I started my dance classes back up on Monday. It was AWESOME! Both Sindhu and I were extremely surprised how much I remembered - I'm a little rusty but its all still there ;) Incredible! I'm hoping to meet with her each M, W, F - but this week only Monday and Thursday. Don't worry Melissa - I'll be filling you in on dance classes for sure! Right now it is just gonna be a week or so of 'unrusting' myself in Chokas and Trebungs, and the dance I learned last year. Well, I actually learned about 3/4 of a dance, so once I'm refreshed in what I've already learned we will start working on the rest of the dance. If I'm lucky, and learn fast enough, I could possibly learn at least part of another one!

Tuesday was Sharath's last day at the Shala until July 8th. He will be missed but it is still quite lovely to have Saraswati here to guide us all.

So Here's the Scoop on the House:
- Have my beds, and my curtains, my stove and fridge, my mosqito netting on windows, dishes, water, floor mats, cleaning supplies, and rope to hangdry my clothes. The mosquito netting isn't correct though and needs to be fixed...I am waiting for the cylinder for the stove so I can actually cook, waiting on my cushions for the den, sheets for my bed, table for the den, and the bedframe for zee bed. All in all I'd say, "not too shabby!" I am hoping that by Thursday I might be able to cook, check my emails while sitting on my new cushions, and sleep on my newly made bed sheets without getting torn up by mosquitos. We'll see!

"A spirited mind never stops within itself; it is always aspiring and going beyond its strength." – Montaigne

Another quote from my mama...Shes the best! I hope Montaigne's quote touches everyone who reads this blog today - for we are all spirited minds...Sometimes we just need external inspiration to remind ourselves of our abilities and dreams, and the limitless possibilities present in life.

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I woke this morning with a horribly swollen left eye. I quickly realized that I must have contracted whatever poor Sasha got the day before she left - we had stopped by a pharmacy to get her some drops, and they seemed to help her but I felt so badly for her having to leave with a itchy, red eye. Little did I know it was contagious - and as much interaction as we had, I should have known it was coming.

I took a nice long hot shower and slowly prepared myself for practice. While I didn't know what was going on with zee eye, I didn't want to miss practice...So I made my way there, opted to do primary only today so Saraswati didn't have to touch me, and when she arrived I told her why I was doing primary. She said that was fine and seemed to appreciate my respect for her. I struggled through practice as I couldn't do anything much aside from think about my left eye....But I was glad I got on my mat and did what I could do.

I came home after practice and laid down - planned to go to the Vikram hospital this morning when it opened at 10am, but that was hours away and I didn't want to do anything but sleep...I woke to my phone ringing - it was Erin! She is so sweet - she wanted to see how I was doing - told her about my eye - she said she noticed my eye this morning and thought I had cried all night long or something...She offered to come to the hospital with me to keep me company - and I most happily accepted her offer ;) I really appreciate Erin, she is a breath of fresh air, a really pure soul, and I am grateful to call her my friend. We met at the coconut stand and 9:45 and made way to the Vikram hospital to find out that they don't have any eye specialists there. The receptionist was most helpful though - he wrote down the name, address and phone number of a local eye specialist in the city. And let me just tell you - OMG - I've never been in such a clean building in India - nor have I ever gotten such thorough, polite, and speedy service anywhere in the world...The visit itself was 100 rupees, a 10 rupee registration fee, and all medicines totalled 65 rupees...We were in and out of there in a little over thirty minutes. They had state of the art equipment, were very thorough in my examination, asked me lots of questions, and diagnosed the problem with a most expository explanation of what medications I was to take, for how long, and when. The pharmacy was inside the building so it was one stop shopping...I obviously have an eye infection, and it is pretty bad - will likely spread to my right eye before all is said and done. The doctor told me to stay on top of the drops, the pills, and eye compress and I will feel relief in a few days. She said it will heal nicely but will 'take its sweet time'.....I must say it is almost 8pm now and I already feel and LOOK a million times better than I did this morning - praying to the gods to help me heal quickly.

I spent the next four hours in my flat all by myself doing so much needed reading, emails, research, research, research...I did a great deal of research of Manufacturers in India and elsewhere for textile materials, ready made wear, shipping, packaging....I researched 2008 trade shows and conventions all over the world - ones that were of particular interest to me - really want to make it to at least three of them and so see that as a possibility now that I know when and where they are (and lucky for me a handful of them are in the US - New York and Las Vegas).

I also conducted more research on graduate schools - am going to apply to Rollins as it is in my backyard, but I'm extremely impressed with FIU's Masters program in International Business. Want to stay in Florida if possible, and would ideally like to go to a state school so I get in-state tuition (aside from Rollins that is). After looking at all possible schools in Florida I am pretty much set on FIU...Now, the real question is how, when, how, when....Not totally sure but I am a firm believer in asking the Universe for what I want and allowing things to unfold as they should. After a few difficult days of questions, confusion, and no organization - I've realized I just need to make headway in all areas where I'm uncertain - for the more I know the more I grow.....

Girish picked me up at 4:30pm to take me to the shala so I could tell Saraswati what the doctor said and make sure she's comfortable with me practicing at the shala in the am - she was concerned for me and told me that it was no problem for me to practice tomorrow...I was really grateful to hear that as I really need my practice right now, but in no way do I want to make any students or Saraswati feel uncomfortable with 'monster girl' nearby....From there we headed to Krishna tailors so he can fix the hats I'd had him make - they just need a little alteration to make them perfect in my eyes (no pun intended)...Then it was off to the gem store to pick up my blue sapphire ring - was so excited when I got the phone call it was ready - bring on the luck baby! Happy with the ring, but the darn thing is a bit too big - may see if it can be fixed another day...And last stop was Barti's shop - need her to make the sample bags from the material I picked up in Bangalore, and also needed to deal with some other issues (they are making hand bags from left over scrap materials - but they aren't doing them correctly - and they are wasting time and money - so I had to address those issues...Hopeful all will be good from here on out)

Since returning home a few hours ago, I've eaten, put drops in my eyes for the fourth time today, finished my book SHOPGIRL (that had taken a wee hiatus since Sasha arrived), looked into my old GRE scores and taking the GMAT exam in the near future, and I started my graduate school application at FIU. All in all I'd consider today to be an extremely successful day...I look forward to many more like this in the coming weeks til I go home. I have so much to do and not a moment to waste...