Blessings

As my time here in Espana slowly wraps up, I´m filled with so much gratitude for all that I have experienced, received, learned, and had the opportunity to see. For the past few years, I have constantly thought about embarking on a trip to Spain. But every time I thought about pursuing the trip, I made an excuse about work, money, family responsibilities, etc. I knew the trip would be a catalyst to letting go of the stress and heaviness of life. But at the same time, I was afraid that I no longer knew how to be a free spirit or enjoy life like I used to. Was it even in me? This internal battle went on for sometime.

It wasn´t until last year that something inside of me shifted. My cousin, who was like a brother to me, passed away unexpectedly. The loss of my cousin forced me to look deeper and to really understand the true gift of life. I´ve always been able to see the little moments and small things in life. But it occurred to me that most of the time my mind is in the past or the future, but rarely in the present. My cousin was in his early twenties when he passed away. I felt great pain and sadness for all that he will not be able to see and experience. I decided that I would live my life even more to the fullest and carry his spirit with me wherever I go. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of him. It is through this healing process and promise that I pushed myself to let go of so much to discover something new and unknown. The goal was for me to be, to experience each moment, and to see once again the deeper layers within me that were once buried.

I´m bound to have culture shock when I go home. I mean if nothing else eating early is going to be weird! But there are so many wonderful things to look forward to as I pack my bags and head home this Thursday. I feel more prepared to take on the challenges and joys that await me at home.

Thanks!!!!
First of all I want to thank my love and best friend, Neerav. He has held my hand as I have walked this path. His support, love, patience, and understanding gave me so much strength. I could not have done this without him.

My family rocks! My parents and siblings have always supported me in my endeavors no matter how crazy they are! Thanks for always being there and loving me.

My amigos......where would I be without my wonderful friends. You guys know who you are. You all brighten my days, share my sorrows, listen to my stories, share laughs and so much more with me. You all truly uplift my spirit. I´ve learned so much from you all and carried this with me on my journey.

Couchsurfer Hosts
Roser and Arnau were our hosts for Barcelona. It was a welcomed reprie from staying at the hostals. They opened up their wonderful home to us and showed us around Barcelona. Their bright, sweet, and loving personalities made our visit to Barcelona a great one! We hope to see them in California next year....so we can return the favor!

And finally, thanks to everyone who read this blog and followed me on this journey. I haven´t decided yet if I will continue to blog, only time will tell.

In gratitude, Trushna

Madrid, then Barcelona

Hola amigos!

So mi marido, mi hermano, y mi primo arrived in Granada just fine. Though they did have trouble finding me since my cell phone reception in the apartment was terrible. Sorry guys!

I introduced the family to Granada for two days, then we headed over to Seville for another few days. Seville is a beautiful city with a lot to offer (including tons of one ways streets that would not allow us to drive close to the city center where the hostal resided). Plaza de Espana was beautiful. The Plaza was featured as the planet(Naboo)of Queen Amidala in Star Wars. Someone (Neerav) was very excited about this. We also did several other things in Seville,but I will have to write about it at another time since I still have to pack up for tomorrow. After Seville, we headed down to Tarifa (the southern most tip of Spain). From there we headed to Gibraltar for a day trip. We rounded out the week´s trip in Madrid last night. My brother and cousin flew out this morning. I had a wonderful time hanging out with everyone and it was so great to have family visit. It was like having a piece of home with me. : )

Tomorrow, Neerav and I are headed to Barcelona. We are staying with a Catalan couple via couchsurfing. Barcelona´s annual festival is this weekend so there should be tons of fun stuff to see and partake in. I really hope Barcelona lives up to the hype.

I will return to Madrid on Wed. and then fly out on Thursday. My time has flown by here and I´ve had so many fond memories to take home.

Bittersweet

So today is my last day at the school. I will likely come tomorrow morning to show the family around, but all classes end today. It´s a bittersweet kind of feeling, a part of me is really going to miss the ambiance of the school. Everyone hear shares a similar passion for the arts whether its flamenco dance, the guitar, or the duende (flamenco singing). Almost everyday someone is practicing the guitar in the lobby or someone is clapping the beats, or someone is stomping away in the dance studios. It´s been really magical. Life is good. : )

I hope to post a video soon. Don´t expect too much, I´m a beginner at this! : )

At the same time, I do not want to hold on to these last two months. I´m open and ready to see what other adventures await me. Neerav, Arpan, and Ritesh are arriving later this afternoon in Granada. So while I´m sad school is ending, I´m elated to see my family.

