This post will be one of those that really challenges me becaue I have had such a depth to my experiences and words will not do them justice. The three weeks together in Pondy have come to and end, and I feel all the feels about it. I am so blessed to have been a part of this transformative time for these incredible students.

As I watched them learn and grow, I also was able to explore a deeper side of myself and learn about myself through them.

Christmas day had a huge impact on me this year, it was nearly a 180 from the traditional Christmas Day had at home. I had the opportunity to visit the Martimandir all morning and to actually go inside it for a brief silent concentration. I knew from the moment we arrived in Auroville that what I was about to experience was not going to be able to be formed into words. Even when I tried to journal about it afterwards I ended up with more pages written than I had even writen for all my other days there.

I will attempt to explain it a little bit though—I felt deeply connected with the place from the start and the connection only grew as I approached the beautiful orb. They let about 50 of us in at a time, and after we entered from underneath it we walked up and around the massive space in the center of the sphere and into the silent meditation chamber at the top.

This room may be the most spiritual space to exist on the planet. It is soflty lit by a beam of light shining directly down from the sun and refracting through a perfect spherical crystal in the center of the room. There are 12 white pillars shooting up into the tall room and in between are meditation pillows. Complete silence is in effect leaving each person to feel completely still and access a depth within themself that can be truly mind-blowing.

I was able to connect to my consciousness on a whole new level and had some profound moments in the time I sat there. Then we were able to sit beneath the Matrimandir in a space called the lotus pond, and the positive energy charged moments kept flowing. We were brought next to the Matrimandir to sit beneath an ancient banyan tree. I kept having revelations and profound thoughts throughout the morning, and as I sat there I realized they all came from somewhere deep within myself, and not from someone else teaching me. I got chills thinking of how each and every person on this planet has a deep potentiality within themselves, and it may only take the right atmosphere and mindset for these genuine thoughts to come to life.

I left the experience full-hearted and quiet, but looking forward to being around everyone in the group. We got back into town and met at the beach office with our white elephant gifts! Which are really comical in India... Afterwards we used rangoli powder to make an India Christmas Tree, complete with an Oregon O of course.

During sunset we all walked the promenade and had a family dinner at the closest thing to an American restaurant we could find.

We were all missing our families back home and decided to block out hour-long time slots to make calls to them so we wouldn't all clog up the wifi connection. From 8-9 (PM for me, AM for them) I was able to virtually be with the whole family on Christmas morning! It wasn't easy to be halfway around the world on this special day but I felt immensely grateful to at least be able to be there via FaceTime.

Our night ended with watching Elf (second time!) and writing positive affirmations to one another on homemade paper from the ashram. It felt good to pour out so much love that I felt towards everyone and I felt so blessed to see all the amazing words that they had to say about me.

 Also feeling grateful that I got to skip out on all the materialism and commercialism of the Christmas season, and to just spend it deepening my spiritual experience and exchanging love and laughs rather than expensive gifts.

Our last day at SARVAM was a special one because we were able to spend the entire day there! The mothers who prepare the meals for the school graciously allowed us to sit in and "help" them cook throughout the morning.

Veggies!

Their stove system is pretty traditional but it gets the job done.

Pots of veggies, soon to be biriyani rice!

We helped roll out these pockets of sweet deliciousness which were then cooked over the fire. And promptly devoured by us all.

I took a quick break to have my hair yanked at by some sweet girls, but they sure know what they're doing :)

After the cooking, we served all the children, then got to consume a huge meal ourselves. Their generosity was unmatched. 

Next we played for hours and I noticed how natural our time was with the children, just flowing through games and songs and laughter. But just when we get comfortable with a place we have to say goodbye :(

They put on a beautiful performance for us with amazing dances—traditional Indian and Western—speeches, and repeated thanks for us... We could hardly keep our eyes dry from how thoughtful they were. Then they gave us even more food. We finally had to say our tearful goodbyes, and I think we were all convinced that this would not be our final time visiting. My heart will forever remain in that magical place, and they have taught me so much about the joy of giving without expecting anything in return.

Our final day came up too fast, but we quickly had to come to terms with it so we could prepare the final touches of our presentation and put on our beautiful sarees.

I said goodbye to familiar sights like the Governer's house. It was kind of serendipitous that our final day was a rainy one.

