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Diane has gone off to her Oneness seminar about 80 km north of Chennai thus leaving Mark all alone in the large country of India! What does he do?!?!?! Well the first thing was get the heck out of Chennai. A decent city, but we didn’t give it much of a chance.
We did spend New Years in Chennai and saw some amazing fireworks. We stood on the top of our hotel and watch fireworks from every angle. It was a bit scary b/c there were some amateur firework displays. The path that some of the fireworks took did not make it past the 6th story of a few of the local hotels. Thus exploding into the side of many buildings. I was a bit concerned but what are fireworks without some danger right?
On New Years Day we went to the beach of Chennai! This beach is straight up HUGE!!!!!! There could be the larges beach ultimate tournament, WITH REGULAR SIZED FIELDS, on this beach. It was mammoth. Of course getting thousands of ultimate players to the beaches of Chennai might be challenging the beach was huge. There was a Shakedown Street of basically “Dollar Stores” on the beach. There were amusement park side, granite small ones, but still in the middle of the beach. It was wild. After being treated like celebrities on the beach. You know how it is, the shaking of hands, the picture taking, the constant gawking. It is tough work being famous! We were off to the state fair.
The state fair is a bit different. Take for example in the Western North Carolina State Fair we dress us pigs and give them names like Dale Swineheart Jr. and race them around tracks. In India the state politicians have large walk through displays of what the different state agencies are doing with the people’s tax month. It was pretty cool.
So like I said, out of Chennai. I headed to Kodaikanal. A beautiful town about 2000 meters up in the mountains of the Western Ghat range. Kodaikanal’s claim to fame is that they have a lot of homemade chocolate and ice cream. I can speak from experience that this stuff is TASTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is also a pastry shop that I straight up harassed this store to tell me when the wheat bread would be fresh. When I finally got the info and a warm loaf it was orgasmic! Also there was a dairy plant with fresh cheese. I missed the whole milking process by an hour b/c I spaced out one day but the cheese coupled with that fresh wheat bread would make a vegan reconsider their ways!
The views up here were fantastic I might add. I took some cool pictures of baby chickens that were smothered in this bright red sauce hanging from wires on street vendors carts. This is the point were vegans jump back on the bandwagon! I will post these pictures soon. It was pretty interesting. So after a few days in Kodaikanal I headed to Kollam for a “Backwater” tour or the southern part of Kerala.
I was afraid I was going to miss it b/c my train pulled in at 9:42am and they said you should get there at 10am to get on the boat. I was standing in the doorway of the train as it was pulling into the station and I saw the stairs go past me. I looked ahead and saw no other set of stairs. WHAT WAS HAPPENING! I WAS GETTING FURTHER AN FURTHER AWAY FROM MY EXIT! So like any intelligent young man with a 50 pound back pack on would do, I “stepped” off. Apparently that whole day’s lecture in high school science class about “things in motion staying in motion” didn’t really cross my mind b/c when I hit the pavement I fell on my side. By the way i was the greatest 8th grade science teacher ever! Just ask teh three honor boys i let run wild in our dilapitated science lab. (Needless to say the made gun powder and blew stuff up!) The backpack doubled as my cumbersome turtle shell and I wiggled around a bit until I was able to get up right. A few scratches, but I’m ok. I’m an idiot but ok! PS I did make the boat with plenty of time!
The boat trip was great! There are these large wooded contraptions that looks like birds feet all over the backwaters. They are Chinese fishing thingys. They basically get lowered down and pull up some fish a while later. They littered the landscape. There were also tons of eagles, and boys both young and old asking for :”pen, pen” as we floated by. A beautiful and relaxing trip.
