Mexico

[Greg]

For dinner?

[Drunk Monk]

Chacala means place of shrimp or something like that. I’ve eaten so much shrimp. Yesterday was taco Tuesday and there was 5 kinds of tacos, a vegan one, 2 fish & 2 shrimp. I ate too many and it caught me with harsh heartburn afterwards at yoga - couldn’t handle the inversions. The night before was shrimp lasagna and I had like 3 servings.

Gotta ease up on the coffee too. Unlimited local organic coffee catches up to my heartburn even with copious non-dairy dilution.

I’m crazy sore, like I was when I trained at Shaolin in 95 & 96. Deep hardcore sore. But not injured. Taking all my attention to not hurt myself like I did last year. 

It’s a great crew this year. Fascinating classmates. We are 30 strong with one young cute couple but most around our age or older. Lots of grandparents. And they are kick ass yogis. A lot of remarkable characters. Stacy is killing it. There was a moment when out teacher pulled 3 students aside to demonstrate an asana and the other two were more advanced but Stacy was the only one with proper alignment. 

We are past the halfway point already. 

Been reading Iyengar’s Light on Life as a class assignment but haven’t been keeping up well.

[Drunk Monk]

The farm tour was cool. It’s amazing that one woman built all this and is still building. Self sustaining, organic, community building, so inspirational. 

Two dogs were fucking as we stopped in the cafeteria to sample some of their products (peanut butter, mango jam, hibiscus jam & jackfruit salsa). The dogs got stuck, much to the astonishment of those there that didn’t now that happens to dogs sometimes. They got free before we left.

There have been 2 casualties. One was a possible calf muscle tear, a previous injury that wasn’t tolerating the practice. The other was either a stingray sting or a yellow-bellied sea snake bite. It’s got infected and that person had to leave the retreat center for better medical care. I’m sadden that I didn’t see the welt, from a strictly medical curiosity.

The outdoor hottub has been fixed. Stacy said it was plenty hot, which means it’s boiling. I may indulge tomorrow.

I’m wearing a free shirt I got last every day. I still have more. I got like a dozen free shirts last year, all of them cool. 

Several of the students here are teachers. It’s an eclectic group, fascinating conversions mostly. A lot of Santa Cruz wisdom here and not just about yoga. Stacy doesn’t want our classmates to know that we’ve been to India and studied directly under Iyengar. She thinks that will reflect poorly as our practices haven’t been that great since becoming parents - I don’t really care how were perceived but I honor her wishes of secrecy. Honestly I’m sort of a yoga poseur. I can fake some of it from my Kung Fu but that only gets so far. And I’ve lost what little strength and flexibility I had. But I enjoy the practice. It can be so mind altering. 

This trip is flying by. Last year we were here for the same amount of time and it felt lengthy but this time, it’s like it’s racing by. 

There were five iguanas watching my qigong practice today. They say you’re doing your qigong right when you attract animals. Last year, it was the crocodile. Can’t it be kittens? This place has a big colony of feral cats. They’re tiny, but mostly friendly. There are also a lot of large spiders, like big as a mouse, in fat jungle webs.

I think I’m skipping sea swimming. Kinda freaked out about the sea snake / stingray. They say to beware of where the pelicans are because they’re feasting on fish and drop bits that attract the rays. The pelicans are everywhere.

[Drunk Monk]

Now there is dancing

[Drunk Monk]

Saw more whales on the boat ride after the hike but they were super far away.

The salsa band was more of a native band - a 3-piece - quite good. After the music, hung out with some of the other yogis for some delightful conversation. Stacy went to bed early. Two of the yogini women invited me to go hot tubbing afterwards. They’re there now. But I figured it was more prudent to go back to the room because I am a good husband. Stacy is fast asleep. I’m still being good.

Also saw a coati near our room - it’s a Mexican raccoon - longer snout, thinner with super long tails. Stacy thought it was a jaguar at first but it was too small. Beautiful beast.

Only 1 iguana watched my qigong today and bailed quickly. I’m too deep in yoga mode and it’s messing with my qigongfu. 

