minkan

Goodmorning.

It's 9:45 here and i'm on a serious caffeine rush. The last few days i haven't been drinking coffee for breakfast, usually we'll go to barista in the afternoon and have coffee drinks there but it's not like having black coffee for breakfast. I feel all jittery, maybe i'll have another giggle day..who knows. Last week i had several days where i just felt like giggling, somedays a lot of things will make me giggle. I guess it's all about the mood and maybe about how you look at things. Having a nice giggle or even just laughing out loud..how refreshing isn't that?

Practice this morning was good, After just the sun salutations i was sweating like a pig. I don't get it, the way i sweat here i've never sweated like this before..ever! So strange. Also Sharath said that you're not actually supposed to dry it off with a towel, actually you're supposed to rub it back in to your skin. But when it starts going in to your eyes and making you blind i just go with the towel.

After practice i walked home feeling the heat of the sun that had during my practice come up. I think i fell asleep during the relaxing today, or i was just totally relaxed. On my way home a dog came up to me, he comes every day he lives on the same street that Anu's is on. It was quite funny cause my first weeks every morning i would be walking home totally relaxed and then all of a sudden this dog would come running towards me in full speed and i would freak out. The dog obviously just wants to play, he has a collar and everything so he's not a stray dog. But after practice when i'm on my high relaxed cloud i don't really feel like playing (not that i usually feel like playing with dogs anyway) This morning the dog came again.. i've stopped getting freaked out when he comes. But this morning he jumped up on me leaving dirty little paw marks on my yoga pants (why you little)
When i got home i showered and then did some washing. Washed my clothes in my little pink bucket, then i hung them out on the roof. In the beginning i missed not having my wash washed in a proper washing machine a lot. But after almost eight weeks of hand washing i must say you get used to it. I might even say i enjoy it....well atleast i don't dislike it. I mean yeah it's a bit of a hassle from time to time. But somehow i find it a bit soothing and i love hanging it out to dry on the roof. I love going up there and looking out over the rooftops, seeing that view makes me always want to start singing "This land is mine" strange huh?

I went to breakfast at Om Caf'e where i as i mentioned had coffee, fruitsallad and toast. Lovely as always. After a nice breakfast i walked together with my friend Per here to Anu's internet cafe'. As we were walking still on contour road (road Om cafe' is on and the road that i live on) I said "wow the temperature is great right now, couldn't it be like this all day?" then we established that in about ten minutes or so it would probably be freakishly hot again. By the time we'd made it to the street that Anu's is on i said "yep, now it's hot!" Haha..

I had to change computers because the one i was first on wouldn't let me log on to facebook, the page had been blocked by some parental control.. the reason said "pornographic" haha facebook? what? So i changed.. now Per called to me and said that he couldn't get on to DN(a swedish newspaper online) because it was blocked and the reason said "weapons" Haha what's going on with Anu's computers?

Yesterday I went to lunch with Per and two friends from norway. The norweigan friends wanted to show us a lunch place where you could eat thalis directly on banana leaves. It was quite the experience. The restaurant was called "RRR" and was packed with indian people everywhere, we had a bit of a hard time finding a table at first because we must have gotten there at lunch rush hour. Finally we got a table, and it was a bit different from having Thalis at the green leaf. First this one guy came around and gave us each a big banana leaf..(this was our plate) Then another guy came around with a huge bowl of rice and slapped down a few scoops of rice on everyones banana leaf, then next guy came around giving everyone two little thali bowls each with different sauces in. Then the next guy came around with three different sauces or stews or whatever you should call it and slapped some of each on to our banana leaf. Then we were ready to eat. The proper indian way to eat thalis..is just to go at it. As in..you eat with your hands.. you mix the sauce with the rice with your hands and just shuffle the rice and sauce in to your moth with your fingers. Haha it's so funny seing the indian people eat like that, i'd never eaten like that before but once you've gotten over the thought of "Oh my my hand is sticky" or "I've got rice everywhere" it tastes delicious to eat with your hands.. and also it's quite fun.

 We where the only western people there and there where several indian people waiting for tables staring at us.. the indian people aren't so discreet and quite often people will stop and stare at you. Haha quite funny actually. The other day this boy almost drove his bike off the road turning his head looking at me and my friends when we were walking down the road.

So the eating pace at "RRR" was a bit quicker, and since people where waiting for tables. We practically threw the food in to our mouths. I think we were done after like fifteen or twenty minutes.. the bill came to a total of 180RS.. lunch for four people that is.. do note that 100RS is about 20SEK.. yep.. We were FOUR people. haha it's hilarious the other day i ate dinner for 37RS.
So when we got back out on the street outide "RRR" we where all speeded up after our "speed lunch of eating with our hands" so we decided to go for a nice relaxing coffee at barista. We squeezed into a riksha, usually one person will get to sit up front with the riksha driver if you are four people but this driver said we had to all sit in the back. The driver drove like a complete maniac..so after the "riksha ride from hell" where i was sitting half on Per and half on Elins lap holding on for my life and we were all laughing zig zaging through town saying things like "hope you don't mind if i throw up in your purse" and "one more bump and i'll be ready for another lunch" we finally arrived to barista which was like coming to airconditoned heaven...ah the silence.. ah..caffeine.

We sat at barista for a few hours relaxing, talking, laughing..just having a good time. It was a nice contrast from "RRR" and the riksha ride. The contrasts you see here in india is one of the things that amazes and fascinates me the most. I love the way everything is so completely different.

Well the plan for today is a trip down town then lunch, then the afternoon at the pool. The pool is very relaxing and sometimes when i'm there i'll forget what country i am in, another contrast. But always when i come back to Gokulam and to my apartment on contour road where the cars and rikshas never stop going and the cows and horses and goats walk loose up and down the street somehow i feel... home.

have a nice day.

mich.