Ashrams, Waterfalls and Motorcycles

Wow.  Another fabulous experience here in the land across the world.  I woke up at 6 just to get the hot water and I was pleasantly suprised. I splurged on a hairdryer, I decided that I am going to accept things about myself that I dont want to change, and the feeling of freshly blowdried hair is something I refuse to give up.  I even put make up on today. I felt like a new woman! I spoke to my girl Tina this morning, and I'll tell you, it was wonderful to hear a familiar voice. I miss everyone so much now....

We all gathered for our trip to the new ashram they are building on the mountain...it is near a huge waterfall and is calm and serene, the perfect place to practice yoga.  As we loaded onto the taxis, we just so happened to see this at the side of the road:

Sad that people just sat around and watched these poor souls just eating garbage. Packed into the car, we were off to the mountain base camp:

When we arrived, this dude in a hut made us all authentic chai tea to get our strength up for the hike:

 Then we started this crazy ascent up this mountain that seems very easy at first, but quickly we realized that 3 weeks of yoga and no cardio is taking it's toll:

So, finally we get to the height of the ashram, which is going to be set in a very serene place with a waterfall nearby.  There is a bunch of locals and tibetans (a whole village) working here on the site, moving rocks ad making the foundation...apparently whatever they get paid here is worth double in Tibet.  The only way to get supplies up there is by donkey, and man I feel sorry for them cause only one trip up was hell for me.  As if there are children just sitting all about and those that are helping, I guess it's way better than the unfortunate circumstances going on in their country right now..must be a blessing to be able to escape it for a while. India just is what it is, I suppose.

Son on the right is our course director starting the 'stone'train to the wall where people are working. Its supposed to be symbolic and all, and it was...time to go down to the waterfall before lunch! Get ready for this load of awesomeness:

And here is me and Shannon finally dipping our feet in one of the sources of the Ganges:

No more sins for this girl!

After the waterfall, a few of us to decide to go into town for lunch and do our own thing.  While we were up on the mountain, the director, Roshan, he guided us to a remote village right in the center of the mountinas where the man that owns it grown a ton of food, the mountain is fairly irrigated...I mean if you never wanted to leave you wouldnt have to! There were some truly beautiful sites:





I will post many more pics on facebook, there are so many....so after this day a few of us decide to head down the mountain by ourselves and hitch a ride to town. We visualize someone there to pick us up as we descend as part of our positive thinking vibes we've been putting out, and wouldnt you know it? there were 8 guys on four motorcycles just sitting there waiting when we came out. four of us, four motorcycles. I was scared shitless. My ass literally hung off the back of the motorcycle and I was praying to the almightly the whole way to get me there safe because there i was with no helmet, on a crowded dangerous road going on a major incline downwards, and the dudes on the bikes told me they loved to go fast. I literally hit my hand on a truck passing by at one point and we were swerving all over...It was a thrill after I let myself beleive that I would make it down alive:

It took about 15 minutes to fully get down, and they were racing each other. With all that adrenalyn, they asked for no money, just wanted us to pose for pics with them...we were so grateful.  So, once back safely in Rishikesh, we headed over to a new place to eat over the bridge, and to top off this crazy wonderful day, I had  my first burger in the whole trip: Veggie of course, but a little bit of heaven on a plate:

You couldnt have asked for anything better. I slept like a baby last night.

xoxoxoxoxo

The reason why I'm doing Vipassana instead

OMG what a day.  I asked god for many experiences, but this one takes the cake so far.  It started off kind of bad, I had to skip the first yoga class because i wrenched my back in the plow pose last night. Here is the photo of the pose:

So... you can understand why I pushed myself too hard and couldnt feel my left hand suddenly, and then I knew I was in trouble.  Every time I tossed in bed last night I felt like I was being shot in the upper back.  I took it easy today but am sure it was meant to happen when i was blessed with a conversation over msn with my girl Thao...I'll take that over "Yogocop"or "The Punisher" as we call him so lovingly any day.

Then, I went to philosophy and watched that movie "The Secret", and i'll tell you that was inspiring. Happy thoughts...Happy thoughts....we went out for lunch at this place called the Buddha cafe before Blagica had an appointment with the astrologer:

And check out what I had for lunch:  That which i wished for in my gratitutdes which I did receive (minus the pint)! It's all about positive thoughts: that drink is a pure pineapple and banana juice.  YUM.

