Wednesday, October 1st, Esalen life

4:45, I open my eyes to see sparkling stars within the darkness. The days are shorter, and the mornings are dark. The skylight reveals a clear sky, probably a sunny day ahead.
I prepare quietly as my roommate sleeps below, hop on my black Suzuki Katana (motorcycle), and head to the main property a mile down the road.

I peek into Huxley, the room where I’ll be teaching later to make sure it looks OK.
Down to the tubs, soaking in darkness with a vast dark sky above.
I take a quick cold shower and walk up to Huxley, the large room where my Yoga class is held.
I prepare the room, and then do my own practice till 7:15. Students arrive slowly and join me in meditation. By 7:30 the class begins. Blissful Yoga.
“Beautiful” I say as I see someone that cannot flex deeply but tries to go deeper with her breath. Breathing in, she lengthens and opens just a tiny bit more, but for her, the sky has opened.
After the silent and powerful Savasana (corpse pose where all are laying and resting), I put mats and props away, give hugs, exchange gratitude and get breakfast. It’s Wednesday and Sheila made her raw Muesli. Yum!

Before 10:00 I walk on the little bridge over the creek and head to the dance dome. Dancing with Vin Marti - Soul Motion, a seven-day dance workshop. What joy to move so freely, to connect so intimately with others, to be alive and grateful for this body.

“Feel your feet, where are you now. Feel your hands, your sky dancers. Your breath, how are you breathing now? See the space around you. Soft gaze.”
Vin has this remarkable way of connecting the dance with awareness, with being in the present “what is happening now? Right now?”
We are 45 dancers of all ages, moving flowing alone and with each other.
At times dancing with a guided instruction, maybe with someone else or a group, at times dancing, just moving, inside with an awareness of the space, of the canvas we dance in.

12:30 I head back, get a quick lunch and into the kitchen. It’s my Chef night at Esalen. I am still in training, but really, get to be the Chef.
Wednesdays are fish nights at Esalen, and as a fish lover, I feel fortunate to serve the community healthy delicious meals.
Local fresh sea bass brought over by the fisherman himself is served with a maple ginger tamari glaze, topped with fennel. A kabucha (Japanese squash) miso soup, greens wilted in a warm Dijon vinaigrette, and brown Basmati rice with scallions accompany the fish. Tofu with the same glaze topped with red bell pepper julienne and sunflower sprouts is the veggie option.

Running the kitchen while preparing the food fills m heart with a sense of service. As people are enjoying dinner I peak out to the lodge and smile. Gordon Wheeler the CEO and president of Esalen, comes in to the kitchen to thank and compliment me.

Wednesday October 1st, thank you for so much opportunity.

Fish Buffet at Coffee Heaven

4:30am, I await Derk to open the gate to coffee heaven.
I park my scooter inside the gate and hop on the back of his. The morning is very chili and I am wearing all the layers I could find. Dirk is a 36 year old German that has discovered India 10 years back, and 3 years ago has moved to Goa with his girlfriend Diana to open a café, a place that serves all German baked goods, and his famous smoked fish.

Thursday night is the special fish night buffet. Dirk leaves early morning to go to the fish market in Panjim. It’s the main one, where the market is on the dock right by the fishermen’s boats. It’s still dark when we arrive, just a bit of light over the baskets of fish shrimp and squid that were just swimming happily a few minutes ago.
Dirk comes from Hamburg, a city of docks and fresh fish, grew up in a house that had veggies in the back yard and smoked their own fish.
Checking under the guilds to make sure the fish is really fresh, looking for that redness, for the clear eyes, we choose some king fish which is the most available in Goa, we buy some shrimp, calamari, snappers and the mystery fish. The mystery fish is one that we both don’t know by name, one that is very rare to find, but has such a beautiful meaty taste on the grill (sorry, my veggie friends), that dirk is willing to pay triple the snapper price.

We tie the bags of fresh sea life to the bike between Dirks legs and head home. As we drive back, the sky is red with the big sun rising over the rice fields. Some low fog, like a blanket of white clouds floats low on the fields adding to the magical feel. Birds are waking up, the hum of the old scooter’s rotating engine and Derks voice telling me about his philosophy of life. No helmets jackets or gloves in this part of Goa, so the air, sound and surrounding penetrate deeply within.

I leave Dirk to do the cleaning on his own as I rush to my Yoga practice with Rolf and Marci,

In the evening, many arrive to coffee heaven. Simple chairs with natural wooden tables stand on the earth amongst the trees. The buffet offers many vegetarian offers and some of their fantastic dark German bread.
Dirk believes in grilling the fish simple, only a brush of oil. The sauces are aside, and one can choose which to use on which fish.

Coffee Heaven runs as a simple family place, with many regular costumers, especially German. The couple like many westerners in Goa, aim for 6 months of hard work, and 6 months of living in the west.
Goa offers today amazing business opportunities. As such even Diana and Dirk thought of upgrading to a more serious restaurant in a better location and getting another chef to run the show (me). For now I said goodbye nicely as I head over to practice more Yoga in Mysore.