GOD

There is an older lady who lives at the household who so kindly let me park my scooter in their driveway. She is so sweet and toddling and smiles so warmly at me when Poni and I retrieve the scooter every morning. The other day she was at the pool and fell and fractured her leg so badly she couldn't even sit in a seat to be flown to another hospital outside of Mysore for an operation. When I heard this news from her family I said I would be praying for her. So that's what I did.

I sat on the front stoop of our apt. complex folded my hands in a prayer position at my forhead and prayed for her healing. It felt so good I kept praying for things. I went to bed praying, and awoke praying. I prayed through my practice and at breakfast before I ate my food. Poni and I took a trip to the local Ganesh temple a day or two before and I think that's where I got my inspiration. I've thus far appreciated the immensity of the payer vibes in the temples here, but now I've started to participate. It feels amazing to actually believe something. To feel a connection. To relax and enjoy. To find a piece of God...yes, GOD...in my heart.

Two Weeks Left in Mysore City

Ness Sherry, a lady I have become good pals with here in "Ashtronga" Ashtanga City, is a brilliant photographer from London. She has some amazing photos on her blog, including ones of me and other Mysore yoga junkies doing some yogic maneuvering. I am in the top few photos, save for the second one down, in my little sitting room in my the apt I share with Poni, who has started an India blog as well, very worth checking out.

Poni and I have been very busy the past few days. We have started preparing to leave Mysore (gasp!), buying presents and such, wondering what to do with the insane amount of stuff I have collected over the past four months, and recovering with flying colors from the getting-to-know you disease our bowels suffered together by going into a mad feeding frenzy. Cooking classes have helped support the feed. We now know how to make idlis, both traditional and rava(instant), three kinds of chutney, sambar (curry), keseri bath, carrot halva (these last two are soft pudding-like sweet dishes) five kinds of dosas, and proper masala chai. The woman we have been taking classes from is amazing and animated, as are the two crotchety but gorgeous ladies she has helping her out, and the food is phenomenal. Though Poni and I might end up rolling home on our enormous dosa bellies despite all the yoga.

The new moon came around again as it always does. There has been some menstruating (yesssss!!!) and some "emotional complexity". There was some dancing at Planet X to celebrate having met Ness, who is leaving tomorrow. There was some lounging all day at a crazy hotel that looks like a palace where we and the rest of "Team Iyengar" played in the empty pool all day while monkeys and weird birds frolicked nearby. There have been more coconuts and sunburns and trips all over Mysore on the scoot. There has been Valentining and gifting and romance. There has been yoga, of course, and the emergence of superpowers (ask Poni about seeing auras!). There has been heat. Showers are becoming less about hygiene and more about sweet relief.

I am ready to leave Mysore, ready to go to the beach. Kerala is our first destination at this point. Travel plans are all up in the air. All I know is I miss the ocean, being the water bird that I am, and I am dying for a fish Thali. On the other hand, I will My-sorely miss my friends here, my apt., this city I have grown to know so well, and...my beloved Guruji. I will come back to him. I know I will. Never have I felt so thoroughly understood and benefited by a teacher. I will carry on doing my practice in the best way that I can, always with him in mind, and always with the intention to come back and learn more from him. Not only will I miss his classes, but also his humor, his smile, his presence, and his fashion sense (stay tuned for a line of "Guruji Fashion" items)!!!

"Well...I hope I don't s**t my pants!"

Poni and I have been getting to know each other really, REALLY well. After five days of "loose movement" we finally took a trip to the doctor's office for meds to save us from the seemingly worsening case of the runs we had both contracted via Mahesh Prasad or Shiva Prasad or some other prasad where the seedy men in the kitchen don't ever wash their hands, I'd bet. this is the fourth? fifth? time I've contracted some super annoying illness from this godforsaken land of filth where everything is literally covered in poo. We ran out of t.p. after a couple of days, and while I have gotten quite used to, and fond of, the faucet-and-hand cleanse method, Poni started having dreams of toilet paper, so we made a point to stock up. we have been laughing as much as we can about it, though. Poni is a perfect roommate and partner specimen. We take turns doing the dishes or the laundry, reminding each other to take our tablets, making tea for each other, driving the scooter.

We have spent several days at the pool since his arrival, and every time I spend any time in the sun, it laughingly points out whatever minuscule piece of skin I've left un-screened. The bikini Poni gave me features a little skull and crossbones charm that dangles over my belly...and now i have a tiny skull and crossbones patterned seared in to my skin. I have never been so freakin' tan in my life.

India has made me a bubble person. I haven't let anyone close to me in four months, and not necessarily because i don't want anyone to touch me...it's just not what people do here. It has taken a bit time for me to get used to having any human contact whatsoever, let alone a full-time mate. But I am happily getting acclimated, and Poni is sensitive to my bubble moods, allowing me plenty of space when I seem to need it.

Nearly two weeks have flow by since his arrival, and we are already thinking seriously about buying train tickets and mapping out our travel route. I am excited to get out of Mysore. Though I really love it here, I am itching to see more of India. Especially the beach.