Sunday, April 20, 2008

Viva la Mexico

I forgot to mention that there has been a convention of bankers here this weekend and a note slipped under our door advised us that the “festivities” would be going on until 12:30 or 1:00 in the morning. I’m on the first floor facing the ocean and the courtyard just below our balcony is where the live bands have been setting up. I was actually so tired Friday night that the music did not prevent me from sleeping. I fell asleep in my clothes, on top of the covers and don’t think I ever even rolled over. I stayed up studying last night so I can not honestly say whether all of the fireworks would have woken me up, but man were they loud! Viva la Mexico! Under different circumstances I would have a Margarita with them and just stay up but that first class comes awfully early in the morning and I’m glad the “festivities” ends on Sunday.

Martha showed up today and it was good to see a familiar face from home. For those that do not know, Martha Williams operates the Bikram Studio on Lyndale in Minneapolis. Someone told me that part of her session here would be teaching and being critiqued by Craig afterwards on her performance. Now, throughout my life I have always seemed to be the last to know extracurricular stuff like this and I don’t even know if it’s true, but it’s somehow comforting to know that even she is being analyzed in this setting and no one gets a free pass. I have a funny feeling she’s not quite as concerned about memorization as am I! I look forward to taking some of her classes in this new atmosphere. It really is cool to have such a variety of teachers to listen to and learn from. Everyone has a different style and it seems to me that those who allow their own personality to shine through and connect with people are the teachers that have the best classes. I hope to accomplish that someday as an instructor.

More anatomy and dialogue studies are on the agenda for today as I prepare for an anatomy test tomorrow. After studying a bit last night I have concluded that I will do well tomorrow on the test and should not allow myself to get to overly concerned. I’m a couple of postures ahead with the dialogue but the faster we begin to perform them the quicker I will need to keep memorizing. I see some late nights in my future but I think study buddies will be plentiful as many are scrambling to stay ahead of the curve. Even the ones I thought I had a grasp on have disappeared from the forefront of my memory as the whirlwind that is teacher training sucks me into its vortex. I’ve put my faith in the process and have let go of all of the day-to-day concerns about the minutia. Upon reflection, letting go and relaxing a bit is something I need to work on in all aspects of my life.

I ate well again today and had a nap in between bouts of medication and memorization. The cold seems to have settled in my chest and I now sound worse than I actually feel. I have some deep sounding pipes at the moment and my voice wears out rather quickly, but a couple of classes should clear my congestion up. Naturally, it’s worse first thing in the morning after being on my back all night but after the first class things loosen up. I’m hoping to have cleared this hurdle by midweek and other than the way I sound, I actually feel pretty good.

I had a hamburger today at a restaurant and I imagine had someone been watching me they would have described me eating this burger like your dog does when you sneak something to him under the table. A little bit of a head jerk, then some lip smacking, then that tongue that cleans like your car’s windshield wipers. Actually, it wasn’t that bad, but I could not get over how good that meat tasted to me. I was actually asked earlier in the week if I had been having any unusual cravings and my answer was a quick no. This of course as I was sopping up the Kikkoman’s soy sauce I had put onto my broccoli with a croissant as if it were liquid gold. I’m eating what sounds good and what my body craves. My guess is that I have lost about 10 pounds so far. I just have to continue to eat and drink enough so I don’t repeat the cramping episode I encountered earlier in week one. I didn’t quite eat the volume of food I did last Sunday but still feel as if I ate enough. Good sleeps tonight without the live band outside my window and week 3 will commence in 7 hours and 30 minutes.