Goodbye India and hello Beirut Lebanon

I have said my fond goodbyes to Mother India,and kept some rupees because I know I will come back! Flew on Wed. to Beirut, Lebanon via Kuwait and am now happily visiting with some of  my oldest and dearest friends Mary and Fateh. Mary and I were art students who worked together in college, and Fateh is her husband. We are going to celebrate their 30th anniversary tomorrow and it is perfect that I am here as I was their maid of honor at the wedding...life is so funny. They have lived overseas since their kids were little as Fateh has worked for human rights organizations for many years, and Mary teaches art at an international school in Beirut.

Beirut is seated right on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea...a mixture of very modern and very old...lots to do as far as culture, nice restaurants, etc. a lot of international flavor. In the picture below you can see a billboard advertising a giant rally going on right now downtown. Anti hezbollah I believe. You can also see a master baker showing off his beautiful breads shaped like handbags....we have had a lot of fun walking around just seeing the sights.

I will fly out Tuesday morning from Beirut and 14 hours later be good old New York City...excited to be going home, and happy I missed a New England winter almost entirely!

Ma Ganga and the ashram

Here are a few pictures of Parmarth Niketan ashram, situated on the bank of the Ganges....gorgeous gardens and statues of  of the gods...Diana (my friend from yoga teacher training) and I are sharing a room here as well. Shiva watches out over the river towards the ashram. Every night there is an aarti ceremony on the ghat with prayers and chanting. We received a special blessing at the aarti from the Swami...(had to put in a request!) We were here for the Shivarati festival where hundreds of pilgrims come to the Ganges for a dip in the purifying water. The picture on the bottom is a photo of a Shiva Rea class that was devoted to honoring the god Shiva, the destroyer.

Rishikesh

I know it's been a while since I posted but it is a giant pain to use this internet cafe ...cannot upload pics from my netbook so it will just be no pictures for a couple of posts.

Our ashram Parmarth Niketan is situated on the banks of the holy river Ganges, called Ma Ganga here. It begins in the Himalayas and flows through Rishikesh, Benares, Varanasi and other holy cities ending up I don't know where....anyway, there are many pilgrims here for their yearly dip in the Ganga to cleanse and purify themselves. This is a very busy crowded place...cows, motorcycles, dogs and people wrestle for space. Loud as well, lots of tooting from horns and chanting from the pilgrims which starts at 5:00 a.m. the festival has been fun so far, many interesting classes covering all types of yoga, ayurveda, pranayama, nutrition, visualization, tons of stuff. Yesterday Shiva Rea, and American yoga teacher, led a class on the banks of river...oh...also got blessed by the Swami here at an aarti ceremony (lights along the river, chanting etc.)

So much to tell but I have to go....afternoon classes....take care.

Mummy's Bamboo House

You can't swing a cat without  hitting a festival here....always drums and colorful characters full of life dancing down the road. Here is the front of my home for a few more days...I dwell on the top right, no hammock unfortunately. Ceiling fan though, cold water shower (hot not needed at all) and a small balcony to hang wet clothes. All this for Rs. 600 a night (about $15.00 US) it is a pleasant place to stay. Dani (Mummy) is a great cook as well.

AcroYoga

Here I am in an acroyoga class, flying with Kamraj, the teacher. Despite weighing about 120 lbs, he is very strong and it shows you how much about yoga is balance...what a great time.

No inappropriate comments please!

Varkala

This is a Keralan performer in a temple festival that went right down the street in front of my hotel..all parts are played by men (easy to tell!) Quite the sight as they all danced and drummed down the street.

The expression shows how I felt as well as I missed my train stop in  Varkala as I was busy wrestling my backpack down from the rack. I had to ride an hour more to Trivandrum, buy another ticket ($1.00) and come back to Varkala. It was midnight at this time and as I dragged my backpack around to try to find a ladies car on the train back I thought of how to describe the smell of the train station...it is like the worst breath you have ever experienced, plus a warm rotting smell rounded out by the odor of old pee. I was not a happy camper but stayed as cool as possible and eventually made it to my destination...Mummy's Bamboo House...pictures to follow.