  

Our presentation went beautifully, even though there was limited time to prepare. Many members of the Sri Aurobindo Society listened intently as we each got up and from our hearts shared an aspect of our time together. Many were able to open up about their personal growth on this trip, and how the transformation is just beginning. Many tears were shed... it was such a powerful conclusion to our time together, and I was so moved by how well they were able to somehow put such a huge experience into words and still keep it close to heart.

I love each and every one of these people more than I even thought was possible!

Leaving them all for my next adventure was one of the most difficult goodbyes yet, but they set me up with enough love and memories to carry me through all the days that lie ahead!

 Oh the places we've gone! It has been an adventurous week in many ways. Our big outing to Mahabalipuram and the Crocodile Farm started us off. 

I visited these sites last year but it was wonderful to return with everyone's fresh perspective. I naturally feel at home climbing around on rocks and wandering amongst the trees, and I think all of us Oregonians really needed a day outside of the city.

We spent the morning exploring the various 2,000 year old structures and carvings while hoarding off trinket-pushers and monkeys!

Pretty incredible to stand before these life-size carvings which provide a rock-solid window into the past of this region. 

We then ventured to the land of dangerous creatures. We saw hundreds and hundreds of crocs... pretty weird animals once you're around them for a while. We also watched some crazy men handle and milk venomous snakes (to eventually make antivenom)... I'll probably be avoiding their profession if I can help it.

The following day we were also able to get our nature-fix in. We woke up super early and adventured over to a massive inland lake to greet the sun. After some yoga and puppy-gawking, we took to the high seas! 

Well, we rented some paddle boats. Aaarrrrr matey~

After some thigh-burn and lots of laughter, we visited my favorite place... Matrikunj

2 day old calf! Just a soft little wobbly-legged baby.

We were served up some delectable papaya and ate it up in the shade of the bungalo. 

As we wandered the farm I saw the progress from the work I had done just a couple weeks earlier!

I planted these lil sprouts!

And new life is also growing from the beds we cleared!

So cool to play a little part in this huge, beautiful place.

We wandered along forest paths tasting leaves and fruits and admiring the care put into every organism by Baburam.

Rice fields. Butterflies. Climbing trees. Perfectly rounded stones. Things I do like.

After a few hours of exploring, we found ourselves in a cuddle puddle on a large tarp in a clearing in the middle of the jungle. We effortlessly drifted in and out of sleep to the sounds of birds, bugs, and wind in the trees. 

After waking in a state of pure bliss, we were served fresh coconuts with little plant straws! This day was more perfect than I could have ever dreamed.

The adventures continued the following day as we arrived at a thousand-year-old temple which I had never been to before named Gangaikonda Cholapuram. 

We approached the huge sculptures in front of the temple then entered into the long, dark room. 

After a short exposure inside the temple, we all naturally ventured off in our own direction for the next couple hours. This beautiful family came over to me twice and it was one of the most loving interactions I've ever had. They were asking me so many questions and asked for pictures together. The sweet girl in the pink dress kept saying I was beautiful and we kissed each other's hands goodbye.

 I was overpouring with love from the beautiful little humans and I began to tear up thinking about the capacity for human care, the same love and care that went into building this temple a thousand years ago. India continues to blow me away with the depth of connection it embodies, from the small to the massive and everything in between.

Oh and we were featured in the India National News! We had a very informal interview with an awesome journalist and a few days later we saw this! 

Unexplicably cool to see our names in the largest newspaper in India, which would otherwise be a bad thing probably! I feel so proud to be a part of this experience with these open-minded and hearted individuals.

On Monday we had the honor to explore Auroville! I could write a novel on what I took away from this place in only one day, so I won't even try to summarize it.. wouldn't do it justice! But have a quick look at their website to get an idea of the depth of this place: http://www.auroville.org/

We went on a laid back tour with an Auroville native, Gopi. He first took us to one of their many temples where I snapped a picture of one of the beautiful paintings involving peacocks (shoutout to the Hager ranch).

From there we explored the exhibition hall where they had beautiful displays to introduce visitors to the magic that is Auroville.

At the center of the town is the Matrimandir, the "soul of Auroville" which I am blessed to be able to return to tomorrow for an opportunity to meditate inside of the magnificent golden sphere. The essence of the inner chamber is one of the coolest things I have ever heard about, so I will have more to share on that after I visit it for myself.

I loved this model of the Auroville center.

The bayan tree is one of the coolest kinds of tree I've ever heard of—each branch sends shoots down which root into the earth essentially becoming its own tree. This one is in the geographical center of Auroville.

