IN two three four, HOLD two three four, OUT two three four five six, HOLD two, again!

•       Stepping off the shuttle that brought us out of the harbor area was like putting your feet in those “cleaning tanks” with fish that nip at your skin. Not sure what I mean by that? Well I step down the bus stairs and am swarmed (first fish reference), then I find every piece of my exposed clothing being pulled at (fish reference #2), then you walk away and they follow, some of them still managing to cling onto your fabric, some get lost in the crowd or attach themselves to the next tourist (fish reference #3), and finally once you past an invisible threshold, only one or two remain. Who are these people you may be asking? Rickshaw drivers.
•       Rickshaw driver: (n) a man whose occupation consists of driving a 3 wheeled golf cart (see def. Rickshaw) as a means of getting tourists from point A to point B in the most inefficient manner possible. More likely than not, stopping at a few stores along the way with the assertion that it is where the tourist really wants to go, or that it is inexpensive. Neither which is true (they get commission, you see). English phases used most often: “One quick stop!” “yes, very cheap” and “no, no, no, no 150 EACH”. Generally a combination of amusement and frustration is elicited from the passengers.
•       My SAS trip: Dakshina Chitra Heritage Village. I’ll give you the honors of looking that one up on their website: artofliving.org
•       For me it consisted of 16 hours of breathing exercises and meditation. And when the trip description says: “Comfortable accommodations with the right ambiance are provided at the popular tourist center,” they mean cockroach filled cots lined up next to one another with a sheet and something they refer to as a pillow (though in the states I think we call it furless road kill whose rigge mortus is setting in).
•       Contrary to how it sounds when I describe it, I found it rejuvenating. I thought that meditating would be like that frustrating time of night when you are ready to fall asleep, but you find yourself still awake 2 hours later and you dare not look at the clock because then you’ll redo the math and realize that you only have 5 hrs of sleep left. But then you realize that you have to pee, just a little, but you know that with that feeling it’ll be even harder to fall asleep. So you cave in, and pull the covers off. And against your will, your eyes wander and sneak a peek at the clock and your brain is all over that math like a fat kid and a bowl of ice cream. 4 hours. Great. WELL meditation wasn’t like that at all. It was very relaxing and entrancing. I found myself snowboarding down a hill for the better half of 2 hours on one occasion and not once did I think about the GRE!
•       I also ate vegetarian India food for the 3 days that I was at the heritage village, and took a bucket shower and used squat toilets. You wouldn’t believe how excited I get when I see a dirty old nasty seat toilet with 4 squares of tp left, TMI? Sorry, but seriously, perspective folks, everything is relative.
•       So India was great even if I did see the Taj. I did see a bunch of adorable wild monkeys. My mom and I laughed when my travel medicine doc circled “monkey bites” under the India section of the fat packets she gave me before I left. But, as cruel humor tends to reveal itself, someone did get bit, eek!
•       Oh! And even though I still don’t like India food, I ate at an “oriental” restaurant the first day and had some amazing southeastern Asian food. Horizons are broadening people, alert the masses. (aka people like Andi and Anna hehe)