It’s hard to find words to describe what happened during these three months. But first, I want to tell you that I’m writing this blog in English to improve my writing skills. So, if you notice any mistakes, please don’t hesitate to point them out. 🙂
We began our journey at the Center Guest House, where it all started. After an 11 hour trip from Germany to Auroville, my body was in desperate need of rest. Over the next few days, Andy and Gabi showed us around the entire village and the places where we’d be working. When we got to Thamarai, I realized I was feeling excited and hyperactive I wanted to explore everything, meet my colleagues, and say hi to the kids.
After 10 days of exploring and getting familiar with everything, we moved into our living spaces. My place is called Celebration. It’s a community where volunteers usually stay. I lived there with Ben, Cara, and Anne. Living there was fine, nothing extraordinary. The bathroom looked like a punk toilet, but without the graffiti. This is my first time living in a community, so maybe my perspective is a bit strange, but I really miss having my privacy. I have my own room, but sharing the kitchen, toilet, shower, and washing machine can be exhausting at times. Cara and Anne moved out after less than a month, so now I live with Ben and some other people I don’t really know. I think Ben and I made the best of it. Sometimes, I feel very isolated because our place is at the edge of Auroville.
We adopted two puppies named Snickers and Jeffi. They’re wonderful and love to cuddle. When we come back from work, they get so excited that they jump on us. Unfortunately, the caretaker wasn’t as happy about the puppies, so she took them away… :((((
I work at Thamarai, which means “Lotus” in Tamil. It’s an after school program where students can go after school to play, learn, and get help with their homework. The work is great, and seeing the kids laughing, playing, and having fun gives me an incredible feeling. My working hours are 30 hours a week, and sometimes it’s really exhausting. Yes, I have a lot of free time, but my day usually starts at 6 a.m. with morning sports with the kids before school. Then I have some free time before going to the office to work on small projects and arrange the space. After lunch, I get the biggest break of the day before returning from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. It’s very tiring at times, and I’d be lying if I said my focus is always 100% on my work. During the Christmas holidays, the kids have time off, and Thamarai hosts a one week camp. I’m free to plan some activities for the kids. For example, I’ll do a small treasure hunt with the younger kids, or my friend Jurgen, who is a magician, will show them some tricks. Overall, I really enjoy my work, and the kids truly appreciate me, which gives me a warm and welcome feeling.
Now it’s December, and I should’ve written this blog in November, but I couldn’t find the motivation until now. This delay gives me the opportunity to tell you about the cyclone that passed over Auroville. It arrived at the end of November, and I’d say it was one of the craziest experiences I’ve had in these three months. We had three days of rain and strong winds, and five days without water and electricity at our place. It was interesting to see how we managed to get by during those days. I think I only had two showers in five days, and we didn’t go out to eat. Most of the time, I cooked for us, which Ben really disliked… just kidding, he ate my tuna salad almost every day. But we both prefer eating out, mostly at Jeffi. Jeffi is a restaurant where you can get almost anything. Ben eats butter chicken masala with steamed rice and garlic naan bread every single day. It’s crazy that he continues to eat the same dish every day! I’ve tried a lot of food here, and so far, my favorite dish is Schezwan chicken fried rice with momos.
I’ve met a lot of amazing people here, especially Nirmal and Cheenu, who are really nice guys. We’re planning to go to the mountains together. First, I need to finish my work projects, and Ben will be visiting his family over the holidays, so I’ll be here alone. Before he leaves, we’ll switch communities and move from Celebration to Protection. We hope the living situation will be less boring and more active there. The commute will be much longer, but we’ll be living at the end of the road where all the restaurants and shops are. I’m really looking forward to telling you more about my new living situation in February—maybe March, we’ll see.
Have a wonderful Christmas time! I’m really curious to know what you all are doing back in Germany or wherever you are. Have a great time, and cheers!
Oskar
P.S. I’ll add some pictures in the next days 🙂