This morning, I had my last compas class and it was amazing. A local singer from Granada sang in our class while my teacher played the guitar. It was a great way to see the flamenco rhythms and beats in action. We all had a great time laughing, asking questions, and just watching the interaction between the guitarist and singer. The singer´s voice was amazing. He had so much control over his voice that he could raise and drop it many times over. In some ways, similar to Indian ghazals. Believe me when I say that it is something completely different to see these singers perform live. It can give you goosebumps! I mean they sing their hearts out. Hands go up in the air sometimes, faces squinting to pull the voice from within, faces turning red, nerves popping from their neck and forehead; it´s a very impressive and passionate art form.

One of the highlights of this week was a trip last night to the Baños Arabes. It is a spa-like place built similar to the old Muslim Hammams. The place has 7 different shaped pools with varying degrees of temperature. One of the pools is cold water. You are supposed to alternate between the cold and warm pools. The place is dimly lit with only candles. There are several beautiful muslim archways, Moroccan lamps, soft music and a sitting area for people to sip Moroccan mint tea. The Baños were not as quiet as I had hoped since so many people were there last night, but nevertheless it was very relaxing. And oh yes, you also get a 15 minute back or foot massage with your visit. My roommate and I felt sooo good after we left. We topped off the night with dinner at a nice pizza restaurant. A big treat for me as I´ve been eating mostly at home. This was a great way to end my last week in Granada. The baños were a wonderful treat especially after two months of dancing, walking around town, and climbing up and down monsterous hills.

Thanks to everyone whose been reading or following along. It´s been fun writing the blog. Entries from here on out may be more sporadic as I´ll be traveling from place to place for the next two weeks.

Life is good!

Last Week in School

Time flies....I´ve already begun my last week here at Carmen de las Cuevas. Dance classes continue to get more difficult as I move up and learn more and more. I find it is a welcome challenge as I do not feel stagnant. I began taking compas classes last week. The classes teach students how to clap out the beats. Basically, the palmeros (clappers)assist in creating the tempo, increasing the speed, and bringing more force to the art form of flamenco. The compas class is difficult this week because we are learning contra beats and rebeca (beats in between the contra beats). It takes a lot of focus and listening. Having no background in music and never having played an instrument, I´m learning how to refine my listening and beat counting skills. Earlier this week, I was a bit disappointed that I couldn´t catch on as fast as I hoped, especially since last week I did so well in class. But I had to quickly remind myself that getting frustrated was taking me further from where I want to be. It was interesting to watch the mind as all of this unfolded in less than 5 minutes. My mind quickly jumped to comparing myself to others, to what people think of me, and how I´m now inferior becasue I can´t get all the clapping beats. My body became tense, I began to feel like I didn´t care about the task at hand anymore, I felt the heat rise up in my face, and soon I was left feeling like I didn´t want to be there anymore. Observing this in me propelled me to go deeper and thus not let the emotion take me over to the extent it has in the past. For a few moments, I just watched my fellow students as they conquered all the claps and beats with grace and perfection. I applauded them,¨Muy bien, Ole!¨. It reinforced the idea that another´s success does not me one own´s failure. That small shift in perspective has made it easier for me to learn at a pace that I´m happy and comfortable with. I do not feel the feeling or anxiety of ¨againstness¨ that I once felt. A feeling that I was not even aware of until the other day. So everything happens for a good reason!

Pues, there is so much more to say...but isn´t there always! I will write again soon. Things have been busy since I´m gearing up to receive the family (Neerav, Arpan, & Ritesh) and also finalize things before I have to leave my apartment.

I hope everyone is doing well and thriving. Abrazos!

Karma Kitchen Part 2

Sorry to leave folks hanging for so long, but I finally have some time to finish the Karma Kitchen story.

A few weeks ago, I had to prepare a final 15 minute presentation in Spanish on a topic of my choice. At first, I didn't find any topic that really excited me. So I decided to lay low and let it come to me. When I woke up on Thursday morning, it hit me, Karma Kitchen!!

As many of you know, it is already difficult enough at times to explain Karma Kitchen and gift enconmy in English, so explaining it in Spanish was a challenge. Nevertheless, it was something I was tremendously excited about and really really wanted to share with my teacher and fellow students.

