Beach Bum. No joke.

I'm getting worse and worse with keeping up with this writing thing, the more i hang out with people and get distracted at the beach! I am in Varkala, still, the same place I was last time i wrote! but ive been in and out of an ashram, and am now enjoying a very slow paced and tranquil life, getting up whenever, spending waaay too much time at  beachside cafes on the clifftop overlooking the ocean with maybe a newspaper in hand, chatting to my canadian friends Brit or Raynor, or Chris the aussie, very interesting people, she an art exhibition designer and Raynor a kind of semi-retired bank executive... and all of us currently without jobs but i doubt for long with them; two really intelligent and interesting and fun people. I spend time by the beachside, or like today, venture into town on an autorickshaw to try to get some business taken care of, like my phone really breaking (maybe because ... see 3rd paragraph haha) and needing to get some money out of the bank. By night, there are funny indian beach parties, taking place at one of the beachside restaurants on the strip, like "rock and roll" where the guy stands outside and smiles, beckoning people to come on in and "boogie!"... misspelled menu items galore, creative attempts at cocktails (we bonded with a waiter one night when eating in a tree hut suspended above the restaurant, found out i was a bartender and came running back with a notepad and pen asking for drink recipes and names, i named my favorite maritini after myself and told him to credit me on the menu when they add it!! haha)... or the "funky art cafe" we went to last night where they had a demonstration for what felt like hours of little kids bollywood style dance troups, these kids were absolutely fantastic! had tons of costume changes and were obviously proud to show off their skills, the music punctuated between bollywood wonder hits with britney spears... ha. And then a spontaneous dance party last night where i was selecting the music on someones ipod... some slim pickings but we got down to jackson 5 and james brown at least!  The other night brit and i returned home at midnight to call it a night, and we heard this reggae coming from across the way, we decided to go back out and check it out and ended up part of another dance party, breaking it down to such timeless wonders as "fame" "ymca" and "flashdance"... clearly i was in heaven. and the indian guys who are out there on the dancefloor are out there from beginning to end, an endless supply of energy.... sometimes as a westerner its hard to believe people want to dance that much, especially guys, without being drugged out with something or other, maybe they are but i have a feeling its a cultural thing and its cool. they are literally possessed by the music, and they just dance on their own, no women involved! pretty interesting.   So thats what life is like around here. We spend too much time in kasmiri and tibetan refugee jewelry shops, let me tell you, and today i just spent 60 american dollars!!!! on a silver necklace... but it was an amazing piece and it'll last forever and it is all solid silver worth more at home... so im happy. bargaining and haggling for the best prices everywhere, usually done with a smile here in this resorty beach town, but you can still get good deals, my friend even had some shirts made for herself and a dress!   The other night we were kicking round in this kasmiri jewelry shop and this guy who ran the store who must have been younger than me was telling us how we both had just the most beautiful blue eyes, etc etc, and was swinging this special stone around (like a magic 8 ball or ouiji board, you ask it personal questions in your head it answers yes or no, some interesting ones there haha) and he proposed marriage to me! finally on our way out the store, he said that if i said yes, he'd give me a really good discount on the rings!!! ha, i screamed the rings should be free! it was pretty funny at the time.   oh my god and the night before last i woke up screaming as i felt this large heavy slimy thing land on my face and then scurry away across it! it was absolutely shocking and i was catapulted out of sleep, thankfully brit was there too and shrieked "what is it?" we looked down and there was a gecko scampering way!! it had clearly gotten a little over-zealous and was attempting to crawl across the ceiling when it lost its grip and fell right down onto my face. the shock was mad! we laughed and laughed. you really never know what is happening next.   I've been eating exquisite food the whole time ive been here, ever since i got out of the ashram (which im getting to!)) The other night i feasted on grilled marlin and fish tikka (fish roasted in the tandoori oven after being marinated in special spices... my god it was good.) and you don't have the regular indian food problems either, everything is rinsed in filtered water, etc. my god im spoiled here. sometimes i get up in the morning, and over a glass of hot ginger honey think about how truly lucky i am to have gotten myself here.  i really don't know how this is my life but somehow it is, and i am certainly enjoying it before returning home to the impending deep freeze!!   