The joys of eating Finger food and negotioating your bowels

I didn't know what to expect for Guruji's birthday celebration. As I walked by the Shala on the way to Tina's for breakfast, I noticed camera crews and equipment being set up outside windows and doorways. I tired to make breakfast simple. Toast and fruit. Part of me panics during breakfast. The menus at Shakti and Tina's are just so good that really, I wish I could eat them for every meal. It is the closest I have found to what I would make back in my kitchen at home. And so, every morning, I panic. My eyes grow to the size of watermelons as I order item after item after item. Part of this is probably social as well. People filter in and out and ask you to stay for a chai, so you do. I woke up this morning after 3 days of diarrhea and said to Elissa, "I don't know how good 2 Indian meals a day are for my body..." Stina shrugged at me this morning over the easiest to digest breakfast items she could find and said, "I'm starting to get used to it. Its not as exhausting as it was."

I've seen some people take Tupperware with them to Tina's. I think I've got to do the same. Even when I do have a kitchen that I don't mind using, it is such a bother to have to disinfect and purify everything just to cut a piece of fruit in half. I've got to find some Tupperware.

Many people have worked it out so that they have 2 or 2.5 meals a day. Breakfast is a fruit salad and toast or muesli or dosa with egg. Then they have a heavy meal for either lunch or dinner. I find that most people do the heavy lunch at Rishi's or Anu's. People pack it in! You see string bean people walking in to Anu's having second and third heaping helpings! Dinner is skipped or just some fruit or curd. The big focus is taking a doo practice the next morning. So if you don't eat late the night before, you'll have time to digest and be ready to go in the morning. Lots of people wake up 1, 2, and 3 hours before practice to mosey about and wait for that great urge. I've heard students say that they have coffee in the morning to help the urge. "A" swears by this Ayurvedic stuff called triphala. Apparently this obsession becomes very intense when the led second classes are happening. How this works is (if you're with Sharath): Fridays are led primary classes. One at 5am, the other at 6:15am. Sundays are a led primary class at 5am and a led second at 6:15. You have to be invited to the led second class. Right now there are so many students that the led second has been replaced by another led first. But apparently, when the led second is going on, people obsess the entire week about trying to be fit and ready for that hour and fifteen minutes. People go to bed even earlier than they already do (you start hearing "I'm tired" around 5:30pm).

Not everyone is so intense. I recently found myself surrounded by yoga students drinking and smoking and staying up past 10pm *gasp*! It feels a lot like college dorms freshman year sometimes. You've got a lot of people with a lot of time on their hands, able to spend money freely because of exchange rates, out to meet new people and have a good time. It also can have a lot of the drama you might recall from the dorm rooms. Drama that you can't believe you are hearing from people who are old enough to be your parents' older siblings.

The entire time I've been here so far, all I've been hearing is "have you bought a Sari?" and "what are you wearing to the party?" Honestly, I didn't give it much thought. I bought Guruji some sugar free chocolate from the homemade chocolate stand that is located dangerously close to my house. The stuff often costs more than an entire meal at a restaurant at 50-80 rupees. I also bought a nice pen and used it to write out the "3 wishes for gifts for your birthday", as recommended by my little Sanskrit Scholar, Mardi, back in New York. I did my best, but I have no idea if I got the script right. I hope so. I wrapped the piece of paper around the chocolate and bought a string of flowers from one of the boys who follows yoga students around trying to sell them flowers. I tied my hair up in a bun and used some of the flowers to decorate my hair.

The puja was supposed to start at 11:30am. When we got there, there were many people packed in to the main practice area in the Shala. They were burning a ceremonial fire, and there was definitely not enough ventilation. I'm glad we got floor space next to the windows to park at! There were many Indian people. I'm not sure who they were, but I'm sure many of them were family members of Pattabhi Jois. There were also many yoga students, but not as many as I had expected. Loads of the ladies were wearing saris and many of the men were wearing lunghis (which are pretty little toga-like skirts). Cameras, both fim and photography, were clicking all around. Lori was crawling on the floor with a camera for the documentary she is making.

They moved Guruji up on the stage and we all sat watching the influx of people even though Sharath had said "11:30 don't be late!" There were many famous people in the ashtanga community. Some I knew, some I didn't. Even though there were some men walking around and chanting, I kept looking around, wondering when things would get started. It seemed that most of the ceremonies had been performed before we were told to arrive and most of the show was watching people try to find seats. There were a couple of performances from students. A couple of songs and one dance. Then Sharath said there was food downstairs and that when we see Guruji we shouldn't touch him. Everyone got up and many people headed downstairs while others stood in line to give Guruji the presents that he would never use. Stina says that she saw an entire cabinet in Saraswati's house full of student's gifts from the past. Its the thought that counts.

I stood in the massive crowd that could be called a line and waited for my turn to give Guruji gifts and to say "happy birthday". I couldn't shake the feeling that I was at the mall to take a photo with the Easter Bunny. Guruji sat there on the stage in his fancy chair, wearing all his gold bling while students came up one at a time to put a gift in front of him and then turn to a camera and smile. It was surreal. When my turn came, I placed the flowers on the table in front of him and knelt down to sweep knowledge from his feet to my third eye (in this tradition, it is thought that your teacher's knowledge hangs out in their feet). Then I stood up and handed him the chocolate and said "Happy Birthday! This is chocolate!" He smiled, and then I added, "Its sugarfree!" The smile faded a bit and he siad "Thank you!" And of course, I turned around and smiled for the camera.

Downstairs, people were gathered around the garage. Inside were rows of tables covered with paper. Each person had a banana leaf covered with soggy mush that they were eating greedily with their hands. A traditional Thali meal. At a certain point, servers came through and rolled up the paper from one end of the table to the other (there had to be at least 20 people per table). It was a quick clean up. We rushed in to get seats (apparently there were more than 3 rounds of people eating). We sat down and someone came by to roll new paper down, much like when you visit the doctor. We each got a banana leaf and cup of water. For drinking? No one knew. Some people had stuck their hands in the water and were dousing their leaf. I followed suit. Why not? I didn't know what I was doing anyway. Guys in lunghis with their hairy bellies hanging out came by with buckets containing different food items that they plopped on to the leaves. First, was the water guy. Next came the sweet rice guy, followed by salt, then pickle, then 3 garnishes, and 2 rices. By this point, you were eating, trying to figure out how to use your fingers as a spoon. If you didn't already feel challenged, another guy came by to douse the rice with 2 very soupy items. Soon after came the enormous birthday cake, a new cup, then a pile of mixed nut/trail mix type stuff. I though "ok, this is dessert." But then came a little chocolate fudge, and flaky stuff that looked like wheatabix for the new cup. Then a guy came by with this milky stuff that he dumped on the pseudo-wheatabix. This, fortunately, had a spoon. The food was tasty, but I had to avoid thinking too much about how yucky the whole eating with your hands bit was. There really wasn't anything on that plate that could have constituted as finger food back home.

We were quickly shuffled out and I used that water cup to wash my right hand. As I left, I wondered who I knew back home that would actually eat like this if I took them to a Thali restaurant. Would you?

As soon as I stood up, I realized how much I had actually shoveled in, and Alex and I agreed the best way to recover would be to recline on her couch and watch cable. We undid our belts and found a movie on HBO, Stealing Beauty. Anyone see it? It seemed like it would probably be sexy, and therefore, semi entertaining. Not really, actually. It was probably edited for television, but for us, we just needed to digest lunch, so it was okay.