We went after to the astrologer, who is a celebrity in Rishikesh, he's on TV once a week and stuff, and he, like always was over an hour late. We just shopped instead. 

Then I get home to the ashram and find out afternoon class is cancelled too. Bonus. So I chill and start studying my asanas for my 1 hour class I have to teach. One of the women suddenly gets very ill, enough to go to the hospital. They call an ambulance. I offer to go.  And here starts the adventure up the mountain to  where we find this "Hospital".  Here is a pic of the ambulance:

Five of us packed into this little jeep and the ride from Delhi to Rishikesh is similar in horror and near misses: We actually hit a motorcycle on the way to the hospital, and the guy on it just gave us a few curses and we plowed through and went on to the ER: Listen to this freakin siren!

Here is yet another clip:

So we get to the hospital and park in the parking lot.. the people come running over with a "gurney":

Yes, it came just like that, no sheet, no nothing. At least they came over. The patient, well she just said screw it i'll take the wheelchair.  Take a look at this entrance:

It took three people to push her up the damn ramp! As if they designed it like that!  Now, I do have to stop here and say something really good here. We were in a hospital bed in less than 2 minutes. Straight through. I mean straight into the one room with three beds in it:

Really take some time here to notice the unbeleivableness of this. This hopsital has a 3 bed emergency room, and there is one 'zohl' cardiac monitor that is a zillion years old on the top shelf, an oxygen tank on the floor in the middle (the middle bed is for respiratory emergencies (!) and we took the one closest to the only bathroom (3), which has a sink that looks like this: Are those mentos in the drain? Good god. Also imagine the looks on their faces as I snapped about 50 photos of this surreal experience:

Check out the floor beside the bed:

That blue bucket there? Well that was our barf bucket, and guess where that came from??? The ashram we came from..that is my washroom garbage can!  We had to bring our own toilet paper and wet wipes...they dont give you any.  Not even one k basin..they thought I was an asshole for bringing in this woman with what they thought was simple gastro, but my spidey senses were right on this one. I can't tell you what it was, but we needed medical help. We were in the general surgeon's office in less than 20 minutes. The surgeon, who looked like he came right out of a bollywood movie took one look at me and her, told me they wanted to keep her for a few days to investigate and wrote a page of orders.  The man did not even touch her. He had no white coat, no stethoscope, nothing.   i asked how much that was, and you know what he told me? 250 rupees a day! Thats five dollars. Then, we had to take the orders to the window on the other side of the compound and wait until they dispensed the supplies: Thank god there were so many of us there!

You can't read it, but it says 750 rupees. Thats 15 dollars. For Metronidazole, Pantoloc, Gentamycin, ceftriaxone, three doses of Diclofenac (as if thats all they would give for pain) four 500cc IV bottles, IV tubing, diarrhea salts, probiotics, saline and syringes. They even charged us for the medical tape they used to secure the IV!

Then we take the paper bag full of supplies back to the nurse, who tries many many times to get in an IV and draw bloods with NO turniquet and she has crappy veins. I swear I would even have had trouble. I was pulling my hair out. I had to go call Thao and my mother to freak out that they were torturing this woman. They finally got in a 20 gauge in the top of her hand: The nurses told me to leave when I suggested I give it a try. I had to take a walk: I go out the parking lot and call my mother and Thao to vent:

next I go out to the main waiting room and find this list of Vaccination prices on the wall:

Yes, that's 70 rupees for Hep B. 50 rupees is 1 dollar. So, up till now, the ambulance has cost us 800 rupees which is 16 dollars, the registration deposit is 2000 rupees (40 bucks) and the supplies have cost us 15 dollars. Can you beleive it?   I walk out and check out the then I have to pee. Get a load of this:

So I go in this door because it's huge, I find urinals and nice american toilets inside. Once in there a man comes in and starts yelling at me in hindi to get out, I am not in the right place. There is a little tiny door about 2 feet to the right of this washroom, which i mistakenly thought was the handicapped washroom or something, it was about the size of a broom closet: it's the women's washroom! Check out the filth:

And get a freakin load of the toilet in the floor:

Anyone want to guess wether there was toilet paper or not?

Finally finally, we end up on the third floor in a private room. Check out the luxury:

Just as I suspected and have read about, it is expected that someone stays to take care of the patient overnight. There is even a second 'bed'in the room: a bench with a two inch cushion and you have to supply your own blankets! Can you believe it? I'm telling you, we have no idea how good we have it in Canada. After I made such an ass of myself in the ER, I just kept my trap shut the rest of the night. I got a ride home on the back of a motorcycle..that was exciting. What a major day.

