SOMETIMES YOU FEEL LIKE A SLOTH....

Can I just say how hard it's been to get to sleep what with the bizzarre medication and all and the yelling and calling out and spitting and washing and shuffling and other noises in the hall and the dish-scraping, throat-clearing and puppy-wailing and stereo-listening outside the window and now the weather has changed and it no longer is quite as cool at night and we pittas have a hard time with that. In any case I've had insomnia, like, every night and it's the kind where your arms and legs and mind are restless and all the water (in case of dehydration), herbal tea, reading, visualization, breathing, listening to quiet music and journal-writing in the world won't make it go away. I'll blame it on *doing nothing for four days* because of the dysentery and the medication that is supposed to kill it. I finish it tomorrow, thank Saraswati. And then there's trying to log on to Yahoo. Suffice to say I've been trying to do so for two days and have walked out of more Internet cafes than there are in the whole city of Chicago. No one has been slapped (yet) and I did nothing to dampen the joy of the family of eight sharing the space next to (and on) me today, to see and celebrate the E- picture of some new infant -- even when the youngest boy repeatedly rubbed his ass into my arm and they all stood staring at my (blank) screen. If you need to get ahold of me try the mc.net address as this seems to be a Yahoo thang.

Anyway I went to yoga today, it's Sunday which means two led primary classes at 5:30 and 6:30 followed by led intermediate. This time when I said hello to the other two people who got in line too-too early for the 5:30 class they actually responded! I found my spot in back by the wall and the Model put his mat next to mine (he ate something *nasty* last night and needs to wash his shorts). It was a decent practice; it felt good and right and I sweated a lot but like some impotent man I was not able to keep it up during Utplutithi (Uprooting pose) and I know Sharath saw me. Oh, well...... After a long savasana during which my own snoring woke me up three or four times I went out to get a couple of coconuts and stood in line for some time and not being a huge fan of the other people there, and getting ignored by Bick-the-coconut-wallah over and over again I took my mat and scooter and went home..... where I slept for another hour and a half. Blissful -- It was like my button had finally been switched to the "off" position. Then Bindi, Prashanth and I went to see a fillum in Telegu (language of the nearby state of Andra Pradesh). It sucked -- too much dialog, the characters were hateful, the music was mediocre, the bad guy was a dead ringer for Donny Osmond (must admit I *loved* seeing him get beat up), and the hero had that bad five o'clock shadow we keep seeing onscreen -- but Prashanth said it was "very nice" and wants to see it again tomorrow. Also during the filum -- there were many women in the audience for some reason -- I started to feel dizzy and nauseous........After some EmergenC we stayed with the theme and ate some Andra food at Elapur, which is awesome (can I say Really fresh food! AC! Fingerbowls!). I had the thali meal, which was Rs 38 and seems a hell of a lot like the one eaten daily in Karnataka (the state I'm in, in more ways than one).


BONUS FACTS;

-The long-shuttered, formerly regal Hotel Metropole reopened today; it's right next door to the Southern Star and also boasts a pool (the place was christened this morning by Karnataka chief minister Krishna, who's on the campaign trail). The question -- What will happen to Westerner pool culture now?

-You can buy a brand new motorcycle here for Rs 28,000 (around $600) -- just Rs 1100 less than it costs for the first month of study with Guruji. The difference in cost could get you a cheap hooker, a week at the Kaveri Lodge or three thali meals plus tax/tip at the tre chi-chi Lalitha Mahal Palace. You make the call....