Our stingray victim had a 2nd clinic trip where they pulled out more sand and 3 stinger bits. Wading in the ocean a tiny bit after our hike but not into swimming now. Saw a dead stingray on the beach - tiny - like 6” - but wicked looking. Wish I snapped a pic. Haven’t been taking that many pics. I’ll shoot more tomorrow, our penultimate day (although our bus to be airport leaves at 10, so Saturday will be minor).

Something is biting me. I’ve got a dozen plus teeny bites on my legs and arms. They aren’t bad, itchy but no bigger than pin pricks. 

This vacation went by too fast.

[Drunk Monk]

Gassed out on my penultimate yoga session. The ropes caught some sunburn on my inner thigh in an inversion, then the salsa came back at me hard during another inversion, plus I folded a support chair and fell out, then I got a massive foot cramp, then I had to poo. Shoulda quit while I was ahead.

Did some cursory packing - will finish tomorrow. Started thinking about all the responsibilities I’ve been dodging in the default world. My mom’s caretakers told me she has another cold. Can hardly wait to see Yuki.

[King Bob]

Well at least no sharting.

[Drunk Monk]

Indeed. Always a bit self conscious that some twisted pose might elicit some explosive reaction. That would be bad.

Yoga can cause queefing.

[Drunk Monk]

At PVR. Lost my water bottle because I forgot to empty it and they toss the whole thing. It was a nice bottle, got it free at sdcc and covered it with stickers. Flight on time.

[Drunk Monk]

Landed SFO

Now trying to gather our group for our shuttle back to the Cruz.

[Greg]

Woo-hoo!

[Drunk Monk]

Mar de Jade has manduka mats, which are quite nice. But now my meta is flooded with manduka ads and I’m not sure how meta figured that out. I never said the name. At one point, I looked at the label through my iPhone to see if I could read the size. Stacy searched them out online, but those are the only ways meta might have found out. 

Creepy beasts these iPhones are.

Also saw another coati last night. Might’ve been the same one because it was in the same place around the same time. Got a better look tho because I knew what to look for. Beautiful animal.

[Drunk Monk]

Every time I try to reenter the US from Mexico, I get searched. When we crossed the border to get Stacy some dental work, I was stopped because I forgot I had an apple in my pack. Last time to Mar de Jade, I was pulled aside for a random spot check just before I boarded the plane. Same thing happened this time, plus I lost my SDCC free water bottle that I had been covering with cool stickers because I forgot to empty it. And then, I got stopped exiting SFO - an alarm went off as I went through some detectors and me and a woman got pulled aside and asked to show our passports. We didn’t have to open them, just show them. The woman was annoyed and as we walked on, she said ‘What was that about? Is it because I’m the only black person here?’ I said ‘I’m the only Asian here now but this is SF. What the hell?’ We smirked together and brushed it off like you do in such situations.

[Drunk Monk]

I suffered about two dozen bites on my legs, left arm and shoulders, plus one on my forehead. They were like pinpricks at first, but the scabs keep breaking and then they bleed. Been taking epsom salt baths, which sting at first, but they stay sterile. The one of my forehead is prominent, like my third eye trying to open, but being slightly off target.

[Drunk Monk]

Damn. I’m tore up. 

Those bites have all scabbed, peeled, bled and scabbed again only covering more surface area. I am peppered with scabs. Here I hoped I’d get some sun on my rarely exposed legs and the tan might hide the scars some more, but now I’ve got little scabs everywhere. 

My skin just doesn’t heal like it used to. Scars, even tiny ones, last forever. And I bruise easily now, not necessarily painfully but colorfully. I blame the blood thinners. I’ve been wrasslin with a wart on my thumb for a year and a half. And don’t get me started on the random blemishes. Melanin gets funky with age. 

At the very least, each scab is a reminder that I was in paradise not long ago, where I feasted on fresh papaya and lime every morning and ate fresh shrimp and fish at night, lay in a hammock to read, nap, or watch pelicans in the surf, and all I had to do was 4 hours of yoga a day.