A recap of Thursday – in a list of ‘things done’

Odissi lesson – There is a certain way to walk in all Classical Indian dances…Sindhu says you can tell which kind of Classical dance it is just by the way a dancer enters the stage…Today, I learned the Odissi walk (two of the three plus ‘speeds’ of walking.) Quite interesting – and very enjoyable. Recap of all other steps we’ve learned, making continuous progress!

Barthi’s Shop – Girish took me to Barthi’s shop to see the progress of the bags, coming along…as usual production isn’t as far along as estimated (but then again I’ve come to know this and do not expect things to be completed when quoted – so it’s allllll good.) Bags look great! Gave tailor another material to make a sample bag – should be ready in a day or two.

City – Decided I’ve had enough of my Croc’s – desperately need a pair of flops…Stopped into a Bata Shoe shop on Deveraja (sp) road pick up a pair. Spent about twenty minutes trying on different sandals – the little shoe salesman was really working it – kept giving me new pairs to try – didn’t mind – enjoyed being pampered in a shoe store – when does that EVER happen in America! Only problem is that I have big wide feet – and most Indian women don’t – so many of the shoes I tried were too narrow for my ‘broad foot’ (as the salesman’s so eloquently put it) – After all was said and done I walked out of the store with a black and a brown pair of sandals…Happy with my purchases, stoked that they fit, feel good, and look good…Now I can trod through Mysore in style ;)

Finished my Book – Just read the last few pages of ‘This Day in the Life’ – was a lovely read. I always love finishing a book – while it’s a little sad to turn those last few pages, it’s also quite exciting to know that you will soon be opening a new one. Next book, which I barely cracked into today, is a loaner from John – he has been kind enough to loan me ‘The E Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It’ – I am really stoked to read the book – think it will teach me a lot about a lot that I don’t know about business – but then again that wouldn’t be difficult! I’ll be sure to fill you in ;)

AYRI – needed to pay my second month of shala fees today…

Kanadda lesson – Unfortunately it was raining when I left the shala – so I grabbed a rickshaw and made my way to meet Hema for my fourth Kanadda lesson. Hema was delightful as always, and we got through a lot of material today while enjoying a tasty chai (yummy!) She taught me how to say the time - idhu gantha (5 o'clock), onedhu vara (1:30)...Various tidbits today - like how to say male and female friend, lady, gentleman, boy, girl, Pronouns, some clothing, lots of verbs (walk, swim, jump, sleep, eat, run, sing, dance, write, read, drive - you get the picture...) Of all the things we covered today - my absolute favorite was the descriptives of food (sweet - see; spicy - kara; sour - houli; bitter - kai; and my absolute FAVORITE - salty - upupu (which sounds like oooo poo poo)

Shower – desperately needed a shower before dinner and dancing – the itinerary for this evening…Had just enough time to become a clean and presentable version of myself before I met Jake and Joyce for dinner.

Kings Court – We opted for dinner at a new favorite spot of mine – King’s Court Hotel and Restaurant…The Rashinkars had introduced this jewel to me last year – but I only recently revisited. Directly across the street from the Metropole, the little hot spot is on a main road but never busy when we go as it’s more a local spot than a yogi spot and the locals don’t usually come to dinner til way after we finish. The atmosphere is splendid, service terrific, wait minimal, prices decent, and food good! All around, I give it three stars.

High Octane – the main event of the evening – ‘Dance, dance, dance’…Jake, Joyce and I arrived at High Octane sometime after 9pm. Several people were already there. A lot of other well known faces arrived throughout the night, but Erin, Joyce and I were way to busy on the dance floor! Proud to say we closed the club ;) but com’on, clubs here close at 11:30pm at night…It’s all good, we managed to get a good 2 ½ hours of booty shakin in, which was just about perfect because we were all tired and really sweaty. Nights like these remind me of the ‘good ole day’s’ with my girlfriends back home – well sort of ;) It’s been a long time since the whole group of my friends back home got together and danced the night away in Orlando – definitely need to put that on my list of things to do when I get home!