The past few days have been a bit weird, but then again I'm speaking as if I have some idea of "normal" here in India. 

The Land Use Plan for Auroville

On Monday I attended a lecture by about the utopian society know as Auroville. The talk was given by  Lalit Kishor Bhati, a planner-architect that lives within the community. Located near the Southern tip of India, this sustainable, idealistic community focuses on integrated planning and holistic development. A particular emphasis is placed on the unity of humanity, importance of sustainability, and education as the center of development. I found the idea of this society fascinating, though I'm not sure I'd want to live there for more than a year...I definitely would like to visit though. Unfortunately it's extremely far away from our itinerary locations, so I don't think I'll get to visit. If you're interested, here's more information: http://www.auroville.org/.

Non-violence through dance

After the Auroville lecture, I spent the day in Chharanagar with the "Social Infrastructure" group, doing several interviews, which were fairly informative and rather successful. That night, we attended a play at Darpan Theatre by Mallika Sarabhai (http://darpanaacademy.blogspot.com/). The focus of the performance was "Non-violence through art/dance." Although I had no idea what to expect, I was impressed by the concise, yet powerful message that was sent through a series of unique, yet connected stories of how different individuals have protested injustice and violence. We also saw some of the Budhan Theatre guys at the performance, which was exciting, since we don't usually see them outside of Chharanagar. 

Puppy outside of Vidyapith

On Wednesday, we went to Gujarat Vidyapith University (I believe a school that Gandhi started) to talk to some people who study different tribes in India. It was somewhat successful, but fairly time intensive for the amount of information I actually got out of it. This might be lame, but I think the picture of this puppy might be the best thing I got out of the visit. After the discussion and museum tour, the eight of us who are going to Mumbai next week went to purchase tickets at the train station, which was an interesting experience; I probably should have taken a photo of the experience. All I'll say for now though is, the 7 hour train ride from Baroda to Mumbai is going to be interesting. 

Vendor that Tad and I ate at last night in Manek Chok

I talked previously about Khadia and the pols after going on the Heritage Walk. Unfortunately today is our last day in Khadia and the Old City, which I'm pretty bummed about. After we return from Mumbai, we'll be staying at a hotel in the New City. The plus is that we'll be much closer to CEPT, but I'm really going to miss the density of the Old City and the availability of shops and street vendors around every corner. I'm also going to miss the Mehta family; they've been so welcoming, hospitable, and helpful to us as we're discovering this part of India. This morning was the last yoga session on the roof, which is a little more sad now than it was at 7:30 this morning.

I think that most Westerners would probably find a
"McVeggie" sign that says 'I bet you can't resist me'
at least mildly humorous.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned the Indian-ized McDonald's that they have here, but it's definitely something I have to touch on. Because no one eats beef here, there are obviously no hamburgers here, which entirely redefines most McDonald's experiences. So far from what I've had, the fries and the McChicken are about the same; I can't really speak for the rest of the menu. I suppose the ice cream is about the same as well. Last night Tad and I had a wonderful new ice cream experience at a street vendor. It's called Kulfi, which is essentially a dense, round, slightly salted ice cream. It was, of course, wonderful!

Kulfi, my new favorite!

So as we head out tomorrow, I feel like I'm tossing out most of the adjustments that I've just accomplished, which is kind of a bummer, but I'm excited to see more new things. Plus, we'll be coming back to Ahmedabad for a few weeks again after this minor field trip, before we head to Nepal.