Everyone keeps asking me how my trip was and I am stumped for words. The only thing I have been able to come up with is Incredible (Incredible India was painted on our bus) and or enlightening. I am exhausted more than even when I ran the marathons, mentally, physically, and spiritually. It takes all the senses, morals, ideas, beliefs about life and being human on a rollercoaster ride. We were in little villages that really look like the dark ages, if they had plastic trash in the dark ages. What I keep getting when I close my eyes are images of children smiling, pretty little faces, big white teeth, shining eyes, in spite of the unfathomable surroundings.
I think I will remember it as finding diamonds, precious moments that shine in my mind as happy moments, and just like hunting for diamonds, one has to go through a lot of mud and dirt to find one. But oh how it shines.
Jan 08 2010:
As I left California I was filled with excitement and uncertainty. I knew that I wanted this trip, but was not sure I was prepared. Newark was a tight connection and I just made it to the group as the plane to Brussels was boarding. It was fun meeting some new people and seeing some old faces. The total fly time for me was 23 hours. We made it into the Chennai airport ok and stepped out into the India air for the first time. The smell hit me first, then the begging people and the dirt road and parking airport. The smell was very heavy, like dirt and diesel fuel, and garbage. Our guide led us to our bus and we drove through town on the way to the beach resort. Looking out the windows was over whelming. I was excited and stunned. The first think I noticed, even in the night, was garbage everywhere, on every street by the pounds and this is a major city. Then the cows hit me, walking random, here and there in the traffic. We arrived at the hotel, beautiful, away from the road, looks like Disney, the room is three times the size of the room I stayed at Walt Disney World, the grounds are manicured and plants everywhere, we are right on the beach and the staff are so nice. In the morning I got up early and did Yoga on my porch that is huge, strolled around, had a great breakfast (scrambled eggs and the weirdest waffle) and we all met later to talk about our day and meet with the Guru.
Tonight we took our first trip into town. There really is no way to describe it to our Western minds. It is overwhelming, but I just watched as it all passed by. We got out at a temple. They really do come right up to you en mass and try to sell you everything. I found if I look down and keep my hands in prayer at my heart they walk off or walk by. I just say not buying souvenirs and they move on. You see the tiniest children to the tiniest adults selling everything, most wearing hardly any clothes and no shoes. Animals everywhere all starving. Then a group of giggly girls go by wearing the prettiest red saris laughing and smiling. That is the thing, everyone seems happy. One of my clients gave me a culture book and it helped me see that this is their life and according to their beliefs, they do not see it as a misfortune, just their life. I am keeping that in mind. The temple was from 700 ad. The Romans, Indians and Persians all were there.
We got there with only thirty minutes left to see the whole temple grounds, which was a long walk. The temple was so old and the stone so dark that it all had an eerie feeling about it. W took pictures and I got the first glimpse at our teacher (Gurudev) being casual, talking, sitting, posing for pictures. I got the sense that this was going to be a really special trip.
On the way out we went to some shops full of my first taste of what we would see for sale all over India. Gurudev was in a shopping mood and has an eye for antique or unique statue art. It was a treat seeing him bartering with the salesman over which two statues were the best deal and what was a fair price. It was also a great chance to see him with his son, who we all love, Malia. I felt a great affection for this group and looked forward to the adventure ahead.
Jan 09:
Well, second day, a lot to see, three trips into town, sacred Shiva Temple more than 1500 Years old, fun clowning around. Morning Yoga class was so needed and beautiful. A red cow walked behind Priti while she was teaching, never saw that before. It was an amazing day. India is intense, not for the faint of heart. Dirty, smelly, packed, animals everywhere, but it has a charm. We went to a cultural center and saw some great dancers, watched a video about the history of Southern India and walked around the craft market.
We went into town again later and my buddy Scott and I went ‘Edge Hunting’ looking for our edge of comfort and walked down a side street to see what we could find. These two begging women walked towards us, barefoot. I will never forget this one lady. She was looking right at us, stepped into a fresh deposit made by a cow, looked down at her bare feet and just shrugged her shoulders, shook her foot off and kept walking, like it was no big deal, that she did not even mind. Just how matter of fact she was about it, made me realize that I am definitely in a whole other world and that no matter what I see or do I want to be like that lady, shake it off and keep on walking.
Scott and I found a tailor and ordered custom made Yoga clothes from a tailor in town. It was my first time bartering and it just feels silly to me. Arguing weather I wanted to pay fifteen dollars for a shirt custom made to fit, or twenty when it would cost me double back home. We made an agreement and then we would have to wait and see if they get delivered or if we get stiffed.
We left and I found a jewelry shop looking for a pendant for Karen back home who asked me to find her something. It seemed impossible to pick something out of the mass amounts of jewelry and gem stones that the nice guy from Kashmir insisted on showing me even if it was not in my price. I picked Moonstone, indigenous to India, hoping that she would love it. It was getting dark and the bus was going to leave.
Walking down the street we found Chanda alone which really impressed me at her bravery and together we had to hunt for the bus as it was not where it was supposed to be. I noticed the huge groups of men starting to emerge on the street. They must have just got off work, but seeing them standing around in packs was intimidating.
It felt good to be around people from Yoga school.
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