1-9-09

Today was a wonderful day! It was very eventful despite being totally spontaneous and unplanned. We moved from the room at the Ashram to a hotel room after breakfast because people can only stay at the ashram 3 days and we'd been there 4. Our new hotel is a bit on the dirty side. The bathroom is especially bad - Dad found a giant (3 inches long) roach in his bathroom, and I am grateful to have the room I am in. I was surprised how much I minded; I thought dirtiness wouldn't be a problem for me because I love being outside and camping and dirt doesn't really bother me. It turns out that, while nature dirt doesn't, people dirt does. Ah well.
After we moved,we all decided what to do because no one, not even Mom, had formulated solid plans for the day. Patrick went to the Internet cafe to work, Mom hiked up to the caves Ramana Maharshi lived in, Dad went to the P.O. to figure out how to ship a beautiful we bought, and I did laundry in a bucket. By the time I'd finished my laundry and hung it on the clothesline, Dad was back, but Mom and Patrick Weren't. We decided to go to lunch, even though it was a bit early. We went to Manna cafe, but I was a bit disappointed because they were still serving breakfast and I was craving lasagna. Maybe we'll go back for dinner.Not a fantastic day so far, you may think. It gets better.
Dad pointed out as we were leaving the cafe that he had yet to ride in an auto-rickshaw. So we decided on the temple as our location, hailed ourselves a rickshaw, bargained for a bit, and took off. I've noticed that things can take longer in India, especially when bargaining is involved, because sometimes the best tactic is to simply walk away and find another driver who oversaw your previous encounter and knows you mean business. The Arunachaleswar Temple is spectacular. It is all carved out of white marble and is not painted; I like the comparative simplicity. Of course, it was still intricately carved, but this time, the statures were close enough to the ground to be truly appreciated. Right after we had walked in, I heard a distinctive noise. I turned to Dad and said "Is that an elephant?!" We started running because we saw other people running and didn't want to miss the show. We did not; there was a huge male elephant who was giving Darshan, blessings. Luckily, I had a few coins, so I took one out and put it into the elephants trunk. After receiving the coin, the temple elephant smacks you on the head. I had expected something somewhat more gentle than the clout I received, but it was still and e\incredible experience to be blessed by an elephant. I offered Dad a coin as well, but he declined, saying he was scared of elephants. Rightfully so! After that relatively light tap on my head, I truly realize how big and powerful elephants really are.
We walked around the temple for a bit, gave some rice cakes to the poor, and left to climb the mountain to the caves. I hoped to meet up with Mom, but knew it was unlikely because she'd been gone so long already. On the way to the caves, we were surrounded by schoolchildren (it was a holiday today - for what, I do not know.) and I had both my pens and one pencil, voluntarily, taken from me. They were very excited about their pens. One little girl, 10 years old, followed us for a ways before turning back. She was quite sweet.
We got to the lower cave without much difficulty. It was very noisy inside. At first I thought there was water rushing by, unseen behind the wall separating us from the rest of the cave. Then I realized it was actually somebody's stomach gurgling! A little while after we left, we talked to a young Australian man. He said he'd been in Tiruvannamalai for about a month and that every time this man was there, he actually made his stomach gurgle. Rather selfish I think! "I don't know what kind of yoga he thinks he's doing", said the Australian, "but after a while he falls asleep and then he snores and it echoes around the cave." After the Aussie took off, we met a few of the young Sadus I'd met on the mountaintop yesterday. They were coming down for supplies. They offered me some chai, but I declined. After visiting the second cave, we hiked back to the Ashram, having made a loop from the Ashram, to the cafe, to the temple, to the caves, and back to the Ashram.
We then went back to the hotel and met Mom, who was starving and therefore inclined to be grumpy. She had come down off the mountain and visited an Internet cafe only to discover at the end of a 1/2 hour that she had no money. Not only could she not pay for her time on the computer, she could not buy lunch! So when Dad and I got back, we trouped of to a restaurant. Mom had lunch while dad and I split a pancake. I also ordered a milkshake, which I was very excited about, but it was really just chocolate milk.
After lunch #2, mom and I went to a salon and had scalp massages. It was wonderful: just what we needed after a long day. It was also nice because now I don't have to wash my hair in that disgusting bathroom. While we were waiting for the hair oil to do its job and strengthen our hair, or something like that, I had henna drawn on my hand in a beautiful pattern.
Overall, it has been a spectacular day. My faith in India has been restored. I think I was just really tired yesterday. I can't decide what the best part was: being smacked by an elephant, meeting new people, the playful banter Dad and I kept up for a good few hours, or the relaxing massage. Speaking of playful banter, Dad has decided to die the tips of his hair silver and gold. I am very happy about this, but I think he was joking.