Hi friends,
I have had the good fortune of being led to an ashram in Rishikesh market area. I was interviewed by the guru and given the opportunity to have an intensive training with an Indian woman named Arpita. This woman will work with me one on one 6 days a week for two months. She's super skilled and pushes me pretty hard which is good for me; no day dreaming in these sessions. The yoga school is actually a college for Indian people. Once in a while they will take in the odd foreigner if they feel he/she is devoted and sincere and right for the training. And it looks like I'm that odd one! The ashram is a short distance away so I have to make my way on the rickshaws through the bustling city everyday to get to my destination. But there's something to be said about making an effort to get to your destination.
And.............the guru invited me on a journey into the Himilayas to visit caves and ashrams with the students of the school. I will be going on Friday for a 5 day journey. The place is situated on the edge of Nepal about 14 hours north west from here. I will let you know more about the exact name/location of the place when I get back. And I will add some nice photos hopefully.
So that's the scoop for me now. I am very happy about this new opportunity.
I want to wish everyone a happy new year celebration. I have plans to go to an Indian dinner the guru invited me to tonight and then I will make my way to the Little Buddha Cafe and enjoy a Hello to the Queen; it's a big bowl of cookies, bananas, chocolate and ice cream with coconut, pomogranate and chocolate sprinkled all over. I will try to eat a whole one to myself.
:D
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Graduation to me
A typical sight in the streets. These women must have the strongest necks.
This is my group on our graduation night. We finished the first month of our course. It was awesome, we all performed. I got up and told everyone about Capoeira and how much I love it, then I sang a song.
This cow found some snow in the streets. He seemed to find it to be quite the tasty treat (and no it's not snowing here, I don't know where this pile came from).
These are my main yoga teachers. They are a beautiful and inspiring couple.
The Indian people were having a party in the streets.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
A few words about the holy land
Hello friends and family, I haven't written in a while because of procrastination and the fact that computer's are really slow here. But now I'd like to share a few words about my life in this holy town.
Rishikesh is really lovely. I have fallen in love with the cows and monkeys (so far I haven't had too much trouble with them, this could change). But I find the cows to be really cute. They just walk around slowly minding their own business and every once in a while picking up the pace if a local starts coming at them with a stick. Some are little babies and other's are enormous. Big bull horns and all. The locals can be really harsh at times with the cows (which confuses me because I thought they were to be considered holy). But It's true they sometimes get their face into the foodstands and I'm sure that would be annoying.
The monkeys are extremely adorable. They sit on this one wall that I walk past most days and just look around eagerly to see what's going on. Sometimes they are grooming their little ones or just holding them in their arms. They usually have one eye on any food that travels past. The other day I was holding a couple of oranges without thinking; I must have felt a presence because suddenly I noticed a monkey lurking beside me ready to go for the dive. They do this all the time. It's also hilarious. Especially when they come into your room looking for food. The other day they got my roommate's raisans. The mama (or papa) grabbed the bag, reefed off, another monkey took a grab and the whole thing exploded in the hall. Suddenly a team of monkeys moved in to clean up the mess. I'd say they usually put on a good enough performance to accept the absence of the food. And out back behind our place they like to jump around in the trees (or maybe just to be mischievious) cause the man who lives back their must really hate them. As soon as he sees a monkey he starts hollering, screaming and throwing rocks at the trees. The family of monkey's usually find their way to my roof and start practicing for some kind of marathon (at least that's what it seems like). The monkey's seem a little smarter than us folk.
Every night after class my roommate and I come home at the same time to the same music playing in the distance. It seems to be this jolly man singing songs of love, that I obviously can't understand. We are pretty sure it's coming from an ashram and these are hymns of praise and gratitude. Everynight he sings the same songs at the same time. One night we are going to go out adventuring and find where it's coming from. What's so funny about it is that these songs sound so bouncing and playful, not your typical religious music. I personally like all kinds of worship music, but I've just never heard anything like this before. Also, he does a set at 5 am every morning, but usually it just melds into my dreams. That and the hour bell.
Night after night a friendly man sits outside our home and rings a bell to mark the hour. Why this man needs to ring the bell all through the night and get no sleep is a little beyond me. But he seems to enjoy it. I have come to get use to (more or less) mad sounds. India has made peace with it no doubt about it. Random sounds from every direction, after a while you just stop noticing them. Except for when the neighbors (also Indian) like to just let there door hang loose and swing and smash in the wind. Again, some things (maybe a lot of things) just don't make sense to me in this country. But it's all part of the journey.
