I have arrived!

Well, the journey here was certainly a long one and the first day and a half were a bit of a fog on jet lag…but I am here now and (mostly) settled in.

The whole train/bus situation wasn’t as bad as I expected. Although my Italian is not nearly as good as I thought it was. I can (sometimes and with a lot of prep) ask the right question, but I almost never understood their response to me. Oh well, I guess I’ve got 5 months to work it out. J And there was no way to “check” luggage on the bus, so all my bags and me got pretty cozy in the teeny weenie seats. At least I only have to do that part once!

San Giustino (the small town closest to the Borgo) is not what I imagined at all. I imagined a handful of cobblestone streets, a café and old men walking down the street with their canes. While there are all of those things…. they are in larger proportions than I imagined. And there are cars and fountains and lots of shops…. but it is still a quaint and beautiful town that I am sure I will have fun exploring.

The Borgo itself is…breathtaking. I think the one word I used most often in my first 24 hours here was…wow! We are WAY up in the mountains so every direction you look has a calendar-worthy vista. The main house is all stone and there are these beautiful nooks and crannies everywhere, perfect for a reading chair or a Buddha statue. There are also several other buildings on the property, which are basically in ruins…but will someday be converted into usable spaces as well.

When I arrived here Thursday afternoon Sada Sat Singh (the husband of the couple who runs the retreat) was already in the U.S teaching. On Friday morning Sada Sat Kaur (the wife) left for a teaching engagement in Berlin. So, it is just me and Chance (a yoga friend from back home who has been here about a week and will stay about two more) on our own at the Borgo! We’ve got some basic upkeep type things we need to do and a few gardening tasks in the next few days. But we also are planning a day trip tomorrow to Florence and maybe on Monday to Assisi. I am glad to take those first few journeys with someone to help figure out the train/bus/general questions of getting around.

I have a room right off the kitchen that I will stay in unless we are completely full…and then I’ll move out into a trailer on the edge of the property. The only thing I am a bit disappointed about is that they haven’t gotten a massage table yet. They are planning to order one soon and Chance and I are going to try to create a stand in solution in the mean time…we’ll see how it goes.

I am excited to get into the swing of life here. I will be doing a lot of yoga. Usually there is at least a morning and an evening class…and often time in the middle of the day for something as well. Plenty of time outdoors tending to the garden, wonderful cooking lessons from Sad Sat Kaur and plenty of side trips to explore Florence, Rome, Assisi, Arezzo, Sicily…. the list seems endless.

I am certainly missing people form back home…so emails are great (lumpkin_k@yahoo.com).

Hope everyone is well,
KNL

PS: I have been trying to post this for about a day...the internet is S..L..O..W...but I think I have come up with a soluto for future posts...