Which brings me to the next thing, after harrassing the airline hardcore for the better part of the day, i was able to increase my stay by 10 days! if you'll remember, i was deciding to come home early before thanksgiving and go right to florida to see chris, but i came to the realiztion that i wasn't going to be able to see and do everything i wanted in that time and when am i going to be able to come back? Also in the Ashram my friend Raynor told me about an international film festival going on in goa at the end of november... he knows a producer from home that will be there, and if luck is on my side i might be able to be a part  of it all! I am also interested in going for one or 2 days to this other ashram basically catering to the notion of western/eastern fusion, active meditation, in basically a resort setting. other travellers have been raving and i have to say it peaked my interest and i want to go and check it out. I wouldn't have decided to stay without Chris' blessing, dropping out on thanksgiving plans would have made me furious if the situation was vice versa but he was amazing about it, supporting me all the way in my trip, saying he knew me better than to think i was really coming home early~ har har... and i couldn't be luckier really. im going to come home december 5th in time for my mom's bday and then take off to florida for a week or so before xmas.   so... the ashram. wow, i was there for only 2.5 days and it felt like a week at least. It was like entering another world, a world full of rules, trying to navigate through the system, do more yoga than i ever have in my entire life, and try not to talk during lunch and dinner, all fully vegetarian, all with our hands, kinda silent cafeteria style. Mornings the bell woke us at 5:20 AM! At 6 we were expected in the temple for chanting, "jaya ganesha jaya ganesha... etc" for about 2 hours, (im telling you only 2 days and it is completely stuck in my head), with meditation. To follow the first day was a special ceremony by the swamis down by the lake, i only half understood all that was going on, everyone walked to the lake and jumped in and swam, including me, but that first morning it all seemed a little weird, though i think it was because id just arrived. The yoga class the first time i found frustrating, as i usually find yoga classes, but invigorating at the same time. i felt very awake and healthy, though my body was aching. the whole program was a 2 week thing, but most people don't seem to make it through the whole 2 weeks, for various reasons. My friend got tired of all of the somewhat arbitrary rules (depending on your perspective) as would i have i think, and when he was declined the ability to leave during dinner to check out an orphanage he wanted to donate money to, he got out. and came to varkala to hang out with us. Made everyone see the not so pretty side of these supposedly "enlightened" people... but it works for some.   As my friends and i were saying, we think we might be more inclined to be a part of a more buddhist type ashram, the meditation and yoga are fine but some of the religious overtones and chanting can be a bit much if thats not your game. 2 yoga classes a day though, total of 4 hours a day. meditation 2 times a day, 2 meals a day, and youre just so busy all day and it feels like weeks in a day! but i was with camille and brit and i was happy about that, i lived in the women's dorm, and attended a lecture session that was a talk on vegetarianism and some spiritual stuff, staying away from pungent tastes and aromas like chili and garlic and onions, etc... i have to admit i laughed at myself when i found myself eating all those things my first meal out!   I admire the people who are so diligent they keep up the pace of that every day, exhausting but also exhilarating for a lot of people, and i was happy that i was able to see it all firsthand. my 2 days there were aboslutely worthwhile and also it gave me all these new great friends too! and we didn't even go into it with the intention of making it a social thing, but you just never know who you are going to meet do you.   So i still have about 3 weeks left then! and tomorrow i am going with a couple of friends from the ashram to allepey where we are meeting others and going on fully furnished houseboats for 24 hours! complete with our own cook and everything! truly the lap of luxury. this is something ive been wanting to do the entire time and hopefully if it all falls into place ill be joining up to do it tomorrow, hopefully there is room for me but they are saying they can squeeze me in, heck ill even sleep on the floor i don't care. we will be able to see all of the backwaters, the little villages on the banks of the rivers, should be great.   ok im off to get some dinner, i think its going to be a crab curry tonight, they advertise their seafood right there in front of the restaurant, a la miami beach, pretty awesome. hope you are all well and wish you could be here on the beach with me!! xxx