You know what? The guys from the ashram stayed with us the whole time, and they brought us food to eat while we waited.  Even though this was the most unbelievable experience ever, they took care of us and talked us through every step.  There are some really great souls here in Rishikesh, and even though the health care is different, they still got us the ambulance and arranged help... and we all gave up our days to pull together for this poor sick soul.  I have a renewed faith in humanity.

I discovered something about myself while I sat there all stressed out because they couldnt get the line and bloodwork and she was in so much pain: it totally sucks being powerless on the other side of the bed.  I was the person who I hate to see: the anxiety filled freak who is dying to intervene.  I will take so much from this experience and I have learned that I need to observe much more closely how people are reacting to me when I am the nurse and how I perceive my patients and their family members when they are upset and concerned... My compassion is coming back in an avalanche of emotions...I feel like I'm kind of glad I'm skipping out on the hospital part...I'm not ready to come back to all that just yet.

I truly believe more and more that the stars are aligning...I am learning so much, realizing things I need to work on, attitudes I need to change.  Just another gratitude to send out to the cosmos in this powerful powerful journey.

xoxoxoxoxo

The time is starting to fly by.....

Well, just about half way done the course! Every day I'm in that first killer yoga class I feel myself getting stronger and stronger. You wouldnt beleive how flexible I'm getting. It's all in your head you know...here is the view from the window just above where I sit all day long:

Pretty freakin amazing.  I am learning so much here that is not yoga: I've met some really cool people and have found myself gravitating towards the ones that remind me of the greatest people in my life in Toronto.  It's made me think about my relationships and different blessings I get from each one.  Sometimes I cuddle with one girl, I stretch with another, read over coffee with another, I just enjoy what each person has to offer and I relish in each and every blessing. Everyone has such great stories, and when you are open to listen to others it's amazing what you find out.  The universe has no doubt blessed me with some challenges regarding my old patterns and vices, and I am passing the tests with flying colours. I am saying no now without feeling guilty.

I have already decided that I will have to come back to India one day to experience the amount of wonderful sights and places it has to offer, but this trip is really to scrape the shit off my soul and expose the real Julia. Therefore, I have decided to drop the hospital portion of the trip and do a 10 day retreat deeper in the himlayas called "Vipassana".  Many of you will balk at the prospect of silent meditation, for 10 hours a day, for 10days...with no phone, computer, books, yoga, nothing...just me and my body and my mind sitting there thinking about myself.  We eat light (they provide the food), and aren't aloud to socialize with each other. Sounds like it will be hard, but many of the girls here have done it and they say it changes your life. And it's 100 percent free to go. You just give what you think it was worth afterwards.

After I get done that, I'm going to take a car to delhi with the girls and spend 10 days hanging out waiting for Danielle Lemoine to show up and go do some fun stuff.  Maybe this will change, maybe it will happen. I think I'll just leave it up to the stars to decide.  I'm living in the now...taking things as they come and not trying to plan so hard for future happiness anymore.  I have happiness now...I dont need to earn it or wait for it.  That's the best part...as soon as you open up your heart to the idea that you deserve to be happy and receive gifts from the universe, they will start pouring in.

I recently sat and wrote something called the 100 Gratitudes, where you write down 100 things that you are grateful for in your life and why. As I struggled through the list I found that there are a ton of things I take for granted (namely loaded nachos with chili and a cold pint), a ton of people that have taught me valuable lessons (especially the bad relationships), and I am a better person for having been given the gift of so many lessons.  I am so lucky to be who I am, and I wouldnt trade it for the world.

I feel like I have come here to figure out that I love being just where I am, I just need to change me, not my surroundings. Sounds cliche, but more and more I can see that it isn't all about me, it's about balance and being healthy and making good choices.   Yoga is going to be a part of my life forever.

xoxoxoxoxo



Astrology and Shopping

Well, it's Sunday, and no, I couldnt bring myself to do the catheter gagging act...I dont think I will be able to will myself to...and I don't feel bad about it to be honest...today started off with some chanting and a neti nose clean and an amazing cappucino from the coffee place down in the market.

