Dharma Farm

We met our hosts last night and things weren't looking great. Someone picked us up from the bus stand, she showed us around the house briefly (it was dark, so not much to see – the house is more like a bunch of little houses connected only because they are on the same property). We weren't given dinner (though we arrived at 7 pm), but instead given a key to a cabinet with chips inside. Our room was small and dirty in the way that India is dirty. I'm not trying to complain about the accomidations, just painting a picture. The weather, stickiness after traveling so long, and the unsurety left me with that same uncomfortable feeling that I had when I went to India for the first time. It wasn't about anything physical – more of an emotional reaction to feeling like there's nobody caring for my well being and I am incapable to care for it myself in this unfamiliar place. Little did I know that Pramod, Mr. Capably Independent, felt the same way and that it would lead to a lot of stress the next day.

The next morning, someone was supposed to pick us up and take us to the farm (where we would actually be staying) at 10 am. No such luck. We were pretty much ignored until someone else drove us out there around 1 pm. So we had a pretty miserable day waiting around with this uncomfortable feeling.

Everything got much better when we got to the farm. We were shown around to a few different cabins scattered around the farm. We had our pick of the bunch because there are no other WWOOFers here at the moment. We chose a large school bus with the seats taken out. We're working on getting it all set up as nice as possible. It's connected to the community kitchen (which of course, no one else is using right now). There is no electricity in any of the cabins, so candles and flashlights are what we have.

While at the farm, we met Mike, who will be farming with us. He's the first person we've met who seems to care what's going on with us. That and setting up our living space made a huge difference in how we're feeling. Now we're pretty excited about this experience.

Hawaii

We have made it to Hawaii! I was nervous to arrive because we had no real plan: eventually we needed to get to Hilo (on the other side of the island) and we knew that there was a bus that leaves at 4 pm to get there (though we didn't know from where)_. We asked a bunch of really nice security guards at the airport who all had vague ideas of what to do. We did end up figuring it out, but it meant a $30 taxi ride to a Kmart where we waited for 6 hours... we have so much luggage that we couldn't really go explore either. Oh well. We made it to Hilo, and we had a gorgeous 3 hour drive to get here. REALLY gorgeous! The Kona side was pretty dry and actually looked like the western side of South Dakota as far as the puffs of dried grass growing everywhere.

Hilo is a different story: it's very lush and green. Very tropical. Pramod keeps saying “I feel like we're in King Kong!”. There are lots of plants and birds that remind Pramod of India as well. We could see the golf course-green volcano from the dry side of the island and I can't believe that it's so different from side to side. Anyway, we haven't met our hosts yet—just saw a bit of the island.

Hospitality

Once again, Pramod and I are astounded by the generosity that we have been shown. As many of you know, we are staying in Hawaii for 2.5 months. Our car, however, is staying in California parked on the street of my Grandma's brother's house. John and Kathy are very sweet to let us do this because 1.) it's a little bit of an inconvenience to have an extra car around all the time, 2.) to my recollection, I have never even met these relatives of mine. In addition to this, they are out of town and they left a key for us so that we could crash at their house. The house is wonderful! They have a pool, a gorgeous view out their back, access to laundry and a kitchen, and space to take over while we unpack and repack. We thank John and Kathy for saving us worry, hassel, and money trying to find something else to do with the car!

In addition to their generosity: their neighbor, who let us into their house, gave us some champagne and seriously offered to take us to the airport at 5:30 am! When we declined, he gave us the number of someone who regularly does airport shuttling and he is also John and Kathy's friend. That's who we got to take us. When we arrived at the airport, Jerry rejected our offer of payment! Who are these people and why are they being so giving to strangers? “We are blessed”: Pramod's words when we thought about all that generosity. We really are!

Yoga

Pramod and I have tried a few yoga classes while in San Francisco: “When in Rome...” I have already mentioned the first class which was in the cathedral. It was beautiful and it was great yoga, but maybe not our style. It was a little slow—no sweating—but the setting was great and adding in the chanting during class, plus there was some great energy in there. After that we decided that while it may be expensive, it was worth it to try some classes.

Next we tried Kundalini Yoga. I think we still need to try another one because this class was weird. More than an ab workout (which is what Kundalini yoga is supposed to be), we felt our shoulders, back and thighs. We bowed like a million times. Pramod felt like it was a punishment—he must have some bad karma to be in this class. It was hard and it made us feel weird.

Our next two classes were much better—both were taken at the Yoga Tree. Class 1: there were around 120 people in the class. It was in the evening so that lots of people could come after work. It made me understand why there is so much demand for stylish yoga clothes in this country. This class was a total social event, right up to when the teacher started. Then the music was so loud that it was often hard to even hear her. It was gym yoga, very sweaty, and a place for people to meet and show off their great yoga bodies. Regardless, it was a great class! We were really able to stretch and get deep into our poses. We loved it and decided to go back to the same studio for another class.

