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.

Back to sea level

I am now on beautiful Cherai Beach in Kerala right on the warm Arabian Sea...missing my gang at the retreat but ready to move on. It's a change to switch to traveling alone after spending almost 2 months with a large group of people. Indians are not what your would call beach people..ladies go swimming fully dressed. There are a lot of tourists in this part of Kerala, mostly Europeans who do not swim fully dressed. I am getting used to being stared at and asked my name, mostly by children who laugh hysterically when I tell them.  This is a big fishing area where some fish are still caught using Chinese nets, shown above. Not a shabby place to be at all...I send warm ocean breezes to all of you wrapped up in down at home..really! Tomorrow will be a backwater boat tour through the fresh water canals right outside my hotel...the island is like a long very narrow finger with fresh water on one side and the sea on the other.

India can be complicated

Ok, India is wonderful, crazy, colorful and complicated as well. Today I wanted to mail a box of gifts, textbooks, etc. home as not to drag it with me on the rest of my travels. I found a box at the retreat, packed my box and brought it to the post office via a tuktuk. Luckily my driver was with me as the post office refused to mail my box...I thought we would just slap more tape on it and goodbye! My tuktuk translator said I would have to bring it to a tailor to be sewn up in a cloth bag. Off we go to a very nice tailor who does not have the time to sew it up but puts strapping on it and sells me some fabric for rs.100 ( $2.00) We then zoom off to another tailor who makes the bag on his sewing machine, fitting it perfectly and hand stitching it closed with a big needle...Now we zoom back to the post office where everyone there is in on the job of mailing the package. Much gabbing ensues where everyone weighs in on how to label it, etc. then there is a panic as I don't have an Indian address. Eventually the box is labeled with a blue magic marker and put on a desk in this totally  non-automated primitive office. I am then moved to pray over the box as some workers laugh and the head guy says "you need to pray to God". I ask them to be careful and am now hope my box arrives or there will be no gifts for anyone... keep an eye out for it Mom, I sent it to your address! By the way, it only took 3 solid hours to get the job done.

School days

Today a group of us went to the local school for a yearly festival. Sorry, forgot the festival name but our group, the community, parents and locals were honored with a delicious lunch and puja (prayer) ceremony. Inside a tented shaded area an altar draped with garlands was set up. Incense was burning away, there was drumming, singing and dancing...quite spectacular. A blinged out baby wearing eyeliner posed for me...her Mom was delighted when I showed her the picture. We were mobbed with kids who wanted us to take their pictures...the uniforms were adorable. The girls must wear their hair in pigtails...most were looped and tied. Very friendly, articulate kids who knew quite a bit about the world and were very interested in where we were all from. I asked one boy why his English was so good and he told me his favorite American tv show was wrestling! Despite that fact his English was impeccable.

A man was cooking the small fried breads we had for lunch right by the serving area in a giant cauldron of bubbling oil. The kids were patting them out and he flipped them into the boiling oil and then fished them out with a big spoon. Kids deftly avoided the splashing oil as they stepped by him. I laughed to myself as I imagined the scene in the U.S....a fiberglass shield with a sanitized man behind it, permission slips needed to watch the cooking! A different style of living  ;-)

Saying goodbye

I't's hard to say goodbye, but if you have the chance to see the person again it is much easier...this morning we said goodbye to our lovely Pooja. She's from Delhi and is an amazing friend. She helped me in getting my train tickets, airline tickets and setting me up in my hotel in Kerala. Pooja is a host for corporate functions, launching new products, etc. so she has to learn about the products so she can be articulate. She is very bright, beautiful, a modern Indian woman who is getting married in March. Luckily she has invited us all to the wedding and I think I can make it! When I decided to come to India I said to myself...I wish I could see an Indian wedding. It will happen!

People from l to r, front row
Kasuye (Japan) Brigitte (Italy)
top row, l to r
Kirsten (Germany), Diana (Mexico), Pooja (India), Courtney ( U.S.),Kerrie (Australia), Me, Ilse (Belgium)

More Monkeys

Here are some random monkey pictures for your delight....we now have a 10 day old baby joining the herd. The baby has a curiously humanlike face. She is glued to her mother and grips on for dear life.