I went out with the Swedish couple, and we saw an interesting site on the side of the road:

As if, the cows are trying to get the foliage from the trees...usually we see them eating garbage or burnt paper from fires, it's kind of sad.  People just let them out during the day to wander around everywhere. It's so weird..we just pet them every now and then like they are dogs or something. It is a constant watch for cow shit..it's EVERYWHERE.

So, we walk around to the bridge and I get a real good view of Rishikesh:

We are on the other side of the bridge and we find a really cool bookstore with mostly english titles, everything from the Twilight series, to Tantric sex and Philosophies of yoga. I buy three books for 10 bucks. Sweet. I found myself trying to bargain for them, but reminding myself i just spent about 1/10 what they were worth.  We wandered around and look at the name of this store:

No, they didnt sell Ganga. People ask you if you want to buy hash all the time, but the thought of spending time in an Indian jail makes me just say thank you and walk away. I'll just keep on going without meat or booz or real caffeine...Its not like you miss it much when you can't even get it if you want it.

We also found this cool little astrologer who was charging 6 bucks for a palm reading. He had these really strange statues in the store:

yes, that is a god disemboweling a human...hm. And this:

These were lifelike in nature: They were about 5 feet tall.  Get a load of the astrologer typing our birth dates and hour of birth into the computer in order to provide us with an authentic Indian reading:

He then proceeded to take out a huge magnifying glass to examine our palms. You have had bad karma for many years...but you will get married in 2013 and have one baby, a boy.  Life will get good after 2015.  He told me I would have eye problems when I was in my fifties, that I would live until I was 84, and that I am totally emotional and rule my head with my heart  He told me I have had some crappy past lives, and that finally I have paid for them and life is about to open up. I can deal with that. Then, he tried to sell us this oil that helps us absorb cosmic energy better, and gave us chants to recite when we buy our prayer beads...what a savvy businessman...there was a line up when we left.

After that we shopped and I bought some major baggy clothes so I could fit in a little better. Tight yoga pants and t shirts get some major stares, beleive it or not.  I wanted to blend in a little more I suppose. for 3 bucks for shirts and pants, I could afford it.

After we got home to the ashram, I gave myself a pedicure, played my guitar until I got blisters on my fingers:

I'm just in pure heaven...back to the killer yoga tommorow. I wish I had one more day to relax!  A month to go...it already feels like I've been here for ages.

xoxoxoxoxo

Study, Study Study

Check out the full moon tonight from our ashram:

I swear to god, people are getting married every few days in this town...we spent most of the day listening to major wedding chanting going on, and the wedding isn't even until tomorrow! I guess because of the moon it's prime wedding superstition..people get married on Tuesday, Thursday, you name it, there is no Saturday tradition like there is in the west.  All you can smell is the deep fried pastry smells wafting from over the fence in the celebration center next door. Women of all different color sarees are clapping and dancing on the roof, and the men are all hanging out in the main living room of the house, and people are cooking outside. It is a sight, but they are all staring at me when I pulled my camera out...so I couldnt share with you.  boo.

I finished that book Thousand splendid suns...it was AMAZING, but sad. It's the sequel to the Kite Runner, if that rings any bells. We just dont know how good we have it I swear.  So, my next book is a killer:

It's about a million pages, a true story about this guy Gregory (The author) who escapes from jail in Australia in 1980 and goes to India to hide, he joins the mafia, gets famous, serves his time in jail and writes this book all about his adventures...can't wait..it's pretty good so far. Can you believe i'm actually calm enough lately to absorb books...it's like a miracle.

So, turns out we have to take turns teaching the Sun Salutation exercises, so I'm studying my ass off this week, I even have one of the teachers hooking me up with a guitar so I can put my own melody to the chanting we are doing...I'll be sure to post the video of my folky take on the mantras....we have a drum here, so I think we are going to jam out soon. :-)

So, turns out our "Hello to the Queen" ice creams are becoming a bit of ritual around here, check out these photos of us pigging out:

So, all in all, we are all pretty much settled in now, and it's just coasting from here. It's really hitting home about the teaching, our exam is to teach a one hour class with our own flows of asanas (postures), and it's kind of exciting, there are so many to choose from. I have ordered some Jasmine tea from the shop in town and I have my own tea maker for my room now. All I need is a grill and some meat and I'll be in heaven. I can't believe I haven't eaten flesh in two weeks. I haven't had a drink either. I miss you, wine....

xoxoxoxoxo