Lalita Retreat Center

I'm at my yoga training center! It's not exactly what I expected it to be, but it's going to be a life-changing experience no matter what. The internet here is incredibly sketchy and costs three euros a pop, so I think my posts will be getting a bit scarce whilst in yoga camp. Just know that for the next twenty one days, I will be safe. Albeit surrounded by mosquitoes and giant spiders.

My last days in Madrid were wonderful. I went to the Prado and Sofia museums, where I was able to see the work of Picasso, Dali, and Goya, among many others. I managed visit at the particular times of day when the museums were free, so I didn't have to spend any extra money. I did spend some extra money on a very special shot of alcohol, but it was a cultural thing, so I excused myself. There's a legend in Madrid about a tree that would produce a very sweet fruit that would ferment under all of the leaves. The bears would eat the fruit, become intoxicated, and engage in drunken brawls under the branches. The legend says that this is why there are no more bears in Spain. They all killed each other, drunk off the fermented fruit. In a special bar in Madrid, they serve shots of this alcohol in chocolate shot glasses. You drink the liquor, then eat the glass. I couldn't resist.

Statue of the extinct Spanish bear chowing down on the madrono berry

I went on the free walking tour yesterday, and had an extremely animated, waifish scottish fellow as my guide. I learned that the main reason pork is such a hit in Madrid (there are far more pig products than fish products) is that because during the Inquisition, the best way to show that you weren't Jewish or Muslim was to be seen gnawing away at a tasty piece of pig.

Our Spanish guide discloses the secrets of this ex-brothel

I also learned that they've introduced pine trees to Spain, and that they're wreaking havoc on the local fauna. The goats can't eat anything that grows under the pines because the needles make the ground too acidic, and the fish are all dying because they can't handle the extra acidity in their water. Also, all the grapevines here are from California. A malevolent foreign insect destroyed all the native vines a few years back, so now every single grape has its origins in California.

This post is going to be very scattered. I have to slap a mosquito about every other word, so it's quite difficult to maintain my train of thought.

I had to meet the yoga bus at eight thirty this morning at a hotel near the airport -- so about fifteen/twenty miles out of town. I gave myself two and a half hours to get there, assuming that I'd get dreadfully lost on the metro. However, due to some miraculous intervention, I made my way straight to the hotel without a single mishap.

The yoga program here is just about as hippie as they come. We've got a massive circular room with prayer flags hung from the ceiling where we will be doing our asana study and meditation. All the food is vegetarian, and we are forbidden to kill all insects (minus the extremely aggressive mosquitoes, that is). We wash our own dishes and have no cell phone reception. It costs ten euros to do one load of laundry (that's about fifteen dollars, for all my fellow Americans), so I've decided to wash my clothes every night by showering in them and thoroughly sudsing up the generally offensive bits. The toilets are "paper free", so we have to throw all of our soiled trash in waste baskets. We compost all of our food to feed the cows, and the vegetables we eat are grown right here on the grounds.

Outside the yoga studio

The room I share with Maria (from Canada), Mette (from Denmark), and Ingrid (from Norway)

Lalita

Our yoga training studio

A great thing about this program is that once again, I get to meet people from all over the world. So far, I've heard people from Scotland, Ireland, Finland, Denmark (I miss you, Alex...), Novia Scotia, Toronto, California, New York, Malaysia, Hungary, Spain, Austria (she sounds like Arnold...), Germany, Pennsylvania, England, and Norway. Tons of women, four men.

I know I'm going to learn a lot here. The self-sustainability aspect of this facility is really inspiring, and I can tell that the yoga teachers are going to be great. I do feel a bit trapped here though, and it's going to be difficult for me to communicate with all of you at home. I'm definitely feeling the pangs of homesickness. I'm in the middle of some glorious country with some wonderful people, but I can't stop missing Wednesday night dinners. It's hard to believe that I've only been gone for two weeks.

As it's so expensive to access the internet here, I'll probably only be online once a week while I'm here. I'm thinking Friday afternoons will probably be best for me. However, I do intend to write letters home, so expect to receive some from me. I'll include a return address on my envelope, and would love some letters from home.

Much love,

-Aimee