India

An out-of-date blog, but one that we couldn't miss...
One of the most efficient things in India is its rail system. We took a sleeper train down south from Rajasthan (14-hour train!) and were seated with a nice family. We were able to easily talk to them without the craziness of the streets and normal noises of daily life in India. It was very comfortable with bunks, sanitized sheets, blankets and pillows. The best part was witnessing the food and drink that are available at each stop. You can buy chai or fried goodies from any number of vendors outside and inside the train. One of the memories that sticks is seeing the chai man running alongside the train (trying not to spill the tea) to get the last order in, and the customer sticking the 5 rupees out the window to claim his/her hot drink. Or, the customers who had gotten off briefly to satisfy their hunger urges and seeing the train slowly take off, running with their newspaper-wrapped goodies to hop back on the train before it picked up too much speed to leave them in the dust.

Inside the train was fairly clean and neat, but after looking at the tracks before getting on, we knew what kind of bathroom conditions there would be. No toilet paper (normal) and waste being deposited directly on the tracks; in fact a hole straight down.

But, like any train ride, it was interesting (sometimes good and sometimes sad) to watch life go by: one moment you could see beautiful rice fields and the next you would see little boys taking their shower in the local swimming hole (or open sewage).

One of the highlights of Kerala (Southern India) are the channels, side rivers and waterways that make up the Backwaters. The "best way" (or Lonely Planet says) to see this part of the country is by getting a houseboat and moving along the water, equipped with a bedroom, chef and captain. So, Nate and I decided we would go for it and after checking out the boat before booking, we drifted off around 2:00 pm with an 8:00 am return the next day. The cruise was wonderful and what we have come to expect after being in India for a month now - bits of beauty mixed in with realities of India - garbage, sewage, floating water bottles, etc. But, the fun part was cruising by the villages on the canals, where kids were waving, riding bikes and blowing kisses, and young guys were secretly drinking Kingfisher bee. The highlight was our chef, who created some amazing dishes: red banana fritters, chickpea curry, tomato curry, and idli (steamed rice cakes). Besides seeing the reality of garbage in these backwaters mixed in with the beauty of the foliage, there was a more selfish low light of the trip - it seemed that whoever put the fan together, put the blades backwards. So, as Nate and I crawled into a not-so-well designed mosquito net (by that, I mean the net was laying on our faces and hardly tucked into the sides - can you say claustrophobic??) to find out that actually no air was moving in or out of the boat at all, even though Nate could have jumped into the water from his open window. So, with about 95 degrees F and 90% humidity, we had a hilarious/horrible night's sleep. Our creative way to cool down was to grab our cold water bottles and try to find the most strategic place on our bodies to maximize coolness. Nate ended up squeezing the water bottle under his chin the whole night; not sure how his throat was not sore after this. I think the tummy was a good place for my water bottle, but the whole night was pretty funny.

The next morning was peaceful, and the small lake where we anchored for the night slowly came to life with fishermen in their boats. We had at least 3 cups of masala chai to get the cobwebs out from the night before...thank goodness for chai! It was great to watch the surroundings come alive while sitting just above the surface of the water.

One of the most interesting/annoying parts was the argument that we overheard after sunset. There was another houseboat anchoring in the same lagoon and supposedly (according to our man, Manosh) they had been trolling after sunset, which is against the law (but not so well enforced). Well, the houseboat had ripped a fisherman's net and the fisherman had gone to the houseboat to collect for a new net; you can imagine what happened after this....I think they were arguing for 2 hours about paying for the net. And, Manosh told us that this was because we had gone with the government boat (ours) and not the private boat (the one who broke the net). Interesting.

From lassis (cold, refreshing yogurt drinks) to fruit to curries to chapathi to seafood to payasam, India has so many fanciful delights to offer. I think instead of getting the Delhi belly, we'll be getting the Indian belly from stuffing ourselves....can anyone say Freshman 15 part deux??

