May 21st

Tabla lessons have been progressing with intensity -- lots of hours a
day in small hot rooms, sweating away and pounding on a drum. The
teacher is amazing and I love the way that the learning process works
here. It is very organic and nurturing. And it moves slowly, giving
a very thorough groundwork of technique... In other words, the
guru-student relationship is working for me.

It is a million degrees here. But somehow, it's not terribly
oppressive. Surely there are moments when the sweat is streaming down
all my limbs and I feel like I need to sit and rest -- but the pace
here allows for that. No one expects you to move very fast in the
heat of the day.

If you look up any pictures of Varanasi and happen to see one of Assi
Ghat, that's where you can imagine me spending all my days -- my
teacher lives there on the river, and also runs a pizza restaurant
(complete with stone oven), and a silk shop (you can go ahead and get
excited for the gifts I'll be bringing back!).

Yes, Dad, there are people bathing in the river, and cows wandering
the streets. I haven't seen the rooms full of telemarketers, but I
don't expect that I would be allowed to even if I wanted to :)

Time to head off to practice before a boat ride (dinner and a Sitar
concert on the Ganges tonight). It will be good to get my own
instrument, so that I don't have to always go to my teacher's place to
practice (and wait my turn, since there are three of us taking tabla
and only two sets of drums). But it takes several days for our drums
to be made (the skin must dry in the sun, and the high quality wood
must be carved...) so.

off I go.
love to all,
xo,
el