Indian experience + Western prices = Lessons learned

I now sit in my (private, one-bedroom, bath-with-hot-water-attached) room as a boy mops around me. When I arrived here, my understanding was that my room and board would cost 700 rupees per day, just over 10$. Pretty special deal hey? After taking a flight, staying at an Airbnb, and ubering (now also available in major Indian cities, you will only have to call your driver three times and shrug helplessly to two standers-by/stander-by's/maybe there should only ever be one stander-by...uh, give your phone to the standers and have them talk to the driver, and then walk a quarter mile down a busy road with your backpack to locate your driver. As India goes, it was a breeze), ubering then an hour and half to arrive and check in over a mere four hour process whereupon I learned that my stay would not be 700Rs per day, but 700$ per week. Oh that's ok, I thought, that's just like 10$ per day. Then my SAT math tutor personality kicked in (no wonder I'm not doing thatanymore) and realized it was 100$ per day. Oops. So much for my 10-15$ per day budget. I begged them to let me stay in the dorms, but they insisted I'd be more comfortable in my own room. I asked them to show me the dorms, and they did, thinking it would deter me, which it did not. They finally told me that they have a policy against allowing foreign nationals in the dorms and it was my choice to stay or go. And so, with many deep breaths and my budget blown, I stayed. It's very Indian here. There are a few thousand people on this campus, and I've met two other westerners. One is Nadia, from Khazakstan, which might not be very western but her English is great and we can make each other laugh, which is priceless. She's here for two years and told me that she got lice in the dorms and that I was lucky to have a single room. (No doubt, I am.) I also met this 25 year old American whose parents are Punjabi. He told me he faked an Indian accent upon arrival so he could pay the Indian price instead of the westerner's rate. He can indeed fake a great Indian accent, someone else who makes me laugh. Other than that, there are a lot of people staring at me wondering what I'm doing here. I am wondering the same thing. When I heard "yoga university", my heart soared. They will have talented and learned yoga instructors in yoga therapy, I can learn something! I am learning a lot, but not about yoga therapy. For alignment specifics, for the best asana classes, stay in the West. For breathing exercises and kriya yoga, for meditation and candle gazing, come to India. And then I remembered thinking before I left for Mother India that she was gonna kick my ass this time. She's kicking it right now. I shouldn't be here in a very practical sense (will explain next time). But in a sense that you are always in the perfect spot, as Hafiz says, "God has circled this spot on a map for you," I'm supposed to be here. I'm learning how to be calm and patient, I'm learning to release expectations. It's funny because it's the same advice I give to the people who come on my retreats to India, and I'm remembering in many ways what it feels like to be a newcomer to India...