Sunday, October 5, 2008

About my blog and my first week in india

I think that the most foreign thing that i have done thus far in india is create a blog! I know you thought I would never do it and neither did I, and it is actually making me nervous! More nervous than riding in the crazy rickshaws and crossing the insane streets of Pune.
So, a little bit about my blog:
1. There will be no pictures. I will tell you about the internet cafes (better named internet holes) later on.
2. I will be posting infrequently im sure.
3. There will be typos and other annoying errors. As referenced above the internet holes are hard to come by and not all that pleasant, and the keys stick. So I will not be editing!
4. There will most definitely be some discussion of toilets and bodily functions. I cannot imagine my blog not including this.
5. I will make a lot of pronouncements about life in India and Indians. Of course this is ridiculous as I have only lived here as an ethnocentric american for such a short time and have no right to make ignorant, probably completely false pronouncements and judgements. I will do it anyway!

Let me start by giving you an idea of what i am doing here.
First off I will start off by reminding you that i am NOT living in an ashram. So if you are expecting to read about a peaceful life meditating in an ashram with quiet hours and such, then I recommend you pick up a copy of eatpraylove. I live in a simple but beautiful apartment that is about a ten minute walk from the institute where I take classes. My roommate Natasha and I get to walk through the park to get to class. This is lovely because the streets of Pune are so loud and the pollution is so bad. I do about 5 hours of yoga a day - 2 hours of class and 3 hours of practice.
The institute is a humble building where we squash about 60 - 70 people in mat to mat for classes and practice. The noise of the street is not far away, and often while in poses you have a foot in your face or a butt over your head. It is amazing to be in the presence of the most amazing teachers in the world, but it is a challenge. I have not quite reached enlightenment yet, but maybe that will come after I stop pining for people to get the f out of my space. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. It is all quite as i expected. No one comes to study with the Iyengars expecting to be pampered. But i found that before i left, most people have the image of studying yoga in india as being a retreat in some sort of meditational resort. Pune is quite the opposite!

Now let me tell you about some of my favorite things in india!
1. Our building attendant. His name is Indra (i think) and he is from Nepal. He tells us namaste every time we come and go throughout the day (which is about 15). We converse quite regularly which is always interesting as he speaks no english whatsoever.
2. Our landlord Karishma. She is quite opinionated about everything and scolds us mercilessly. (NO NO Jessie!) She is like our bossy fairy godmother and we call her every time we cannot figure out something indian.
3. Our maid Swarma. Having a maid is also one of my least favorite things as I am paranoid about her cleaning the toilet with my toothbrush while we are gone. So we ply her with chocolates in hopes that she will like us and not play mean tricks on us.
4. The grocery stores. The supermarkets are stalls on the street and you stand at the counter and say "Do you have... dental floss?" as clearly as possible and smile hopefully that they know what dental floss is and can understand your insane accent while speaking english and that their little store actually has it. And the thing is they always do! they wag their heads and wander into the back and come back wth dental floss! It is such a different way of shopping. You shop for what you need, not what you see because you cannot see what they have. We are always surprised and delighted when they come back with what we want. And, we do not even have to make a decision about what to buy as they pick it out for you! i love it.
5. The head bobble. It is most like the little toy dogs in the back of taxi cabs in chicago. It is an art that I am determined to master. It means yes, or no, or i dont know, or maybe, or i hear you. It is a constant. everyone is wagging their heads all the time. It is impossible not to wag your head back at them.

okay im getting kicked off the internet hole, so this is it. stay tuned and i will tell you all about the toilets next time!

1 comment:

eve said...

Hahahaha!! Thank god you knocked out any notions of eat pray love so quickly.
Sounds amazing and I can not wait to come and bobble my head indiscriminately.