i went to my first intro to buddhism and meditation class today. in the short span of time that i was there, there was a ton of information discussed. this definitely seems like it’s going to be a very interesting class. i have a lot of thoughts on everything i heard today, but i’ve got limited time online now (since i need to wake up at 6:30 AM tomorrow!!!) and i’d like to spend some more time thinking about everything i’ve learned before i post about it. so instead, i’ll spend a little time whining about the weather.
it’s cold here. DAMN cold. and rainy. it rains pretty much every day here, and every time we leave the house we have to wear all sorts of layers to keep us warm and wear raingear to keep us dry. going almost anywhere is somewhat of an ordeal. we’re constantly soaked, and although the rain makes this place look even more beautiful and magical, we still often wish it would finally stop! the roads have turned to piles of mud, and we have to leap over particularly dirty parts, puddles, and rivers of water on the road. they have bizarre systems of drainage set up all over the city to try to direct the excess water and you often pass virtual waterfalls in town.
it’s a constant battle to stay warm and dry. when we come back to our hotel room, there is no heating so it’s pretty much the same temperature inside as it is outside. we have only one source of heat… the hot water heater. after a couple days here, caryn came up w/ a brilliant plan… she would pour hot water into empty water bottles and we would keep these in bed to warm it up. we began to horde our bottles when they became empty and now we’ll have like 4 bottles filled w/ hot water rolling around inside the bed. this doesnt exactly provide all that much heat, but if you put your feet directly on them or hug the bottles, it’s nice. caryn even puts hot water bottles inside outr shoes to dry them out. heh, desperate times call for desperate measures!
despite the fact that we have hot water, it’s nearly impossible to shower in the hotel. the water pressure is virtually nonexistant, and comes out in a tiny trickle… basically pouring straight down. so when we shower, we have to practically hug the wall just to get under the stream. not the most comfortable thing.
when we got up in the morning today, it was pouring as usual. we were rediculously tired from having to wake up “early” which was 8am and wondered what it was gonna be like the following day when we had to wake up one and a half hours earlier than that. after a sad breakfast of peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches that crumbled to shreds in my hands, we started the hike up the hill. hiking at 8am sucks. hiking uphill sucks even more. hiking in the rain, uphill, at 8am is the worst. we made it past the ferocious dumpster monkeys without incident today… but by the time we got to the meditation center we were wet, cold, sleepy, and exhausted.
life is hard, eh? heh, well, maybe i’m exaggerating about life being hard. it really is amazing up here and despite all the difficulties w/ it, the rain is definitely enjoyable… but i think a few days of sunshine wouldnt be such a bad thing!!
*v