Minority or Celebrity?
Though there is a lot of preparation work to be done (researching building techniques, designing, planning, meetings), we are taking advantage of the free time we do have before the construction starts and every minute of daylight is spent at the site. We went to the beach yesterday and took a short dip in the (very warm) Indian Ocean. Travis commented that we were the "whitest people on the beach," to which I responded, "I'm the whitest person everywhere I go."But it's not just the beach where we stand out. Thursday we took the moped for a drive and though we only went 20 minutes beyond Auroville, we suddenly felt like celebrities. Everyone we passed met us with wide eyes and turned heads. Children called out to us and waved, beaming as we waved back. When we stopped at one village, we found ourselves suddenly surrounded by 30 people. A group of women spoke in Tamil to one another as they looked and pointed at me. Still, it was a friendly curiosity and my heart was warm as we waved goodbye.
The landscape is a beautiful as it is novel to our Western senses: brilliant emerald green rice patties sprawl out to the right, thick shady forest meets the road on the left. Cattle and goats are hearded down the roads by barefoot women in sarees; school girls with braided pigtails and blue uniforms ride home on their bicycles; a small dog chases a couple on a motorbike; a group of women sit with handwoven baskets on ths side of the road; traffic parts for a wagon drawn by two white oxen, a man wearing only a loin-cloth driving them. I wonder if we will ever get used to these everyday sights.
posted by Lauren and Travis @ 10:32 AM
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