I quickly discovered that I would have to break down the concept so it's easier to write and speak about, and easier for others to understand. I began the presentation with, "Imagine. You all are in a wonderful restaurant enjoying delicious food prepared with love. After your meal, the waitress brings you the check. The check has a total of $0 with a message about paying it forward. How would you feel? or react?" At this point of the presentation, people were making faces that clearly depicted confusion. I explained the concept in further detail and mentioned Pay-It-Forward again. Slowly throughout the presentation more and more excited faces were asking questions and listening more closely..."Where is this place? When does it take place? I don't have to pay anything?" As the questions poured in I too was getting even more excited. It was difficult to stay focused and answer these questions in Spanish as I was ready to start speaking English so I could blurt out at a million miles per hour just what Karma Kitchen was and all the amazing stories that have come about through this magical place.

My teacher was blown away by the concept. She was sitting very quietly and smiling. I could feel she was very touched by the concept and the presentation. I reinforced in my presentation that Karma Kitchen is so much more than a restaurant. The restaurant is only a means for people to gather, to share, to give, and to receive. The real heart of the concept are the volunteers, the staff, and the guests. I ended the presentation with an anecdote I read about on the CharityFocus blog, "Food Thief".

As I finished my presentation, my teacher said, "Very Good! I have goosebumps from listening to your presentation. This is an amazing concept." I smiled and said, "Gracias". As I walked out the classroom, I smiled to myself and felt blessed. I was thankful for being apart of Karma Kitchen, thankful for being able to share it with everyone in class, and very grateful to all those people who have helped me further open my heart and mind while being apart of this wonderful experiment in generosity.

My roommate came home from class yesterday and said, "The teacher mentioned you in class today. She was talking about your presentation and how it almost made her cry. She was very touched and excited about Karma Kitchen."

On this same note, I spent Sunday afternoon hanging out with my roommate. While we were talking over a nice glass of cool lemonade, Karma Kitchen came up somehow. I spent the next 45 minutes talking all about it and sharing various acts of kindness stories. My roommate is finishing her Masters in social work. She currently works a lot with the youth educating them about culture, diversity, and other things. She would love to start something like Karma Kitchen in Germany she said, but right now she just doesn't have time. She is very excited to share this concept with people back home.

And finally, I really miss Vaishnuji's momos. I've talked about the momos to several people and each time my mouth waters! Give my regards to everyone at Karma Kitchen. I'm always thinking about you all on Sunday afternoon. : )

Karma Kitchen

I forgot to write this post last week. But here it is. I will initially have to keep it brief as I'm out of Internet time.

Last week in my Spanish conversation class, we each had do a 15 minute presentation in Spanish about whatever topic we'd like. After a few days, I still had not figured out my topic. So Thursday morning when I awoke, it came to me....Karma Kitchen! I wrote out the information Thursday afternoon and presented it in class on Friday.

I'll have to leave you in suspense for now.

Must go.

Will write later.

Flamenco

It's almost the end of my 5th week here in Spain. I still can't believe its been over a month already. There is still so much to do and see. I haven't spent much of my time rushing around to monuments or partying all night. I've had a healthly balance of it all and thats just what I wanted.

This week I started flamenco choregraphy classes and they are proving to be very difficult. The main reason this class is much harder is because I'm learning Bulerias. Bulerias is a particular rhythm that is danced in flamenco. The Bulerias is known for its element of surprise and improv. This means we are studying compas (rhythms) and counts to figure out when to start, stop, and improvise dance routines. It's similar to Kathak in many ways, but the counts are a bit different. Also the entire song can be broken up however the singer and guitarist choose so the dancer is left to improvise with the beats. We are all beginners so getting down the general idea and concept of how these songs and rhythms are broken up is the most important part. The dance is build up with the basic foundation movements of flamenco. All of this is slightly made more difficult because all the explanations are done in Spanish. I understand most of it all, but its a matter of translating it into the body's movement. Creating that connection between the mind and the body.

This is also the first week that I'm sore from my classes and all the steep hill climbing to and from school 2-3 times a day. Spain is the 2nd hillest country in Europe behind Swizterland. My school is located up two major steep hills which I go up and down several times a day since I have gaps in my schedule. My roommate and I keep saying that it will all be worth it in the end because we will have very nice firm legs and butts! : ) I really hope she is right!

Nothing else to report from here. I hope everyone back home is doing well and thriving. I want to let you all know that I've thought of you all many a times and I carry you all with me in my heart. I look forward to sharing my journey and hearing about your journeys when I return.