Pondicherry, India

For the majority of my time in India, I ditched the Semester at Sea sponsored trips, traveling with the parentals, and opted to travel independently to the southern part to a city called Pondicherry. Pondicherry is essentially two towns smushed together, one side heavily Tamil Nadu (an Indian State) and the other influenced by the French. It was a stark contrast, especially when dirty streets morph within seconds to avenue-esque tree lined walkways, but somehow it all came together perfectly. Pondicherry is difficult to describe unless you go and experience it yourself, but I think the 3 days I spent there were some of the best so far on the trip.
I traveled with three other boys-Oliver, Matt, and Adam (I’m sure my father was thrilled with that) but I had the time of my life with them. There is no girl drama, or having to wait around for someone to get ready, and we just did what we wanted. Pondicherry is a beach community that moves at a much slower pace than Chennai. It was nice to be able to wander around without a purpose, taking in the salt air and foreign sights. It was much cleaner in the south. The four of us got a villa that was only a block and half from the water. When we were looking for places to stay we had heard from previous visitors that they signed up for 3 days, but ended up staying for 4 months. I can see why. The villa was in the open-air allowing breezes to flow in and out, but the rooms were cooled to perfection with air-conditioning. The landlord was very hospitable, making us breakfast every morning (toast, croissants, and omelets) and if we needed anything he would go out and get Indian prices for us.
We did the tourist things around Pondicherry. Went to the ashram where “The Mother” was buried and a place of meditation, visited Auroville (essentially a failed communist community centered around a gold ball that looked like Epicot Center at Disneyworld) and we all were blessed by an elephant. That was probably my favorite part. Giving the elephant a small coin that she sucked up her nose and then wrapped her trunk around my head. What a rewarding experience! We also visited a local market. It smelled (nothing new though) and the ceilings were created by tarps for practically midgets. No problem for me, but I enjoyed watching Oliver, Matt and Adam maneuver and duck through the intertwining corridors of the stalls.
The rest of the time spent in Pondicherry was mostly relaxing. Again, I can’t stress enough that to understand the lifestyle there, you have to go there. The four of us spent a lot of time tasting the local cuisine, trying the local beer, hunting for hookah, and playing cards. The food was pretty good, although a little too spicy for my taste. I don’t really like curry so much, and at points I felt like I was sweating curry… The national beer of India seems to be Kingfisher, which I preferred the lighter version. The other guys seemed to prefer the heavier stuff though. We played a ridiculous amount of Hearts and Euchre (a game I haven’t found many people to play with back home, but was so glad others like it just as much as me!) I also learned plenty of other games (drinking and non) such as Hockey, F the Dealer, etc. It was a great time. I think we all agreed we could have stayed multiple more nights, but alas, we had to head back to Chennai to catch a train to Cochain on the 15th.