The Circle Rotates Again...

I left Goa one day after Thanksgiving and the bombing/massacres in Bombay. It was time to make a shift. Goa is very comfy and very fun. But, it's also very western. It's not why I came to India. I have been eager to teach yoga, but the sala is still not built where I live. And things became strained and irritating on the home front, anyway. It was time to shift...

After the Five Rhythms class on Tuesday night, I drove home to a rat filled bungalow at 11 p.m. I moved all my stuff to the nicer bungalow that is made of cement. Sunny (my Ladakhi friend and the manager) then told me we needed to discuss what I thought was fair to settle my account before we moved into December (high tourist season). I was shocked b/c I thought I was staying for free. This was because Praful (my other Ladaki friend and another manager) told me on several occassions that I would be their guest and their yoga teacher. This was the reason I came to Goa on such a tight budget - b/c accomodation was offered to me in person and again via e-mail. I also confirmed with him in person when we were in Goa that I would not pay. Unfortunately, this was not conveyed to Sunny. Because Praful is now in Leh, Sunny and I had the difficult task of negotiating what I should pay for accomodation six weeks after I first moved in. When I called Praful and asked what was going on, he said "yes, it's free in exchange for you teaching yoga, but you haven't taught yet." There was no point in pointing out that they hadn't yet built the sala. I paid my maintenance fee (still below the standard hotel rate of Goa) and tried not to feel offended or angry with Praful. And I decided it was time to move elsewhere.

I then went to yoga practice and Ken told me that we should put off the first of our second series of rolfing sessions for a day. I suggested that he instead wait for me to return from Hampi and he agreed. There was something inside me that didn't know if I was really ready to commit to more rolfing sessions b/c I was feeling the desire to leave Goa. I had already decided with Jo (the five rhythms MC), Ash (a yoga teacher living in Goa whom I'd met previously in Koh Phangan), and Valerie to go to Hampi for a few days to check it out. As Hampi is 12 hours away, returning to Goa was a possibility, but then there was the rest of India...

Ken mentioned something about my commitment to myself to study ashtanga for 30 days. I momentarily felt guilty, felt just fine trusting to keep that commitment to myself even though his adjustments are great for my practice. No problem. When he left class early and told me that he would be late to class the next morning, it confirmed that this was a good time for a shift.

I went to lunch with Valerie in Anjuna and we decided it was just plain time to leave Goa. We both came here to experience India and had been in Goa for six weeks already. Why not continue south from Hampi? So, I packed up everything and here I am...in Hampi. All of my bags are with me and I'm ready to continue.

My last night, Val, Ken, Dylan and Dylan's friend came over for a visit. The boys were supposed to have their opening night party - it didn't happen except for our little group. It was a fun evening and Dylan was particularly sweet to me. The next morning, Dylan, Val and I met my friend from Chakra Yoga school, Erin, for breakfast. We headed to the beach next door - Aswem - to find a famed 'teepee village' where hippies go to live for free. We found the village and Val spoke with the beautiful owner Rani b/c they both studied shamanism in Peru. We were welcomed to the community instantly and wiled the day away in the teepee village. I met a Scottish man who owned the campground that I stayed at in Arusha, Tanzania 15 years ago. Rani was also there - "no wonder you look familiar," she said. Small world. Dylan and I went for a swim in the very playful waves and came back for homecooked beans and veggies with tea. It was a delicious thanksgiving meal of homecooked food in a kind and worldly community. Who knew? I came home that night and packed up my goods, went to a party of a man in the dancing workshop and said goodbye to the vibrant yogi community here in Goa.

Now, I am here. Right back in India. The touts were on the train practically before it stopped and they swarmed around me as I tried not to walk through murky puddles with my open toed shoes in the pouring rain. The children and men stared and chaos reigned on the streets with more cows and saris and horns...right back in to India. I just ran into an israeli guy who rented a tractor with us in Nepal to get the bikes across the washed out roads. Small world again.

I have written to friends and family letting them know I'm not suffering from anyting Bombay related. I send love to those affected by such atrocities. Some things just can't be understood. India continues to blow me away every day. I'm exhausted now - tomorrow, I'll step into the place of over 1,000 temples (many to Hanuman, the monkey god). Legend has it that Hanuman picked up and personally transported the top of an entire mountain in order to provide Laxman (Ram's brother) with the right medicine to save his life from a war wound. An entire mountain top for one plant because he didn't know which was the right medicine...this one has always irked me as a bit excessive...perhaps, I'll finally get it now that I've returned to Hanuman land, i.e. Hampi. The lessons of India continue...