Woo! (Part 1)

When you're on the open road life is definitely less stressful :: but sometimes the road can be SO open, so if you're at all indecisive, like I am, this can lead to a lot of mulling over, ruminations, and eventually, if you really keep at it - stress ! I just didn't know what to do. Before I left for India I just knew I wanted to go to this ashram in Tiruvanamalai, Tamil Nadu (the state adjacent to Kerala, where I am now). It's called the Ramana Maharshi ashram and I want to go just because I just like the guy's face. There are a lot of photos of him in India, and while he is no more, in his picture he seems kind and childlike. Anyway, this was my only plan/intention. In recent weeks, chatting to Chechi and other travelers, I have added to the list visiting this yoga university in Bangalore, a zen center with a Christian twist, another guy's ashram, and a meditation retreat up north. Options a plenty. I wanted to check out the yoga university because it sounds super legit (perhaps you've heard of Vivekananda - or perhaps I am dropping names to an obliviously unimpressed audience :). I heard about this yoga university from two different people (always an auspicious sign). So I simply took a 2 hour bus ride to the city, found and Internet cafe, and located this place online. Fortunately they had a phone number. And not just one phone number - five of them! I tried all five. Unfortunately, ten fruitless phone calls later, I was at a loss. Didn't even sound like it was a working number. Bummer. Next, I sauntered over to the hotel where I'd previously stayed. Let me a tell you a secret about India. If you learn just three syllables in their language, they love you. I will ask "what's your name?" ("paa-ren da?) and I've gotten reactions from laughter to "Oh, Malayalam!" (the local language in Kerala as well as an impressively lengthy palindrome), and most recently, my massage therapist clapped her hands together, exclaiming "Oh my God!" and brought her folded hands from her heart to the top of her head. Dude, it's three syllables. Anyway, they like me at this hotel and greeted me warmly even as the a/c washed refreshing cool over me. I sat down in one of the cushy chairs in the lobby like it was my living room and hung out at the hotel for a couple of hours while things finally fell into place.