Left the Yogis for the Bears
February 5th, 2007
Well folks, as speculated…we couldn’t hang at the Ashram for the full two weeks. It was kind of like a church camp full of New-Agers. Here is the daily schedule:
5:30 Wake up (ok fine.)
6:00 – 7:30 Thirty minutes of group meditation followed by an HOUR of CHANTING
8:00 – 10:00 Yoga (we both loved the yoga)
10:15 Brunch
11:00 Swami Lecture
12:30 Chores
15:30 – 17:30 Yoga
18:00 Dinner (all vegetarian. one night we were served rice with water. no joke)
19:30-21:30 More meditating and a lot more chanting
22:00 Mandatory bed time
Highlights included: After the “rice with water” dinner, JR and I munched on Clif bars and he mentioned a certain longing for Taco Bell. A girl overheard his dirty American craving and gasped “NO! Don’t say that!” JR’s reply: “Yea, actually I really like Taco Bell…and I really want it right now.” She then covered her mouth as if to block the rice & water meal from being regurgitated. We also managed to make friends with the only person there who had smuggled in Oreos. (this posting sounds like we were at fat camp for husky kids)
Bottom line, the yoga was awesome…but chanting for hours a day and pretending like we were Hindu for the week felt phony. We did meet some really interesting people, and a lot of vigilant vegetarians. More power to the people who stayed, we just couldn’t handle it. And besides…we had to escape to the nearest city to catch the Super Bowl. We woke up at 4:30am to watch our Chicago Bears….lose.
Now we’re off to Madurai for a day to see a temple…then up into the mountains for some relief from the heat. In the meantime I’ll try to get JR to let me photograph some of his favorite yoga poses. OM!
p.s. You know how people will pick up a microphone and say “Testing, testing”? Well at the Ashram, this phrase was replaced with “Om, om”. I found this hilarious.
Well I just found out today that upon our arrival in India, I get to go shopping. For a salwar. Yep, this is what I’ll be wearing everybody. This get-up will look hot & sexy paired with my manly hiking boots. 
brooke.pearson8