a day in the life

now that i’ve been here a couple of weeks, i have started to get a pretty good routine going, so i thought i would share a bit of my daily life.
every morning (except saturdays and moon days) i go to the yoga shala for my daily practise. the way that the shala works is pretty interesting in itself: we are each given a start time when we register (for example, my first one was 8:45). the rule is that you show up somewhere around 15 minutes before your start time. in the small entry way, there is a group of people (anywhere from 10-40 on a given day) who are waiting to practise. there are about 100 people are so doing their yoga practise on their mats in the shala. when someone finishes their mat space becomes available and sharath shouts out, “one more”. someone from the ‘waiting area’ scampers in to take the spot. the challenge comes in trying to remember which people in the room came before me, as well as sharath will come to the doorway and say, “you next” or “you last” or “japanese, you come”, which puts a big spin on knowing who goes in next.
after my practise (about 1.5 hours), i go home and usually have a long savasana/meditation, then breakfast and a shower. in the mornings while it’s still relatively cool (below 30 degrees) i do my laundry, shopping, etc. i tend to go for a big indian lunch, and try to spend the hot afternoons reading, napping, internet, with friends. the heat takes away my hunger, so i usually have a really light supper before any evening activities. there is a power cut every evening at 8pm, but my house is great because i have a back up battery.
as you can imagine, i’m feeling very rested and relaxed; a good way to be before we start the next phase of our travels!
the photos are some of the day to day things that i really love about india: people selling all kinds of things up and down the streets, chalk mandalas that the women put on their entryways every morning, the evening snacks at the green leaf restaurant with friends.

ps. happy birthday granny!