Class 2: Les Levanthol is now our San Francisco yoga guru. We loved his class the most. There were much less people and the atmosphere wasn't aerobics but spiritual as well as physical. Pramod and I both had challenges in this class – my number one was that after 3 days of practicing after a long lull, my thighs couldn't handle much more warriors or lunges, etc. It was great. I think Pramod has now seen the joys as well as the challenges that can come from a non-Ashtanga class. We both loved it.

San Francisco

San Francisco has been so much fun. I think a large part of that is because our hosts are so great! We are staying with Matthew, a yoga practitioner who studied in Mysore for 2 months. We contacted him hoping that he wouldn't mind some acquaintances visiting for a few days which has turned into a whole week... yet he and Kira seem perfectly happy to have us lurking around for the time being and they have given us some really great advice and suggestions for our time here.

We came into San Francisco on Monday morning. Our first stop was Matthew and Kira's apartment even though they were both at work. We parked the car and walked a ways. There are lots of shops and restaurants just a few blocks away from here. We then went to the park (which is just 1 block from here) and read for a while. It was very nice.

The temperature so far has been shocking. I hadn't planned on San Francisco having fall weather... I should have researched a little more. Because it is on the water, it's pretty chilly this time of year (60s at the peak of the day). Though this is not the California summer that I was expecting, I've seen people decked out in full winter jackets and hats. It's kind of like being in India in their winter (which is still very very warm) and seeing them in winter gear. I guess it's just what they're used to. Anyway, I didn't really bring fall clothes. I have my summer stuff and my winter stuff but it means that the one fleece I brought will have to stay with me all week.

Yesterday, Pramod and I decided to try to figure out the bus system. I'm used to the T in Boston which is very similar to the metro in DC but buses are a whole different thing. So, a trip that should have taken us 45 minutes to an hour took us 30 minutes more than that. We just kept getting on the correct bus going in the wrong direction--oh well. We did finally make it to our destination though, which was the Golden Gate Bridge. It was amazing up there: very windy and cold, but so beautiful! It is beautiful to see the bridge from a distance, beautiful to see the city from the bridge, and beautiful to see the water which had seals of some sort swimming way down below us!

Last night we went to yoga with Matthew and Kira. This was not either of their regular yoga classes but it was special because it incorporated chanting before and after class as well as a man chanting and playing the harmonium during class in addition to the fact that it was held in a huge and beautiful cathedral! It was inspiring. Every time we did a pose that required us to look at the ceiling, it wasn't just some boring ceiling, it was arches and blah blah blah--it was great.

We then went out to dinner with Matthew and Kira as well as their other house guest and a friend of Matthews that he met while in Mysore and happened to keep running into during his world tour and they just happened to be from the same city. It was great to see Hutch as well. Everyone is so friendly here!

Today Pramod and I drove out to Oakland where we went to an art museum that had a temporary exhibit on Pixar. Sadly, we couldn't take pictures, but there were some great sketches of character development as well as plot development throughout the creation of all of their greatest movies: Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Monsters Inc., Cars, The Incredibles, Toy Story... I think that's it. We were glad that we had seen all of them besides cars because I think that made it fuller. They also had a section where we could see some of their short videos that have been created throughout history (pretty much since 1984).

So anyway, we're having a really great time in San Francisco and once again, we are so lucky to have such great hosts!

Kingbird Farm

Pramod and I spent 10 days at Kingbird Farm in northern California (near Sacramento). The farm is amazing and we feel like we're in paradise. Pramod kept saying "this is just like India" referring to the beautiful weather or the plants that grow; and to his suggestions that maybe we consider moving there, I had to remind him that it would be expensive and difficult to visit his family and my family regularly. (However my feelings on that have changed a little since arriving in San Francisco).

Our accommodation were BEAUTIFUL! Mike and Charity had their house built a few years ago and I believe the ideas came from the book The Not So Big House which encourages less square footage and fewer rooms by encouraging shared dedicated space but putting more effort into the details (check it out!). Anyway, they had a great house. They also had a separate house (attached by a car port) for the guest rooms. Pramod and I stayed in this beautiful room with a shared bathroom attached to another guest bedroom. Outside was a walkway, unseen from the main house, with a hammock and lots of plants. Reading in the hammock became one of my favorite things to do there.

The farm is a great size for gardening for yourself. Mike seemed to have a lot of extra produce that he was happy to give away. He uses 1 acre for vegetable gardening and there's 1 acre of fruit trees. It was so nice to be hungry for a snack and go out back to pick a ripe nectarine or plum or fig. He also grows pomegranate which wasn't yet ripe when we were around, but it was pretty amazing. It made me want to look into all of the fruit that we can grow in NH--not just the regular apples, but other fruit as well. I wonder if there is something you can do to trees in the winter to keep them alive in climates that are colder than they like. Mike also grew all his own hops and made his own beer.

Mike and Charity treated us more like guests than farm help. They took us out to parties and events, showed us around the area, and introduced us to family. Pramod and I were even invited to go horseback riding with Mike's sister who has 2 horses. We went over there and learned the basics or riding. It was lots of fun. We had a great time there and we feel grateful to Mike and Charity for their hospitality -- once again, we have been very lucky and we met some great people!

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