Pondering Pondicherry...

Hi there,

It's been a while. How are you? Oh me? I'm fine. Yes, I did get a little color. No, being this red isn't on purpose, my skin hasn't seen the sun since 1992. What was that? Yes, it does sting. No, not your question, my skin.

So, Mom and I went to a place called Pondicherry in the last couple of days and we got back yesterday. Pondi(as the locals and cool cats call it) is very interesting. First of all it's run by the French, which means that half of it is really clean and beautiful and the beach and has a resorty kind of feel, and the other half is very run down, with cows and dogs in the street. The first night we stayed at a beachfront property for 600 rupees a night, which is about 10 bucks. Awesome! It was a non ac room so we had to sleep under mosquito nets! Nuts! The place is run by an ashram, so there were a lot of rules. No alcohol, no drugs, no smoking, no yelling, no prostitutes. I almost asked for my money back after that one, but my mom told me to settle down. If I wanted a prostitute that badly, I could rent a rickshaw and go to their place. Always the thinker, my Mom.
The second night we went downtown to the Indian part in the shopping district. We bought a ton of stuff, none of which I'm going to write about because the only people reading this are getting things that I bought there and I don't want to ruin the surprise. Okay! I got you all babies!!! Are you happy now? Well, they were having a sale and I thought one can never have enough babies, right?!
While we were there there was a strike because of the war going on with Sri Lanka and the Tamal Tigers, which is a group of vigilante soldiers that are defending India. The shops were all supporting India, obviously, and they were closed for a good portion of the day. It was okay with us though because it was super hot that day and we stayed inside and watched TV. There are a lot of American channels, but there were even more commercials for the morning after pill! Every commercial break there was the same commercial with a product called Lose It 72 for only 60 rupees, which is about 30 cents. So you can get rid of your unwanted child in 72 hours for only 30 cents? This place is magical. That may be why there was such a big sale.

The vibe was weird there though. The people of Tiruvanamalai are much friendlier than in Pondi. It's very Western and touristy there, so maybe that's why. Also all the people here are here for the spiritual stuff, which is sorta hooey to me. My Mom and I drank way to much beer and began talking about things I don't want to write about, but it's clear that I'm now a grown woman in my Mom's eyes. Sigh....

I am getting a little bored though. I mean, I've seen the monkeys, I've seen the cows, I've seen the Mountain. I've eaten with my hands. I've eaten with other people's hands. I've gone to the bathroom in a hole in the ground. In a few days we go to a town called Mamaleporem(which is my way of sounding it out, I doubt it's actually spelled that way) and then I'm gone. I will be sad to leave this place, and a lot of that is due to the lack of uncertainty of when I will see my Mom again. I will be back though, many, many times.

Okay, gotta run. Mama loves you.

A