Gaia

i'm going to take off where i left off....

we arrived in bangalore at 1 am and my friends name was written on a board at the bottom of the stairs right before we entered the baggage claim. it said," go the luftansa desk." she waited in line there while i waited for our luggage. mine arrived, hers didn't make our flight, but they were so totally organized. the total opposite of BA (it's those Germans, so organized). they gave her a toiletry bag full of stuff and a bunch of money (yes, cash). then we left, we were handed roses and there was another sign with her name on it. she said to me," i'm already famous in bangalore." we hadn't left the airport and there were two signs with her name on.

the driver took us to our guesthouse. we arrived at 3 am. we slept, got up, had breakfast, booked train tickets for that day to mysore.

we arrive in mysore that evening, had dinner at Anu's (i'd been dreaming about her food all year). we stayed at a friends house. then, we went to visit kumar, the goldsmith and then went to sleep that night. it was a very very full first day in india.

I have a bad cold so it keeps waking me up in the night. i start coughing and coughing and coughing.... ugh...finally our friend, the one we are staying with got me some cough syrup with codiene and i've been able to sleep ever since.

we had a very busy few days in mysore. first j's bags were to arrive and they did, but a little later than they said. but they did call us 2 times to tell us they were on the way. we kind of just hung out the first day waiting for the bags.

then the next day, i spent with kumar talking about jewelry designs. we worked for a few hours. it was great. i met with him for 3 days and we got a lot done. he is going to work on thing while i am away during this month and then when i get back to mysore we will start the second installement of the project. i am really really excited about all of this.

we left mysore after a few days of work and socializing. we took care of a bunch of things and it was really nice to stay with our friend...

we are now in chennai. we took the night sleeper train here last night and spent the day at the krishnamacharya yoga mandiram. we each had individual consultations with a doctor and then we had a one on one class with a teacher. it was so great. we did a little asana to help with my ever worsening hip problem and some pranayama, which almost put me to sleep. tomorrow j and i have a pranayama class togehter and i am excited about it. it's a very cool place that caters to everyone and their needs. soooooooooo opposite of mysore.......

we are on a yoga journey to explore and discover what is out there. i have been doing ashtanga for so long that i feel almost blind to the rest of the yoga world and there is soo much to see and learn and do. this journey is exciting and i can't wait for the rest to come.

india is all that she is. i am very happy about being here. it is my 4th trip and is different for me in so many ways. first, i am travelling with a friend. i have never done this before. second, i feel older and more mature, 3rd i feel an almost comfort. it's exciting in such a different way.

india is the inefficient, efficient country..... there are many people for one job so things get done sometimes really fast and sometimes really slow because of this inefficient efficiency. more about that another time.... overall, everything is great besides my cold. i feel like i have been sick sooooo much this year...ugh...