It's a "Delicate Sound of Thunder" kind of day here in Mysore....
If gold star stickers were handed out in class, I would have wanted one today. With assistance I was able to bind this asana that I have been working on. Last week I couldn't touch my fingers at all and today I was able to hold it. However, there will be a price to pay for this little accomplishment of mine. My shoulders and knees started hurting at the end of my practice and they are sore now. I don't mean to sound ego driven, by posting these little things about my practice. My purpose of studying here is not to attract attention or brag to my friends that I can do this pose or that pose. With the hell I have been through with my arm and shoulder, I'm lucky to have a fully functioning left arm and I'm just happy to have this opportunity to be here.
As I meet new people I get the standard set of questions of how did you end up in Mysore, India? How long have you been practicing? Where are you from? etc. The more people I talk to it is becoming apparent that a trip like this is something that is planned more than 2 months in advance and most people come here have years of experience practicing Ashtanga. I must say that my situation is unique and I wouldn't have done it any other way. I was having a conversation with someone yesterday and when they asked me my story, he told me "oh, you are one of those people". I'm not quite sure what he meant by that statement and I didn't question him further. So what if I woke up one morning and decided I should go to India. If it's possible for anyone to go and they have the means, then why not. Life is too short to sit around and wait for something better to come around. It may seem like I'm a bum now, but it wasn't always this way. I worked my butt off and at times had multiple jobs to stay afloat. One of my friends said that I reminded her of a Jamaican having multiple jobs (sorry about the stereotype - just repeating what she said) . I actually didn't know what that meant, but okay. Jamaican it is. I didn't know about the chicken and watermelon thing until 2 years ago and thought porch monkeys would be a cool name for my rock climbing team until I found out what it really is. Two of my favorite things that I learned this summer was "still water runs deep" and "tea party". I admit I'm pretty naive and oblivious, which is not a good combination. Hence all of the "mix tapes" I have given out. I'm giving Christian my entire music collection on iTunes, so now I guess that means I will be moving to Austria and we are to be married next month. That is a lot of "mix tapes"...
This morning's Sanskrit class was horrible. Definitely not a sticker moment there. If they paddled people here like they do in Catholic school, I would have been hit a few times. My synapse was misfiring and couldn't focus. On my way walk home from the shala, I saw the guy that gets beaten by his wife. My heart sank when I saw him and I wish there was something I could do to help him. It's an unfortunate situation, also none of my business. The houses here are like soup cans in the store and no one closes their window.
10.5 Things I Learned
1. not everyone named Krishna is a Hare Krishna
2. ice is not to be found - there is a water shortage
3. you can't tell if you are being harassed if you turn up the music on your headphones
4. bring tissue everywhere you go
5. it's not nice to ask every Kumar you meet if he is friends with Harold and knows of White Castle
6. don't get too close to the cows. they have unpredictable bowel movements and it splatters
7. it's not considered camping for those living on the side of the road in tents
8. best not to assume the sex of a child, otherwise you will have an insert foot in mouth moment
9. when riding on the back of a scooter/motorcycle, secure your belongings. stuff flies out and if the driver speeds through bumps consider anything in your pocket gone
10. don't get frustrated if you can't understand someone. they probably don't understand you either. imitating their accent doesn't help!
10.5 research the type of massage, before getting a massage (this one needs to be embedded in my head)
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