Hello all my friends and family,
I am now in Mysore and I think they call it that because MY entire body is SORE. I have spent the last week being manipulated into positions that I did not think were possible. I have this little Indian man as a teacher and he will come over to me grab one body part and push on another until I am breathing like a cow birthing twins sideways. Mysore is the heart of yoga, I have been told, Madonna's teacher is here in this town even. Ashtanga is a form of "power yoga" and the Mysore type is a moving meditation were no one talks and instead of getting direction the teacher will come over and push or touch or lean and even sometimes stand on you. Today I was in the butterfly (heels to groin elbows pushing down on legs) and Ajay my teacher came over put his hands on my shoulders and stood up on my thighs putting his entire weight on my inner thigh area. All I could do is breath and think holy shit he is standing on my thighs and holy shit my knees are on the ground, wow. I am going to stay here one more week I guess I am a sadist or masochist which ever?
My plan is to find a ticket to Thailand I already negotiated one but like most things you do or plan in this country it got all messed up.

Thank you for the strong positve energy you all keep sending me
I do feel it,

-Jim

Ooty

Good morning everyone. I am at a hill station in southern India, the British bought up all this land from the local tribe for 2 rupees and then explained to them the monetary system to the tribes people. They established these hill stations for the army troops so they would have a place to rest. It is hard work concurring and pillaging a nations people and resources. Yesterday we went on a hike around the tea plantations. It was beautiful, we walked through the hillsides and into some very interesting villages. I have pictures but cant use this computer (S.S.D.D.). After having lunch in a fly infested hole in the wall, but it did have great chai (tea). We started up a small mountain for our final destination. We were about 1/3 the way up when these locals came running out of the trees yelling at us to change direction because there is a wild elephant roaming the hills making messes and harassing the locals. We went up anyway with out any sightings of the trouble making elephant. The day before was our travel day we had to wake up at 4am to catch a train so we could catch another train. The second train was what they call a toy train. It was a old steam engine probably 120 years old, that is what the German guy sitting next to me told me. It traveled at 10km/hour in a very jerky fashion. I could not stop looking around at everyone trying to sleep as they received a mild case of whip-lash. We had to stop every 10km or so to let the engine rest, fill back up with water and add more oil to the leaking moving parts. It was quite the experience. It is cold here at Ooty about 0 degrees C. There are a lot of horses roaming the streets there are cows and goats just like everywhere, but more horses then anything. At the train station a fight broke out between two groups of guys trying to get on the same train car. The train car did not have any seats and was standing room only like a cattle car but voluntary. I am starting to get use to the squat toilets, but I am still using toilet paper. Just thought you all would like to know.

-Jim

Out of the Ashram

So I was not made out for ashram life apparently. Maybe I will try again later. I spent yesterday on a house boat in the back waters of Kerala it was fantastic. Relaxing, laying around, we had a crew of three and there are six of us. All of our meals were prepared and served to us, kinda like a weird Indian version of a Rocky Mountain River Tour, except the boat had an engine and it was 70 feet long. The crew definitely had an us and them thing going on. And their bedroom was the common area so we had to go to bed early. I didn't agree with this however and stayed up drinking beer and enjoying the moonlight and the fresh feeling of freedom that I have from my exiting the ashram. I played guitar with a German guy who had very hairy shoulders and rum that he mixed with tea and sugar, it was surprisingly good. The crew of people that I am travelling with right now is very fun and interesting. One girl from Canada who grew up in Chenni. One guy from India who lives in Mumbai, and three girls from Massachusetts, one of whom is living in the north with her husband while he is learning Tibetan so he can be a translator. It is very different traveling in a group as opposed to being by my self. All the decisions are quite an ordeal. It is fun for now and I am enjoying everyone specially Avijay, the Indian guy he has a great laugh and good sense of humor. We don't really understand each other all the time, but we figure it all out somehow. We are off to Cambitore to get a train tomorrow at 5am to Ooty it is a hill station and supposed to be pretty cool. Hopefully it is a place were I will want to stay for a while. I don't really like the bus to bus to train to tuk-tuk hassle of constant movement. (Pictures to come, but can't do it here at this computer)
LOVE YOU ALL,

-Jim

Hello friends and family,

I have been given a pass in order to walk down to a small shop to write an email to say hello. I do have some pictures to download but I don't trust this computer so I will try at my next stop. I was in fort Cochin for two days on the last night I was there I went to a festival and tried all the different food that was offered. It was all fried, like, cauliflower, onion kinda like a blooming onion, peppers, and bananas. And my favorite is sugarcane juice. They have these huge grinder looking things that they feed the sugarcane through to extract the juice. then they will throw a lemon and some ginger in the mix it is wonderful. Back in Arambol I would stop and have one everyday. One day the little guy ran out of ice bribed someone with a drink to go get him some more. the guy came back with the ice on his scooter the ice was just placed where your feet go, no bag, no paper, just dirty scooter foot pad. You think that would make me question drinking there again, but I was there the very next day. For these first two months I have eaten whatever I want with any issues or problem. So I started to call down the thunder a bit and talk about my iron clad stomach... Well, the festival got me. I woke up with a cold and stomach ache. Instead of hunkering down and getting better I decided to go get on a train to were I am now. Sweating like a whore in church (as my father would say)and running to the bathroom to have explosive movements, is not the most pleasing way to travel through India. The toilet is basically a shoot that goes straight down and out under the train. No pack it in, pack it out philosophy here. I thought I was better the next morning, but I still had to get up after meditating and limp off to the toilet. So here I am at 6am both legs asleep trying to make it back to my dorm to grab my toilet paper, cheeks clenched and legs shaking. Some how I made it with out having to shower and change clothes. Then today I am again not feeling very good and I am still sweating.
This ashram is the strangest place I have ever been you have to do these chants I think it is all giving prays to Hindu gods and goddesses. They have this boiled water with auyvedic herbs that is given for drinking, no one knows what they are and why they do what they do. I think it is just rituals for ritual sake, so needless to say I a not a convert, I will not be shaving my head and passing out flowers just yet. I will be leaving here soon I think, maybe Friday?.

Love you all,

-Jim