Whew…

I finally have a few moments to myself after the whirlwind the last few days. We had a bunch of guests this weekend…most of whom left on Monday. Now it is just the Sada Sats, one couple and I at the Borgo. It is amazing how much work goes into running this place. All 3 of us could run morning to night and still have an amazing “to do” list. Luckily, the Sada Sats are very graceful in allowing time to relax, time to enjoy meals and time for yoga. So while it feels like a lot of work it is well balanced and actually quite fulfilling. I had my first Italian massage client. Chance and I had rigged up a set up for me to work on until the Sada Sats get the massage table. (Which, hopefully,will be before the end of this month). It was a bit awkward working without a headpiece, for example, but it went fine. She loved it and was telling others they should get work done too, which didn’t end up happening due to schedule. But it was very encouraging that many people who come here will want to get massages…which is basically the only way I am going to have any hope of financing the end of my trip…ay! It will all work out, I have faith that everything will unfold exactly as it is supposed to. Announcements: This first announcement will, no doubt, come as a shock to those who have known me for many years (family…this means you.) Here it comes…. I now like tomatoes, even raw ones! The tomatoes here are like nothing I have ever tasted…even canned tomatoes in Italy are fantastic. Honestly to make red sauce all we do is sauté some onion and garlic and then add a can of chopped tomatoes…and it is the best tasting sauce ever. Wow. Unfortunately, the next announcement will not surprise many…I still do not like olives. I tried some that were deemed “SO good” by many others at the table and they still tasted like I imagine poison tastes…so, tomatoes in, olives out. Also, I talked before about how excited I am to learn cooking tips and recipes from Sada Sat Kaur…she has been thinking about doing a cookbook, but never has the time to do it…so I am taking very good notes inthe kitchen and hopefully we will put together a cookbook that will be available for sale some time in the not too distant future. Yea! (Already we have Ravioli con Borro e’ Salvia and a fantastic lentil soup) Some of the cooking tips I’ve been getting apparently everyone else already knows: like when you cook pasta you are supposed to have lots of water because then the noodles can move around more and cook more evenly. I always thought less water was better because it would boil faster…oops. That related to the biggest thing I’ve learned from SSK so far…you must be patient in cooking. (This will be a challenge for me…I’m upto it.) Yesterday I went to Sansepolcro to visit the Internet point to upload pictures (which you should be able to view at http://www.kelseylumpkin.shutterfly.com). It also happened to be Sansepolcro's market day…so I got to check out my first Italian market. It was both exactly what I expected and completely different. My romanticized thoughts about market day were small vegetable and fruit stalls, maybe a few people selling cheese and a few tables selling locally made, high quality items (like maybe fantastic jewelry, thick sweaters, beautiful leather Italian sandals.) Well….they do sell all of those things at market (as well as plants, cooking items, sun glasses (None big enough yet Casey), knick knacks, lots of underwear….) But there is a HUGE amount of junky stuff…interspersed there are certainly some quality items, but if you’relooking for something specific you really have to hunt for it. The food however was fantastic, fresh and mostly locally grown. After market…we came home and got a serious start on the garden. We tilled soil and planted onions, lettuce, cucumber and zucchini. I was surprised that I really enjoyed gardening. It is meditative in away…repetitive motion, beautiful scenery, and quiet. And I have to thank my Savers crew for making me getthose overalls…they are perfect in the garden. Still to come in the garden: corn, watermelon, squash, basil, beets…much more. Many of you know that part of my yoga practice is chanting a sacred song called Japji. (Japji, literally the song of the soul, was given by Guru Nanak, the 1st of the 10 Sikh Guru’s. It is the first prayer in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, which is the holy book of the Sikhs. It is said that all of the wisdom of the SGGS is contained within Japji if you truly understand and practice it). Japji is chanted in gurumukhi, an old language that is related to Sanskrit. Gurumukhi script looks like Indian or Middle Eastern script…and because of this challenge I never learned to read the original script. I always read an English transliteration of the sounds when I chant. I was talking to SSK about the difference between reading the transliteration and the original script and she confirmed what I had heard from others. It is a whole different, deeper and more awesome experienceto read the original script. (For those of you who’ve chanted Japji can you imagine it somehow being MORE awesome??) So…SSK is going to teach me to read Gurumukhi script this summer. Wahe guru! I think that is the update for now. Let me know if there are other things you’d like to hear about…just a few weeks until my Mom and Wes come out for a visit. I am very excited to explore Firenze (Florence) with them! Love and blessings, KNL