Finding Inner Peace dot com
Greetings, my friends. My goal is to create a post to get you up to date on where I am without posting several spelling mistakes. My typing skills have never caught up with my spelling and grammar skills.
First off, the yoga retreat I went to was funny and not always in a good way. The whole Ananda centre in Italy is based on the teachings of an Indian Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda (Autobiography of a Yogi), who brought yoga to the USA in the 1920s. Then one of Yogananda's disciples, J. Donald Walters, interpreted much of Yogananda's philosophies and wrote many texts, hymns and even a couple plays. J. Donald Walters, whose spiritual name is Swami Kriyananda, only knew Paramhansa Yogananda for 2.5 years before the Indian philosopher and yogi moved on to his next spiritual life.
Since yoga is about union, I was skeptical about the one-sidedness of the materials. I found it disturbing that the program was equally ritualistic as Catholic Mass. I was not expecting to feel the ceremonial aspect of my Catholic schooling while at a yoga retreat. But life goes on.
Some of the highlights were:
1. The best (vegetarian) food I have ever eaten, consistently. And by this, I mean better than I can cook. I am not sure if it was all the olive oil, the fresh cream or the fresh produce, but it was amazing.
2. Meeting several Germans who shared my cynicism and will allow me to visit them next summer in their homes. Wanna come, Mom?
3. Speaking French with one of the German girls who is a French and Spanish teacher.
4. Teaching a yoga class to my German and Dutch friends one day when our "Yoga for English Speakers" class was cancelled.
5. The gorgeous view from my window and fabulous storms and cool mountain weather. I actually wore the jacket I brought!
6. Breakfast and dinner in silence, but only the first 20 minutes because trying to keep the Italians quiet for any longer than that and you'd be faced with a lynch mob regardless of the peaceful intentions of the setting.
7. Espresso grade coffee and hot milk at breakfast.
Once the retreat was over, I made my way to Rome to fly to Bucharest.
I awoke early in the morning in Rome because my hostel was hot and noisy, like all hostels in Rome. As I walked to the train station, I thought it was nice to be out on my own, not many people around. At 5:30 in the morning in Rome, it is as busy as Saskatoon mid-morning. Not quite rush hour, but lots of movement. The train station was home to many weary travellers who laid their heads to rest and avoided wasting 25 Euros on a room in which it was darn near impossible to have a decent night's sleep. I digress.
The train station smelled of urine and was just as dirty and unpleasant as I recalled from my travels 3 years ago. The train to the airport was nice, quick and clean, though pricey. I had no problems at the airpost except after we had boarded the plane, they realised a passenger was missing. Due to International Regulations, we could not take off until the passenger's luggage had been taken off the plane. So that was a nice 90 minute delay. Better than techinical difficulties, I suppose.
Luckliy I was armed with a good book, a Romania travel guide and the nicest young (Romanian) woman sitting next to me. Between our collective effort of my Italian and her English comprehension, we had a few pleasant conversations.
Thank goodness when I arrived in Bucharest, Jenna was waiting for me at the airport. This morning we made it to Brasov and are staying in an apartment for 2 days. The apartment is Eastern Bloc communist architecture and very functional, not cute or pretty but with character nonetheless. And inexpensive.
Most Romanians speak English and are friendly and hospitable. I like it here and the countryside is a fairy tale landscape of mountains and mist, castles and old buildings. We will spend two more days in the area, exploring castles and hillsides, rural life and Urusul (local blonde ale). We love it here.
I would like to add a small recommended reading list:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (forget the author) and
The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith.
Thanks to Sue for passing these along to me. But now what will I read???
Well, friends, my internet hour is nearly through. Thinking of you all and hoping to hear from you soon.
Pace,
Ramona
First off, the yoga retreat I went to was funny and not always in a good way. The whole Ananda centre in Italy is based on the teachings of an Indian Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda (Autobiography of a Yogi), who brought yoga to the USA in the 1920s. Then one of Yogananda's disciples, J. Donald Walters, interpreted much of Yogananda's philosophies and wrote many texts, hymns and even a couple plays. J. Donald Walters, whose spiritual name is Swami Kriyananda, only knew Paramhansa Yogananda for 2.5 years before the Indian philosopher and yogi moved on to his next spiritual life.
Since yoga is about union, I was skeptical about the one-sidedness of the materials. I found it disturbing that the program was equally ritualistic as Catholic Mass. I was not expecting to feel the ceremonial aspect of my Catholic schooling while at a yoga retreat. But life goes on.
Some of the highlights were:
1. The best (vegetarian) food I have ever eaten, consistently. And by this, I mean better than I can cook. I am not sure if it was all the olive oil, the fresh cream or the fresh produce, but it was amazing.
2. Meeting several Germans who shared my cynicism and will allow me to visit them next summer in their homes. Wanna come, Mom?
3. Speaking French with one of the German girls who is a French and Spanish teacher.
4. Teaching a yoga class to my German and Dutch friends one day when our "Yoga for English Speakers" class was cancelled.
5. The gorgeous view from my window and fabulous storms and cool mountain weather. I actually wore the jacket I brought!
6. Breakfast and dinner in silence, but only the first 20 minutes because trying to keep the Italians quiet for any longer than that and you'd be faced with a lynch mob regardless of the peaceful intentions of the setting.
7. Espresso grade coffee and hot milk at breakfast.
Once the retreat was over, I made my way to Rome to fly to Bucharest.
I awoke early in the morning in Rome because my hostel was hot and noisy, like all hostels in Rome. As I walked to the train station, I thought it was nice to be out on my own, not many people around. At 5:30 in the morning in Rome, it is as busy as Saskatoon mid-morning. Not quite rush hour, but lots of movement. The train station was home to many weary travellers who laid their heads to rest and avoided wasting 25 Euros on a room in which it was darn near impossible to have a decent night's sleep. I digress.
The train station smelled of urine and was just as dirty and unpleasant as I recalled from my travels 3 years ago. The train to the airport was nice, quick and clean, though pricey. I had no problems at the airpost except after we had boarded the plane, they realised a passenger was missing. Due to International Regulations, we could not take off until the passenger's luggage had been taken off the plane. So that was a nice 90 minute delay. Better than techinical difficulties, I suppose.
Luckliy I was armed with a good book, a Romania travel guide and the nicest young (Romanian) woman sitting next to me. Between our collective effort of my Italian and her English comprehension, we had a few pleasant conversations.
Thank goodness when I arrived in Bucharest, Jenna was waiting for me at the airport. This morning we made it to Brasov and are staying in an apartment for 2 days. The apartment is Eastern Bloc communist architecture and very functional, not cute or pretty but with character nonetheless. And inexpensive.
Most Romanians speak English and are friendly and hospitable. I like it here and the countryside is a fairy tale landscape of mountains and mist, castles and old buildings. We will spend two more days in the area, exploring castles and hillsides, rural life and Urusul (local blonde ale). We love it here.
I would like to add a small recommended reading list:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (forget the author) and
The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith.
Thanks to Sue for passing these along to me. But now what will I read???
Well, friends, my internet hour is nearly through. Thinking of you all and hoping to hear from you soon.
Pace,
Ramona
posted by Granola Girl at
10:26 AM
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