Yeah, it's been a while since I've written, but for good reason. 1) We had a monsoon a few days ago, and that completely knocked out wifi power for the next day, 2) not a whole lot as been going on, just a lot of sitting around and reading books, and 3) the days I did have something, I was busy enough to not have time to write, so there we go. At least I'm writing now.
So, on May 22, we went to the health students' main source for their project Dr. Pravakah's (?) guru's meditation temple. It was a beautiful place. Seriously the most beautiful place that I have seen since I have been here. And so quiet too, it was amazing! While we were there, we were able to meet with a guy that lives there, in that complex by orders of the guru. He, his wife, and 10 servants live there to take care of the place as well as just live there. I'm actually kind of jealous of where they live, as it's a small 16x16 foot area house that seems like it would be perfect for just a couple. They would either have to be a
college couple with no kids, or a retired couple, but it would be a perfect place to retire. But I'm getting side-tracked. When we first got to this meditation complex, we actually went into the meditation temple, where people apparently come to just sit and meditate. I can see why, it's a beautiful area and very quiet. The most quiet that I've had since coming to Vizag.
After we went explored the temple a bit, we were allowed into the back of the complex, thanks to Dr. Pravakah (?) and to meet and talk with the man that is retired there. I, sadly, didn't catch his name, but he is the man that introduced the apartment complex to Vizag. It made him a very rich man. He and his wife though are so humble and sweet that you wouldn't have guessed that they were so rich in the first place. So we talked with them for
a while. Well, Dr. Nuckolls, Dr. Pravakah (?) and the other man talked, the rest of us just enjoyed the breeze, the greenery, and the quiet of the place. We were then allowed, or rather taken, to explore this back area of the complex. That's how I know that the house that the man lives in is 16x16 foot, as he told us as he took us inside to see. But the main attraction of the house was the house where the guru will stay when he is here in Vizag. It looks like a mushroom, it's really cool. And it has a moat, that when snakes come out, will be filled with water so that no snakes get into his house. It was all really cool, and I really wanted his house as well. Who doesn't want to live in a highrise and not share with anyone else? ;)
Anyway, once we were done there and heading on our way back, we looked out the back of our rickshaw and saw that there were storm clouds coming in, with lightening. It was pretty cool to see, and we were excited as rainstorm equals a cool night and easier sleeping. When we got back though, Dr. Nuckolls said that the monsoon season was supposed to be coming early, by about 5 days. While we were talking with Dr. Nuckolls and Krishnayya-garu, we noticed that the park that's right across the street from us was finally open, so we asked to go exploring it. When we got inside, the wind had started to pick up some and it had started sprinkling. We stayed in the park for a bit and the wind started to pick up more, but when we heard a HUGE crack! we decided that we needed to run back to the house, as we didn't want to be in the park if the wind picked up more and coconuts started falling from the trees. But once we got back to the house, the wind started to roar and the rain that was just sprinkling earlier started to come down in sheets! What was supposed to be just a normal rainstorm, turned into a monsoon! The monsoon season had arrived earlier than anyone had thought! It was kind of scary, but cool at the same time! The wind started to pick up so much that TREES snapped and branches fell as well as some power lines snapped and fell as well. We all stood outside and just watched as the rain came down in sheets and wind was crazy strong, but that part only lasted about 10 minutes. After wards, it just turned into a normal thunderstorm. As soon as the monsoon as started, the power company cut the power, so we all just sat outside and enjoyed the rain. It was actually kind of relaxing.
So, that was a monsoon. We're now officially in monsoon season and it's actually pretty nice. It means that the heat dies down from what it was, the humidity is less and there's going to be more rainstorms. Which is my next story. Yesterday, it was basically a rainstorm all day. Just rain falling down all day, so it made it really nice and cool. After church, we met with Dr. Nuckolls for the last time, as yesterday was his last day
here in Vizag. After that, we headed out to Sudha's
place, where we basically spent the afternoon getting to know Sudha and her family. They even took us to the beach, which is still the same beach that we usually go to, but up further from us and much nicer looking. It was really nice of them to take us to the beach, as well as take time out of their day to just let us hang out at their house. But they are a really nice family, and just a humble family as well.
So yeah, that's basically been my adventures these past few days. Not a lot going on, so not a lot to write about, but what I have done have been some exciting adventures.
Talk to you soon,
Ashley
