So long India

The 10 day meditation went well. It was super challenging of course (not speaking for 10 days and meditating for 11 hours), but in the process I recieved many insights. Although the goal was to be both silent outwardly and inwardly, I wasn't as successful in the latter part. I did my best though and felt a huge sense of peace when I finished on that tenth day. I found myself really missing singing a lot; just making use of those vocal chords. And I really wanted to write out my thoughts, but that also was not allowed. So it was different not having any outlets in a sense. I had to keep so much trapped within. But this seemed to give me a chance to really know what was trapped in there. And I was so happy to walk away from the journey feeling content with who I was (having spent 10 days just with myself). In India they call it the monkey mind, as the mind jumps from branch to branch. The monkey in my mind is quite a jumper that's for sure. This is why I think meditation is really effective for me. So I think I will continue on this path in the future.

Speaking of monkeys, I'm sure the girls had a good laugh when I was giving my monkey a bath in the courtyard. But hey after 5 months of travelling with me in this dusty country that came to be one dirty monkey. I laughed when the protective Indian housewife saw the monkey hanging on the clothes line; she came running out to shoo him away, but soon realized it wasn't your typical monkey. We exchanged a smile.

Yesturday I travelled from Rishikesh to Delhi. I was blessed to sit with a 21year Indian girl and her mother. They were so kind with me, fed me delicious food, and invited me to stay with them next time I come to India. Since then I have arrived in Delhi and it isn't my favorite place, to say the least. I am practically counting down the minutes until when I can leave. My flight is at 8am tomorrow morning. That's approx. 10:30pm Monday night in Montreal. I will arrive in Montreal at 8pm the following night (around 5:30 am in this time zone). So it's almost a whole day of travelling I have ahead of me. It's good though, and I'm very excited. I have had an amazing time and I am looking forward to what life has for me back in the beautiful land of Canada. We are really so blessed to have such amazing lush forests, mountains, lakes, etc. I really can't wait to take a big fat whiff of Canadian air when I step off the plane.

So that's my final India blog. I hope you have all enjoyed it and look forward to visiting with you all at some future time :D