A soft gray day

Last night the mist rolled in and has not yet left. Today is overcast and strangely comforting. I have now been in India for almost five weeks, and will leave on Feb. 12 for the Kerala beach towns of Cochin and Varkala. On Feb. 24 I will fly to Delhi and take a train to Rishikesh which is located in the foothills of the Himalayas. Rishikesh is the unofficial home of yoga...and the home of the International yoga festival. I did not know about the festival until I arrived here...an extra surprise! My yoga trainee buddy Diana from Mexico City and I will meet up at Parmath Niketan ashram to participate in yogic fun until March 7.

Dr. Senthil has been loading on the work...he outlined our final exams which will be both theory and practical. I won't bore you with the entire list but it covers pranayama, asana, disease and yoga therapy, chants and prayers, reports from patients we have worked with for therapy, and lots more. Diana figured out we are doing about 6 hours of yoga a day which is working visible changes in our bodies. My spare time is used for sleeping, studying and absorbing what is all around me.

Movie recc:   The Three Idiots starring Amir Khan
A very funny Bollywood movie that cracked us all up..long but worth it. We watched it here at the retreat but it took 2 nights as we were all falling asleep after dinner...All is well!

Jala Dhouti

Warning: do not read this post if you are squeamish.

Kriyas are yogic techniques to clean the internal organs. They remove the waste materials from our internal organs that are not expelled normally. Dr. Senthil told us this morning would be our lesson on kriyas and to bring a bucket and a towel to class. Diana and I laughed nervously when he told us we would be vomiting, which is called jala dhouti. Essentially, the salt water washes your esophagus, helps digestion problems, and releases acids and gas from the digestive tract. When I asked him if that was also called bulimia he gave me the stare and said this was a serious technique.

Anway, we arrived at class, buckets and towels in hand and watched the good Dr. mix up a litre of warm water and salt. He then drank 5 glasses of salt water quickly and vomited into his bucket. If that wasn't horrifying enough the sounds he made were! He stirred up our vomiting solution and had us face the wall, sitting on stools with our buckets in front of us....Diana is teeny so after 2 glasses she was vomiting away, which made me laugh then ended quickly as I started gagging up the water. Fast forward to the end of class when we did kappalabhati breathing (fast exhales through the nostirls) tried to churn our abdomens, called nauli, and were told the capper of the class was basti (colon cleaning). Luckily, we were told to do that on our own time. The ultimate goal with jala dhouti is to have all of the water come out in one jet, like the water jet that comes out of the trunk of an elephant!

Result....we  both felt great after!! Yogis are to do this technique once a month, accompanied by jala neti (nasal cleansing). Advice: don't try this at home alone          :-)

Tea Time

Everday day at 4:00 tea is served (masala, ginger or green) and we gather round and shoot the breeze for a little while. Don't be disturbed by the people in robes, they are waiting for or have just had an ayurvedic treatment. I am dressed in white as yoga students have to wear a white uniform, very angelic. I feel a little nurselike wearing this. Another tea time in paradise.

Cooking class

Every Tuesday we have the opportunity to go to a cooking class in the retreat kitchen taught by our beloved cook Mohan.Today he showed us how to make coconut chutney (fresh ground coconut, roasted chickpeas, chile, cumin seeds and fresh cilantro, buzzed with a little hot water in a handy chopper, we have this every morning to put on pancakes or dosas), dosas, and a pancake called uttapon. Mohan puts out great food 3 times daily from his tiny kitchen and 4 burner stove. It is all very low tech. Many of the dishes are cooked using a pressure cooker. Bonus..when we leave we get a copy of the retreat cookbook so we can continue the deliciousness. So good.

Sunday day tripping

Sundays after the 7:00 a.m. yoga class we are free to sleep, study, frolic or do whatever we choose. This past Sunday we hired a tuk tuk driver to show us some sights around town. We drove up into the mountains to look at the views but unfortunately we were socked in by white fog..still had a great time though. Sims park in Coonoor is lovely..notice the people paddle boating and the decrepit life vests left on the dock. Only in India! This gave us a huge cackle.
The bottom photo is of the current student body...Diana from Mexico, Kerrie from Australia, and myself. Kerrie is studying ayurveda, and Diana is taking the yoga TT. Our next Sunday adventure will be to Mysore, which is about 4 hours away to see the temple and take in the sights.