DAY 11 - TGIF!

I wake up and I'm tired. Today is Led Primary so I know I'd better get my butt in gear; the led classes are intense! I head to the shala and settle in on the steps to wait for the next 30-45 minutes until the doors open for our class. Students are arriving, the steps were just about full when I got there, and they just keep coming. It looks even busier today than it was last week! Where will all these people practice? When the doors finally open it's the usual mad rush of everyone pushing and shoving to try to get in. I find a spot and go to leave my stuff in the locker room. When I return I find so many people have squeezed in the row that our mats are literally overlapping one on top of another. Whoa! It's been close before but this is crazy! We begin to move and the energy is amazing; class flows smoothly and feels easy.

After class I feel rejuvenated and we're all happy that tomorrow is Saturday, our day off. There's plenty of time to linger over a nice breakfast, and then I spend the afternoon at the pool, working on my sanskrit homework and soaking up the sun. I shower there (everyone has been raving about the pool shower) and it makes me a little homesick for a moment; I had gotten used to the shower in my place and didn't think it was that bad, but having a real shower with tons of hot water and powerful water pressure reminds me of what I'm missing! I barely make it to Sanskrit and Chanting classes and then rush off for a quick dinner before the movie...

One of the restaurants here, Santosha, screens movies on Friday nights. This week they are playing Slumdog Millionaire! I've seen it already, but I really liked it and am totally in the mood to lay around and watch a movie, so I go to see it again. There are tons of people there and it's so much fun to watch it with all these yoga students in India! I understand many more of the little details that I didn't quite catch before; it's like now I'm living in it. We all laugh at the head waggling and groan out loud when they refill the water bottles in the restaurant and glue the seals shut. The power is on and off all the time here in India, but amazingly, it stays on for the entire movie and cuts out right at the very end during the Bollywood dancing with the credits. So perfect!

After the movie I run into a friend who wants to go for chai. I think it's way too late for caffene, but then figure we're off practice tomorrow so why not? It surprises me that there is definitely a "Friday night" energy here, like everyone is ready to let loose. The chai stand is closing but we can probably make the ice cream shop, so we take a long walk for my first Indian ice cream. OMG! Now I know why everyone has been talking about the ice cream... I almost wish I hadn't found this place because I'm pretty sure I'll be dreaming about it every day! (It's an ongoing joke here about how we all though we'd lose weight in India, but the food is so good that it seems more likely that we'll gain!) It's so beautiful and quiet when we're walking home that I'm reminded once again of how lucky I am to have this opportunity to be here. It's pretty amazing to be by myself on the other end of the world and be able to walk down the middle of the street at night through these quiet suburbs and look at the stars and feel like I belong here. Thank you to the universe for providing this for me!