July 2, 2008

Abby just told me that today was July 2nd-I had no idea! I didn't think that it was July yet, and I had no idea that the 4th of July is day after tomorrow. Time passes in a very odd way in this country. 

 

So as for the past few days: Friday we went to the worksite to check it out. Robyn and I rode with Adam in Jeyaraj's car because there wasn't enough room on the bus. We kept stopping at gas stations on the way, but it was only until yesterday that I understood why. (It's coming...) We also stopped at this beautiful lily pond that has steps built down into it on four sides. Jeyaraj explained some sort of Hindu worship or tradition relating to it that I don't remember. He also pointed out where some people were buried...however, I didn't see a cemetary, just some land. 

When we got to the worksite, all the little kids at the school there ran out and were very excited to see us. They shook our hands, running around as they attempted to shake as many white peopels' hands as possible. Robyn and I taught them how to high-five us. Then Jeyaraj showed us the complex. There is a small school building, a stage about one foot high, attached to a toolshed/room. We are building next to that. At the back of the property is the training center, with a few different rooms. There are beautiful trees all around, including two "Alexis" trees, planted by Alexis Kort (AJWS). 

 

After visiting the site, we drove back and stopped in town. After some quick time at Googly (internet cafe) and the grocery store, we went back to RIDE. We finished Shabbat planning, and a few hours later, started Shabbat with Kabbalat Shabbat and Ma'ariv (sort of). During Ma'ariv the power went out but came on again a few minutes later. During the Shema I watched a gecko eat a fly on the wall. Only b'hodu (in India). For dinner we made Kiddish over 7-Up and Hamotzi over matzah. After singing songs we went to bed. 

The next day, yom shabbat, consisted of individual davening, and hanging out, and a session where we shared some of the more profound moments, especially relating to Jewish identity, in our lives. Some were sad, some were happy, some in between, but each made me feel like I knew the members of our group a lot better. 

 

Before the session, during lunch, I bit into something, most likely a hot pepper, and had a reaction. Water, tea, bananas, and coconut water drunk straight out of the cocnonut with a straw did the trick. Also, the bananas here are amazing. 

On Sunday we went to three of Kanchipuram's temples. Only 997 left to go. (Actually, 1,000 was in its heyday, there are fewer temples now.) The first one was on the outskirts of the city, and was beautiful but very understated. It was called __________, and I believe the rock it was made of is limestone. It was rectangular, and in the center was the sanctum, which is only accessible to Hindus. In the outside there were little meditation chambers built into the wall. I enjoyed it a lot because it was small, architectually appealing, quiet, and very empty. 

 

The second temple we went to, Sri Ekambaranathar Temple was pretty much the opposite. It was huge! There were a lot of people and noise. There were sculptures and shrines everywhere. Inside there was a group of maybe 30-40 people, mostly women, sitting, constantly singing.

For a ten rupee donation I walked around this chamber, got a smudge of powder on my forehead and received a blessing from an old, half-naked guy. In a courtyard next to that was a famed mango tree that offers various kinds of blessings. Supposedly, each of the tree's four branches yields a different tasting fruit. 

After the second temple, we went to town again ecause the third temple we were supposed to go to was closed for its afternoon "siesta." In town we went back to Googly and the grocery store. After lunch and a rest we headed back to the temple that we had missed earlier, the Sri Devaraja Swamy Temple. This temple was medium in size, and I liked it, but I was really tired. At the end we chilled around a huge, gross green pool. We walked back to RIDE, and saw some monkeys on the way.

 

On Monday we started working. Most of what we're doing is pretty fun, and it's nice to be outside, even though it's really hot. It's also great to be able to interact with the workers there as we teach each other Tamil and English words related to what we're doing. We started off the day with a poojah, where the Indian workers did blessings with coconut, colored powders, and some leaves. We responded with a bracha and a song. we sihed that the building we were building would be one of knowledge, learning, success, and derech eretz. 

That afternoon we met with Jeyaraj to discuss RIDE more in general.