This post covers the period from April 15 to May 1.
I went from Anzac to the train station in the morning because of the ten o'clock check out time. I found a baggage drop point at the station and after leaving my stuff, I started to roam through the nearby markets. There are a rows of temporary buildings on a raised platform above the trains next to a huge taxi rank. It is sunny and the structures are the white. I ran into Bashir. He offered me some pot. I gave him some Rizzlas. I read until the train left. I talked to a card dealer on the train. After a three hour trip to cover around 125km, I got out at the Worcester station. Someone advised to avoid walking, so I got a lift from the family of the card dealer to a hotel that wanted about one hundred USD for one night. I got someone from the center to take me there. Kevin showed me to room nine.
In the morning, after a group sit, he assigned me to be the helper of Blessing. Blessing is a maintenance guy. We insulated the Dhamma hall in the morning and in the evening, we installed space heaters. I talked to Ziya, a Flemish woman serving long term while I ate. Of course, men and women are not supposed to eat together, so that was a mistake.
The next day, Blessing and I cleaned the hall and put in the mats. People arrived in increasing frequency until the evening meal, miso soup. The orientation was somewhat uneventful.
The course started on the morning of the fifteenth. We took vows of silence. We also promised to abstain from killing, stealing, lying, sex, and drugs. During the first three and a half days of meditation, we focused on breathing, in Anaconda meditation. The first day we are to be aware of the natural breath. When we meditate, we breathe through the nose. The second involves concentration on the nose, to see what sensations arise. On the third day we feel for the touch of the breath, equanimously acknowledging sensations as we encounter them. The aim of the first three days is to develop awareness.
I felt like I was digging out bad habits. As old students, we are not supposed to eat after noon, sleep on luxurious beds, or engage in any form of sensual entertainment. I slept on the floor, took lemon water at tea time, and kept other activities to a minimum. I did wash a lot of clothes throughout the course. Occasionally, I took walks for exercise, but I was careful to avoid both looking at the landscape and being idle in the sun. There was a storm on day one and it was very cold for the next two days. I told the teacher that I have difficulty being aware of my breath without controlling when I inhale.
On day three, Saturday the twentieth, we started Vipassana meditation, a body scan. I underwent immense pain during instructions for this type of meditation. It forced me two change posture twice. I wanted to stick with Anaconda. The discomfort was less intense later. I moderated the pain by using techniques of scanning that that were not yet taught in this course.
On the third day, the instruction is to scan part by part from head to toe. The rule is to. Move from one spot when a sensation is on that spot. On the fourth day we scan the left and right limbs simultaneously. On the fifth, we move from toe to head as well. I tell the teacher that I feel my awareness of the part of the body that I scan. He commended my trouble as an achievement. On the sixth day, the instruction is to increase the area of each piece, cutting back to small pieces when scanning is difficult. I started to follow the daily instructions, with the help of reversion to Anapanna under stress. I asked for permission for these reversion from the teacher on the seventh. He advised me to continue.
On the last few days, I did not change postures very much. I made an effort to stay on the surface of my body as much as possible. There was no instruction to do so. I was curious about my bone structure. I partitioned the parts of my torso based on the the spine. Also, I made an effort to take entire hours for either Vipassana or Anapanna, but not both. Neither was there an instruction for this. I was able to sit over ten hours on the last few days.
Breakfast was a highlight. There was bread and either porridge or oatmeal. Also, both cooked prunes and fruit were available. I drank tea with breakfast and I drank ginger water with lunch. I found there to be too many fennel seeds in a few of the lunches. I unknowingly put way too much Marmite on some bread on the miso night.
There was a big difference between this and the first course I sat. New students were allowed popcorn in the evening! Ugh, it was so intoxicating a smell. I saw two guys use olive oil in a weird way: one drank it straight, another put it is fresh squeezed orange juice.
