Guilt post.

I am feeling guilty for waiting so long between posts. I haven't been taking many pictures, and don't feel very inspired to write, but here's what I've got...

Most importantly, I think the bedbug issue is over. I found single, live, blood-filled bedbugs in my bed on two separate occasions, but haven't found any in about a week. I doused my bedframe in eucalyptus oil, which apparently kills them. On the 9th, a day before the shala opened, a cluster of bites appeard just below my belly button. It looked like I had caught a case of crotch-rot and I wasn't too thrilled about practicing shirtless my first day back at the shala, but I knew any shirt I wore would just end up a soggy, floppy mess. I figured I would just snag a spot at the back of the room and not worry about it, but when I arrived at around 4:10 AM real time (4:27 shala time... the clock in there is fast), the gate had already been opened, the room was packed and the only spot left was onstage at the front.

On the 14th was Makar Sankranti a post-winter solstice holiday celebrating the coming longer days. Here in Karnataka, people celebrate this by painting their cows and running them through fire. Sadly, the fire part is banned within Mysore, so I didn't see it. But here are two women laying down some Rangoli-age for the holiday:



And for the hell of it, two more pictures...



This is the room I'm renting. 7,000 rupees, or about $150, per month. The house has five bedrooms and contains no less than one German couple, one Brazilian girl, one Canadian woman, and a Swede with her two children. Including me that makes eight of us, but sharing one kitchen is surprisingly easy because we all have weird schedules involving various early morning yogic obligations.



This is a dress shop on 9th Cross, one street over from my house. I just liked the way it glowed as the sun went down.