Arriving in Goa

Finally I am able to sit down and write my first blog post in India! What a crazy schedule we have had! I write this as I am half way through my 2nd week. Flying solo to India was an experience within itself, after a few tears leaving my dad at the airport and the encouraging words, “this is your time to shine” from my mum resonating in my mind I was well on my way to Goa. I flew to Mumbai and got a connecting flight to Goa. On this hour flight I got to watch the sun rising over India, it was such a peaceful welcoming into my home for the next few weeks.

Luckily I had arranged to meet a girl off the course called Carolyn, from the US at the airport from the same internal flight which made it a little less scary. We found our airport transfer along with another girl off our course, Emma from the UK who believe it or not went to the same school as me!

The drive from the airport in my jet lag bubble was an experience. From the luscious green hills and palm trees, to herds of cows in the middle of the road, crazy driving skills from every driver who acted like they had never taken a driving test in their life, to driving through small towns filled with people getting ready to start their day on any means necessary. India was just how I imagined, the people, way of life, smells, scenery, there was just so much to take in.

After an hour or so, just as I was getting comfy we arrived in Agonda, at Sampoorna yoga village at approx 8am. We were shown our rooms (cottages) and realised we were one of the first people to arrive. I sat in my room a bit bewildered by the change in cultures and finally being alone in such a foreign place. My roommate had not yet arrived so I got to call first dibs on beds shortly before having an afternoon nap. I woke up to another backpack in the room but with no one there… After a little walk around the yoga village I came back and finally met my roomie for the month, Clara from Sweden!

We got ready for the welcome meeting in the main shala where we met the other 31 people on our course. One by one we gave our names, where we were from and what we wanted to get out of the course. After having dinner together and a lot of introductions and repeating ourselves it was nice to hear the general theme of other people not being as physically and probably mentally prepared as me, so it felt comforting that we were all ready to soak up all this new knowledge and experiences together.