Today it is raining. For monsoon season, I've been surprised at how little is has actually rained. Today has been the exception. It has rained non-stop since I sat down at this computer to write. I'm supposed to move out of the room that I don't like and into Shelli's apartment that I hope I like. Mostly I don't like dealing with shady landlords and realtors. No matter where you are in the world, they always try to play you. Wish me luck!

Guruji's birthday and the end of Harry Potter

Finished the last Harry Potter book today and went to the birthday party of the living master of Ashtanga Yoga. Just wanted to build some suspense!

And for those of you in need of a good laugh:

Saraswati could be sitting on your tongue

Tina says that in Indian cooking, there is no tasting of the food to see if it is right like we do in western cooking. One reason for this is to avoid contaminating the food with your germs. The other reason is that you are supposed to be so completely present when you cook that everything will be just right. I hope you try to make the eggplant recipe from a couple of days ago. It is a bit strange not having exact measurements to work with, but you'll just have to let go and jump in. As Tina says with a laugh, "this is not a laboratory...it is a kitchen!"

At the cooking class on Thursday, Tina told us a story about Saraswati. (I should mention that I am not talking about Saraswati the 60 something year old yoga teacher at the Shala who assists Guruji. Here, many people are named after Gods and Goddesses. It would be as if there were a lot more people named "Jesus".) Saraswati lives in your throat by where your collarbones stick out. One time during the day, she will climb up your throat and sit on your tongue. You can never tell when she'll decide to sit there. But beware, when Saraswati sits on your tongue, whatever you say will come true. It is for this reason that you must be mindful of what you say throughout the day.

Today I'm off to read more Harry Potter. Later, we are going to the Mysore Palace to see the lights. Apparently it is very beautiful and they only do it on Sunday evenings.

If you've never picked up a copy of the Yoga Sutras, you ought to. I'm going to go get a new copy this week. There are many translations of this ancient text. My favorite is the one by Swami Satchitananda. However, many people have been recommending Light on Yoga Sutras by Iyengar. So, Since I already have the Satchi copy at home, I think I'll pick up the Iyengar copy while I'm here for a new perspective.

Today and tomorrow are moondays, depending on whose calendar you are following. We (a few of us students) decided it was on Monday, and so organized a little practice group this morning. It was really nice to get adjustments from each other, and I did my practice which felt so so so good! Primary can really be a bummer for me. All the forward bending and monotonous back and forth stuff makes me feel a bit drained. So it felt really good to do all those extra back bends and heart openers... Tuesday we will practice again.

PS-If you haven't read Elissa's blog yet, you should. She is way more candid that I and she has a completely different perspective. Also, its funny to read the stuff she writes about me! Check the sidebar under "mysore blogs" and click the link!

On letting go

It is a bit overcast today and I'm thinking mostly of not thinking and trying to just let go of expectations and wanting to control things. It is a practice. I feel like I'm settling a bit. I'm figuring out my place here in Mysore and finding out how to just be here in a very awake way. It sounds strange to write this, but as much as I have been here, I haven't; and as much as I have been letting go, I've been resistant. I guess we are always going back and forth between these states, but sometimes we are able to step back from it and see it happening. Like right now. So then what do you do when you're not spending your energies on the back and forth? You chant, or read, or walk, or do what ever you do knowing that you're doing it completely awake. None of it is black or white, but it is as simple as turning a switch on or off if we are able to find the switch as we grope in the dark.

It is good to be alone. I can't find these things with other people around. I get distracted. I find however, that it is hard to be alone here. But that's okay. I think I'll lock myself in my room and spend the day with Harry Potter again. It is important to learn how to date yourself.

I'm supposed to go see Shiva in 2 days to see if he has any apartments available. We'll see what happens. If he doesn't have anything I'll try to move in to Saraswati's house. Apparently it is all very crowded right now and nothing is open. In any case, I really would like to get a decent kitchen. For me it feels important to be able to make myself food. Not just because I want to control it, but also because it is cheaper than eating out all the time!

Movies for those who want to see Ashtanga Yoga in action:
Ashtanga, NY
Guru

Yoga clothing and the 3 gunas

It has been 2 days since my last post, so I'll have to recap. Wednesday I practiced, read, ate, and went to chanting with Jayashree. Thursday I practiced, read, ate, and went to a cooking class with Tina. Life here is good!

Before chanting on Wednesday, I dropped Alex off at the hospital so she could get her nose pierced. (Everyone gets piercings done at the hospitals here. They also get a lot of dental work done as it is MUCH less expensive than in the states.) I couldn't stay with her as I had to meet Elena at the coconut stand (its always where people meet up, or the main landmark when it comes to giving directions), but apparently it was quite a show. We had spent the entire morning and part of the afternoon at the "Hotel Formerly Known As The Southern Star" (really, that's what the sign said) lying poolside and soaking up sun. I tried to read Harry Potter, but was quite distracted by the conversations around me and also the glare from the sun. The water was very very cold, but we had a lot of fun. It costs 200 for a day pass and they give you a towel. Its a pretty posh place. You can also get a monthly pass as well as nice looking salads, sandwiches, and french fries. When you spend a lot of time in the heat, your blood vessels dilate, and when you are cold, they constrict. The point? The nurse who did Alex's piercing was convinced she was an alcoholic because she bled so much! The piercing looks really nice though. Apparently you are supposed to get the left side pierced only. I tried asking several people about this, and I got something about it making you more fertile. Who knows?

I found out that at chanting we are actually practicing for a performance on Guruji's birthday. Someone mentioned that they weren't sure they wanted to do it because they heard that if we chanted incorrectly, he would someone was watching and would clap for me when I do something good. Instead, there is absolutely no recognition. In turn, my jump backs (I think) have gotten much better and everything feels a little deeper, a little stronger, and a little lighter. On Wednesday after At chanting, I found out that we are actually practicing for a performance we will give on Guruji'sdefinitely call us on it. (Guruji used to be a sanskrit scholar.) Jayashree explained that "Gurus are here to criticize us ... Even if he says 'you [Jayashree] have not done it properly' I will say 'thank you'". She continued, "if I say you are very good, you will not grow". This got me thinking about practice (although you could apply it to a lot of things) and how I've back tracked quite a bit in what I'm doing. Sometimes I wish someone was clapping for me every time I do something good, but in spite of this, I feel like my jump backs have gotten a lot lighter and my practice as a whole has gotten stronger and deeper. On Wednesday during back bends with Sharath he said "good". Its nice to know he probably meant it.

My Mysore time has been moved to 7am. Yesterday, I got there early, and still there were TONS of people waiting. Alex says its like that every Thursday. People are tired from the week and so are practicing a little slower. Well, there were people with 6:30 time slots still waiting to get in at 7:15. Its also really crowded for the birthday. It seems that a lot of people have come in for just a week and that still others are leaving right after the birthday. But maybe Alex is right about Thursdays. I felt really tired and heavy at first. I'm partially convinced that its just the pants I'm wearing. I'm sure I could argue that clothes can be tamasic because every time I saw my pant legs hanging about, I felt like I was just hanging about. These did, however, used to be called my favorite practice pants. But since I got the American Apparel leggings, I feel there is no comparison. The leggings are close fitting so you can see your bones, but also there is no extra fabric flapping about. I'm sure the fact that I'm hand washing the other doesn't help. i might see if Krishna tailor can shorten them a bit.

