just by being there...

The whole girls and dance culture kind of scares me - it brings up images of curling irons, buns and makeup, lots of pink glittery outfits, dance teams with young girls in trashy outfits unknowingly objectifying themselves at basketball games and then if you were to be any good at it it's a forty minute drive one way to a two hour lesson, every day, eating disorders, more revealing outfits, wigs, pageants, a land as foreign to me as Narnia. It sort of worries me that girls are bombarded with the whole Disney / Barbie / Fairytopia 100 times more intensely than when I was younger - and even back then in the 70's I was acutely aware that I was a lot bigger than all the other girls in the ballet class that I begged my mom to take me to ... so I worry about my girls who are very likey going to be around six feet tall - and who both LOVE to dance and very much want to do all the dance stuff other girls are doing.... But there is a style of dance that seems just a little less girly to me, and that is Irish dance. When I was rowing, one of my mates who is at least 6 feet tall, went to two Olympics, competed in numerous World Championships etc... did Irish step dancing all the way through high school. So when I found out that there was a good Irish dance group in Spokane I decided that if Lucy wanted to do it I would help her get started - my thinking is that this is a style of dance that a "tall girl" can do - and that spending years doing Irish dance wouldn't necessarily preclude Lu from doing sports as well - I don't know- there are wigs involved too. So last weekend we took the girls to the Bing to see An Dochas and the Haran Irish Dancers for their Christmas concert and out to dinner afterward. Lucy and Grace were on the edges of their seats during all of the dance numbers, which were breathtaking. Lucy was doing her steps down the street back to the car and as we sat eating dinner she said: "Mom, I got better just from being there."Like by osmosis? or transmission? from her teacher who danced in front of us to her... hummm... sounds like the natural ideal of teacher student interaction. 12 more days till I leave for Mysore....

back to the kitchens...

So I never finished that last post regarding the kitchens etc... which is in regards to finding a place to live while I am in Mysore. But to give the full picture you need to know that I actually have an email in my inbox from Sharath Rangaswamy saying "We have received your application and it has been accepted by us. So you can come according to your dates.
Please do not respond this mail, this is just for confirmation. Thank you,KPJAYI, Mysore." And you also need to know that according to the K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute website the shala is "full" from January 10 through March 9th. (and I arrive on the 12th) BTW I am still rather doubtful that I am actually going to be going to India. I gather that January is usually a "full" time at the Shala but the rumor is that this January might be the fullest ever seen. Maybe with a lot of first timers like me who after Guruji's death last May approached going to Mysore with a renewed conviction. For me it all started when we realized that there would probably be a big memorial this coming May, as is the Hindu custom. May would be about the worst possible time for Dan, because of the rowing season, whereas at least for the majority of the time I'm gone Dan is indoors and spring racing won't have yet started....

Anyway, practically speaking what this means is that there could be upwards 200 westerners descending on Mysore all at once this January... all of them looking for the best deal for the best room. And some of the advice I've gotten is:
Be specific about what you want, and clear about the specifics of what's offered. For example do I want an independent house, a flat, or a room in shared house?
If not an independent house: are the owners co-resident (could be just fine, could be a problem)? ground floor or upper floor? separate electric meter or shared?
Number of bedrooms? Kitchen? For one month yes. If kitchen, is there gas, stove, basic utensils for cooking and eating? umm yes.. Water purifier? If not, arrangements for water can delivery? yes? Western or Indian toilet? not sure what that means, thinking western? Hot water? yes, Shower? yes, Ceiling fans (especially in bedroom?) Dependable water supply (typically from underground sump)? How close to the shala? walking distance? What furnishings are provided (being here for just a month, the less you have to do to make things livable the better)? How much light?
How much air? enough to breath? Window screens (i.e., curtains)? Mosquito mesh on windows or net for bed? yes! Sheets, pillows, top cover for bed? I'm told I can buy these for just a few rupees. Electricity included in rent or separate? (I've never heard of water not being included.) Is housecleaning included in rent or separate?... okay so you can see this is a fairly daunting process. Luckily though I have some help... for one a man I met a while ago when I was in Virginia, Randy lives there in mysore (see photo above)and he is okay with me coming directly to his house at 4am on the 12th to get my bearings and figure out where I'm going to try to go and what I'm going to do... Thank you Randy.

Planes, cars and kitchens...

Ok so I arrive in Bangalore at 12:35 am on the 12th (which will be 12:35 pm on the 11th here, I think) and I'm going to have a car come pick me up at the airport. My understanding is that I need to call Ganesh (not to be confused with the elephant god :)) or send him an email to arrange a car and it should cost between $30-$40 dollars. There are apparently a few entrepreneurial individuals associated with the Sri K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute who help the western yoga students with anything and every thing. So there is probably a good chance I won't be the only yoga student being picked up that morning. I've heard stories from the "old timers" that this 86 mile drive can be VERY slow depending on traffic and for the fact that the road used to be in great disrepair, but I believe several years ago the road was repaired, and I'm hoping that getting in so early in the morning will make it an okay trip. This is not the most economical way to make the trip from Bangalore to Mysore (there are also buses and trains) but I am told the easiest especially for a "first timer".

My Visa

Today I received email notification that my passport and visa are on their way back to me from the Indian Embassy in San Francisco! This is big news because now not only do I have my passport (which is brand new), and my plane ticket, but I actually also have a visa. I ended up getting a 10 year visa - total cost was $208 which included the fedex price for getting it there, and getting it back. One thing that is new (er) I gather from friends of mine who had their visa's from years past is that the Embassy is outsourcing to a private company - so if you google "getting an Indian visa" ... you'll find a couple of places, I used Travis Outsourcing - I'll put the link up later.

What does it take...

To get a 39 year old mom with three little kids from Spokane, WA half way across the planet to Mysore, India? For starters... 5 generous grand-parents, 1 amazing business partner, lots of willing subs, 1 bee-keeping mysore-ologist, 1 kirtan singing, certified Ashtanga Yoga teacher, 1 Charlottesvillian travel partner, babysitters, neighbors, friends, Skype, and last but not least 1 supportive husband who sticks with me through my best and my worst and who secretly hopes that he will inherently benefit, as I get the closer to samadhi, or enlightenment or let's just start with "centered"! To you all I am so incredibly grateful!