This is Rod, my roommate.

(I sleep with my third eye open)

Actually, Rod is a great guy. And he has been doing an excellent job working with our group leader in helping us get acclimated to our surroundings. He's also terrific at organizing outtings. He has a great sense of humor (ie: he laughs at my jokes) and he's housebroken, too. What more could you ask for in a roomie?

On another note, we've finished-up our week of ayurveda therapy with an hour long deep body massage, steam bath and a hair treatment. This last was most interesting. It involved first having a vigorous scalp massage. Then a sticky brown paste-like concoction is applied to the hair. The head is then wrapped in a portion of someone's old bed linen. As a group, we made quite the fashion statement. Imagine, if you will, an assemblage of bikers, pirates and one very pale Aunt Jemima.

We were instructed to leave the head covering on for an hour, obstensibly to let the herbal preparation soak in. In retrospect, I'm now certain the real intent was to avoid frightening the locals.

Having endured an hour's worth of catcalls and smarmy comments regarding our headgear, we raced to our rooms in breathless anticipation anxious to strip these dew-rags, rinse our hair and behold our now glorious manes. Incidentally, it is interesting to note that the aforementioned paste has surprisingly strong adhesion qualities.

Once the cloth was peeled away from the head, what remained could best be described as a custom fitted cow pie. We were allowed to rinse it off (but no shampoo until tomorrow). Having rinsed, imagine my surprise when I looked into the mirror at found that my grey hair had mysteriously been replaced with some shade of yellow which I have no words to describe. Its starting to grow on me. And the others tell me that it doesn't look bad, at least that's what they say when I'm standing there. I'm curious how long the effect will last, but haven't inquired. I'm just going with it.

But, even beyond the fashion benefits of ayurveda, we all feel better. We're a few pounds lighter, (and working feverishly to fix that), healthier and happier. Folks are already reporting improvements with ongoing health issues. We've been given herbs and preparations to take and the prospect of long term improvements is promising.

I hope everyone back home is doing well. I miss you all, but to be honest, I'm having to much fun to dwell on it for long. Keep the home fires burning and I'll see you before you know it.

PS: I've put up a bunch of new pictures, so enjoy.