Time in Goa

I have been very lazy with the computer since I came to Goa… so here goes my first entry which I have actually written the week I arrived…
November 26th… It has been almost a week since I arrived to Goa. Rolf makes everyone practice primary series in their first practice. The first couple of days, they were teaching in Purple valley, and then they went back to their own shala at Arpora. We have self practice Monday through Friday, Friday being self practice primary series for everyone. In the beginning of the new week, Rolf told me to go ahead and practice until where Nancy took me in second series which is up till Supta Vajrasana. Then he told me to do hand stands after my back drops… After I did it against the wall, he helped me go up to hand stand in the middle of the room and then drop to back bend which felt nice. After practice I had a massage from Subuddha, an Osho devotee to whom other ashtangis had been going to. It was a very strong massage, maybe too strong for my liking… The next day, the practice was strong, hard… I practiced laghu vajrasana so many times, Marci helped me… Then with hand stands, Marci made me work against the wall, but trying to come up with both feet and knees together, hopping… It was difficult (still is)… but I feel that it will help me get stronger…
Goa is nice; I stopped worrying what to do rest of the day since the practice is tyring enough for the whole day. The Indian girls in the beach can be overwhelming, trying to sell you sarong, shirt, jewelry, etc… Then there is the juice bar in Chapora to which we usually go to after practice. There we see a lot of lost Western souls, they look like they have been there for ages and they look like they have been stoned for ages….
I tried to use a scooter in the weekend twice but I seem to be no good at it and so my friends take me at the back of their scooter to the shala…. Most of us stay in Vagator; shala is 15 minutes fast drive away, in Arpora….


December 8----Now it has been two weeks, I feel the practice kicking in. Marci and Rolf do not allow any cheating… Laghu vajrasana, straight arms, hands on the ankles, go down to top of your head. I practice this many times in my practice, but 5 breaths is not possible yet, two is possible. This week Rolf said, next week you will be able to do it. Then, Friday’s primary series felt like a piece of cake, so light and short… Today my flat mate Gibran is leaving, ohh also Steve and Sachi are leaving... I will miss them so much, it has been great fun! Most of us live in Sea View; it almost became a dormitory for us… Raj is the owner, a nice man...