pictures with people

i rarely take pictures with people. this is a bummer for our families who just want to see evidence that their daughters are alive. so i borrowed some proof from Ariel, Angelle, and our new Amy friend that indeed we are living.

and quite well. 

a bit cookily (yep). 

but quite well.

we took a trip

first we stopped at Vailankanni, the Marian apparition town where Mary appeared in the 1500s (i know, it's like we're collecting Blessed Mother baseball cards here)

we found a holy tree. 

it's the banyan tree where Mary appeared to a little boy. people tie their prayer requests to it. these are the requests for babies. 

we visited temples

there was a goat who wad some troubles. 

i don't know what happened to him. 

then we went to kerala 

 kathakali dance theater

these water fairies are in Kochi where they use chinese fishing nets which require 5 men to pull in. 

 

we boated around the kerala backwaters and visited canal-side villages where we ate and drank peculiar but thoroughly delicious things. coconut alcohol. ginger spice muscles. and certo, chai. 

 

we witnessed some serious glory of mankind in kalaripayattu, the kerala martial art. it demands you maintain peace.

 it also demands you fight with animal movement. 

my camera died shortly after this geekout

so i have few pictures of the Jungle Book...

fortunately i was traveling with three others so we're covered. elephants and tiger reserves and all. next post. 

tod

tuesday
some things we see biking to work every morning:
~ our elephant. he sleeps by our neighborhood grocery store.
~ women guarding their house with salt designs (see below)
~ entire families riding on one bicycle ( I can't figure out how to word that better)
~ young men rolling the newspapers and drinking chai
~ homeless families washing in the streets

once we saw a naked man walking through the street escorted by 7 orange robed monks

wednesday
our bikes have been out of commission this week due to one rickety traffic run-in and generally bad Indian bike maintenence. hence, this week we rickshaw it to work.
here is our daily rickshaw driver good morning greeting:
"hello, auto?"
"yes madame yes"
"mission street. you know mission street, yes?"
"yes yes get in" <he gathers a crowd of 3 to 7 other rickshaw drivers to discuss directions to the place we go every day>
"mission street. yes mission street. okay, how much?"
"100 rupees."
"We'll pay 40."
"80 m'am"
"We'll pay 40. We live here. We know its 40."
"70 70"
"Ramesh, we pay you 40 every day."
"No 40! 60."
"Ramesh, it's 40. And we bought lunch yesterday."
"okay okay 50."
<we start walking away>
"wait! wait! no problem get in 40 40 eesokay."

thursday
bonjour saravanahananana. je m'appelle Angelle.

friday
Three or four times a week the nuns help me out by informing me that I look like street rifraf. Today Sister G gestured to me that my hair was childish and unpleasant and was so kind to re-do it for me. Earlier this week I was told to send my hair wrap back to where it came from. The other day Sister O offered to swap my pants for some of their donated ones. Where would I be without these girls?

saturday
"I'm not so much upset that I'm covered in poop. My issue is that we don't know how it got there."
C'est la vie en India? 

sunday monday tales

sunday

Dad and Kia have arrived and we have a proposal for them. we offer a chance to be initiated into the Outlasters (we go the name from a local Indian "hiphop" group) of Rainbow Nagar.

Initiation into ORN
i. negotiate a rickshaw down to 40 rupees. if you get lower you can skip of the these 10 steps.
ii. chug a chai in under 20 sec. bonus if you do it outside in the sun.
iii. trick the temple elephant into giving you blessing without giving it money.
iv. change a diaper type II and enjoy the nonexistence of baby wipes at the orphanage.
v. get the nuns to pronounce your name correctly.
vi. learn a song in tamil. extra points if you accomplish the indian inflections.
vii. eat street food. coconuts don't count.
viii. haggle an item in the grand bazaar down 100 rupees.
ix. smack a cow's butt when riding through traffic (rickshaw-fine; bike- more street cred)
x. insert the indian "yes" head-bob smoothly, correctly, and without the conversant suspecting you of mocking them.

monday

a woman on the street asked me to spit on her daughter this morning. i said no.

Amelie a Parrot and a Coconut

ariel has fun with the camera and debuts her work

marvelous memory- we talked to green parrots and drank coconuts with the village priest.

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?