daily schedule:
5:00 alarm goes off
5:10 out of bed
5:26 run to yoga class
5:30-7:30 yoga
7:30-8:00 breakfast
8:00-10:56 read/sleep/shop/laundry
10:56 run to yoga class
11:00-1:00 yoga
1:00-1:45 lunch
1:45-2:26 read/sleep
2:26 run to yoga class
2:30-3:30 philosophical, existential discussions
3:30-4:00 continuation of discussion post-class with cooking class
4:00-5:00 cooking class with mr. kurup
5:00-5:30 tea/snack/poking around
5:30-6:30 martial arts
6:30-7:30 shower/nap/read
7:30-8:30 dinner
8:30-11:00-ish read/watch movies/chat with sinead (roomie)
11:00-ish-5:00 sleep
we walk through the village wearing all white--yoga pants and t-shirts--and attract lots of stares. maybe it's because white yoga pants are sort of see through. or maybe it's because we're a bit stinky most of the time. we eat every meal on banana leaves with our fingers. the food is soooo good. i bought indian bread-making kitchen implements today in town. it rains every day for about 2 hours. the sky when the sunsets is really really yellow-orange-green right before it rains. people at the yoga center include a guy who does photo shoots for rock star cd covers in L.A., a girl who baby sits for oasis's children, a girl who lives in a commune in hawaii and belongs to a religious not-cult, an elderly french woman who has been here for five years studying painting, U2's physio-therapist, two girls on study abroad from boston university, an indian couple who grew up in uganda and raised their children in canada, a chilean who funds his travels by buying lots of stuff in a country and then selling it in the next country he goes to, and me. and others. my room mate is sinead from ireland who lived in pittsburgh for several years. we would get more sleep and probably function better during the day if we could figure out how to shut up at night. but it's nice to have someone to sit down and talk to. and talk and talk and talk and talk. i've read "the god of small things" which is set here in kerala, close to my center, and "eleven mintues" which didn't make me swear off paulo coehlo, but makes me wonder if other people might. i love the food, i love the people, i love the philosophical yoga discussions, i love our swami brahmananda, i love the cooking teacher kurup who thinks that lila from hungary and erin from iowa are the funniest things he's ever seen so he cuts up half a coconut for us to eat during class every afternoon. i still suck at yoga. so much so that i injured myself. good thing U2's physio-therapist was on hand. whew. i healed quickly. and then i did the plow! yay! the spiders here are enormous. i appear to be alergic to kerala. it's hard to accomplish much of anything with my schedule. we take little open air taxis into town some mornings to see the tailor or go shopping a bit. there's lots of honking on the roads. there was a kathakali dance performance at our center. everything is very colorful. sinead carved an elephant. there is an elephant parade through the village on sunday (tomorrow) to celebrate the end of the week of some festival for krishna. all week there has been music and singing and/or stories blasted quite loudly from speakers all over the village from 5 in the morning until midnight every single day EVERY SINGLE DAY to the point that i don't really hear it anymore. except at night and in the morning. and during yoga class. or when i try to nap. so i guess i hear it. next week will seem very quiet. little kids follow us to class in the morning saying hi and bye and doing yoga poses and daring each other to give us a high five. there's a living center being built close to the yoga house that will house about 10 families each in individual cubicle rooms. that entire housing complex is about the size of our yoga room. i can't think of anything else for right now. check out the new photos on my photo site and enjoy a taxi ride through mumbai and let me know what you think about keralan milk. please.