Back bends with Saraswati were a riot. I did 3 half way down and on the fourth went straight down to grab my ankles like I do with Sharath. But she was like "no no hands down walk in!" So I put my hands down to the floor and tried to walk in. I took my right hand to my right calf and was dangling there. She let go of my back with her arms so that she could help me grab my left calf with my left hand but without the support, I toppled over like a wheel onto my forearms and then she brought me back up to stand and "tried" to explain to me what she meant. I went back again, this time taking my hands to the floor. I walked my hands close to my heels then took my right hand to right calf. My other arm just hung there, she held me this time and reached for my left hand, instead, she grabbed my hair and gave it a tug (I think her had got a bit tangled). I yelped as she finally got my left hand and took it to my left calf. It was funny. Here is a video of Sharath doing drop backs. Enjoy!

At 1pm I had my cooking lesson at Tina's. It was like an interactive cooking show. She made Spinach dahl, stuffed eggplant, and chapathis. Here is how you make the eggplants. It is super super easy and SO SO good!

Super Tasty Stuffed Eggplants Tina Style
Get some fresh ginger and fresh garlic. It has to be organic. Put it in the blender and blend. You now have ginger garlic paste. This will keep in the fridge for 3 months! You might also be able to get this at the supermarket.

Now get yourself some eggplants. They have to be skinny and long. Preferably they are small (like only a couple of bites long), or you will chop them later. And obviously, they should also be organic.

Take a knife and slice open the eggplant lengthwise, but keep the stem on. Do this to all your eggplants.

Now take your fingers and glob some of that ginger garlic paste inside it and smoosh the 2 sides together. Its okay if the paste squishes out.

Heat some sunflower or safflower oil in a pan. NOT OLIVE OIL. This is Indian cooking!

Throw your eggplants in the pan. You want this to be medium to low heat. Cover them and everyone and a while toss the pan a bit so they get cooked all over. It is important that the heat is low and that it is covered as this will ensure that they get cooked all the way though, not just charred on the outside.

When you are able to squish into the eggplant easily with a spoon, they are ready. You can either serve them hot, or room temp. They are like super delicious and tasty roasted peppers Italian style. This is fast and you will love them!

This morning I was dreading the led class at 6:15. Headstand. When Elissa and I got there, I was tired and moody and a bit miffed that we had to wait outside because there were so many people. We could hear Sharath counting inside and it sounded like a hard class because he went more than 15 minutes over and they had what seemed like a 30 second Savasana. When those students started filling out, we started moving in. I claimed a pot front and center and hoped for the best. We seemed to be waiting a little longer than usual, and when I saw Saraswati escorting Guruji to the stage, we all could see why.

It was a nice surprise that Guruji taught the class not only because its Guruji, but also because he taught super fast and it made the struggle almost non-existent in headstand. I was actually quite funny. He was counting very quickly until he got to 7 and then he just stopped counting. I could hear him walking across the stage and I figured he had gone to help someone. I could see people starting to come down, but Sharath would say come back up. This went on for some time and then I came down and went back up and heard "eight!" Everyone laughed a bit. Elissa was practicing on the stage and she said that he actually had gone to the men's room! After uthpluthih, Sharath said "too easy!"

Many people are preparing to leave soon. Its strange to think that I will be here for some time still!

Inner tourism

Shelli, Shoba, and I were walking past the main coconut stand after breakfast at Shakti House when Shelli noticed the massive pile of opened coconuts and used straws in a pile next to us. This pile was HUGE and it was definitely from about a day. People have a lot of coconuts here. She said something about how you would think they would separate the straws because they use the coconut shells for burning. Shoba, always the sage, said, "don't waste your energies thinking of this because it will never change." I found it to be such an intense statement for such a small thing to be commenting on, but she's right. Its all those little things that get us worked up and unhappy.

It took me a while to get settled in New York. I feel like I have been trying to find myself here. Today I got a bit closer. Its like I'm here, but the other part of me is still jet lagged. But this morning, in practice, I could hear myself breathing, and I could feel a bit closer. Today at chanting at Dr. M.A. Jayashree's, I felt like BAM! Centered. I think usually practice does this. Yoga practice, I mean. You feel kind of scattered, and then you go to an asana class and then BAM there you are, and you leave feeling as one. But I've been practicing for a week, and I think it has been hard because I haven't been getting that. I know people say they are less distracted here than at home, but I had been feeling very distracted. Or maybe just different. Its such a different environment and it must have taken me a bit longer to get used to it. But today in practice I felt a bit closer and like I said, today and chanting, the hovering me slammed into the physical me, and BAM I was centered. Nice. I stopped being bothered by the little things.

Usually for me, yoga practice does that, which is why it is nice to practice in the morning. I get centered right away, and I'm able to put the whole day into perspective. Looking back over the last week, its funny to read these blogs.

I made lunch today for some of the students. At least I tried. I know it wasn't that impressive, but everyone was very nice and pretended they liked it. I made chili, but the pressure cooker didn't really cook the beans, so some of the beans were cooked, some not. I also made guacamole, but the avocados were a bit different than the ones in the states. They taste like the large green ones. Very buttery. In fact here, they call them "butter fruit". I tried to find nachos but had to settle on "spanish style" lays potato chips. The rice came out fine.

Can you believe I got a copy of the new Harry Potter book? A fellow student, I-Ling, pre-ordered it at Ashok Book Shop and read it in a day. She let me borrow it and I just started. I fell asleep reading it last night and forgot to turn on my alarm. I awoke this morning to a crash. I saw the clock and it was 10 till! I figured that crashing sound must have been Elissa leaving for practice without me and that she must have thought that I was still sleeping. But when I looked outside, the gate was still closed, so I got dressed very quickly and knocked on her door. Return of the Dehli Belly. Poor Elissa got hit bad. Good thing she has a western shower because I don't think her bathing bucket will be of much use anymore.

Today after Dr. M.A. Jayashree's for chanting, we walked toward Devaraj (sp?) road so Shelli and Alex could pick up some stuff. (Shelli had a duvee [sp?] cover and shams made from Saris and Alex is getting her nore pierced tomorrow, so she needed a ring.) On the way, we walked by BNS Iyengar's studio who teaches at the Patanjala Yoga Shala. Which, I think, is where Krishnamacharya used to teach. We snuck into the temple and spied on an Indian asana class. It was very cool.

More back bending today with Sharath. He laughed at my feet again. Note to all: feet out in back bends is a VERY hard habit to break!

As Guruji's birthday draws near, many students are flooding Mysore. Lino Miele was hanging out at the coconut stand. Shelli was hanging with David Swenson. Rolf was at the Green Market. Etc., etc. The led classes on Friday will probably be very crowded, but fun to watch. I hope they do a led second. that would be nice to watch. We have no classes Saturday-Tuesday. Saturday is a day off (unless you are with Saraswati). Another day is a moonday, the other celebration, and the last just because.

PS-Any requests for bed coverings? I give you good price!

On practice and how not to make friends in India

I was happily surprised to be feeling a lot better this morning. I decided it was OK to go to practice. Its funny. I'm finding myself kind of stressed out at practice, not like at home. First off, I don't get to pick what time I go. Then when you get there, you wait in the vestibule to be called to practice. "NEXT! 7:15." You look around to see if anyone else is before you than you run to go to the spot they called you for otherwise you hear "Next! 7:15." Or Sharath comes by and says "you come!" or "Why you fearing?" One doesn't get much contact with Sharath, so when he does talk to you, you don't want it to be like that. Then you run and you put down your mat. Don't even think about going to the dressing room first. Its mat first, period. Then, you put the rest of your stuff down in the dressing room.

