Friday, June 16, 2006

First Day in London

Was fairly uneventful.

My family has a huge german shephard that doesn't like anyone else. So during the day I left the house so he could roam. Went to the library, figuring I could transfer my stuff off my hard drive to laptop, but I didn't have an adapter. Went to the library for a bit. Began to read The Prophet. (side: viral/guri- great book, easy read- thanks!) I absolutely loved the passage on giving. I don't have the book on me right now, but I share that and my reflections on it soon.

After spending my max hr on the net, I had an hour or so to kill before I could head home, I figured what better time to meditate since my practice has been lagging amidst the hecticness of packing, etc. I found a church nearby and they were having noon mass. Thanks to Tash, I kind of knew of how things would work. It was very refreshing to have a chance to sit and meditate =)

The rest of the day was spent with my aunt and relaxing. Had some great conversations about girls, marriage, etc. The next few days I feel are going to pass similarly without too many time pressures. A nice way to unwind before all that will be and is India.

Interesting recent observations about the ethnic mix of my surroundings:
1) At vipassana- i realized that there is some diversity that Cali just does not have. While in Cali, I never came across a guyanese person or someone from the west indies nor people from the carribean, while people from these places are found all over toronto. toronto wouldn't be complete without caribana. Also where are the greeks?
2) My flight to London was packed with Muslims. I was actually quite surprise. There were Muslims from all over the world, which reminded me again of how prevalent this religion is all over the globe.
3) Tooting is South Asian central!
4) Interesting comparison of South Asian culture in London vis a vis Canada and the USA (those two are really different also)

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