India Blog!

I took a wander into Pondicherry yesterday morning. I had the day off and wanted to see some of the city, since I'll be working the rest of the days this week. I had been advised to take a tour, but it was easier said than done from my hotel - unfortunately I didn't learn any helpful words in Tamil, and I'm having some difficulty getting everything understood with English here. People definitely still speak it, but words like "tour" and "Internet" are harder.

The downtown area of Pondicherry is extremely busy, chaotic, and... well, downright dangerous if you don't look seventeen ways before crossing the street, but the town is reputed for its lovely beach, so I made my way down to the shore. It actually reminded me a bit of Bar Harbor (plus about fifty degrees Fahrenheit) with built-up rocky shores overlooking the water. There was a monument between the rock beach and the sand beach, but I couldn't figure out what it was all about. Instead, I watched this little boy lead his pet monkey around on a leash. This is the first monkey I've seen so far as well, and I was somewhat relieved to find he was attached to someone!