Woke up this morning feeling well rested even though the bed is very very very firm and so are the pillows, like finding a comfortable rock to rest your head on 😕 I figure I’ll be so tired each day that I won’t notice. The temperature plummets to single digits once the sun disappears behind the mountains but the days are high 20’s.
My room is basic. Bed. Smallest hand basin I’ve ever seen. Shower (with hot water phew) you kinda need to run around in to catch the water spraying every direction. And thankfully a proper flushing western toilet. Oh wait, there’s a ceiling fan, but I don’t think I’ll need that. Lucky we will be so busy.
Today was easy going. Orientation. Welcome Fire Ceremony and Kirtan. A lot of our questions that were discussed over breakfast were answered at orientation. We received our bag of goodies based on our choice of study. Manual. Books. Notebook. Yoga School Tshirt and bag. Mala beads. Neti pot and a scary piece of string (I am not the only one here who feels that way).
We had to wear all white for the Fire Ceremony. The man leading the ceremony chanted for a long time, I don’t know how he remembered all the words. We had to throw spices into the fire. Various herb and oil mixes were placed on our foreheads and a garland of marigolds around our necks.
Next, the kirtan. This was fun. Led by Hare Krishnas, everyone got right into the chanting and singing. The Hare Krishnas got everyone up dancing, they are mad awesome dancers. Any of you who have seen me dancing drunk can picture this. That was all of us going off like we had been drinking and the best bit was no one seemed self conscious. Dance like no one’s watching? Who cares? None of us did. The group of people here to study are absolutely lovely people from all over the world. Italy. Argentina. Spain. US. UK. India and I’m the only Australian. Everyone has a love of travel and sharing stories has been a great way to bond.
We had the afternoon free to do whatever, so a group of us walked all the way down to the river bank and wandered the streets. Many laughs today, tomorrow the work begins.
Love and laughter
Amanda 💛
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