Amma

so here i am at amma's ashram in the backwaters between kollam and allepy. very interesting time ive been having. first off, i took a boat here... which followed a train from varkala that was a bit overwhelming but short. then the boat was easy and long... beautiful though. the backwaters are rivers and lakes that merge and run north south just in from the arabian sea. so you can be sitting on the boat travelling a river while looking at the ocean and surrounded my coconut groves. really rad. however, along with most of india, the backwaters are totally fucking polluted. i mean, yes there are jellyfish every few meters, but there are also floating bottles, tires, bags, shit, blah blah and junk. its truly disgusting. im not sure why they dont have trash cans hardly anywhere in india... but they just dont.




anyway, i took the boat to the ashram and i have been staying in a small dorm room with attached bathroom on the 11th floor of building b. my roomates include an older german woman who came here from a sex ashram up north... and the sweetest girl ever, Antje, also from Germany. She didnt realize what exactly this place was and just stopped here (on my boat) to break up the trip a bit. she is hilarious... constantly talking about how she's not spiritual while surrounded by people in white sari's absolutely living for their spiritual experiences :) she wears black jeans and sketches on the steps of the temple. i adore her. she fell in love in istanbul with an american boy and wrote a comic of their affair... its rad. you can see her blog: www.antjeherzog.de
i havent been yet but im sure its interesting. anyway... she left today which kindof sucks - we will meet again in delhi - , but at least there will be more room on the floor where i sleep. the older german lady took the real bed and sleeps in the nude with her legs spread. yuck.from the tops of the buildings here are the most beautiful views ive seen so far... really magical.





and ive quit smoking. interesting. i probably would smoke if i could but i cant so ive quit :) so in terms of my daily life here on the ashram im not sure ive really gotten the hang of things yet... i met a really great yoga instructor from england who's my age and he's been helping me out a bit, but still... i spend a lot of time wandering from one building to the next. amma returned from her trip last night and tomorrow she will come and meditate in the main hall with everyone... give first timers darshan and then Wed. back to regular darshan routine. i leave on thurs from Kochi so im not sure ill be able to stay on wed. oh well... I am joining in a puja and yagya tomorrow morning at 5 and that should be an experience in its self. ok... ive gotten the 1 minute warning so good bye. more later.

from antje:

holla!