Road To Mysore

I took Friday off because it was my oath-taking day. I am now officially a US citizen. The whole ceremony was held in the LA Convention Center at around 1PM. They needed a huge venue because there were over 3,000 of us who where sworn in and another 3,000 earlier that morning. The whole ceremony was actually very moving but in the back of my mind I keep thinking about getting my passport. After I got my certificate, I applied for my passport. I should be getting it in 2 weeks. The dominos are slowly falling. Once I get my passport, I can get my Indian visa. Mysore – here I come!!! There's nothing holding me back now.

Friday's practice was terrible. I'm angry and pissed at myself. Since Jorgen is touring with Madonna, he has his assistants running the class. One of his assistants is terrible at adjusting and I should have stopped him while I had a chance. He has the tendency of yanking you and forcing you to the posture. I think my ego got the best of me. A few weeks ago, I finally got my hands to touch the floor in prasarita padottanasana C so it's been an expectation of mine to do it consistently. Anyway, one of the assistants was adjusting me in this posture and he yanks my arms over. I tried to shift my weight forward thinking that my hand was already close to the floor. My mat was wet with sweat and I lost my footing and toppled over. I should have backed off and told him to stop but I didn't. In the process, I pulled one of my back muscles. I think it's my rhomboids because it feels like a deep muscle. I should have known better. Now I can feel a slight pain when I turn my head to the left. I hope it's not major but I'll know in a few days. When my month expires, I will have to consider practicing with Noah and Kimberly the next two month before leaving for Mysore. This is a reminder that it's important to practice with a qualified ashtanga teacher. Jorgen is a pretty good teacher but that assistant has no business teaching.

Friday night, a fellow therapist came over and we traded massages. I worked on her first and then she worked on me after. Since I got the massage second, I didn't have to get out of the table. I eventually sat up, hugged my friend. After my friend left, I literally crawled my way from the massage table and straight to bed. Now life doesn't get better than that. We agreed that next time I'll drive to her place so she could do the same.

Today I decided to go to downtown LA and walk around the garment district. I don't know the downtown area very well because I hardly go there. Anyway, I picked the wrong day coz it was hot as hell. I was looking for a big duffle bag with wheels to use for my trip. I finally settled for a $25 duffle bag. I'm really happy with what I got because I thought I would spend a lot more. It was definitely worth the drive.