It's hard to explain and describe all of them in this one writing, so I'll try to give some highlights:
- Saffron lassi with pomegranate seeds
- Warm jalebi (like a thin donut)
- Fresh prawns and butter fish (from down south)
- Pasayam - close to rice pudding, but with vermecelli noodles, cashews, dates and milk, served warm
- Masala dosa - think pancake-like bread sometimes stuffed with vegetables and dipped in masala curry (Nate's favorite breakfast dish)
-Fresh Juices - just avoid the dark carrot juice...it will curl your toes it's so intense!
-Curries, Curries, Curries - totally different depending on the region
-Barfi - one of the many bite-sized sweets that you always have room for
-Streetside chai
-goat's meat - sounds weird, we know, but it's actually quite good

Let me start of by saying that I am a complete yoga convert; I have never done another workout outside of an actual athletic competition in which your mind is completely cleansed because of the concentration required. It is also hard work, and my body has consistently felt great afterward. The reason I am writing this post is because I am so terribly, hilariously bad at yoga! So before we ever did a class, Erin tells me that, "you won't really sweat, and I'm not sure if you'll really feel like you had much of a workout. But it feels really good after you're done." What a liar! I've almost been slipping off of my yoga mat because of the buckets of sweat coming through my shirt. It's like a virtual Slip 'N Slide. Later, the teacher says to breathe deeply and peacefully, and I'm wondering how the hell the rest of the students in the class are supposed to do that when I'm huffing and puffing like I'm carrying two 90-lb. bags of concrete up a hill. I have also not only felt like I had a solid workout after each class, but felt like I just did full-body circuit training - totally sore the next day! But it has been great and I want to keep doing it. So for all of you guys who throw weights around at the gym (myself included) and think yoga is for skinny wimps...give it a try. It's pretty awesome.

We just spent a week at an ashram in southern India. One of the rules for staying is that you adhere to their guidelines and practices when you check-in. You sign a waiver that you'll maintain the atmosphere of the ashram by eating no meat, fish, or eggs, not drinking alcohol, not taking perscription drugs, or smoking.

This particular ashram had the following schedule that we followed every day exept for Fridays, which were days off (but with mandatory satsung attendance in the morning and evening):
5:20 am - wake up bell
6:00 am - satsang (group meditation, chanting and talk/message)
7:30 am - tea
8:00 am - hatha yoga class (including pranayama/breathing exercises)
10:00 am - brunch (vegetarian, silent meal)
11:00 am - karma yoga (selfless service/cleaning the ashram)
12:30 pm - coaching (optional, if you want help with certain poses)
1:30 pm - tea
2:00 pm - lecture
4:00 pm - hatha yoga class
6:00 pm - dinner (silence)
8:00 pm - satsang (group meditation, chanting and talk/message)
10:00 pm - lights out

It was a great experience for us. The best part was having two hours of yoga twice a day (4 hrs/day). In a week, we could definitely feel our bodis changing and feeling better and better (getting the kinks out from our tramping in NZ). And, since we are in 90 degree weather + loads of humidity, it was easy to warm up, but easier to sweat tons.

As you can guess, the popularity of visiting ashrams has increased and hence the number of Westerners are quite high. We met two great couples, but we also ran into other travelers who were merely there to have cheap acommodation, cheap food and meet others along the way; not necessarily wanting to have a spiritual expereience, per se. So, one of the frustrating pieces was when people would talk at meal times (even though the rule was to eat in silence). Even when staff members asked people to keep silent, they would gossip for the entire meal. Meals, on the other hand, were quite tasty - all vegetarian, but low in sodium and very healthy. We ate with our right hands, seated on the floor. The meditation piece (15-30 min x2/day) was hard, but also interesting. I think we got better, but it was a peaceful way to start and end our days.

Besides enjoying the asana yoga (physical yoga) classes, we had fun with the karma yoga as well (one hour/day). Nate got to scrape paint on the ashram wall and I got to sweep the main hall. For me, it was great to do this becuase I got some instruction from the Indian ladies, who would gracefully sweep with their home-made brooms in their beautiful saris. Being a little taller than them, I was bending over, sweating bullets so ungracefully, that I'm sure they were just laughing to themselves.

We had originally planned to stay for one week, but this ashram's worship practices and chanting were not quite in alignment with our beliefs. We're now enjoying a few beers, meat and sweets in a close-by beach town called Varkala. =) And, getting in some yoga, too, but not for 4 hours/day.