Week in Pictures

I had a puppy for a day today! I've been walking past him for a few days now and on my way home today I scooped him up and took him to my bathtub and gave him a proper bath. It turns out that he was not a brown puppy after all, but blonde with brown spots, after which I aptly named him. We took a nap together and then I returned him to his residence or section of street where he was happily received (though no one noticed that he'd gone missing, but seemed to appreciate that he was now clean).

It's Thursday and I've taken the day off from practice. It seems easy to try to over-achieve here. The room that we practice in is so hot and steamy that your muscles can seem more flexible than they really are and you don't really notice that you might be over-exerting until you get home. It also doesn't help that Saraswati will come around the room and contort your body for you if you're having trouble getting into a posture. so..... understanding my limitations is the challenge at hand.

The last week has gone by quickly. Tuesday was a moon day and we did not have practice so a group of us went to Bandipur National Park on Monday for a quick overnight safari and mountain trek. Several of the girls rode elephants, we watched their bathing and feeding, and then took a night jeep ride to see them "in the wild". I was a bit skeptical about this "safari" that entailed a convoy of loud diesel jeeps driving along the main roads, but sure enough we saw a family of 5 elephants crossing the road- a big bull, a mother, an adolescent, and two babies. We convinced our driver to turn off his exhausting jeep and disco flashing Shiva dashboard ornament so that we could quietly watch them go by. We also saw a big horned bison, several groups of wild boars, spotted deer of the Bambi lineage, and a lot of stray dogs. My jeep was also shared by a family of 5 from the UK- the mother and father were teachers at a nearby international school, and they have just completed the first 6 months of their 3 year contract. Jack, their oldest boy taught me the most useful Hindi phrase I've learned yet, "nahi chahiye" which basically means "I don't want it, leave me alone" and has already come in quite handy. Then we had a big sing-along consisting of various Disney tunes from the lion king and jungle book and some Billy Joel and oldies. How did those kids know oldies? They reminded me of memories of my own family roadtrips.

As a group of girls we got the run-around more times that you can possibly imagine. We'd arrange a taxi bus for 8 which would end up being a taxi for 6, so we'd conveniently need to pay for two. The same goes for elephants. I didn't want to ride one anyway. We were literally smuggled over the border from one state to another in two separate jeeps in a maneuver that I still don't fully understand, but think had to do with the number of passengers in a vehicle, because we were then promptly crammed into one vehicle for the rest of the 2 hour journey. Here, a yes nod can mean no we don't have any or no I don't understand and a side to side head wobble means something like... "I can hear and acknowledge the strange language that you speak". Drivers will say that they know where they are going even if they don't so it's best to provide very clear written instructions that they can hand off to bystanders to interpret at stoplights.

But yes, the mountain trek! We climbed to a beautiful overlook of the national park and I enjoyed watching the sun come up over the jungle mist. We saw evidence of sloth bears, elephants, and bison, but had no big animal sightings that day. The scenery and food were the highlights- an all you could eat buffet of Indian specialties 3 times a day. I have a new love for fried stuffed chilies and curd. My sweat has taken on a new masala aroma, but no one seems to notice but me.

Here are some of the latest pictures: Spot, Elephants, Bandipur National Park, and my harmonyogis in practice. It's been a good week. More to come soon!