I don't feel like I'm doing my practice. Its hard letting go of all the hard work I did in New York. Its harder than I thought it would be--both physically and mentally. But I'm trying to let the teacher be the teacher. And anyway its not about the poses, right? But at the same time, you gear up your whole day for practice. That's why we're here.

I was talking to some other students from Colombia this morning at the coconut stand about this. About how I get kind of stressed out in the room. How I can't hear myself breathe, etc, etc. We got to talking about how, in terms of poses, there really are no rules for who gets what, when. For instance, many people told me that for the first month you shouldn't expect anything. No adjustments until back bending if you do a "good" primary. A whole month like this. I feel like probably its better to come here as a beginner. You'd get more attention and feel like you're progressing. Other people say "oh, well they don't give poses on Thursdays", or you have to do drop backs to do second. But I've heard of people starting second after a week. Or Not getting anything for months. The students try to make these little rules, try to make sense out of how things are run so that we can all justify where we are. Its hard to let go of your practice and have to build it up again. Its a lot about letting go of ego and attachments. But its also about trust. Trust that they will stop you if you're doing something incorrectly. Trust that they can see when you are ready to progress. Trust that they won't drop you on your head.

I've heard of a few people mentioning how they got injured in Mysore and how they wouldn't recommend going to the Shala because its just too crowded to get the attention that people need. But at the same time everyone keeps on coming back. we must be crazy.

In practice, it was drop backs with Saraswati after primary again, and then off to the dressing room for finishing. I really blew it up pretty bad in there. The student next to me actually moved to another part of the room. Sorry. It really couldn't be helped, but it was very VERY bad.

I signed up for a cooking class on Thursday at 1 at Tina's which will be fun. Tina's is a place that serves breakfast. I think she said we'd be doing dahl, roti, and stuffed eggplant. All of which, sound good to me. The price for this is, I think, 300 rupees. There is another cooking class the same day at 11 at Anu's. But they'll be doing dosas and I think I'll be happy to stay away from dosas for a little while.

I took a shower at Shelli's place and was able to wash my hair. I find that I need a proper shower to be able to wash my hair. I can't just be going to the salon all the time. (Although that's what I did last time. They washed and brushed my hair for 150 rupees. It wasn't the greatest shampoo or conditioner though). Afterwards, I washed my laundry, which was much more eventful than I would have liked.

Elissa and I live in a house ran by two women. The mother, who is old is called Amma, the daughter who is also quite old is called Yashoda. I fondly call them the "old spinsters". I asked Amma where I could wash my clothes and she started grabbing at them, which drove me crazy so I said "NO! Where is the washing stone so I can wash my clothes?" She pointed to it, but I noticed that the laundry buckets were already being used to soak other clothes. Oh well. I rolled up my pant legs to my knees and dumped my clothes under the tap. Amma came out a little while later to yell at me to turn off the tap and use the shower bucket from the bathroom. I kindly told her that there was no way I was going to be using that bucket for anything related to cleaning unless it is my body. A bit stubborn, I know. She gave up and went inside. She drives me crazy.

In India there used to be a caste system. On the top were the Brahmins. Next came the warriors, followed by the merchants. Last were the minions, or "untouchables". Supposedly this is no longer in place, but it hasn't changed for everyone. For instance, someone told me that it is considered very rude to ask someone what their father does as this would allow you to place them in a caste. The other day, a little entrepreneur around 10 years old asked me if I was in need of a servant. Ningima, the maid at our house, eats her meals on the floor by Amma's feet like a dog. Amma sits at the table. They don't allow her into any of the bedrooms unless they are watching her. To me, its like, if you're going to be there watching, why don't you just do it yourself? But the old spinsters are afraid she'll steal things. In fact, they're afraid everyone will steal things. There is a drop gate on the front door, even.

I must have almost given Amma a heart attack today as she watched me wash my clothes, with my pants rolled up to the knees, next to two workers fixing the cement in the garden. Her whole system of logic in the world must have been thrown completely off. I feel bad. I think she is confused, and doesn't speak much English, and I'm stubborn.

Have you ever hand washed jeans? It is one of least enjoyable experiences there are. I keep looking outside to see if it will rain. Clouds have been hovering all day, but I really couldn't afford to go another day without washing. Clothes don't really dry here. It is hot, but not that hot, and supposedly its humid, but I don't really feel it. The point is, that I don't want all my hard work to go out the window if it rains! My clothes will never dry and they'll smell horrible, which they probably will anyway. You have to really have patience, and be able to let go.

This afternoon I hope to start Sanskrit classes that are offered at the shala. Someone says they go at 5. I'm just going to show up and hope for the best. I know it sounds nerdy, but I'm kind of looking forward to homework.

After that, I have big dreams of renting a TV/DVD unit for 100 rupees for the night. I really could watch a movie!

Its hard. You find a balance at home in your life between practice, and play, between personal time, and public time. An now I have to renegotiate it all. *Sigh* It sounds like I'm doing a lot of complaining, but sometimes you just need to get things out. There's good stuff too, seriously!

Dehli belly

I spent the whole night in a fetal position groaning and moaning swallowing down nausea and hoping for diarrhea. My body ached, the boat was rocking, I was a mess. I knocked on Elissa's door to tell her I wouldn't be practicing today. There was no way. No way.

After a few more hours of sleep, I called Alex and shuffled over to her house, which isn't far. I was sweating and nauseous, but figured that if I had to puke, outside was the best place. Plus, Alex has a squat toilet, which frankly, sounded like the cure. And a television, which cures anything.

She fed me grapefruit seed extract, which if you haven't taken is awful. But apparently, you can use it as an antibacterial. It purifies water, cleans wounds, helps diarrhea, etc, etc. Try a couple of drops and you'll see. I had one bite of millet toast, but couldn't imagine eating much else. You know how when you get really sick to your stomach, you keep thinking back to the thing that you ate, and the thought of that thing is almost enough for you to lose your guts? Well I couldn't stop thinking of roadside family restaurants serving greasy dosas and chutneys. Semolina mush, cheese tortilla thinks, dosas, oh dosas. And a single flash of the one speck of sugar I ate on Chamundi Hill from the cave Swami. These images would flash and my stomach would turn and writing about this right now is making me hold my stomach and cover my mouth. But I'll do it for you, dear reader. I've even dug some flicks off the Internet. You've got the chapati, roti, dosa, and paper dosa. All super greasy. Our "house mom" said that you should eat them only once a week, not three times a day. But everyone else downs them with such vigor and enthusiasm that I didn't want to be left out. But from now on, I'm initiating a boycott. I don't eat gluten anyway, so why did I think this was a good idea?

I feel a little better now, I mean, I was able to walk to Anu's for the net, which is a big leap. I'm not sure how I'll feel tomorrow, but I hope I feel well enough to practice. Some people at the Green Market (every Sunday, the Green Hotel holds a market with all organic produce and such) mentioned that they knew people with a 24 hour bug. Sounds like that could be it. Who knows. At least its not Malaria. I think. What are the symptoms?

Tomorrow I'm also going to join the Sanskrit class, which sounds more like just chanting. Its with a professor Jayashri and it sounds lovely. I'm looking forward to doing something more meaningful than shopping.