I met some cool people there. Luc, the male manager, has traveled for ten years. My roommate is an Israeli living in Fish Hoek. He advised me to practice daily and complimented me on being involved at such a young age. The guy next to me was an Californian traveling the world after selling a condominium. A guy, Luyanda, told me about a wedding tradition in which the groom bargains with the parents of the bride about a price for the bride. The funds transfered to the parents go to wedding gifts. I told him about my life during the summer of twenty ten and the following academic year. He was a great listener. Joe a business man who ate a live baby mouse in China. He has a big hard rock album collection. Igor told us that the evolution of humans from the beginning of the universe brought us to the level of involution, in which we look inside ourselves in order to reach the next stage. He is staying for long term service. He eats slowly and moves gracefully. Peter, a new student with whom I ate miso, gave me a chance to put into perspective my previous experience with Goenka teaching. I was not frequently able tell Olwetho from Luyando. I met a cool guy who ate ridiculously fast and slept little. He wrote a fantasy novel when he was thirteen. He asked me, about a orientated of magnets, whether it will lift a car. He is a certified chef and he like to hike.
Marcus is a really genuine guy who believes everything to be findable in anything. We got a ride with Susan from Marissa, a girl from Providence trying to establish an Acro Yoga class in Cape Town. Susan is a a hybrid between a teacher and a caregiver that worked in a chicken factory.
I took a bed in 33 South Boutique Backpackers on Trill Street in Observatory. The main road has a anarchist bookshop. I started a novel by Kurzweil. There was a poetry reading going on behind me. I got a delicious herbal tea. Two guys walked in with some music equipment in the late afternoon. The singer laughed a lot. He had a great voice.
I talked with my parents in the evening. The canned vegetable curry I bought was not good. In the morning of the twenty ninth, I ate some complimentary breakfast. The jam was so delicious. It was made from fruit grown by the owner. Also, were good chocolate muffins. I spent the day in City Center after Madam Taitou, an Ethiopian restaurant. I had a nice thyme tea. I had roasted greens, potatoes with cabbage, and a spiced chickpea blend served with sour wraps and salad. In the evening, a man tells me that when Apartheid ended, another one started. First there was suppression of non whites, now there is suppression of non blacks.
Tuesday was quite hectic, but it was really fun. I went to Wynberg in a taxi bus to retrieve the package my mom sent. I walked through both some busy streets and a beautiful residential neighborhood. I caught Alf while he was working on his bike. I had pasta Primavera in Pasta Primi. I didn't like the olive oil but I sat near a guy who seemed to know about computers. I took another taxi bus to Newlands. I walked through a very ritzy area. Lots of the trim was green and most of the buildings were white. I grabbed some yogurt at a Wackaberry. I tried to get red velvet but I got some berry flavor that totally overpowered the cake batter. I realized, while championing this mistake to offset the difficulty of a prolonged but mild ascent to Newland Ave., that my tastes are changing.
The Malagasy Consulate greeted me a bit awkwardly. I was told by the door guy that visa applications are accepted in the morning and processed in the afternoon. After I assured him I just wanted information, he showed me upstairs. I got a form that I didn't read. Instead, I started talking about staying in Madagascar for a year to learn the language, culture, and rice farming. A woman said I could get a three month visa extended while in the country. A man said that is not alright. He said in this world, people are things. He asked what I am. I said that I am a United States citizen. He says that long term visas are issued to investors, missionaries, and researchers. There is a lot of paperwork to be done well in advance for such issues. He suggests I commence.
I get a delicious vegetable samosa from a Shell station. After taking a bite, I return to the station to ask whether it is really vegetarian. I get on a final taxi bus that is banging hip hop. I am so happy that I get off early to go to a pool hall. I chicken out because people inside glare at me as I approach. Instead, I run some errands. I eat a late dinner.
I spend the first of May on the Internet. My adapter broke so I go to an Internet cafe. I spruce up my resume, buy plane tickets, get a travel plan for one of my bank accounts, and learn that one of my bank cards has outdated information. That account is now frozen until further notice. Lunch I take in a Chinese place. I get my new favorite dish: rice with vegetables and brown sauce. An employee of the hotel anddrives me to the airport. The guy and girl next to me talked about skiing in Vermont. They switched seats abruptly before I joined the conversation.
I have an easy night in Joburg although I did find it odd that there was no sink in the kitchen of the airport hostel. Barcelona had it worse, losing 7-0 to a BAY. Before security in the Cape Town airport, I get a mean bowl of muesli with for and yogurt. It wasn't as good as the Jomsom variety, but diced honeydew is noteworthy.
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