Wow...what a week!
A week in Mumbai...can seem like a year anywhere else...the pace of life can take you from one unique experience to the next in the blink of an eye. Recently I had one of those. The week I describe below was one of those rare and unique times for me.
On Monday I went to a lovely yoga class with my friend and very great teacher Prasad. He took us through the Ancient sequence used by yogis before yoga was asana. So powerful and I felt its affects all week...I am sure...
On Wednesday I went for my second time to One International, one of our local slum schools, to teach English. I love it. Week one was a tiny bit challenging, getting over some of the smells and sitting on the floor ....it had not been cleaned in a millennia...no more skirts at school for me. Week two, I took tissues, wiped noses, enjoyed taking some initiative and bossed one little lad into spitting his mouthful of PAN out! He was so jittery...I wonder why! PAN is a local equivalent to chewing tobacco but contains all sorts of additives and stimulants. I am happy to report that Ganesh, my chewing spitting friend is so attentive and bright when not chewing tobacco!
On Thursday it was off to Mount Mary for the St Catherine's orphanage Christmas party. Talk about a dose of Christmas spirit, I stopped by the Mount Mary Cathedral church to have a seat and reflect on just how blessed I am to be in the midst of such incredible India experiences and then met my friend Caron and joined her and about fifteen other volunteers in helping a group of about 100 children have a fun, loud, seriously active party. I asked some girls about their kurta, a plain checked dress...assuming it was their very basic school uniform...no Auntie or Didi as they call me (auntie and sister are terms of respect) it is our party dress! And they know how to party. They loved every moment of their party and were treated to some great food, games, dancing and magic and gifts too. One lovely girl was only a year off leaving the orphanage and she told me of her aspiration to be an interior designer, another little poppet almost came home with me...too many people watching though:)
On Friday Chris and I went to the Sofitel Hotel to the Beaujolais Nouveau Tasting. Many of you know that this happens once a year in France on release of the new Beaujolais wine. Most lovers of red wine are not lovers of this fresh young red wine but hey, it was imported, free and was accompanied by some wonderful french cheeses. So Salute!
Saturday was kinda normal in our house, Soccer at the Hyatt, Chris playing a game of Cricket with his colleagues (if one can call playing Cricket with 50 Indian men normal) and friends for dinner....maybe that was all we had on so we could prepare for Sunday?
First off I had a Yoga Workshop. The Teacher, Rupert Johnson, was out from London and runs a fab workshop. First time I did one with him we focused on the Surya Namaskar as it relates to the Chakras and this time we worked our hips ...so wonderful. I am ever hopeful he will run a workshop in Goa this Jan...bring on 2013:)
Then SUNDAY evening, the cherry on the cake for me. Lucy, her best friend Lizzy, Chris and I went, with five other friends to the Guns N Roses concert. OK, everyone who knows me knows I did not even really know what they played or even when....but I am a huge fan now! The concert was a blast. Ten thousand people outdoors in what is usually an open ground for most of everything from toileting to sleeping to expos was transformed into speaker stack central for one night. Almost three hours of GnR blasting out classic stadium rock. You can see what age and drugs has done to Axel; that said, he came on stage early and played and played and played. So much fun.
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| Lizzy and Lucy channelling their inner bogan |
See how amazing India is?