Real Estate Survival Course: The emotional, angry, homesick, baby-boo post

Last night I slept from 7pm to 7am this morning. I was still tired when I woke up and my face was puffy from all the mosquito bites. I tried to get a cup of water from my water jug (everyone rents a water jug to put in their room with filtered water). I was pleasantly greeted with a broken tap that I had failed to notice the night before. Fabulous. I got ready in a hurry for our day trip (Elissa, Miriam, and I) to Bylakupee Monastery. The whole trip cost 1500 rupees (divided by 3) plus food. More on the trip later.

Mostly I felt horrible. My stomach feels heavy. I've been eating a bit of dairy, sugar, and gluten, all of which I don't ever have at home and I think it is catching up to me. When we got back, I went to pick up my cellphone after 3 days of the cell guy telling me to "come back tomorrow, come back tomorrow." When in the meantime, they probably called all their family members in the states. Luckily it was there and now I have a plan. Then off to the tailors to pick up my shirts. They came out very nice, or maybe I just wanted to go home. Last stop was to Krishna Murthy to get my water replaced and to tell him how unhappy I was with my living situation. When I went with him to see the place everyone told me that it would be cleaned and ready for me by the time I moved in that night. It wasn't. It took like 3 days to convince them to clean the toilet. There are no window coverings, I'm being eaten alive by mosquitoes, there are ants in the cabinet, and I'm convinced that someone is using my toilet. Today when I got home the toilet seat was up. Anyone who knows me knows how crazy I get about the lid up, no less the entire seat. Why on earth would I do that? I opened the bedroom to let Murthy in to change the water, only to find that the whole room was flooded because the water tank had leaked all day. When I asked the landlady for cleaning supplies, she went into my bathroom to get my bathing buckets to clean the floor! I can only assume that this same philosophy was applied for cleaning my toilet. In all probability, i have been taking bucket showers with the same bucket used to clean my toilet! !#^&**!%%!!!

Part of me wants to scream, cry, go home, crawl under a bed. But what can I do? I cleaned up the floor, went to the store for homemade chocolate, and tried to call "B", who didn't answer.

This girl Rachel told Elissa that coming to Mysore you can't reach for things like you can at home, instead you have to reach for yourself.

Universal Real Estate Tips:

1. Don't hand over the money until the space is EXACTLY how you want it to be.

2. See tip number 1

3. See tip number 1

4. See tip number 1

5. Don't under any circumstances hand over money until the said space is EXACTLY how you would like to live in it!

Chamundi Hill

I think Chamundi Hill is like the Empire State Building of Mysore. Everyone asks, "have you been up the hill?" Or you catch conversations, "I just got back from Chamundi". So, today after a leisurely breakfast, Elisa and I went to the hill.

Fridays are Led Primary. I'm in the second group that meets at 6:15am (the earlier group meets at 5, and the third group meets after my class). The door was closed today, so we weren't sure if we could go into the vestibule to watch the early class. It was definitely too cold to stay outside on the steps. Peeking through the window, we could see one person sitting on the bench and a guy practicing. Since the guy was on the bench,we figured we could do the same. So we pushed the girl ahead of us forward, Elisa sat on the bench, and I hung back in the corner next to the door. I didn't want to get called out if we weren't supposed to come in. Probably the door was closed so that the guy in the entrance wouldn't get cold. People kept coming in after us, and the poor guy got a hit of the draft every time. People say its getting pretty crowded right now because of Guruji's birthday. So there are a lot of first-timers and such and the classes are packed.

After the first class, everyone kind of rushes to claim a spot because no one wants to practice in the entrance or the dressing rooms. I was somewhere in the middle again. I wasn't shaky today like I was yesterday morning, but I was tired. I didn't really sleep very soundly last night because of all the lovely mosquitoes in my room. I woke up in the middle of the night scratching and slapping my face. I had bites on my arms, legs, even on a nipple! I tried to hold out for as long as possible but then caved and went up stairs to Elisa's room for incense and bug spray. It worked while it was burning. I didn't have an incense burner, so it burned the plastic vase I had put it in.

Headstand was better today. I was proud of myself for staying up to about 13 breaths. 13 is counted much slower than you might think. Every time my breath got to 10 I started over at one hoping that I could trick my body into staying in the pose a little longer. After class was the usual coconut and jelly where I ran into Guy, who has just arrived.

We had breakfast at the Shakti house, which was really good. I had a banana and soy milk smoothie. I always have to convince people that I really don't want milk and that seriously, I don't want sugar or jaggery. It was really tasty. This was followed by an open faced hummus sandwich on r...? bread. I think it was made of buckwheat, but I don't recall. The hummus was really good, not very garlicky. Its hard to find food with garlic around here. I just don't taste it. Slices of cucumber and tomato were placed on top with some spices. This place is also known to serve good pancakes, omelets and other wholesome, hardy fare at a decent price.

Elisa and I took a rickshaw to the steps of Chamundi Hill. It was quite crowded and at one point we were at the outskirts of the city entering what looked like a parking lot. The driver turned off his engine and the rickshaw was quickly surrounded by dozens of Indian men holding plates of rice offering us "good food". I think they were just trying to be nice, giving us something hardy for the journey we were about to make, but after we said "no, thanks", they just wouldn't let it go and our driver got out, and we got nervous. Elisa grabbed the driver by the shirt and we were yelling at him to get back into the rickshaw and that we wanted to leave.

pic of auto rickshaw from the net...

The rickshaw driver left us at the bottom of the hill so we could walk up the steps. (For more on Chamundi Hill, click here.) Elisa had gone there a couple of days ago, but decided against it because she felt really uncomfortable being all by herself amongst a bunch of loitering men, beggars, and monkeys at the base of the steps. When she got home, our "house mama" told her that you should never go alone because a cheetah lives up there and attacks people. Hmmm.

This time, however, there were loads of people. Chamundi Hill is well, a hill. There are steps leading up this hill carved from stone. I thought there were a hundred, and after a while of climbing was confused about the number of steps. Elisa clarified that actually there were 1,000. At the very base of the steps, men and women were praying and putting together burnt offerings. There were piles of red and yellow powder smudges around the offerings and we noticed that actually the markings were on the corners of every step leading to the top. Women with bags or bowls filled with the powder would kneel and mark each of the 1000 steps all the way to the top. In the places where there were no steps because there was a bit of a plateau, they would mark every few feet. The result was a beautiful stone staircase, colored with red, yellow, and orange, like fall leaves.

The long walk up would have probably been quite peaceful and spiritual had we not been pestered by teenagers the whole way up. "Hello, how are you?" "What is your name?" "Where are you from?" All seemingly harmless questions, but to these boys, these questions were all about the art of seduction. They were laughing shouting, getting bolder all the time.

About half way up the hill there is a little cave/temple. Around it vendors sell pineapple and cucumbers and wreaths of flowers. We took off our shoes, but to the dismay of all, carried them with us toward the temple. I sat outside with our shoes and Elisa went in first. She came out a second later and kind of just shrugged. I went in next. I had to crouch down very low to get in the small opening of the cave, which has a tiled floor. To the left was the cave swami. People were holding out there hands and he was giving them something and then they would turn to the right and dab their fingers in a bowl in front of a shrine. I sat there and looked at the Swami and asked him "what do I do?" He said put out your hands and so I did and he said "no the other one" (my left hand was on top, a big no no) and he dropped a pile of sugar in my hands. I asked him what the other stuff was about and he said just pointed to the red spot between his eyebrows. People were making some kind of offering and then dipping their fingers into red powder and putting a smudge between their eyebrows. He patted the floor next to him, motioning to sit down, so I did. He was so calm. I felt like I didn't want to leave but I also had absolutely nothing to say to him. So I asked him his name--Swami Jamanagiri. He asked me mine and where I was from. Once he found out I was from NY, he asked me if I knew Eddie Stern, Regina ("She is coming?"). I told him Mary said to see him. He nodded like he knew who that was. I sat there for a little while longer. The tiny cave was getting quite crowded with school children who were climbing and touching everything. He got quite angry and got up to yell at them. Again, I didn't want to leave, but I didn't know how to stay, so I left. The sugar was melting in my hand. We became celebrities on that hill. Families wanted to get pictures with us, children wanted our autographs. It was surreal. We continued up the mountain.

