Yesterday Afternoon I went for a nice walk to the Karnataka/Tamil Nadu Border. There are a couple of small villages on the way, and one medium village called Gundapulam. On the way out, three people offered me a motorcycle ride. I accepted the first offer, but got off after about a kilometer. My added weight was too much for the little bike to handle. Was it generosity or curiosity that motivated these people? Would they offer any villager a ride or just foreigners? Would they offer a city person a ride? City people probably stand out almost as much as foreigners.

People always look at me quizzically, even in Bangalore. I don’t like the attention, though I suppose it’s understandable Everyone notices what is different and unexpected, and as a foreigner I fit those qualifications for many people. What bothers me is my inability to communicate in Kannada. I am a little ashamed of being in a country and not even studying the language. Anyway, my usual response to quizzical looks is to smile. Most people return the smile, but being out and about is still somewhat daunting.

Had such a good time at Navadarshanam on Wednesday that I decided to return. I arrived this morning and will stay through Sunday, or perhaps Monday. Hopefully I’ll get some work done. Right now I am sitting in a well about three meters in diameter and fifteen meters deep. It’s constructed of stone blocks without mortar except for the top five layers. A stone staircase spirals down the sides into the deep. Perched with my laptop about a meter above water-level, I imagine that I am exploring the ruins of an ancient castle (exploring ruins with a laptop?). If the water is down approximately four meters from the top and each stair is sixty centimeters long, twenty centimeters wide, and twelve centimeters deep, what is the total surface area of the well and stairway?

In a small bamboo grove on an organic farm. One of the more beautiful places I’ve been in India. Beautiful not only in observable beauty, but also in intriguing beauty. The solar-power arrays, the apparatus to siphon off methane from cow manure that also produces grade-A compost. The organic cops, the hands-off/nature-on approach to farming, the emphasis on cultivating spirituality along with cops. I like it.

For all its shortcomings, and it has a number of them, Friends World is giving me a very unique education. The school is a perfect match for me: lots of individual attention, lectures by experts and visionaries, visits to the field, learning in the real world--not only the classroom world. And freedom to pursue what one is interested in. Freedom to design ones course.

War. Just saw a powerful movie about war in Sri Lanka. It’s called Peck on the Cheek I don’t know much about the war in Sri Lanka, but all wars, whatever their specifics, cause misery.

I feel a need to see war firsthand. Not to fight in a war, but to see a war. To talk with the soldiers of each side. To see the wounded of each side. I think that maybe firsthand experience is necessary to understand war. But can war ever be understood? I wonder what is behind this desire… Possibly the romance of being in a war zone? Why is that romantic?

I had a thought about next semester: I could study in a Zen monastery. I’d study Tamil, History of Buddhism, Buddhism and Christianity, Liberation Theology, Meditation, and Peace and Buddhism. Then, in Latin America, I could do further studies in Liberation Theology and maybe even do a senior thesis comparing and contrasting Liberation Theology in Latin America and India.

Well, today is my birthday. I think that I will have fun tonight and sleep in tomorrow. They gave me a card with a crossword puzzle. Miriam worked hard on it. I felt very appreciated! It’s also Courtney’s birthday.

It was a wonderful day; we had a fieldtrip to a nearby village where we hiked, took pictures, ate, and heard about (but did not see) wild elephants… We just got back now--I took a shower, developed my pinhole-camera pictures, and escaped to eat. Right now I am at “the lawn‿ the hotel’s outside restaurant. It is, well, a lawn. In the center there is a thirty-foot brick pillar topped with a god who is trying to spear a dragon that shimmying up the side. There are about twenty tables, generously spaced and illuminated by lion-witch-and-wardrobe type lamps. The tall trees that encircle the lawn make it an elegant, private space. It’s cool and the food is good. It’s the perfect place to write.

At Shanti Ashram right now. Feeling frustrated with how this field trip has gone. But before I write my frustration, let me name the good parts.

On Wednesday afternoon, we visited two of the schools supported by the Ashram. It nice to be in the villages and see the people, especially the children. I cannot help but love children; they make me aware of my paternal that are dying to get out . I will wait though, I don’t need a baby just yet. I think the morning session was about human rights, but I don‘t remember. It was the first time this year that I completely zoned out. Perhaps the crossword puzzle I was working on had something to do with it.

Crazy Idea:

Sometime this morning, during the lecture on human development, I had a crazy idea: I can run for state representatives in 2004. The crazy part is that I just might win! I am good at public speaking, and I can say exactly what I think because I don’t have any interest groups to please and I have nothing to loose politically. I’ll think more about this.

Another Idea:

A lobbying group comprised of former exchange students! What would the agenda of these people be? International Exposure, of course. WHO has been a foreign-exchange student. Clinton-Oxford. Many people from all around the world are educated in the USA.

I’m at Shanti Ashram. Shanti means peace. An ashram is kind of like a kibbutz in that it’s a place for living in community--sharing chores, meals, etc. Often ashrams center around yoga, but Shanti Ashram is more focused on social-justice and development work. Shanti Asharam is in Coimbatore, in the province of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is southeast of Karnataka where Bangalore is located.

I am going to keep a photo-journal to document the time that I spend here. Each day I will take an exposure to add to the photo-journal. My approach to photography will also be decidedly low-tech. I am going to make a pin-hole camera. The exposures that I’ll make will be on photographic paper, so I’ll have a paper negative. Then, I will scan the negative to make a digital print.

I am all ready to go on the field trip tomorrow. If Premi’s driver comes, we will leave for the train station at 5:30 AM. Otherwise, we’ll have to leave at 4:45 AM to hail an Auto-Rickshaw. That’s the thing about traveling--it breaks routine. Positive attitude! I’ll have fun.

I am still wavering on whether or not to come back to India next semester… I am getting better at not worrying about that decision though. Whatever happens, happens.