Catch Up

Today has been a very good day!!

Started with Yoga in the morning which I'm thoroughly enjoying. I then taught my silks lesson and the hoop is up which is good, but it seems a bit wobbly and because it's hung on two points rather than one, which is what I've worked with, I can't do a lot of the moves I know! Stupid two pointer! There are also no mats which is something I'm continually working on. It seems like a difficult thing to communicate, but I'll get there in the end! It's fine until we start working upside down as I don't fancy the idea of crashing heads on a concrete floor.

After the class I started working towards choreographing something with Papin, which is really interesting learning experience as a teacher as well as creatively as I have to tailor the routine to work with his capability.

After the morning work I went to find a tailor with Elsa, the French costume designer, who will put a lining in my coat as it's a job that nobody seems to want to do. Elsa was certain that Babu bhai would do it - he's the Darpana tailor - and that if he wouldn't, nobody would! We took a walk there and when we arrived I showed him the coat, he speaks only Gujarati, and explained to him what I want with pointing and gestures. Before I had a chance to go any further he was shaking his head and saying no. Dissappointed, I was ready to accept this, but just as I was about to start putting my coat away Elsa began insisting in a very Indian way that he could do it. She demanded he get the calendar and she pointed at the latest date I could have it. She wasn't taking no for an answer. He had no choice but to concede, so my coat will be ready to be picked up on the 17th! Apparently he's notorious for being late so I need to chase him up; I leave on the 19th! But I've asked a woman in the office, who speaks Gujarati, to chase him up two days before so hopefully it will be fine. I am incredibly greatful to Elsa for sorting that all out for me! I clearly haven't settled in yet.

Elsa is great. She has a great way of talking; very very French. She's incredibly stylish and has settled into India, into Ahmedabad perfectly. She's been here since December, and this is maybe her third or fourth trip here and she loves it. She says it relaxes her. She has one of those traits that I envy; the ability to just talk and befriend everyone. When she walks into Darpana everyone is saying "Hello Elsa!" and she knows everyone's name and chats to everyone regardless of whether or not they speak English...and hers isn't so good either! I don't know why, but I find that very hard to do.

Yesterday Indira and I went to the Calico Museum which is next door to where we're staying in The Retreat and also owned by the Sarabhai family. It's an Indian textile museum maintained by the Sarabhai Foundation., set up in a grand old house with amazing fabrics that are printed, painted, embossed, embroidered, dyed, you name it! They tell all sorts of Indian Hindu stories. The house itself is stunning with these amazing old carved wooden parts from ancient Gujarati houses that have been taken and rebuilt to preserve them. You do see houses like this in the city, but they're old and crumbling. There was a big balcony with a brightly coloured mosaic tree and flowers all across it. Pretty impressive. The tour was run by this hilarious woman who had this amazingly odd way of talking, that's hard to describe. She had odd sentence structures (a habit I'm forming surprisingly quickly from talking in broken english here) and took these deep, serious pauses at curious intervals during her speech. She was a totally unique tour guide. She would pause and stare at you straight in the eye when she was talking, like a very strict school teacher. At first it took me by surprise and because earlier Indira and I had the giggles we were physically convulsing trying to hold in our hysterics. And every time I thought I had it under control she would stop and stare at me and pause on some word, and I had to go through it all over again. It was hilarious. You also had to move very quickly through the museum and weren't allowed to go back and look at anything once the tour was finished. It was very much a get in, get on with it and get out situation.

Bizarre.