Yoga Boot Camp
I woke up at 5AM (*@%^?) even though Sunday is our day off. I guess I'm getting used to the early wake up. After rolling around in my mosquito netting for a bit hoping to fall back asleep, I gave in and strolled down to the beach. This particular stretch of beach at the Talalla Beach Resort where I’m attending the Yoga Arts 200 hour teacher training, which I affectionately refer to as “yoga boot camp,” is a local fishing beach. The fishermen were just pushing out their boats. The rest of the beach was very quiet, only a few middle aged Sri Lankan men were walking, stretching and doing their thing. Mostly, they look at me as I pass, smile, and say "Good morning!" One man greeted me in this way as I walked past in one direction, then when I returned to where he was standing watching the sunrise he asked me if I was from Germany. Ha. A white face must equal Germany to him. He then presented me with the most beautiful white sand dollar. "For you, " he said through his pearly white, gap-filled smile. I thanked him and we walked a bit together as he told me he works at the Ayurvedic hotel nearby, where people come from the West (Germany?) to stay for weeks to get treated, healed, and cleaned out. One German couple, he told me as he pointed down the beach to them, has been coming yearly for 10 years. The first year they came the wife was walking with a "stick" and now, nothing. Just as he finished the story they reached us, walking hand in hand - no stick.
Now that we’re friends and he knows I’m American and not German, the talk turned to politics. "Barak Obama?" He asked with a smile. Yes, Barak Obama. Thank God Georgie Porgie is no longer president. It makes these encounters with strangers in strange lands a lot friendlier. At this point, my new friend who is apparently is in charge of "security" for the beach at the hotel where he works, peeled off to do his job and I continued with my walk.
I looked up and recognized one of the men who had greeting me with "Good morning," earlier. He was out for a run. As he ran past me this time, he said with a very proud smile, "I wish you a very nice day!” I think he had been practicing.
