I think I was a little tough on Puttaparthi. My last day in Puttaparthi was actually very nice. In the morning I had breakfast with a bunch of people from all over the world. Afterward I had a visit with Elizabeth, the 80 year old American woman who runs the library in the Ayurveda centre. She is a really special woman. Then I walked to a temple with Anne-Claude (who is 40) and Paulette (who's about 65), followed by a visit to a bookstore and then lunch with Anne-Claude. Anne-Claude is another great woman. She works for the Swiss foreign ministry and she travels all over Africa. We had some really interesting conversations about the different legal systems since she also has a degree in law. After lunch I went back to the centre and had my last treatment and paid my bills. Then I had tea with 19 year old Ksenya, from Ukraine. For dinner I met Joseph (age 20 from Germany), Ksenya, Walter (45 from Austria), Ismael (46 from Turkey), and Phil (40 from Germany).
Anyway, my point is, I was thinking about it last night and I have a laundry list of amazing people I met there: Hedy, Monica, Margaret, Shanti, Rosemary, Anne-Claude, Ismael, Birgit, Ksenya, Walter, Joseph, Elizabeth, Garret, Paulette, Marie, Karin... so many! So although I don't regret leaving (I am happy to be in Bangalore), I am also blessed that I went there. Who knows, maybe it's true, maybe Baba really did call me!
Walter gave me a present to open on the train. I felt like a bit of an ass for saying those things about him last night when I opened up his sweet gift. Mind you, he really is a Baba psycho. The gift he gave me was a little picture of Baba, some ash from Baba's prayer offering (they package it up and sell it which I think is hilarious, it's akin to selling holy water, which I'm sure some people do), a Buddha figurine, and some sweets. He also wrote me a letter about how nice he thinks I am. It was touching.
Enough of that though. I am in Bangalore now. I wish I knew someone my age because I would love to go for a beer. Unfortunately, the family I'm staying with live a little far from downtown so I would be hesitant to go back too late. I think I will risk it a little though and go have a beer and some early dinner before I try and bus back to their place. I would rather take a bus than a rickshaw, especially since I have no idea what it should cost.
Well, didn't do too much sightseeing today so I don't have much to tell yet. The family is super nice and made me lunch today. The baby, Arjun, is very cute and placid.
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