After about 3 hours we made it to Amma’s Ashram. Her real name is Mata Artriyumanuouhjgkljrshgkjshkuhfgushioghfusgiofshfgsahfos but people call her Amma, which means “mother” They also call her the “Hugging Saint” b/c she hugs everyone she meets or who come to see her. She is truly an inspirational lady. She is a spiritual leader but preaches “love” and that “all things are God.” The Ashram is basically an Ashram, but gone Hollywood. I at first though I wouldn’t like it b/c it was too big, but I really have fallen in love with the place. To defend myself I did arrive on Sunday, one of the busiest days there are. On Monday things calmed down a bit and I decided to extend my stay.
Let me describe it a bit. There are 5 huge apartment complexes, the biggest being a 17 story building, with a 13th floor by the way, in the middle of about 1,000,000,000,000 palm trees! There is a huge temple, a large autitorium, a huge kitchen, a hospital, a printing press, a swimming pool, 4 different eating areas, and numerous shops and various other things. It is like a resort but for prayer! It is great. The whole place is run by volunteers and everyone there is asked to do a “Seva” each day. Seva is basically volunteer work or selfless work. I got assigned recycling! Hot darn! By the way when you recycle plastic bottles- TAKE THE TOPS OFF, POUR OUT THE WATER, AND WHILE YOUR AT IT PLEASE CRUSH THE CAN/OR BOTTLE! THANKS~
So Amma is one heck of a rock star. She donates millions of $ to causes all over the world. A Tsunami hit Kerala right by her Ashram and she personally paid for and built everyone who lost their home a new one. She gave free food, medical care and most importantly love to all of the victims. She has also helped to rebuild communities after earthquakes and Tsunamis have destroyed towns in Gujurent and in Tamil Nadu. She even gave money to Katrina relief and just helps everywhere. She has build huge apartment complexes in slums and donates food and medical care constantly. So how does she do all this. Like I said before EVERYONE IS A VOLUNTEER. NO ONE is paid! It is great. In a day and age where Non-profits and NGO’s can be iffy with money she is doing it right. She doesn’t have to pay workers so the majority of the money goes to the people in need. I would recommend donating to her cause if you want to donate some $ and know it is going to a good place.
So I have extended my stay here and am taking a 2 day medication course. It has been great so far! That is about it right now. Have a great day and much love~ we miss you guys~mark
We did spend New Years in Chennai and saw some amazing fireworks. We stood on the top of our hotel and watch fireworks from every angle. It was a bit scary b/c there were some amateur firework displays. The path that some of the fireworks took did not make it past the 6th story of a few of the local hotels. Thus exploding into the side of many buildings. I was a bit concerned but what are fireworks without some danger right?
On New Years Day we went to the beach of Chennai! This beach is straight up HUGE!!!!!! There could be the larges beach ultimate tournament, WITH REGULAR SIZED FIELDS, on this beach. It was mammoth. Of course getting thousands of ultimate players to the beaches of Chennai might be challenging the beach was huge. There was a Shakedown Street of basically “Dollar Stores” on the beach. There were amusement park side, granite small ones, but still in the middle of the beach. It was wild. After being treated like celebrities on the beach. You know how it is, the shaking of hands, the picture taking, the constant gawking. It is tough work being famous! We were off to the state fair.
The state fair is a bit different. Take for example in the Western North Carolina State Fair we dress us pigs and give them names like Dale Swineheart Jr. and race them around tracks. In India the state politicians have large walk through displays of what the different state agencies are doing with the people’s tax month. It was pretty cool.
So like I said, out of Chennai. I headed to Kodaikanal. A beautiful town about 2000 meters up in the mountains of the Western Ghat range. Kodaikanal’s claim to fame is that they have a lot of homemade chocolate and ice cream. I can speak from experience that this stuff is TASTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is also a pastry shop that I straight up harassed this store to tell me when the wheat bread would be fresh. When I finally got the info and a warm loaf it was orgasmic! Also there was a dairy plant with fresh cheese. I missed the whole milking process by an hour b/c I spaced out one day but the cheese coupled with that fresh wheat bread would make a vegan reconsider their ways!
