village dispensary

when we are not with the kiddies at Shishu Bhavan (the MC sisters home for mentally and physically handicapped children) we are rollin' in the ambulance with the other Mama T's ladeez. with them we visit different villages to hand out medicine and crackers to very beautiful very poor people. sometimes we help distribute medicine but mostly we play with the children. usually that involves some singing, speckled with some hokey pokey, and then chasing them until we're tired (they never are).

on the road back into Pondicherry we often stop at produce stands to support the farmers in the area. this day was watermelon day. tremendous. 

tale of the day thursday hey friday whoa

thursday

friday

the 6 nuns took Ariel, Angelle and I on an exquisite field trip today.
we visited some other nuns down the street because one of their nuns died last night. in India they keep the body nice and exposed for you to pay your condolences, so we had to get there while she was still out. so we gathered around this dead nun and prayed. while Angelle and I were of course focused and reverent, flipsy Ariel was lost in distraction during this time. during her childish spaciness she did, however, observe a little Indian charm. printed in red capital block letters on the side of the coffin read this:

BOX FOR DEAD BODY.
FREEZER BOX FOR DEAD BODY.
THE BEST AND CHEAP.
979017669

genius. what better advertisement space is there? 

Pondicherry and some things

this is our town. 

we have a park 

and a beach.

(with a Ghandi yesss)

(we drink coconuts)

 we have crazy streets

with crazy rickshaws.

and temples. lots. 

but this is just one. 

 we also have an elephant. 

i love him so much. 

 and i think he might love me too, a little bit. he hugged me once.  

this is our neighborhood, rainbow nagar.

some things 

this is wonderful: every day here the woman of the household sprinkles salt in front of her house in designs such as these. they do so to keep evil spirits away. 

enchanting, yes? every edifice has them. homes, stores, temples, etc. and the women's free-hand salt sprinkling is consistently impressive. 

one day we went to a cafe where the french bohemians sip things and we listened to a guitar and a woman hum hum hum together.

one day we were attacked. 

 these men approached us and covered us in colored powder and shouted "happy holy." 

we learned later that this was normal. this is how you welcome the spring in India.

 one day Ariel and I found a MotherTree.

we kissed her. 

textures. 

tale of the day hey hey

tuesday

an entire village gathered today to watch Ariel and Angelle swing dance and play clap games. somewhere in there they had multiple old old ooooold women in bright sarees joining the jive. it was glorious. the awkward teenage boys and I pretended we were too cool and taught each other break-dance moves by the ambulance.

wednesday

today we danced in some dirt with some beautiful children whlie swapping timeless traditions. they sang sweetly aged songs in a mystical Indian village tongue. We showed them the good ol' hokey pokey.

 one of our neighbors in our beloved neighborhood

RAINBOW NAGAR

Monday tale of the day

By 11 am today we:
- boarded an ambulance with two nuns, a sleepy old Indian man, and our new friend Solomon and journeyed to who-knows-where India.
- scared the wits out of some rural village children who could not understand how we were so pale.
- helped dispense medicine to some very poor, very beautiful, very strong Indians.
- belted Ain't No Mountain High Enough for the nuns when they requested a loud English song.
- ate watermelon with some farmers and their cows in a blazy field.
- tried a vegetable that looked like a snake. we're pretty sure it wasn't a snake. 

sunday tale of the day

We grocery shop across from where the elephant sleeps. 

Tonight we ventured into the chaos of Sunday night grocerying and barely live to tell the tale. Little people everywhere, short and shorter, you feel like cattle, smells like curry and seafood, crackers and tofu, chocolate only sold out of a locked and guarded case, everyone stares at your juice selection because what are you doing in their grocery store?