And one more thing, cause the time is ticking away. India is hilariously make shift. I took a peek out my window yesturday to see a man setting up for a wedding. He was hammering in the laces and frills for the table decorations. And sure enough, his hammer was a big rock. But my favorite so far are the brooms. Indians make these rounded brooms that are so small (some are half a meter and less, others slightly larger) out of this straw stuff and spend hours hunched over brushing the floor. At first I was just wondering why they didn't find a way to extend them over the years and help out the old back. But since I started using one I have found brooming to be kind of adventurous and fun.
I have much more to say but I must wrap up now. So until next time, I hope everyone is well and enjoying the beautiful snow and Christmas/New Year Season. Again, I wish they invented the snapper (snap an object and you can be in another geographic location in an instant) but they're holding back for some reason.
Lots of love,
Niki/Nicole
Rishikesh is really lovely. I have fallen in love with the cows and monkeys (so far I haven't had too much trouble with them, this could change). But I find the cows to be really cute. They just walk around slowly minding their own business and every once in a while picking up the pace if a local starts coming at them with a stick. Some are little babies and other's are enormous. Big bull horns and all. The locals can be really harsh at times with the cows (which confuses me because I thought they were to be considered holy). But It's true they sometimes get their face into the foodstands and I'm sure that would be annoying.
The monkeys are extremely adorable. They sit on this one wall that I walk past most days and just look around eagerly to see what's going on. Sometimes they are grooming their little ones or just holding them in their arms. They usually have one eye on any food that travels past. The other day I was holding a couple of oranges without thinking; I must have felt a presence because suddenly I noticed a monkey lurking beside me ready to go for the dive. They do this all the time. It's also hilarious. Especially when they come into your room looking for food. The other day they got my roommate's raisans. The mama (or papa) grabbed the bag, reefed off, another monkey took a grab and the whole thing exploded in the hall. Suddenly a team of monkeys moved in to clean up the mess. I'd say they usually put on a good enough performance to accept the absence of the food. And out back behind our place they like to jump around in the trees (or maybe just to be mischievious) cause the man who lives back their must really hate them. As soon as he sees a monkey he starts hollering, screaming and throwing rocks at the trees. The family of monkey's usually find their way to my roof and start practicing for some kind of marathon (at least that's what it seems like). The monkey's seem a little smarter than us folk.
Every night after class my roommate and I come home at the same time to the same music playing in the distance. It seems to be this jolly man singing songs of love, that I obviously can't understand. We are pretty sure it's coming from an ashram and these are hymns of praise and gratitude. Everynight he sings the same songs at the same time. One night we are going to go out adventuring and find where it's coming from. What's so funny about it is that these songs sound so bouncing and playful, not your typical religious music. I personally like all kinds of worship music, but I've just never heard anything like this before. Also, he does a set at 5 am every morning, but usually it just melds into my dreams. That and the hour bell.
Night after night a friendly man sits outside our home and rings a bell to mark the hour. Why this man needs to ring the bell all through the night and get no sleep is a little beyond me. But he seems to enjoy it. I have come to get use to (more or less) mad sounds. India has made peace with it no doubt about it. Random sounds from every direction, after a while you just stop noticing them. Except for when the neighbors (also Indian) like to just let there door hang loose and swing and smash in the wind. Again, some things (maybe a lot of things) just don't make sense to me in this country. But it's all part of the journey.
And one more thing, cause the time is ticking away. India is hilariously make shift. I took a peek out my window yesturday to see a man setting up for a wedding. He was hammering in the laces and frills for the table decorations. And sure enough, his hammer was a big rock. But my favorite so far are the brooms. Indians make these rounded brooms that are so small (some are half a meter and less, others slightly larger) out of this straw stuff and spend hours hunched over brushing the floor. At first I was just wondering why they didn't find a way to extend them over the years and help out the old back. But since I started using one I have found brooming to be kind of adventurous and fun.
I have much more to say but I must wrap up now. So until next time, I hope everyone is well and enjoying the beautiful snow and Christmas/New Year Season. Again, I wish they invented the snapper (snap an object and you can be in another geographic location in an instant) but they're holding back for some reason.
Lots of love,
Niki/Nicole
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Caveman from the Ganga and the Pyramid Cafe
This is me and the fabulous caveman
who made us a Dal and Chapati in his cave in between visiting the sacred ascent of the Ganga
This is the Pyramid that I love to dine in in between classes
The Pyramid Cafe is just a little walk into the forest. It is the most peaceful dining area I've found yet. Great for those days when you just want to be silent.
Monday, December 1, 2008
We has a psychadelic chocolate party up high at this cafe one night. It was amazing.
We went to a traditional Indian wedding on the weekend.
These are the heart shoes I've been stomping around in.
See the monkeys above.
I forgot to mention,
Mr. Monkey was shocked at the amount of waste the grapefruit generated!
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