At the top was the crazy building you can see at the top of the page and a lot of people, vendors, and cows. Always the cows. Swami Jamanagiri said that there were many people today because the month was very auspicious. This is the month of Chamundi and so every Friday, "thousands, not hundreds" of people come. At the top we met up with some people we recognized from the shala and Rishi's. Nuno and his friend Nuno from Portugal. We sat on a wall and looked at the incredible view over the city. The way down was less than thrilling for my knees and by the time we got to the bottom , we had an entourage of schoolchildren and very wobbly legs. Tonight is Dosa night at Anu's. Very exciting.

PS-Elissa thinks that the people here think I'm a Bollywood star and that's why we go so much attention. Who can say?

Sleep

A full night's sleep at last. I moved into the new room yesterday, and after looking around realized that I could have probably done better. I imagine it was a lot like meeting someone somewhere dark, and they appeared incredibly attractive. Then, you met some other day in the light and...

(This picture is from yogapath.info)

I really did not expect to sleep at all. I was actually kind of grossed out. There were ants in the cabinets where I was supposed to put my clothes, which would not have been a problem if I had hangers on which to hang my clothes. There was no way I was going to fold my clothes and put them in there only to get eaten by ants. So I did the only logical thing. I took every clothing item and hung them on the windows, thereby killing two birds with one stone. (The other bird was the lack of window coverings. Not so good when your windows face the street.) Last night, I hung out in Elisa's room (another yoga student staying upstairs). She got in a couple of days after me, so we both could relate on the jet lag thing. People around here say it takes about a week to get over it. No one really says what the symptoms are, but apparently I must have had it.

Anyway, we tried desperately to keep each other awake until 10pm, thinking that maybe that would help us wake up at 6am instead of 1, 2, 3, or 4am, like on other nights. She told me about her day and the things that she's seen. I mumbled things back with my eyes slowly closing. She mentioned something about a cockroach falling on her head wall she was sleeping a couple of nights ago. (Our rooms don't have mosquito nets over the beds.) Her room is cleaner and nicer than mine. Not very confidence-inspiring. And then, I saw a lizard crawling on the wall. Elisa jumped up and was screaming, I tried to catch it but it was too fast. I thought it went out the window, so we closed the window and she pounded the curtains with some large metal object that was just lying around.

We made it to 10pm and said goodnight. I sulked down to the maid's quarters, took a deep breath, and slid into the sheets. They were damp. Lovely. I could hear Elisa screaming upstairs. I think the lizard came back.

I like to take a hot shower in the morning before practice. I woke up this morning at 6am, went to the bathroom and turned on the water heater and waited. I turned on the water and started to fill up the bucket. No hot water. I waited for a while and came to accept that this morning's shower would be cold, and I wouldn't enjoy it.

Practice was uneventful. I got no adjustments, except back bends with Saraswati (who gives very a very one-of-a-kind drop back). Ankle grabbing was fine and I skipped finishing postures. Tomorrow is the led class and I'll be doing finishing postures. I hope I can hide in the back, I don't want to get picked on in headstand again!

I saw Guruji yesterday. Alex had to pay her Shala fees and I went with her. While we were there we went to the Shala "store", which is less of a store and more of a storeroom. They have AYRI bocks, shirts, posters, and T-shirts with Guruji's face airbrushed on them. On the way out, you have to walk through the practice area. I peeked into the office and saw Guruji. Things are changing.

Today was harmonium hunting...

First mysore class

I woke up this morning at 1am absolutely convinced that I had slept to 4am. Nope. I laid in be and stared at the wall I slept over at my friend Alexandra's house again tonight because I couldn't be bothered to walk over to my new place. I went to practice and it was great.

I did first series and didn't get an adjustment until back bending. I felt really light today which was nice and surprising considering the fact that I have been eating like a horse. My back felt ok today so I did three wheels and stood up. Sharath was standing right there. I think he does that for everyone so they don't run into the person in front of them if they lose control of their back bend. So anyway, I came up and said "oh, hi!". He smiled and said "hi" back. I turn into such a goofball when I practice. Drop backs felt good, which was really great and then drop backs with Sharath went well as also. He had me grab my ankles which I haven't been doing as Guy has been out of town and the person covering for him, Mark, hasn't been doing ankle grabbing yet with any of the students. I thought it would be weird going straight to it without doing second series stuff but actually it felt really good. I think I just needed a good stretch after not practicing that much and all the travel. He did tell me though that I had to fix my feet. I know I tell everyone this, and now you have to believe me that it is really bad to turn your feet out in back bends and it is a super hard habit to break.

Here is a pic I found of someone doing ankle grabbing from the Internet (see above, right). And on the left is a highly illegal pic I found on someone's blog of a led class in 05. You can see how they pack them in there. In the very back you can see Sharath in the white t-shirt.

After back bends, Sharath squishes you and then you pick up your mat and go to the dressing room/bathroom/locker room to do your finishing postures. When you walk in, to the left are restrooms, and to the right are some shelves and some floor space to do finishing postures. You can also go up the stairs to a little loft area where there is lockers and some floor space for finishing. I just laid on my back for a while, did my lotus's, and then rested for a while. Just trying to go easy (a little at least).

In front of the shala, a guy parks his truck full of coconuts that he chops open and sells to yoga students for 10rs ($.10), although someone said they were actually only 7rs ($0.18), but I guess he just doesn't give change. He cuts off the top and gives you a straw and you drink out the water. Then, if you ask him to, he'll cut the coconut in half for you to scoop out the jelly. In NYC, I think you would call it "meat" because the inside can be quite tough sometimes. But, here everything is very fresh and the inside has the consistency of jelly.

I had a harmonium lesson yesterday that was way too expensive at 450rs ($11.25). It was interesting. The guy was all over the place and I was trying desperately to keep up with the chanting. He kept telling me "higher! higher!" As my voice croaked and squeaked like a dying animal. At the same time he was placing my fingers on keys for me and texting someone on his cellphone. I'd like to buy a harmonium and take lessons. Sanskrit lessons at the Shala that start next week are only 700rs ($17). I think this is for two weeks, three days a week. This harmonium guy wanted 4500rs ($112.5) for ten 1/2 hour sessions. My rent only costs 6000rs ($150) for the month. So that said, I don't know why I would pay this guy so much money. I'll be doing the Sanskrit next week, and I think they have chanting too, so this week's mission is to find the harmonium and hopefully a teacher.

For those of you wondering, I'm still brushing my teeth with bottled water. Haven't gotten sick either. More about the usage of the right versus left had in a later post.

PS-Haven't seen Guruji yet. His birthday is next week.

The Ladies' Holiday

I woke up this morning to a marvelous surprise--the crimson tide. What luck. All yoga traditions and many different cultures have their own policies with how to deal with the leaking woman. Among Ashtanga practitioners, you are supposed to take a certain number of days off per month. You take 3 days off for your period, everyone takes off Saturdays or Sundays (depending on whether you are practicing with Sharath or Saraswati), and everyone takes off moondays (days of the full or new moon). I've heard a few different theories about this.

