The REAL puja..on the river Ganges

Ahhhh...Sunday.. our first day off. After 6 days of cleaning my nose with that 'neti' pot, I had enough. Today I just couldnt bring myself, I think I subconsciously felt like shit this morning so I could avoid it, and the new Sunday ritual...passing a catheter through your damn nose and pulling it out of your mouth! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the next step in our all over body cleanse.  I just dont think I'm ready for this next step to be honest, and I had to just watch in horror as my least favorite nursing action became a voluntary, self cath with nothing less than a red whistle tip urinary catheter, pulled out of a package of 30 and given to us on the premise we would wash ours and keep it safe for next week....as many of you would know, I would have paid 50 bucks for someone else to do it.  Never mind clean and re use the damn thing. The concept:

I am utterly grossed out. apparently it 'stimulates'the nasal cavity, opens up the nostrils and helps your sense of smell.  I'll pass.

I had my first eggs since I came here this morning and I relished every bite. That and my fresh squeezed orange juice.  Yum. I cleaned my room with a little broom from what seemed medieval times:

And then got really into this book I'm reading:

It's about these girls that grow up in Afghanistan during the wars and bombings in the 80's and are forced to marry this gross dude who is just awful who makes them wear burkas and treats them like crap.  Talk about light reading. I can't put it down.

So, we went at 5pm to the PUJA today, it's this daily ritual on the water by the Ganges River, where they sing and chant and worship this guru guy and give offerings and it's really holy.  Heres a shot of me and Blagica about to go in:

We get there and look around, and then we have to put our shoes into this shoe check, and the guy gives us a ticket. Barefoot, we walk around the monument to Krishna and sit down to view the ceremony. 

The couple on the right are from Sweden, and Rishikesh is their latest stop on their world journey. At home they take care of disabled people. Then, we just sit down and relish in the holiness of it all:

The dude in the middle in orange with the beard is like the god of swamis there...

It got dark and by the end, it was pitch black.  I was supposed to go put my feet in the river, but I dont feel right yet. I need to really get ready to absolve all my karma and have it be special before I actually put my feet in there. Next week we are supposed to go rafting on the river, so maybe I'll wait until then.

I think about where i could have gone on this journey, and I'll tell you, nothing in this world is like coming across the world. 10 weeks on the beach wouldnt have even come close to the intensity of this trip and it's only the end of week one. I have so much to learn, and the girls told me tonight that they have seen me open up and blossom in just a few days...we are all evolving and there is more to come.  Yoga is getting easier, and I look and feel so much better already. It's taken time away from my vices to realize how much they were sucking the life force right out of my body and dropping me in a gigantic pothole in my energy flow.  Life is great, a gift, and I never plan on taking it for granted ever again.

xoxoxoxoxo