...but not in a bad way.
Doha is still growing and although it isn't quite ready for the mass amount of people that live here, I do really like it. I like when I get to go out to breakfast or brunch at Jones and (sometimes) just wandering the malls with my friends. The rugby club is always fun and getting to watch friends sing on a Wednesday night is a good break to the week.
Even the long car rides aren't so bad when you have good music and good people in your passenger seat.
But, teaching abroad in a place that allows for easy travel and being able to take advantage of this is by far the number one benefit. I have been able to see things that there is no way I could afford to do if I was paying $2,000/ month for a closet in San Francisco. And although I do miss my family and friends and sometimes feel like their lives are continuing on while I am missing out (hello, engagements!!???), I know that what I experience here will continue with me for the rest of my life.
After only three weeks of work after arriving back from South Africa, I got to set out on a plane to India! Read More...
My friend Danielle had just arrived back from her Christmas break in Portland when she decided it was time for her to go back to India and I got to go along! My original plan for my February break was to lay on an exotic beach somewhere and read my book for seven days straight. Keeping this in mind, we decided on Kerala, a state in southern India known for its beaches and its famous backwaters. After about a day's worth of research we decided to start at a yoga and surf retreat called Soul & Surf and then head up to the backwaters for the end of our trip.
We arrived incredibly early in the morning, but luckily our hotel sent a cab to pick us up.
After taking a red eye, I was a little out of it, but my eyes were not lying when we saw our first elephant! The elephants in this area of India are not always treated the best, so unfortunately it was in the back of a truck. But, it was a bit thrilling to be reminded that I was in India!
We arrived at the hotel around 4 in the morning, so the security guard let us in to sleep on the couches in reception as we were too cheap to book the room for an extra night. Looking back, I kinda wish I had.
At some point after the sun rose, I stumbled around the grounds until I found another place to nap, which I believe was a lounge chair. An hour later, I repeated my process to a different lounge chair. When I finally woke up, there was a group of people having their morning yoga session.
I wandered around for a bit (and actually remembered it this time) before Danielle and I decided to head down to the beach.
We had direct access to the beach, but it was a precarious climb down.
But totally worth the view.
After trying to find out how strong the sun is and whether it was risky business laying out, we finally headed back (climbed) up to the hotel.
I quickly found my favorite place to lounge and read my book.
The best part of all was that the hotel had dogs! There were two dogs that belong to the hotel, and they just lay around for most of the day.
After lazing around for the rest of the day, the next morning I woke up bright and early for my first day of surfing! They provided a small breakfast and coffee (much needed) before we headed to the main Varkala Beach.
I, of course, tried to jump in the pink car as often as possible.
I quickly became accustomed to the main mode of transportation- the tuk-tuk!
which is essentially a tricycle with a clown car on top.
Shower, anyone?
Most of the trip was spent lounging on the grass on the cliff overlooking the water. I watched parasailers fly by and ate delicious falafel from the little restaurant.
One night, they had a pizza night with a surf movie set up.
Soul & Surf is located in North Cliff of Varkala Beach. A small walk away from the hotel was a tiny shopping area.
On the way was a small temple that we wandered through. Danielle had studied religion when she was in India, so it was nice being with someone who knew the culture and could explain a lot of things to me.
In this small shopping area was Benny's, which was famous for its iced coffee.
Seriously, it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g.
As we walked around, we explored the little shops and saw some amazing art.
While at Soul & Surf, I did my morning surf every day, but I was reluctant to try the yoga, as I have never done it before. I am not very good at calming my mind, so I wasn't sure how it would work out.
But, when in India...
I did take one class on the roof deck overlooking the hotel grounds and the ocean. Pretty amazing, I gotta say.
One night, we rode a tuk-tuk down to the Downtown area of Varkala Beach. We had heard there was an amazing dosas place, which is a staple South Indian food. There is a huge paper-thin bread, wafer? I really don't know how to describe it but it is amazing and comes with a ton of different sauces to dip in. We wanted to know how it was made, so Danielle started miming to our waiter (who spoke no English) that we wanted to know how it was made. It took a while, but soon he ushered us into the kitchen.
We wandered into the kitchen, and while surrounded by 20 Indian men, we got to watch how the dosas were made.
Rupee, one of the hotel dogs, was there to greet us when we returned.
We spent one last morning watching the waves before boarding our taxi up to Alleppey. I was soon to learn the real reason for the seat belt...
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