This is a late first post. Sorry

We got to Sadhana Forest about a week ago - after a tiring mini-tourof South India. Fortunately for us, we missed the attacks in Mumbai bya week. We stayed far away from the now famed Taj Hotel in a smallguesthouse called Hotel New Bengal. Apparently it is a popular spotfor Bengali businessmen, who spoke very loudly and watched a lot oftelevision, which we could here through the thin walls. It's a shame Mumbai is bedeviled by this whole tragedy now. It's a hectic city, buta nice one. The bazaars are especially interesting. Both in Mumbai andBangalore, we made a point of staying close to them. In Bangalore, wewere in the hardware district. In Mumbai, the fabric and clotheshangers district. In India, the best food is in these pockets of the cities, but they are generally avoided by Westerners, which makes thesight of us all the more a spectacle. However, we did get two free cucumbers and a lot of assistance at the wash basins in the cafeterias.

It's true that trains are the best way to get around India. We had an interesting train ride from Mumbai to Goa. We sat in a compartmentwith a very quiet old British couple who were extremely reserved except when talking about Las Vegas, which seems to have excited them greatly. Goa itself was awash with tourists, which is to be expected for a state that is known especially for its party scene - a leftover from the hippy days. Apparently, there are still a lot of aging hippies there, but we didn't see any - not that we were especially looking for them, but we did meet a rather sketchy Scottish guy and anative Goan who sat next to me one day at an outdoor table and started talking to us. He was a little man who seemed very sedated, but he was a talkative little guy, primarily interested in the American tax system and our flight routes. The conversation ended with him asking if we had any stamps. Since we didn't, he gave me his address so that we can send him some American stamps in 6 months when we return. If any of you want to take the initiative, I can send you the address.

As I said, we are at Sadhana Forest now. Before we got here we spent a couple of days in Pondicherry, a town a few km's down the road. Interestingly enough, we arrived there a day after the attacks in Mumbai, but were completely unaware that it even happened until we got the concerned e-mails. At the time, we were much more concerned by the raging cyclone that was hovering over us. I don't think I've ever been more nervous than when we were walking towards the beach when we first got into Pondicherry, looking for a cheap guesthouse by the water. When we got to the beach though, we saw a crowd of people staring atthe sea and a police official authoritatively ushering them away. When we asked what was going on, all the man said was "Tsunami". We immediately got in an auto-rickshaw, drove west, and went to the highest room of a cheap hostel. Then we found out about the war in Mumbai, and everything settled into perspective.

For the past week we've been living in a completely different world. Sadhana Forest is like nothing I've ever experienced. It's part commune, part non-profit. We plant trees in the morning and do work around the compound in the afternoon. My afternoon work today was compost, which involved the toilets and their contents. Generally this isn't such a bad task, but the cyclone damaged the tank, so the water made this a messy experience. Aside from that, I'm loving it here. The work cuts off at 11:30 so we have ample free time to relax. A lot of time is spent in the community hut either reading or chatting with people. At any one time there are about 40 people here, from many different places. Right now there are a lot of Israelis though and they play a lot of music and sing Hebrew songs. It's awesome. Everyone is really interesting and has fascinating stories. It's amazing how quickly a community can be created when space and responsibilites are shared as closely as they are here. So far, this has been an amazing journey and living"sustainably" is enriching as it is challenging.

(If there's anything you should know about India, it's that everyonebobbles their head. This is a very vague gesture - incredibly hard toread, but we've adopted it to our benefit. If a price is too high, webobble our head. If we don't understand, we bobble our head. Accordingto the Babu, the guy living next to me in my hut, the bobble is avague gesture for Indians too.)