Gaia

let's see where did i leave off. i think it was when we had our total crazy day in madurai.. but i forgot to write about my experience at the aurobindo paper factory in pondicherry. it's this really cool place where they make paper and paper things, like books and boxes and they export mainly to europe.. anyway, i saw these super cool little boxes with little windows on the top. they are covered in beautiful silk and i am having them put velvet inside and i will use them to put my gold pieces in. i had a different idea that was logistically hard for me to figure out, in terms of getting boxes for the jewelry, but now it is all taken care of. i made the order and they are shipping them out so they will be at home when i get there. i am very happy about this. they are soooooooo cool.

ok, so we had our crazy day in madurai and hopped on the train to trivandrum the capital of kerala, spent the night on the train, our second night in a row on the train.. and we got off the train and walked to this super cool restaurant called the india coffee house. it was a cylindrical building and the inside was so cool, it spiraled up there were no stairs and the booths were along the side, the servers were dressed in white with these crazy hats.. our meal was super good and cost us total less than one dollar (definitely our cheapest meal). we then were going to take the bus to the sivananda ashram, but after looking at them decided to take a rickshaw for the one hour ride. we were a bit buzzed from our tea and had a totally engaging conversation on the way up.. it was a beautiful ride and we had so much fun.. and when we were about a mile away, i looked down and my chacos were gone.. that is my shoes were gone. my chappals were gone. shoes... my shoes... i love shoes.. and now my precious chacos were missing. i told the driver to stop and i said, "no chappal, where are chappal?" and he looked and me and said, "madam, no chappal." i instantly made him turn back to look for them and he said to me, "madam, no only 2 kilometer." we had been riding for one hour and i freaked out and made him turn around. we found one and the other one is missing and i don't know why i was such a freak about it and just couldn't let my shoes go, especially here in india where there are a half a billion people without any "chappal" at all. all is gone and i have let go.

we arrived at the ashram and checked in to our dorm. it was a great place, we were a bit confused for most of the time we were there, but that was fine.. it's this unbelievably beautiful place up in the hills and there is a lake and you can hear lions roaring on the other side of the lake at the reserve.. so, our schedule for the next three days was like this.. wake up 5:20 meditate for 30 min. chant/sing for 45min. teachings for 15 min.. 7:30 tea, 8:00 yoga until 10, then eating on the floor really yummy indian food. 11 teachings, 12:30 karma yoga (we were very privileged to clean the toilets) 1:30 tea, 2 coaching class (yoga questions), 3:30 yoga until 5:30 yoga, 6pm eating again our yummy healthy indian meal. 8pm chanting until 9:30 and then sleep. so, we did this for 3 days and it was so much fun. the yoga was fantastic... i have never done sivananda yoga before and i really really like it.

so, we arrived in the middle of a two week "yoga vacation" and a month long teacher training. so we sort of just tagged along, thus being a bit confused.. it was pretty great. our last morning we all (200 of us) got up at 5 and hiked a mountain (in my flip flops) and then even had to do part of it with bare feet ( the sacred, sharp granite part) and it was soooooooooo beautiful to be up there during the sunrise, chanting. we climbed down and made it back for our 2 hour yoga class all before breakfast at 10...we checked out at 11 and took a rickshaw back to trivandrum to take a train to varkala where we are now...

when we got here, babu, my friend who owns the guest house we are staying at, told us about an elephant parade going on. so, we had to go.. we got in another rickshaw and saw 50 elephants all decorated and marching down the street. it was sooooooo cool. there were a ton of people there, but it was so different from our last experience with the bulls. this was much more family oriented and all the little kids and women were all dressed up and it was really a special and beautiful experience.

so, here we are...on the beach... some time to reflect and maybe write a little more than just what we are doing...many thoughts are going through my head, but i will wait until next time.