1. A friend from New York told me that she never honors the 3 day vacation because she said the reason was Guruji and co. who are brahmins considered it "unclean". I'd believe this because it wouldn't be the first time I heard a culture with that sort of view... read more

2. Another theory is that you want things to go down and out and not in and up. In ashtanga practice there is a lot of in and up.

3. Sometimes you just need a break. You're tired, achy, your balance sucks. Who wants to do a headstand?

Anyway, I went to watch practice at the time I was assigned to practice (7:15am). I was up at like 2am, so I could have made it to the 5am to watch, but decided that Sharath might be like "Why are you here early?" Like I was getting to big for my britches. So I went at 7:15am. There is a little waiting room/mud room when you first walk in and all the students waiting to practice sit on the floor in there and watch people practicing. All you can hear is people breathing and the occasional "next!" or "next 7o'clock", or "you, come!". Finally there was no one left and Sharath came to the door and said "you, come!". I said "I'm not practicing today". To which he replied, "ladies' holiday?" I said "yes". He said " come back tomorrow". Now I don't think he meant come watch tomorrow because he seemed pretty perplexed that I was there. I guess the unclean theory isn't true.

Yesterday I packed my bag and moved out of the b&b, confident that I would find a place to cover the next two weeks. On August 1st, I'll be moving into Shelli's room which is in Saraswati's house. Its so crazy! Saraswati is Guruji's daughter and she teaches with them at the Shala. She had her own classes in said house until Guruji got sick. Now she only teaches at the main shala and so the house is filled with yoga students "in residence". I walked around the other day and you can hang out in the practice room whenever you want and all her pictures and stuff of the family are on the wall. So weird. This house is directly and I mean directly across the street from the Shala. I think (not counting the stairs), it would take maybe 7 paces. (I found this pic on the net.)

I dropped my bag at Alex's and went to meet up again with Murthy. He's the "needs" guy for AYRI. Basically you go to him with any needs you got and he helps you sort them out. I found a place maybe 4 blocks from the shala to hold me over until Aug 1. It will cost 3000rs which is about $75 for 2 weeks. Its not bad, not the greatest, but not dirty which is good. For those of you that can recall my Washington Ave apartment, you'll have an idea of what I'll be dealing with. The perks: its got mosquito netting on the windows, bedding, a lock on the door, a fan, a private bathroom, a western toilet. The cons: bucket shower, old smelling.

Yesterday I did this crazy "chakra breathing" meditation with this guy that the local students swear by. It was interesting, weird, and I felt like I huffed some nitrous for about 15 minutes afterwards.

This morning I tried to wash my hair with the bucket shower. Eh. Besides the fun feeling of being a baby in the sink, there's the ick feeling of standing in a flooded locker room.

Super cool things about India: easy and cheap to rent a scooter (but I have a wicked burn on my leg from the exhaust pipe). super cool and cheap clothing.

My first class at AYRI

I woke up this morning at 4am again. I tossed and turned. This time I think more from being anxious and excited than from jet lag. The first class of the morning was at 5am and it was like part of me new that people were up practicing. Saturdays there is no practice. It was a moonday on Saturday, but here they applied it on Sunday. As Sunday is usually the led class day and we had this Sunday off, today (Monday) was led day.

Definitions of mysore and led style ashtanga yoga click here.

The first led class as I said was at 5 am. I think that up until today they actually do a led second series in that session, but apparently there just weren't enough 2nd series people and A LOT of first series people, so they did 2 1st series classes.

Anyway, I took another bucket shower and I tried to take a picture of the setup but the digital camera isn't adjusting well to life in India unfortunately. I took my time getting ready and walked a slowly as I could to practice. I got there at like 6:45 and went inside to the waiting area. There were already many students crowded all over the floor looking through the double doors (which were open) at the early class practicing. Note: there is a sign that says no pictures or videos allowed, so I'll respect that and not take any. sorry everyone!

After class, students rushed to get spots for their mats for the next class at 6:15. The first class actually ended at 6:30, so we started at like 6:40. It was really great. The biggest tip i have is DO NOT GO FAST! We always tell students this and remind ourselves but people always go to fast because it is hard to go slow and keep an even pace. The difference is when Sharath is standing on our mat and your staring at his toes in chatarunga, you better not go to upward dog!

On the left is chaturanga dandasana.

On the right is upward facing dog.

You can tell which is easier to hold.

I felt really light today, which was nice. Everything was going fine until headstand. Oh headstand. Sharath counts very slow in headstand. If I have one piece of advice to someone going to mysore its work on holding headstand for a LONG time. I barely just barely made it to nine breaths. I was shaking and trying so so hard. I had to come down. He shouted "come back up!" to me. So I came back up as he made it to 15. Then down I went. "Come back up!" he said again. So I came into a headstand prep position instead of the 2nd variation. "Come back up!"

He said again and if it wasn't already clear that he was speaking to me, he put me in the position and didn't let me come down. My little arms were shaking and trying so hard! Its funny because during the class, people slowly are asked to stop along the way, so not everyone does the full primary series, they are asked to sit and watch and wait until back bends to re-join the class. But honestly there were many many people who barely made it half way through primary, and I was one of like 5 people (There had to be like 100 hundred people in that room) who couldn't keep up the headstand. And out of those 5 people who needed help, Sharath came over to torture/help me. The next pose that I was dying in was the very last pose, uthplutih. I had heard that it was torture and I remember it was bad when I practiced with guruji in NY, but its a lot like childbirth. You forget how much it hurts! I honestly have never felt my stomach work in headstand uthplutih like I did today! Notice that this guy is completely lifted off the floor. While Sharath very very very slowly counts to 10. The whole time he walks around saying "lift up, lift up! Don't be lazy!" He took us straight to lie down after this instead of closing mantra and we laid there for maybe 3 minutes before he said "ok, you can go home now."

After class I waited in line by his office to give him the rest of the money I forgot to pay him the day before. "___, come in", he said. I left stunned (he knew my name!) They (Sharath and Guruji) are notorious for not remembering people's names.

On quitting your life--cold turkey

I woke up this morning at 4am. AYRI is closed today so I spent a while staring at the ceiling. All beds here are covered with mosquito netting. Most yoga students stay in local guest houses, so they come equipped (usually) with netting and all that. If not, it is way cheaper here than anywhere else. For instance, batteries are 17rs for 2 double a's. That comes to about $o.42.

I read for a bit. I tossed and turned some more. Around 6am I decided to just get out of the bed. I got dressed, did a couple of sun salutes, brushed my teeth (with bottled water), the whole time looking at the "shower" from the corner of my eye, trying to convince myself that I could go the day without one. There are a few different shower options you'll find in the guest houses. The first is fondly known as the "bucket shower". You take the bucket, stick a hot iron in it, then dip a pitcher in and pour the water over yourself as you stand in the middle of the bathroom. The floor is slanted slightly so it all goes toward the drain, passing by the toilet on its way. Desire overtook any qualms I had about the shower and toilet sharing the same floor space as I embarked on my first bucket shower. It wasn't all that bad. In fact it was kind of nice dumping water over myself. It reminded me of being a baby except I was standing in my bathroom instead of sitting a kitchen sink. I don't know if I'll be able to wash my hair.

