January 31st - Yoga At Last

We have a rather leisurely morning, departing in our jeeps to the bus and seeing the large market early in the day. A cacophony of sights and sounds and the requisite guy with his back to us, peeing on the wall. Lucky, those men. Bathrooms in the villages are the nearby fields. We drive about 30 minutes to the fascinating Abhaneri Stepwells which were unearthed much like the Terra Cotta Army in China, I think - and are grand in their own right. Little is known about them except that the king and queen lived above the wells and that there was an enormous temple next door which was razed by Muslims. We are in the state of Rajasthan where the people are now almost entirely Hindu. We visit a government elementary school with 30 students and 2 classrooms. We bring some books and school supplies for the teachers and spend time with the children. Joan conducts a reading group for 3 children and I take photos, showing the kids their pictures which they can never get enough of! We rest in the afternoon in order to gear up for our first ever cricket game on the grounds of the resort. We are quite taken with the game and in awe of one of our fellow travelers who pitches the ball with alacrity. Another of the women is a great batter so we are able to hold our own against those knowing more about the game. Now picture your girls at bat at the same time. I am proud to report that both Joan and I hit the ball sufficiently for each of us to score a RUN. Well done, I say. We played until we could no longer see the ball. Worked off lunch, anyway. Tonight we enjoy local music and folk dancing on the grounds. There is a fire eater and a girl able to dance with seven pots balanced on her head. With the pots, she lowers herself to the ground and grabs a rupee note with her mouth. Awesome. Later I balance one pot on my head - it's the largest and heavy - and, when challeneged, stand on one leg, stretching the other straight out from my hip. Namaste, Cindy gi.