Home Sweet Home--Chavadi Pudur

Yesterday, after a long adventurous day in Covai, Gwen and I finally arrived home a little after 8:00. I was hungry and exhausted and sweaty and nasty. It felt good to sit down on the veranda and open my journal to start chronicalling some of my experiences and ideas. As my pen was held up and my mind and journal page was blank, I heard myself make the comment, "It's good to be home." I thought that was interesting. I'd only been in the villlage for a few days. But already it had the feel of being a home base. I felt safe and comfortable. And now it is my home for the next 8 weeks, and know that I will grow to love it a great deal. It is a truly beautiful place. I like to call it my tropical paradise. It is lush and green. Elephant mountain in the background allegedly is home to monkeys and elephants. There are acres of palm trees bearing bananas and coconuts. It is a beatiful, incredible place. And it is to be my home. Crazy! And I love it.

I remember the initial walk to Chavadi Pudur. The road is part paved and and part dirt. Mountains were ahead and greenery surrounded us. We had our backpacks and shopping bags. We were tired and sweaty after a long night on the train followed by a long morning of shopping in Coimbatore and then the busride to Chavadi. As we walked along we passed a school. The children were so excited to see us. They left the playground and ran up, each wanting to shake our hands and saying, in their accented way, "Hello, how are you? What is your name?" It was adorable and energizing. It was exciting and I loved looking around and feeling like I was in dream...okay, let's be honest, I don't have/remember dreams. But is was still awesome. We passed men on bicycles, and women wearing sarees. It was just awesome. And when we arrived in the village we passed by the church before arriving at Matthew and Geeva's home where we were greeted by hours of playing with kids, kind smiles, and orange drinks. I love this place. Seriously, home sweet home.