shake

It's hard to remember to charge my computer and my phone. There is only one good plug to do that in the house. When i first got here i tried to use just an adapter and i swear to you when i touched my computer i could feel the electricity running around in my body. Not good. So now i just use the one power converter that deborah keeps in her room. but often everything just goes dead. Mostly because i am so busy and my mind is so focused on the women and being present and all that still needs to be done. Things i need to order from the grocer, or the fact that the pomegranate seed we had cleaned will need to be thrown out tomorrow. Actually, nothing gets " thrown out" here. Everthing really is recycled. And not in the way we do it. Putting it in a different trash and rolling it to the curb. Here we save all our food prep scraps which get driven and dumped at the little farm where the cows and chickens and goats and what have you roam free and will eat them. The whole city does this. Anything that can be burned like paper and cardboard and coconut shells, shake takes and sets out by the curb and people take it and use it in their cook fires. Any bottle or containers are the same thing. We put them out and someone collects them and returns them for money. The actual garbage, like plastic.. really only plastic, gets thrown away. And even then there are people who live where it is thrown and they get money for sorting and bundling it. being here really is changing my habits and my thinking. In ways that i can really sink into.

We went to the Ashram today. or the Ohsho Meditation Center. i am not really clear on its official title. We all dressed in maroon robes and attended the " welcome morning". which was an orientation where we listened to a lot of talking, did not interact with eachother and all nearly fell asleep. Except for the times when we were trying out some of the meditations. I liked the one that started with allowing your body to shake. They were all pretty interesting and i could get into it. But not the sitting and the talking. Halfway through i got up and left. I went out and walked around the resort, which is absolutely beautifully designed. I had the most moving moment that ive had so far. I heard some music and went to investigate and i found people all spread out on this gorgeous marble pavilion and they were in groups of two or three. maybe 30 groups of people. They were all painting eachothers portrait using water colors and these huge pieces of paper. Everyone was kneeling or sitting on cushions and the pavilion was surrounded by trees. I went up onto it and i found a spot and i just sat and watched them. i watched their faces. And i felt the energy that was swirling all around there. The connection was palpable. There was a woman in a black robe and she was walking up toward the group and she gave them instruction to switch and paint the other person. As she was finishing talk she was walking closer to me and when she got up close she just looked me right in the eye and for a moment it was just that. Her eyes were very warm and smiling but also super piercing. I felt penetrated (iknowtf). Then she touched her hand to her heart and smiled and kept walking by and didnt break eye contact until her body turned. As soon as she did i had these big crocodile tears just start. I cant explain it very well, or much better than that.
I sat for awhile and then i went to the information area and i asked about what they were doing. And it was a painting class, obviously, and the woman teaching, Meera, only comes once a year and its too late to register for the class now. I will take that intensive someday. I know that i will be back here.

When i found my group again they were just being released from the room. It was Kunchok and I and we made a great team keeping track of everyone and herding them along for the rest of the morning which was a walking tour. One of our guides is a lovely woman name Lama. She and i talked for a long time. She has been staying at the Ashram for 25 years since she first came. Fascinating. I will go back to find her and i hope to have lunch with her or some tea.
After Ohsho we all went out to eat at the place next door. It was fancy. I cant get over how little we pay for things that are of incredible quality. I had a freshly made carrot and ginger juice for around 1.20. Unreal.

When we got back i fell asleep on the couch for half an hour and then all the women arrived for the scheduled cooking class from a woman who is apparently very famous in the Bollywood scene. I havnt been feeling well and i havnt been getting much sleep so i just hung around and waited until it was over instead of going off on my own. Deborah and Frances wanted to go to a few shops. I found a really lovely pair of earrings to give to Frances tomorrow for her birthday.

Tomorrow is a very full day. We are going to the orphanage after lunch and then there is a chakra balancing activity in the evening.

 I hope i dont come home with an indian baby. I brought a ton of quarters from home that i want to give out to the kids and we are making huge fruit baskets to bring to them. Fruit is expensive for them to buy and the kids dont get it very often. I am looking forward to going, and for the women to have the experience as well. I think its going to be difficult and that we will all feel and learn a lot.

Again i am falling asleep as i type.