Evening At High Octane - Pictures Compliments of Joyce!

Hey Now!

I love Hats - especially this one!

The GiRlS...

You Lookin at me?

Shake Shake Shake

Dance was great today – tending to be the trend as I’m getting better with each session – and I fully enjoy Sindhu’s company – she is such a lovely lady. I learned another move today and spent a good deal of time reviewing the others I’ve already learned – explained to her I’d like to slow down a little and really perfect what we’ve gone over thus far. She told me she’s been going really fast with me because I’m picking things up so quickly (I was totally shocked when she told me this b/c I definitely don’t feel as though I am.)

After class I walked home and took a quick shower as I had to meet Karen and Reinaldo at the coconut stand at 1:30pm. The three of us walked to Gheeta’s house so Karen could see the one room flat (she may rent it – wants to think about it), and we grabbed John so he could join us for lunch. The four of us made our way to the Southern Star (Reinaldo and I gorged on the buffet, while John and Karen opted for the Veggie Burger.) We had to have spent at least 2 ½ - 3 hours there chatting away about all kinds of things – a lovely lunch.

I rode back to Gokulam with John (side saddle b/c I actually wore a skirt today – made me feel pretty ;) Side saddle is very scary, especially on the back of a motorcycle in India! But I trust John’s driving – I got home in one piece. I had about an hour to read and study my Kanadda before walking to my Kanadda lesson with Hema. I enjoyed a splendid walk to her school – the air was blowing my hair, the sun was starting to set, Jack Johnson was singing about Banana Pancakes [sigh]. I had to make tonight’s lesson a little short – left about ten minutes early so I could get back to Tina’s and change before heading to High Octane. Hema taught me more fruits and vegetables, the parts of the body (I’ve asked her to teach me muscles too as they will come in handy for me – she’s got to freshen herself up on that), colors, animals, and the days of the week (explained the meaning behind the words used for days – i.e. some days refer to gods, some to planets), and then taught me the colors you are to wear on each day (representing those gods or planets)….We went over so many words tonight – so I’m not going to list them all here – some days I might, but not enough energy to this evening. She is going to teach me like she teaches the little ones – i.e. use flash cards to quiz me when we meet, give me little exercises to help me – I told her I wanted her to do this with me as I think it will help me learn Kanadda easier to be quizzed daily with pictures that represent the things I’m learning. She’s also going to get me a good book on Kanadda and a workbook that I can use. I’m so stoked!

I grabbed a rickshaw home this evening (and the old man was a jerk – he refused to use the meter – quoted me 20 rupees (if I wasn’t in a hurry and there wasn’t a lack of rickshaws around I wouldn’t have let him drive me), and then only gave me 25 rupees change from my 50 rupee bill when I arrived at Tina’s. I tried arguing with him – but then gave up realizing it was his Karma not mine – and anyway it was only five rupees (although it should have been just 15 – but what’s 25 cents?)

I quickly changed clothes, brushed my hair and teeth, and was out the door. Grabbed another rickshaw (this time it was a young guy who’s always close by Tina’s – nice – and honest – he uses his meter!) He dropped me at High Octane where I was to meet Doug, Erin, Dot, Joyce, Jake, and a few others to enjoy some good dancing – Doug’s last night so we all opted to partake in hip hop night at High Octane. Let me just tell you – I had a blast!! And I finally met someone who likes to dance as much as me for as long as me ;) Erin and I were on the dance floor for three straight hours – drenched to the bone with sweat afterwards, but worth every ounce of lost sweat. We didn’t do any Odissi dancing; this was my personal favorite – booty shaking ;) Joyce was rockin hard with us too – but Erin and I were grooving. Everyone had a grand time – everyone danced and enjoyed each others company – and everyone seemed a bit exhausted when we left. Dot opted to leave early (smart move) – but the rest of us were having too good a time. 8:30-11:30pm…And when I realized it was actually 11:30pm (brain calculated that Krista wasn’t getting much sleep tonight – I decided to call it a night.) Doug, Erin and I shared a rickshaw – they were kind enough to drop me off first…I said goodbye to Doug – he was leaving for Bangalore in less than an hour to head back to London…I came inside, washed my face, brushed my teeth, removed my contacts, stripped the soaked clothes from my tired body, set my alarm for 3:30am (ugh..) – and fell into my bed around 12am.