Destination: India

It seems that everytime I mention to friends I'll be staying in southern India for two months the questions that arise are almost always the same: Why? Have you ever been there before? Isn't that a long time? Why don't you just go to Maui?

I'm not sure if people are concerned for me, or just morbidly curious. Considering I've never left the American continent, those are relevant questions. So, why am I going to India, and why for so long?

I'm going to India to fulfill several personal desires. First, to learn about earthen architecture and second, to learn more about a place called Auroville (AV for short). I learned about Auroville by chance while searching for information about rammed earth home building. There is way too much to tell about Auroville. If you are interested in learning more about it's best that you just follow the link. Bottom line: Big ideas. I want to see how the humans involved make it all work.

Regarding earth architecture, the Earth Unit in Auroville has developed a very sophisticated earth architecture system. Their system really caught my imagination; in particular, the quality of the work possible. If you look at some of the pictures of their completed projects maybe you'll see what I see. Earth Unit Projects: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Though made from earth they are far from mud huts.

The Earth Unit in AV is the only place to learn how to build Compressed Stabilized Earthen Block (CSEB) architecture "from the source". The main purpose of my trip to AV is to learn CSEB. Considering how far I'm going it seemed like a good idea to learn general masonry while I was there also. I decided to take nearly the entire course, including the theory/engineering section. The classes alone will take a month.

It's my desire to some day build my own house, either via the rammed earth method or perhaps with CSEB. I'd like to do some humanitarian work some day also. The skills might come in handy.

After finishing the training courses at the Earth Unit, I'll have a month free to explore southern India. I'll plan the details over the first month of my stay.

As for going to Maui: Isn't that what everyone does? Where is the fun in that?