let's see here.

For those of you who don't have a clue where Pondicherry is, I have posted a little map to help you out. As you can see it is in the very southern region of India. South India is very very different than Northern India, especially on the coasts(and the food). I have always loved living near the beach and I am very blessed to be doing it in India. Pondy is small in Indian terms. It has about a million people and has a beautiful downtown section that the locals call "white town". That is because alot of French (not only french, but the majority) people come here during the tourist season (around September through March) and stay between 3 to 6 months. Why French people? Wikipedia says, " Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry (help·info)) is a Union Territory of India. It is a former French colony, consisting of four non-contiguous enclaves, or districts, and named for the largest, Pondicherry. In September 2006, the territory changed its official name from Pondicherry to the vernacular original,[1][2] Puducherry, which means "New village"[citation needed] in the Tamil language. The territory is called புதுச்சேரி (Putuccēri) or பாண்டிச்சேரி (Pāṇṭiccēri) in Tamil,, or "Pondichéry" in French. It is also known as The French Riviera of the East (La Côte d'Azur de l'Est).

It is beautiful, cheap, and very, very social. The beach promenade is full of people walking along the shore, eating, chatting, and trying not to give all their money away to the homeless on the nearby streets. This is my first time living in a developing country or in Asia. I am from a very small town in South Georgia called Tifton (USA). I have never imagined such poverty and decadence living so closely to one another. After sometime, I began not carrying my camera around with me every minute so I could actually relax and enjoy myself.

Before deciding to stay in Pondy, I lived in Auroville which is about 5 miles north. It is an interesting place, but I didn't really fit in with most of the "aging European expatriates in a perpetual summer camp" . Auroville is a place where you hide from the rest of the world, and I enjoyed that for a while. "The Mother and Sri Aurobindo" weren't really my thing either, although the Sri Aurobindo Ashram does alot of great things with the community in Pondicherry and has a nice guest house by the sea. Auroville has alot of cool architecture, experimental energies, permaculture, organic food and wonderful cashew farms! I took a class on rammed earth and unfired brick making. I enjoyed my time there.

Though most of my traveling in India is finished, I kinda prefer just to stay in Pondy.... it's still an adventure everyday.