a VERY long trip but we all met up in franfkurt and got time to sit around and chat a bunch before even getting on the plane. Once we arrived in Chennai the Living Routes staff met us outside baggage with buses to take us to our temporary homes and jasmine to put in our hair like the local Tamil women do. They were all so nice and warming.
more...
More...
[0] comments (458 views) | [0] Trackbacks [0] Pingbacks
'Twas the night before take off...
Oh my, tomorrow is the day, the day that has been so far off for so long and now, all of a sudden, it is upon me. I hope I am ready!
I spent the day making copies of all my important documents and doing last minute packing things and I still have yet to zip my suitcase for the last time. I am looking forward to my trip tomorrow and I think it will finally feel real when I step onto that international flight. For so long I have been caught up in the details of packing, saying goodbye, and summer vacation. Now it is time for me to say goodbye to long hot showers, drinking from the tap, and my cell phone. It is time to make the final goodbye calls, give hugs to the family and step out into my adventure, my future, and awesome India.
More...
[0] comments (481 views) | [0] Trackbacks [0] Pingbacks
It's Coming!!! It's Coming!!!!
HOLY CUPCAKES!!!! I can't believe it's already September!!! In February when I decided to apply for the Living Routes, Auroville program I didn’t think the fall semester would ever come, but here I am a little over a week away from departure and not nearly as prepared as I probably should be :-P I’ve got to finish up some of the presemester work we were given a while back. I’ve been struggling with one of the presentations we have to give, but I’m sure it’ll all fall into place- these things always end up coming together in the end. As far as packing goes, I am starting to make piles of stuff to bring along with me. Including all the wonderful stuff my Mom, Jim, Helen and Sarah bought me!!! I have to say I’m most excited to use my handy dandy Swiss army knife!!! I've always thought those were the coolest little doodads, and now I have a reason to have one! Nothing is actually in my bag thus far but I’ve set up our guest room as the packing room so it’s mostly organized. I’m also currently trying to get all of my grad school applications finished up and ready to mail away. So much to do, yet so little time left to do it in. More...
[0] comments (430 views) | [0] Trackbacks [0] Pingbacks
11 days and counting
The days are slowly ticking down. As my face shows, I am shocked that I have 11 days till I fly out of Louisville. I have almost everything done...but my homework. I am working on all of that now. The assignments are as follows:
1) A personal overview: who you are, what has happened in your life so far, and how did your past contribute to ending up with LR in India. This will be presented to the group the first week so we can get to know each other better. There is also supposed to be a visual aid of some sort.....not sure what I'm doing yet.
2) Three different journal entries. One dealing with the word sustainability, one on community and lastly the pre-semester readings: Why Sri Aurobindo is Cool by Craig Hamilton, The Mindful Traveler by Richard Slimbach, Auroville: A Dream Takes Shape (which is general information about Auroville, which can be found on their main web page), and lastly the first half of the book You Are Therefore I Am: A Declaration of Dependence by Satish Kumar. My feeling on these reading vary. I had already looked up the Auroville main page -- so article was more of a re-cap for me. The one about Sri Aurobindo I read after the Auroville one, which helped a lot because I then knew who the people mentioned were. It was a fun article and I learned more about the people behind Auroville and their spiritual ideals. The Mindful Traveler however.....not so fond of. I'll explain. My dad traveled last fall to Ireland and on his journey, before, during and after, he read a book by Phil Cousineau titled The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker's Guide to Making Travel Sacred. Over the summer, I have been reading through this book to prepare for India. Cousineau, as well as the author of The Mindful Traveler Richard Slimbach, are the two head honchos in their field (or so my father says...I'm pretty sure he knows what he is talking about), making travel more of a sacred act. After reading Cousineau, Slimbach looks more at the problems of travelers today and not on how to change or solve any of the issues. True, he does give little thoughts here and there but it's just not as personable and down to earth as Cousineau's writings. I would strongly suggest and recommend Cousineau's works to anyone who is traveling and looking for a deeper meaning during their time aborad. Even the crazed business man (or woman) can find peace within after reading Cousineau. He has many other works which are just as intriguing. The last reading from Kumar's book was fantastic. While he has another book for his autobiography, this one touches on some of the main highlights of his wonderful life. He questions things that he has been taught to be correct and slowly shapes his own ideas and views about the world. This is a wonderful book to compare your views against his and to create new or shift current thoughts and ideas about people and the world.
3) The last assignment is a personal passion presentation...try saying that 10 times fast! This one I hit the wall on, drawing blanks --nada. After thinking for awhile I came to the conclusion that I do not, as of right now and probably before the trip, have a passion. That's an issue when I'm supposed to give a presentation on one. By my definition of what a passion is I just can't find one within myself. Sure, I have many likes and enjoyments....but not a passion. So what I have decided to do is look at other people and how they define, search and/or find their passion. I will then turn these questions upon myself and see where it leads me. I have several readings I'm doing at the moment that will hopefully guide me as well. I also have considered looking into my supposed field, Art History. Artists, of any kind, have passion or at least I believe so. So how did they find it? How hard of a road did they have to travel? What does this passion feel like? I'm more optimistic now about this assignment then when I first looked at it. Overall, I hope that this time abroad will help better define me and possibly guide me to my passion.
I do believe that is enough for today. Next time I'll introduce my "must haves" that I've discovered for traveling.
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