Mamallapuram, 29th Septemer 2009, 15.30 local time
Lovely family and friends,
INDIA is amazing, and amazing seems nothing compared to what I,m experiencing. The flight to India started full of good energy. My neighbor Jaya was from Chennai and had been in Europe for one year for working reasons and felt very excited for seeing his family again. He shared very useful information about Chennai and the South of India with me. My first arrival in the city was later than expected and caotic. I changed some money (though previous advice not to change a lot because change rates in the airport are much expensier that in the city) and I finally got to the center at two in the morning. Since I had no hotel booked, I followed my intuition of going to the train station and have a rest on the floor with all the people waiting for trains. It was an deep experience realizing how nice and compassionate they are even they don,t have much, they shared the space and a slight blanket so that I could feel comfortable. Activity at 4.30 in the mornig seems 7.30 in Barcelona, so… life starts very early here!
Chennai is been an oven, literally. 38-40 degrees during the day, 30-32 at night… And even all my attempts of avoiding it, mosquitos kept beating me. A girl alone in the city really wakes everybody up. It felt strange at the beginning noticing all this staring at me all the time. All men say something to me, most of the time offering rooms, taxis, food, some other times weird funny looks… So it took me some hours to learn the basic Indian rules: 1. cover your shoulders and better your head, too. 2. Say “no thank you” constantly with a huge smile and keep walking. 3. walk through the opposite side of the traffic (even that means facing all the people while walking). At least this is how I felt the first day. I got lost every hour and the map seemed completely useless, walking around the city seemed a hot-trekking tour and all the noise and the smell (you can tell where the river is by the smell…) But then I met a lovely guy that showed me around on his motorbike and everything changed. Chennai,s Marina (breach) is a show. 15 km of beach with thousands of people trying to have a bath, while they keep dress and don,t even dare to walk in the water when it,s gets over their knees. So finaly I enjoyed the city and the people and change my perspective… After trying to go to the cinema (bad idea on a Sunday in India, it,s their favorite sport!!) we ended up in a bar where (guess what? there were all men!). Second day in Chennai was an absolutely amazing lovely lonely walking around, great environment, the map made completely sense and I learnt a gift: Indians think that if a foreigner smiles to them they are blessed by god and will have good luck. So I smile, I smile because I feel at peace, I smile because I feel at home, I smile because I,m happy. So no sense of danger, I feel completely safe. And, mum, the food is really special and tasty. No need to worry (see the photos before and after meals!!)
Now I,ve moved to Mamallapuram, a little village besides the sea. I haven,t seen anyone from anywhere else but India in Chennai. No tourist season, people say. But here it,s different. There are some tourists, not much. And locals seem very confident with people from abroad. I just met a lovely spiritual guy and had a strong deep connection with him and a fancy conversation about yoga, and life, and healing, and gods and godess, and… But this is a long story I,ll tel you next time.
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Mamallapuram, 29 de setembre del 2009, 15.30 hora local
Lovely family and friends,
(sense accents!!!, sense pensar, sense mirar ni rellegir…!! i tradueixo de pressa, sorry) INDIA es genial, i genial es queda curt amb tot el que estic vivint. El vol va comencar ple d,energia. Em va tocar un vei de Chennai, en Jaya, que havia estat a Europa durant un any per feina i tenia moltes ganes de tornar a veure la familia. Em va donar pistes molt utils sobre Chennai i sobre el sud de l,India. L,arribada a la ciutat va ser mes tard del previst i molt caotica. Vaig canviar una mica de diners (sort que em van avisar que a l,aeroport era molt mes car!!) i vaig aconseguir arribar al centre a les dues de la matinada… Com que no havia fet cap reserva, vaig seguir la intuici’o que em va portar a a l-estacio de tren, per dormir al terra amb tota la gent que s-espera per agafar algun tren. Va ser tota una experiencia veure l-amabilitat i la generositat dels que, tot i que no tenen res, et fan espai i et deixen una manta perque t-estiris i estiguis comoda. A les 4.30 sembla que siguin quarts de vuit a Barcelona. L-activitat a l,India comenca molt d-hora!
Chennai es un forn, literalment. 38-40 graus de dia, 30-32 de nit… I mira que he fet de tot, pero els mosquits no paren de perseguir-me. Una noia sola a la ciutat desperta la curiositat de tothom. Es fa estrany notar les mirades de tothom constantment. Tots els homes et diuen alguna cosa, basicament per oferir habitacions, taxis, menjar… altres amb intencions una mica mes estranyes… Vaig trigar una estona a aprendre les normes basiques de conducta a l-Inia: 1. tapa-t les espatlles i, si pot ser, el cap. 2. Digues “no thank you” en tot moment i mant’e un somriure profund mentre segueixes caminant. 3. Ves per canto contrari del transit (encara que aix’i vagis topant de cara amb tothom). Almenys aixo es el que em venia el primer dia. Em vaig perdre a cada hora, el mapa semblava de mentida, i passejar era com anar de trekking el dia mes caloros de l-any. I tot el soroll i les olors… (saps que tens el riu a prop nomes per l-olor) Pero vaig coneixer un noi encantador que em va ensenyar la ciutat amb la moto i tot va canviar. Chennai,s Marina (breach) es tot un espectacle. 15 km de platja plena de milers de persones que miren de banyar-se vestit tot i que no gosen entrar a l-aigua mes enla dels genolls. Aixi doncs al final la ciutat em sembla encantadora i vaig canviar el xip. Despr’es dunn intent d,anar a cinema (mala idea un diumenge a -India perque es l-esport nacional) vam acabar en un bar on… endevina!! nom’es hi havia homes! El segon dia a Chennai va ser una passejada brutal en solitari i plena d-amor, en un ambient fantastic, , el mapa de cop tenia sentit, i vaig aprendre el que per a mi ara es un regal: a l-India pensen que si un estranger els somriu es una benediccio de Deu i creueun que aixi tindran bona sort. O sigui que somric perque em sento en pau, somric perque em sento com a casa, somriuc perque soc felic. Cap sensacio de perill, estic segura. I mammy, el menjar es especial i bonissim. No us preocupeu (ja veureu les fotos dels apats!!!)
Ara ja soc a Mamallapuram, un poble al costat de la platja. No havia vist cap estranger a Chennai. Es veu que no es epoca de turistes, diuen. Aqu’i es diferent. Hi ha turistes, tot i que no gaires… I els locals ens tenen confianca i hi estan acostumats. Acabo de coneixer unn noi indi espiritual, hem connectat molt, i hem parlat sobre ioga, i la vida, i la sanaci’o, i deus i deesses i… Pero aixo es una altra historia que ja us explicare.
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