Another Day, Another Coconut

As I sit here typing this, the neighbors are fighting and have been for the past few hours.  They took a little break about an hour ago after the fight turned violent.  I can’t understand a thing they are saying, but from what I can gather the wife is the one angry with the husband.  She is screaming at him while he answers her back in a loud, collected voice.  At some point she spat on him and started hitting him and their daughter started screaming trying to stop the fight.  I’m not sure if he hit her back, but he ended up leaving shortly after.  Now he is back and the fight is back on.  The speakers on my computer aren't loud enough to drown out their voices.  Today is a day that I appreciate being single again.  Living in dysfunction for over 5 years I got use to the drama and chaos.  These days my life is drama free and I no longer worry if it’s Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde I’m coming home to.

This afternoon I intended in joining Christian’s class to experience this new teacher he has been raving about.  As luck would have it, I’m going through another bout of stomach issues and everything else that comes along with it.  I finally ate chicken and now I am paying the price for it.  It’s the first source of animal protein I have eaten since leaving for my trip.  Guess I’ll be sticking to the vegetarian diet from now on.

Practice was good this morning.  I’m going to stop writing I woke up tired because that is the case every day.  Saraswathi added a new asana to my practice and it’s only with her assistance that I am able to hold the pose.  I’ll be working on this one for a while.  My Sanskrit and chanting class is now in the mornings and today was a good class also.  For some reason I am a little more focused today and able to pay attention.  With that said it made me think about this mornings’ practice.  I hit a dead brain cell and couldn’t remember the next asana.  Eventually as my brain cells rotated I figured it out. 

Lately there is this new rave about the health benefits of coconuts/coconut juice.  Across the shop from DANC’s shop is a company that makes and distributes coconut juice.  Every time I pick him up I always ask him to bring me a juice.  Well every morning there is a guy that sells fresh coconuts in front of the shala.  There is also a coconut stand down the street.  The company that sells the coconut juice charges about $24.00 for a pack of 12, 11 ounces each.  The coconut guy in front of the shala charges $0.20 for the whole coconut and that includes the coconut meat.  The local coffee shop that serves Italian coffee charges less than a dollar for a large cafe mocha and it tastes better than what the anti-christ of coffee companies sells.  For lunch Christian ordered large café mocha with an extra shot of espresso, a vegetarian wrap and a chocolate chip muffin and spent $4.20.  The American dollar goes a long way here.  It’s insane to think the amount of money I spend on unnecessary and pointless things living in the United States.  With one pair of jeans and a shirt¹, I can pay a month’s worth of rent, one-month tuition to a mediocre yoga school and have some left over for food.  This doesn’t mean I’m not going to waste my money when I get back home, but on concert tickets alone I spend more than the average person.  Sometimes it takes being away and living in different conditions to realize that I have a pretty good life.  I know it’s good, but I still sometimes forget how good it really is.

So where does this leave you the reader and me with the mindless blabbing?  Nowhere, really.  Like I said, I have too much time on my hands and can only read so much on yoga philosophy.  I'm considering taking cooking lessons or someone even suggested sitar.  Cooking Indian food may not be a great idea considering it is currently making me sick.  The sitar on the other hand could be very promising.  If I don't find a job when I get back I will at least have a future on the 3rd Street Promenade.   

1.  I really didn’t buy those jeans.  My sponsor MCat did