business with beggers..

I can do a headstand!! After weeks of seeing Jake do headstands every day and practicing and practicing at yoga class, I finally can stand on my head! It's exhilerating, exciting, and such a rush. I also feel so much stronger now that I can balance myself. However, just as I felt my asana practice getting so strong, I went and ruptered the tendon behind my left knee. It's frustrating, but probably a good thing that I'll rest my knee for a week (and I have to wear a little kneecap for a month). And I also got to experience Indian hospitals! The ayurvedic doctor I was seeing told me that I had ruptered it, but as a West meets East medicine kind of girl, I wanted to confirm it with an allopathic doctor (thanks to Jake's encouragement as well). Caught a ride to the hospital in Anjuna, walked in (after taking shoes off, which still weirds me out, but does keep the floor clean), was greeted by a friendly woman who told me to go across the hall where I was greeted by two nurses and two doctors. They brought me directly into a smaller examining room, looked at me knee, told me it was in fact a ruptered tendon, gave me the brace and muscle relaxers (I stopped short with the pain killer injection) and brought me outside to pay the 400 rupee bill (approximately 10 dollars). I was in and out in 15 minutes (and the hospital wasn't empty by any means). Compared to my experiences in US hospitals, this was a breeze!!! Not that I want to go to the hospital again anytime soon, but considering how bad it could have been, it was pleasant.

Last night we went and saw a band called Prem Joshua (check them out on the web). They're German but they play Indian classical instruments with some Western instruments. Any band that plays a tune called "Funky Guru" is all right with me. And tomorrow Paul McCartney's WEDDING BAND is playing here! They're a celtic raga band, which is great in itself! What a funny way to advertise...

Also had a strange experience today. This morning I went to the market early to pick up some things to send home and I was followed around for 20 minutes by a begger girl. I asked if she wanted me to buy her food and she said no, and kept singing a prayer and grabbing my hand. She was the most persistent girl I've ever seen, so finally I gave her a few rupees. She went away for a few minutes but then she found me again and gave me back the rupees and asked for 50 rupees! I actually started laughing I was so surprised! I took the money back and she continued to follow me around. Finally I lost her in the crowd, but it might have looked strange to an outside observer to see a white western woman taking money from a small begger girl. Hmm new things every day. We leave Goa soon and I'll be sad to leave, but I'm excited to move on to different places. Lots to see!