After your "shower", there is a squeegee that you use to push the water towards the drain. Now you want to do a good job otherwise you'll get wet feet each time you go to use the toilet for the rest of the day.

I went over to AYRI like Sharath said and he was waiting there for me. I filled out the application (he didn't ask me if I already sent one) and he told me to come to the led class tomorrow at 6:15am and then to practice on normal days at 7:15am. I got a card that I'm supposed to put at the front of my mat that says my name, time I practice, etc. I couldn't really get a good picture of it. Here it is anyway. He emphasized that I should not come earlier. Fine by me. (The earliest class starts at 4am I think.) A friend told me that actually its a bit of a problem that people don't come on time. Its not that they sleep in, in fact, people are coming earlier than they are supposed to. Apparently the more advanced practitioners are assigned the earlier times and beginners are assigned later times. So people get a little miffed when they're given later times (anything past 7am). I got 7:15am. Sharath asked me after he gave me a time if I was a beginner. I'm not sure if this means that I won't be working with Sharath. I guess I'll find out.

For the rest of the morning I sat on the terrace reading and drawing with a little break to visit an organic market where I bought a jar of hummus. I haven't tasted it yet. I had lunch at Anu's by myself. Anu's is a family restaurant about 1 minute's walk from Joseph's B&B (minus a B). You go upstairs to the terrace and they put out a bunch of different dishes and you help yourself. Today there was beet salad :P, carrot salad, cucumber/tomato salad :P, eggplant and tomato :D, spicy string beans chopped up really small, something that I think involved seitan, lentils, rice, and little tortilla things called "chapati", I think. This costs 100rs or $2.5, which is kind of expensive. A lot of people from the Shala (AYRI) to eat and so its a good place to meet people. Although today I ate alone. Downstairs is an Internet cafe (where I am now), and a phone to make international calls. PS-the computers have skype.

You've left your job, your diet, your significant other, your family, your time zone, your shower, your friends, your everything. What do you do with your day? Since I haven't practiced at the Shala yet, which is why I came here, I don't really feel grounded. In New York, I practice 6 days a week. I haven't practiced since Thursday. My body feels blah, my mind feels blah, everything blah. Everyone around me seems to not feel the same. The Indians all are living with purpose. They're doing what they do. The students already here also are doing what they now do. But I'm not doing anything that I used to do, nor what I came to do, so then what do you do?

This is quitting your life--cold turkey day 2.

Foreign travel 101: Learning how to sit & know your taxi

Here I am in Mysore, India. It is 8:22pm and the mosquitoes are biting. I'm trying hard to think of what has happened since I boarded the plane from New York on Friday, but it has all turned into a dazed blur of me shuffling from one place to the next and sitting. A lot of sitting.

On sitting waiting at airports:
Delta at JFK has really unfriendly waiting areas. First of all, I was at the international departures. To me, it makes sense that people leaving on international flights might have international size send-offs from friends and family in a comfortable waiting area. Instead, passengers are shuffled through check-in lines and security with no time or place for a proper goodbye.

On sitting waiting on planes:
The Delta flight was reasonably comfortable. It was clean with a wide range of movies to choose from. The food wasn't bad at all either. I think it was catered by Jyothi (the people who make the canned indian food). I was half looking forward to burying myself in the pseudo-horror book I bought at the airport, but they turned the lights off pretty quickly. I ended up watching way too many movies.

"The Lives of Others" Spying in East Germany on other East Germans. German with subtitles. Kind of hard to get into the plot of a movie with subtitles with those ridiculous headphones they give you on the plane. But at least they were free.

"Zodiac" I waited to watch this one after I had woken up from my first bout of "sleep", when the cabin was really dark and quiet. I was hoping it would make it creepier. The only thing creepy was that Jake Gyllenhal's character didn't age a day between 1967 and 1989.

"The Namesake" This was the second time I watched this movie and it seems to get me every time. Young love, families, losing a parent when you're young, losing a husband, reconnecting with your heritage-- lots of stuff to jerk those tears. And the bits that are filmed in India really do look like India. Except it isn't nearly as hot here as it seemed in the movie.

On what to do instead of sitting waiting in airports:
I had an 8 hour lay-over between Mumbai and Bangalore so I took a taxi to a hotel to get some zzzz's. Not as simple as it sounds. First of all, there were no ATM's in the international airport (thanks Jim* for making me bring cash). There was a cash changing place though, so that's what I did. Then I saw a stand for pre-paid taxis, which sounded like something I should use since I barely new what I was doing. I paid for a ride to the Sheraton, but the lady behind the counter was less than confidence inspiring. She gave me a ticket and said "look for this number". So I proceeded toward the exit sign, where I saw dozens of Indian men holding signs with people's names, but not one taxi. Not even a sign that said taxi. Foreign Travel 101: know what local taxis look like. Seems simple, but I asked some other people on the flight with me who were Indian if they knew where their taxis were, but they were just as confused as me. Random men would shout "taxi" and point saying "over there, over there!" As they pointed to the crowded, dark parking lot. In fact, they really were "over there". I found my guy and gave him the ticket the lady at the counter gave me. He looked at it, looked at me and said "where you go?" It definitely said "Sheraton" on the ticket. He opened the car door, let me in, and then went for a walk. He came back 5 minutes later and off we went. About 2 minutes later we pulled into the Las Vegas strip of tourist hotels featuring the Hyatt, etc., amidst shacks, rickshaws, stray dogs, and old men urinating. To the left was this massive, crazy luxurious hotel, which turned out to be the Sheraton. I paid a ridiculous amount for 4 hours of sleep in a super lush, dream hotel room, and a bag full of toiletries that I hadn't packed in New York.

On sitting in cars:
I arrived on Saturday at about 8:30am and was relieved to find that I was greeted with a driver sent from the bed and breakfast I had booked. It was about a 3-hour drive to Mysore with me sitting in the backseat swatting at flies, holding back the contents of my bladder and watching the people, places, and interesting traffic philosophies from Bangalore to Mysore.

By noon I was at my bed and breakfast sitting on the terrace overlooking Mysore eating a delicious fresh fruit salad feeling incredibly hungover. On the right is a picture of my room.

The rest of the day involved meeting up with friends, learning the neighborhood, and trying desperately to keep myself awake until a good time to go to sleep in order to adjust to mysore time.

I went by AYRI today and Sharath told me to come back tomorrow to register at 9am even though they are supposed to be closed. Awesome.

No practice today because it's a moonday. No practice tomorrow as well at AYRI.

Oh and for dinner, Shari, Stella, and I were segregated from the men at a restaurant to a "women only" section labeled "only families" (see left). Not soon after embarking on the meal, we were running out as the staff "fumigated" the restaurant for mosquitoes. (Burning coals in a pan with deet poured over it as they fan the open flame around the restaurant. The smell was a mixture between burning plastic table covers and burning plastic table covers soaked in deet.) On the right is a picture of the waiter chasing after us and trying to coax us back into the restaurant.

*Names changed.

needs versus wants: prioritizing the to-do list for a three month journey to mysore

So, here I am with Kate making a blog instead of getting a calling card to get a car to pick me up from the airport....or reserving a place to stay. I think probably the fact that I arrive two days after I board the airplane makes me feel like I have lots of time to arrange such trivial matters. I think I'd rather watch a movie and enjoy a bath instead.

But it is a fact that I do leave tomorrow and I do still have a lot of stuff on the list to do.
Kate is eating vegan chocolate chip cookies and watching me type which is quite embarrassing, so I think that's it for today. I think a job well done for a first post!