Serendipity

wow…. now i’m in goa hanging by the beach. it’s been kind of a dramatic finish to my stay in varanasi. one of my friends from varanasi wanted to leave to goa, and i also wanted to go there so we planned to go together. we booked a train ticket to go to bombay and then on to madgao. then robin got sick. he had dengue fever i think. his temperature was 104 the first night and he was totally freaked out; i took him to the hospital and tried to do what i could to help out. it was a bit of work because the hospitals in varanasi make the ones back home actually look decent. although some nurses were nice, there was a general lack of professional care in this place (very fitting for Varanasi). Varanasi is a place where nobody helps one another unless there is a rupee involved, the service is generally unfriendly as a rule; some establishments have learned that friendly service brings money. i guess i’m a bit cynical… but anyway i love it all the same.

well anyway for the 3rd time in my life i was in a hospital room to support a friend–one with cancer, another with the dreaded spinal cord syndrome, and now some sort of crazy fever. so, pretty much the whole time i was there i was just bored, i’m like–ok i’ve done this before, this is easy. i slept there two nights, which was ok because there were nice shops nearby and a tv. robin mostly just lied there in pain. i kicked back and chilled. after two days the energy of the place started to get to me and i went back to my guest house and slept for about a day. i felt better after that.

during this hospital time i rebooked the tickets, robin figured he’d be out on monday so i booked the tickets for tuesday. by monday robin was still not better, his fever was about 38 or 39C. i told him the place was no good for him and he would feel better on the beach. he agreed and he asked to leave the hospital. i came before and got the discharge arranged and then we were off. i still had to meet my yoga teacher to say goodbye, pay the train tickets, say goodbye to my tabla teacher and return his guitar, hang out with gitamo, pack, etc. so the last day was a blur.

we left the next morning in a hurry, i woke up and said goodbye to the ganges, doing a small puja before leaving. paid the hotel and we were off; we caught the train with 5 minutes to spare and we were in another world for the next 30hrs. we took 2nd ac so there were 4 beds to a compartment. mostly we just listened to music or read. i ate a lot on the train because i was so hungry from the yoga the last few days. we arrived in bombay in what seemed a shorter ride than expected. again another world for about 7 hours. we made it to marine drive and got to catch a sunset over the bay. bombay is a splendid place, it had a civil feeling to me.

next train was to goa, overnight in 3rd AC. a schoolgroup of small girls were on a field trip, there were many, so cute! this train ride wasn’t that great because basically we just slept, then expected to arrive at the station. but we actually didn’t arrive until 2pm or so. after that we caught a cab ride with a british man named Terry, and the 3 went to a quiet beach in Goa about an hour away.

now we are here, i am catching up on some yoga practice as i now know how to do a basic yoga session independently, so i don’t want to forget it. i think if i keep up practice i can start teaching, that would be pretty fun to do. it’s also a good excuse to attract girls on the beach. (the effectiveness of this is presently dubious) but obviously, i’m here to have fun, so i’m trying to play as much as i can!

how’s robin? he’s is almost good as new now and can laugh about the horrific hospital experience. that is a relief!

yea, yea, its a brand new day

Things are going really well here–I’ve settled into a bit of a routine, but I try not to do the same things every day. The other day was really wonderful. In the morning I had a yoga lesson at 9, then one of my first tabla lessons. I bought a kite to fly in the afternoon. After lunch I taught my first Reiki student –Gitamo from japan– and brought him to level 1. It was a good experience for both of us and was pretty successful too. After that I spent some time relaxing by the river and then flew my kite. It was hard to tie it properly and I needed some help from the hindu monks at the temple. They are pretty cool and sometimes play badminton or chess by the river side. I hadn’t flown one for so long; I needed help to get it in the air but after that it was all good. It was a wonderful feeling to feel the sensation of the kite string in my fingers and looking at it flying in the air. There were many birds flying around as well, all around the sky and near my kite. The sun was setting and the wind seemed to be dying down, so I brought the kite back in. There was a very strong energy in the air, as there was a lunar eclipse just the day before. I laid down on my back and closed my eyes and just relaxed and tried to absorb it, it was wonderful. Later that evening there was a music jam session in my room with Gitamo, who’s also learning tabla, and two other musicians who were staying in the same guest house. We’re all beginners and tried to do a simple Indian raga; it came out pretty well for the first time but will be much better in a week or two I’m sure. Anyway we all had fun. I hope we can do a recording before everybody leaves!