Day 9

Day 9
>
> April 19, 3:07 am, Pondicherry
> Just started puking my guts out again. Lovely. I want to go home.
>
> 10:44 pm, Vellore
> Back in Vellore. Home sweet home. Hardly. Coming back after being
> away to Mamallapuram and Pondy, I'm reminded what a crowded, busy
> town this is. It's really not the most pleasant town.
>
> We spent the morning and early afternoon seeing some of the sights
> of Pondicherry. I didn't feel too sick in the morning. I really
> think I just threw up because my bowels aren't moving (as a result
> of the immodium I took the other day). I must be backed up. But
> getting it all out last night felt sort of good, after it was over.
>
> So this morning we first walked to Le Cafe. It's this nice little
> cafe right on the sea wall. Very nice place. I drank lemonade. Then
> we wandered over to the main Ashram place. It's where Sri Arubindo
> and The Mother are both entombed/enshrined. Their tomb was very
> intricately covered with a flower petal design. The whole place had
> lots of flowers growing all over. It was pretty. Arubindo and The
> Mother are apparently the founders of this Ashram thing. It's some
> sort of philosophy that combines yoga and modern science? Anyway, it
> was very peaceful. People were meditating and praying near the tomb/
> shrine.
>
> After that we walked through this other temple that we sort of
> stumbled upon. There was an elephant that blessed you if you gave it
> food or money. It was awesome. You give him something and then sort
> of bow your head and he touches the top of your head with his trunk.
> Not sure what the blessing is for... to get married? To be fertile?
> I'd really just like to stop vomiting!
>
> Next we walked to coffee.com. This was a really cool little Internet
> cafe. They even had wifi, so I got to just use my iPod touch. My can
> of sprite also was nice for the stomach.
>
> After that we walked over to this old catholic church that was quite
> pretty and then went to have lunch at this place called satsanga, I
> think. Katherine had really been wanting to go there. It was a
> pretty good place. Jerry was disaapointed because his shrimp
> cocktail wasn't what he expected, but everyone else was pleased with
> their meal. They had a lot of French seafood dishes. I ate a small
> bowl of chicken soup. Very tasty.
>
> By the time we finished up there we figured it was about time to
> head back to Vellore. We ended up just paying for a taxi all the
> way. Rs 2400 for AC. We were able to fit all 5 of us, 2 in front and
> 3 in back. It was an old ambassador model, "Indian Benz", according
> to our driver. We had to stop about every hour because the car would
> be close to overheating. It was amusing. He would get all this water
> and just dump it all over the engine and in whatever holes he could
> find. But about 4 hours of bumpy roads later, we made it back.
>
> Tonight I'm staying by myself for the first time. The girls and Neil
> and Jerry are over at this new place. Seemed pretty nice, but I
> wanted a little space and privacy for a change. This place is not
> great though. It's okay, but I might get tired of no AC and no
> shower head or sit-down toilet. If I get sick of it, I may just go
> stay with them again. We'll see.
>
> I finally did some laundry tonight. Just hand-washed a few things in
> the bucket in the bathroom. I've got a headache right now, maybe
> just from the heat and the travel all afternoon on bumpy roads. I
> think I'll go to sleep before too long. Tomorrow morning we start
> CHAD.
>
>
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