SATURDAY AFTERNOON and EVENING: after class we spent some time exploring a bit more of the local area.
Below: two architecture students helped us find St. Anthony's Catholic Church. As they prepared to ride away, I asked about the head-wrap of the young women, which is pretty common on women who ride a motorcycle, and they said it was to protect from all the pollution in Pune.
Above: Some of the faculty and students at St. Anthony's Catholic Church after the liturgy for their faith-sharing day. They were most welcoming of us as the only other people present at their liturgy. For the time that we were there, it felt like we had stepped back into the U.S. The English liturgy was identical with that of the U.S., and except for the teachers who wore the traditional dress of India, the students wore regular uniforms. I haven't seen enough young people going to school to know what the usual school dress is.
Left: Enjoying a cup of chai later in the evening.
After going to an exhibition of work from weavers of the region, we decided to go to a movie in a nearby theater. We arrived on time only to find out that the movie was in Hindi and that another movie that we wanted to see had already left the theater. So we had something to eat and then headed home.
No rickshaw would give us a ride because we were too close, so we had to cross an extremely busy street on foot in the dark. Some young guys were there also waiting to cross, and it seemed like we were never going to be able to do it. I've learned that you watch the locals and do what they do -- and they weren't moving. Finally the guy next to me said, "Let's go," and grabbed my hand, and I grabbed Tiki's hand, and she grabbed Jane's and we all got across. Nice young guys helping elderly women across the street. Their mothers would have been proud of them.
SUNDAY
Tiki and I got up early Sunday morning to go to the Zen garden at the Osho Meditation Resort. (Jane's foot is not completely healed yet, so she needs to limit the amount of walking that she does.)
Five years ago when the St. Louis group was here, they visited the Zen garden and were able to take pictures of the garden. It's a sign of the times that pictures are no longer allowed since the terrorist bombings, not only in Mumbai but also directly across from the Osho complex at the German bakery. (And the same precaution of not permitting pictures is enforced at the Iyengar yoga institute as well.)
The garden is only open to the public until 9 a.m., and by the time we found it, it was 8:40. So not much time to spend there, but we still had an interesting walk. See the photos below which show a small temple which we encountered on the way to the garden.
Left: Three young girls pray at one of the many small temples through Pune. Note the two bells. The higher one is for adults to ring when they come to pray. The lower one is for anyone who can't reach the other bell.
Below: One of the children who has just prayed at the temple climbs up to ring the lower bell.
Right: Later, in another part of the city we passed another small public temple right near a busy intersection. Here a man is preparing the temple for people to come and pray. A couple of minutes later we saw a man stop and pray there.
Below: two architecture students helped us find St. Anthony's Catholic Church. As they prepared to ride away, I asked about the head-wrap of the young women, which is pretty common on women who ride a motorcycle, and they said it was to protect from all the pollution in Pune.
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After going to an exhibition of work from weavers of the region, we decided to go to a movie in a nearby theater. We arrived on time only to find out that the movie was in Hindi and that another movie that we wanted to see had already left the theater. So we had something to eat and then headed home.
No rickshaw would give us a ride because we were too close, so we had to cross an extremely busy street on foot in the dark. Some young guys were there also waiting to cross, and it seemed like we were never going to be able to do it. I've learned that you watch the locals and do what they do -- and they weren't moving. Finally the guy next to me said, "Let's go," and grabbed my hand, and I grabbed Tiki's hand, and she grabbed Jane's and we all got across. Nice young guys helping elderly women across the street. Their mothers would have been proud of them.
SUNDAY
Tiki and I got up early Sunday morning to go to the Zen garden at the Osho Meditation Resort. (Jane's foot is not completely healed yet, so she needs to limit the amount of walking that she does.)
Five years ago when the St. Louis group was here, they visited the Zen garden and were able to take pictures of the garden. It's a sign of the times that pictures are no longer allowed since the terrorist bombings, not only in Mumbai but also directly across from the Osho complex at the German bakery. (And the same precaution of not permitting pictures is enforced at the Iyengar yoga institute as well.)
The garden is only open to the public until 9 a.m., and by the time we found it, it was 8:40. So not much time to spend there, but we still had an interesting walk. See the photos below which show a small temple which we encountered on the way to the garden.
Left: Three young girls pray at one of the many small temples through Pune. Note the two bells. The higher one is for adults to ring when they come to pray. The lower one is for anyone who can't reach the other bell.
Below: One of the children who has just prayed at the temple climbs up to ring the lower bell.
Right: Later, in another part of the city we passed another small public temple right near a busy intersection. Here a man is preparing the temple for people to come and pray. A couple of minutes later we saw a man stop and pray there.
On the way home Tiki spotted a sari store, so we hopped out of the rickshaw and were treated to a display of gorgeous saris, many of which were completely handmade. Here the gentleman explains about the designs in the sari and which state in India it represents.
Shaniwar Wada: In the evening we visited Shaniwar Wada, an 18th century palace and fort. We came because we had heard about a "light show" that they had, and we expected to see something pretty spectacular. We should have figured out that when you pay 25 rupees (50 cents) for a light show, it's going to be less than spectacular. But it was still interesting and we met some nice people.
While we were waiting for the light show, a group of youth came and placed candles in memory of those killed in the November, 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. (A couple of weeks ago I met someone whose son-in-law was killed in the Mumbai attacks.)
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