And the Matrimandir... absolutely breathtaking to observe. 

We enjoyed a delicious meal in the Solar Kitchen (food cooked from solar energy) and needless to say it was absolutely scrumptious. Good conversation accompanied this massive meal, which we walked off at various sites in the industry zone of Auroville.

We went to a neat music shop complete with all kinds of uniquely made instruments, then over to a community called the Bamboo Center. People come from all over the world and collaborate on projects using bamboo in basically any way imaginable. They experiment with various building structures and it was so so cool.

We saw all the uniquely constucted homes in the bamboo village... it was hard to leave!

We also had an exposure to WELL Paper (http://www.wellpaper.org/) and bought some of the products that the women made.

Finally we stopped at Gopi's friends. I included this picture because I spent some time swinging on the hammock-swing pictured, which eventually gave in and we went crashing to the ground! I luckily walked away unharmed :)

I have a thousand words I could say for each of these experiences, but pictures and a summary will have to do! More to come after my Matrimandir experience tomorrow.

Oh and Merry Christmas!

 What a beautiful weekend we all had together! It was so nice to balance out a week of school visits and varying emotions with some fun adventures and comfort food. On Saturday the students helped prepare a meal for the members of the ashram, which meant we got to go shopping at the market. It felt amazing to finally get my hands on some fresh fruit. I bought bananas, papayas, oranges, pomegranates, kiwis, apples, and more—all for about four bucks in USD. Incredible...

The lunch was the most delicious meal I may ever consume. We learned about how the ambiance of your eating surroundings and the mood of the person cooking can actually influence the food. You could taste that this meal was truly made with love.

After we let the food baby digest, we walked a few blocks to a bike rental shop, then we took to the streets. I almost forgot how much I love being on a bike. I basically lived on my bike in Eugene, and I realized I really miss the freedom and convenience (and fun!) of biking. Needless to say I will be seeking out this mode of transportation more than once throughout my travels.

We arrived in a beautiful little beachside village—not necessarily beautiful to an American standard but rather beautiful from the obvious sense of community present among the people. Something that is easier felt than described... We had time to go over to the shore to say hello to the ocean, which Carlea and I chose to do from the rocks right next to the water. She braved a rock directly in front of the waves, and got a nice cleansing from a big one!

We wandered back to a huge old building worn down by 200 years on the coast and the tsunami. Two beautiful women showed us how to decorate the floors with colored rice powder, an art performed all across India in front of homes and shops, known in some areas as "rangoli". 

We spent the next couple hours filling in their beautiful designs, and coloring each other!

Even my hands looked like a work of art by the time we were done.

That evening we rinsed off and then learned the art of making dreamcatchers. And I learned the art of acceptance that some people are better at crafts than others... Twas quite a lovely Saturday if I do say so meself.

Sunday was equally as lovely. Actually that's an understatement.. Sunday will go down in my book as one of the best days I've ever had. After yoga and talks in the morning, a few of us ventured out on our bikes to a beautiful part of town and enjoyed lunch at a French-Italian restaurant.

That afternoon we met up as a group and rode 2 kms to an incredible lighthouse in south Pondy. I felt so grateful to have been able to have this new experience because we hadn't gone the previous year.

We quickly hiked the 19 stories - worth every step for the view at the top. I was absolutely stunned looking out on this beautiful city, and beyond. I realized for two weeks, I had been so caught up in the interworkings of one small part of this town that it felt extremely refreshing to take a step back from it all and get a new perspective. 

Can hardly explain how amazing it feels to call this place home for a while... I could have sat with this view for hours. Not sure what's up with that roof with the question mark on it? This place is full of magic and mysteries :)

Going down was much easier than going up (but very difficult to resist the temptation to spit)

I was on such a high (19 stories!) from the lighthouse that I was able to deeply love the next part of our outing. We biked out onto this jetty where all the fishing boats come and go. We watched the most gorgeous sunset do its thing as the waves crashed on the rocks around us.

THEN we took to the beach next to it, just to watch the waves on the shore, and maybe put our feet in, or to hold hands and gradually walk back into the waves, okay we're almost knee-deep now, this water feels amazing, woah Courtney and Charlotte dunked completely in! Guess I should too! And everyone else! Until we all found ourselves soaking wet, fully clothed, and cracking up in the Bay of Bengal as the sun went down. 

 SO HAPPY!

Finding my bliss here a hundred times over, with some pretty incredible humans