might as well try to find a place to try it out. Having done only
maybe a half dozen drop-in yoga sessions in the US, I walked through
the slums of Madurai to the yoga studio that my host mother had set me
up with imagining a room full of sweaty Indians all bent like pretzels
laughing at me as I tried to touch my toes. When I showed up at the
empty studio, I found that I should have expected what has come to be
the norm in India, which is always finding something different than I
am expecting.
After unsuccessfully trying to communicate my purpose for being there
to the people at the counter, waiting twenty minutes and finally being
handed a phone with someone to translate what I wad looking for to the
people at the studio, I was greeted by my own private instructor, who
spoke English, and led upstairs to a private room that resembled a
storage closet. Here, he explained to me that over the next two weeks,
we will be doing three types of yoga. With my memory, just remembering
them in English is going to be a task, with no hope for their Tamil
names. We will focus for a few days each on the mind, the body, and
the spirit. Today, we began with the mind, which involved learning a
bit about and trying out meditation. Fortunately, no flexibility tests
were involved, nor was anything physical for that matter. The whole
experience was really interesting and great after I embraced having no
idea what I was doing, and I can't wait for my next session tomorrow.
It was also nice to do my own thing for a bit, since I've been feeling
a bit burnt out on large groups of people. I think that this time to
myself every day will help keep me sane and also allow me I enjoy the
next two weeks more fully.
I also picked up my newest pair of custom made shorts from the tailor
today, which cost me a whopping $3. I wish I hadn't liked the first
pair of capris that he did for me so much, because all this shopping
that I'm doing with him is going to force me to buy a small duffel to
take back with me. Oh well... I'll just have to suffer through the
matching formal pants and vest that I'm picking up on Thursday and
maybe a shirt or two before I get to that point...
Also, since I told myself that I would try lots of new things here, I went to a green coconut man on the side of the road today with the 37 year old British woman named Rachel who is now living with us. Although I will admit that I'm not the biggest fan of green coconuts, it was a cool experience to eat one. The man selected a coconut and then took a machete to the top of it while holding the coconut in his hand, creating a hole just big enough to put a large straw through. While we drank our green coconut juice, which didn't taste at all like white coconut, nor like anything I can really describe, the man did the same thing for other customers who would stop by on their bikes and in their cars. After we had sipped out all the juice (which was a lot since they were volleyball sized coconuts), we returned the coconut to the man and he again took up his huge knife, this time whacking the coconut in half and carving out the fruit, which had a melon-like consistency. Again, this tasted nothing like coconut that I have ever had, and was very filling actually. It was so filling, in fact, that upon returning home, I only had 1.5 plates of rice and curried potatoes and sauce, compared to the three or so that I've gotten used to eating. Whoever said that everyone loses weight in India can eat their words. I think it must be the lack of protein in the food, but I feel like whenever I'm served food, I could just go on eating. I think that the other problem is that I really like Indian food (I'm even okay with idly, which is the least favorite meal of other westerners that I've met in India so far).
Tomorrow at 5:30am, Emanuel and I are getting picked up to go to the Ayurvedic clinci and hospital, where we will shadow the head doctor for two days and stay with his family. It should hopefully be an interesting experience, although I can't say that leaving at 5:30 was something that I wad thrilled about. Oh well, I can sleep when I get home, right??
No comments:
Post a Comment