Spiritual Itinerary- Departing: NOW Arriving: HERE

Good news. My traveller's cheques WILL be refunded, so again $200 is a small price, especially considering with what happened the past two days.
I went to Kurnool under police request to make a computer portrait of the thief. I figured this would work out anyway because I wanted to visit the Shaki Pitha at Alampur, about a half hour from Kurnool. The Goddess their is called Jogulamba Devi.
While in Kurnool, I was checking out this awesome/very rare book Ma handed me in Srisailam (only 2000 copies apparently, printed last year), and I notice inside the cover that it was published in Kurnool! So I call the number, and somehow talked to about five people until this man gets on the phone who speaks English. I explained that I was a Sri Vidya Sadhak on pilgrimage in India and I found Swamiji's book. He didn't ask what else I wanted, he just offered to come meet me so I agreed, why not right?
He ends up taking me back to his place for tea and interviews me about how I got into Sri Vidya, how I found Swamiji's book, etc. I must have answered correctly, because he admitted to me that Swamiji was in Kurnool for only TWO days and that he was, in fact, right upstairs in that moment and was interested in meeting me. ... Ma, you work freaky fast sometimes. This was right when I was praying to Amma, since She pushed me away physically, to send me a teacher that I can ask my questions to. I meet Swamiji and he generously answers my questions about his book (which I had already digested in one night), and gives me two more books as prasad and his email in case I have more questions! It gets better.
While writing this blog, I met this really friendly and generous kid in the computer lab who shows me around the temples here at Kurnool on his motorcycle. At the end, he recommends the sites I should see at Alampur and I go for Jogulamba Devi's darshan the next day. I get there early after my morning sadhana and have darshan early. It was beautiful, not overpowering, but yeah, Jai Ma! I went to see the other recommended sites, meditated and prayed for forgiveness at Papanasini/sin-destroying temple (if you're reading this, you're probably wondering what sins I've committed, if you're not reading this, you were probably in my prayers at this temple, well ok naturally my spiritual family and blood family came up to, and, ok, if you didn't feel lightened at all of some karmic debt I owe you, please write me and I'll happily add you to my prayers with a big down payment of apology ;) ), and had the darshan of the other local deities.
All was nice and I was set to go back to Kurnool, but figured I had to see Ma Jogulamba one more time. I go and the man at the temple gate asks, "which country sir?", and you have to know that by now I am sick of this question. Everyone asks it and usually it's just because they have to have some interaction with the whitey in their midst. If you answer, they may stand and smile at you like you're a celebrity, they may bobble their head and walk away, or they may bother you with some more inane questions. But I entertain him this time and tell him USA (which is also rare because I usually lie and say Australia). He says, "oh there's a woman from Germany inside", I said, "oh cool, I speak German!" and went to see Ma.
Sure enough, there was a white woman sitting on the floor beside an Indian man who was teaching her to chant the EXACT same version of the stotram I chant every night, the Devi Khadga Mala. I introduce myself, and it turns out they're newly weds, just last month, and they invite me to their place for tea and lunch. We sit and connect for hours, what a powerful satsang!! This man, though he'll be a practicing pediatrician soon, turns out to be an authority on Tantra with plans to build a sanskrit/tantric school at Alampur! I got to pick his brain about Tantra, and he said that Alampur is actually the Varanasi of the South, but nobody knows about it so it's still a small village town (very true). Meanwhile, the wife was having her first lesson in Telegu that evening with the BEST Telegu teacher in all of Andhra Pradesh (literally, dude won awards). I was just thinking that I needed to learn Telegu and I got to share in initiation on this first lesson! Telegu is actually about 95% sanskrit based, even more than Hindi, and it's what my guru lectures in, even though Her English is perfect (being the Goddess of Speech and all), because it's such a subtle language.
I mean look at the timing of that! Tonight was Poornima, the auspicious full moon, they've been married a month and the wife I'm sure needed the relief of some Western presence as she struggles to learn the demanding customs of the East (and got to speak in her german native tongue with me), and I receive even more education in my spiritual practice! We went that night to the Poornima aarti (light-waving) to the Goddess, and that was when JogulambaMa let me have it. I was shaking inside with Shakti.
They walk me to the bus and when we said goodbye it was like family. Closer than family, we were pure love. We held hands for a long time with our eyes closed, and I feel he must have said some mantric blessing because I'm very charged still. Very auspicious that meeting on the full moon in a seat of shakti power. Oh and the man at the temple gate that I told the truth to turns out to be another authority on Tantra that will help my friend with his school. These tantrics know how to disguise themselves!
The best part is that, you know from my earlier post that I've been asking Ma for guidance in this pilgrimage, right as I'm about to get on the bus, going to Mysore to see Ma there on the 18th, they tell me that while I'm in Mysore I should visit the Shakti Pitha there... there's a shakti pitha in mysore!!! I had no idea, Her location isn't listed for some reason anywhere! Not just any shakti pitha either, it's Chamundeshwari Devi, right where the Goddess slayed the demon Mahishasura! (if you know the tale of the Goddess this means a lot to you, otherwise, just try to emphasize :) ) So Shakti Pitha #3 here I come. Gulp, if You're anything like these last two, I'll be lucky if I come back with my head on my shoulders.
I LOVE YOU MA!