The views up here were fantastic I might add. I took some cool pictures of baby chickens that were smothered in this bright red sauce hanging from wires on street vendors carts. This is the point were vegans jump back on the bandwagon! I will post these pictures soon. It was pretty interesting. So after a few days in Kodaikanal I headed to Kollam for a “Backwater” tour or the southern part of Kerala.
I was afraid I was going to miss it b/c my train pulled in at 9:42am and they said you should get there at 10am to get on the boat. I was standing in the doorway of the train as it was pulling into the station and I saw the stairs go past me. I looked ahead and saw no other set of stairs. WHAT WAS HAPPENING! I WAS GETTING FURTHER AN FURTHER AWAY FROM MY EXIT! So like any intelligent young man with a 50 pound back pack on would do, I “stepped” off. Apparently that whole day’s lecture in high school science class about “things in motion staying in motion” didn’t really cross my mind b/c when I hit the pavement I fell on my side. By the way i was the greatest 8th grade science teacher ever! Just ask teh three honor boys i let run wild in our dilapitated science lab. (Needless to say the made gun powder and blew stuff up!) The backpack doubled as my cumbersome turtle shell and I wiggled around a bit until I was able to get up right. A few scratches, but I’m ok. I’m an idiot but ok! PS I did make the boat with plenty of time!
The boat trip was great! There are these large wooded contraptions that looks like birds feet all over the backwaters. They are Chinese fishing thingys. They basically get lowered down and pull up some fish a while later. They littered the landscape. There were also tons of eagles, and boys both young and old asking for :”pen, pen” as we floated by. A beautiful and relaxing trip.
After about 3 hours we made it to Amma’s Ashram. Her real name is Mata Artriyumanuouhjgkljrshgkjshkuhfgushioghfusgiofshfgsahfos but people call her Amma, which means “mother” They also call her the “Hugging Saint” b/c she hugs everyone she meets or who come to see her. She is truly an inspirational lady. She is a spiritual leader but preaches “love” and that “all things are God.” The Ashram is basically an Ashram, but gone Hollywood. I at first though I wouldn’t like it b/c it was too big, but I really have fallen in love with the place. To defend myself I did arrive on Sunday, one of the busiest days there are. On Monday things calmed down a bit and I decided to extend my stay.
Let me describe it a bit. There are 5 huge apartment complexes, the biggest being a 17 story building, with a 13th floor by the way, in the middle of about 1,000,000,000,000 palm trees! There is a huge temple, a large autitorium, a huge kitchen, a hospital, a printing press, a swimming pool, 4 different eating areas, and numerous shops and various other things. It is like a resort but for prayer! It is great. The whole place is run by volunteers and everyone there is asked to do a “Seva” each day. Seva is basically volunteer work or selfless work. I got assigned recycling! Hot darn! By the way when you recycle plastic bottles- TAKE THE TOPS OFF, POUR OUT THE WATER, AND WHILE YOUR AT IT PLEASE CRUSH THE CAN/OR BOTTLE! THANKS~
So Amma is one heck of a rock star. She donates millions of $ to causes all over the world. A Tsunami hit Kerala right by her Ashram and she personally paid for and built everyone who lost their home a new one. She gave free food, medical care and most importantly love to all of the victims. She has also helped to rebuild communities after earthquakes and Tsunamis have destroyed towns in Gujurent and in Tamil Nadu. She even gave money to Katrina relief and just helps everywhere. She has build huge apartment complexes in slums and donates food and medical care constantly. So how does she do all this. Like I said before EVERYONE IS A VOLUNTEER. NO ONE is paid! It is great. In a day and age where Non-profits and NGO’s can be iffy with money she is doing it right. She doesn’t have to pay workers so the majority of the money goes to the people in need. I would recommend donating to her cause if you want to donate some $ and know it is going to a good place.
So I have extended my stay here and am taking a 2 day medication course. It has been great so far! That is about it right now. Have a great day and much love~ we miss you guys~mark
here are some pictures:
like i promised the red baby chickens, the circus!, our minister friend brady who married us, some free range beef, and shot out to Delaware! Go Blue Rocks!
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