So I emailed you all on early Friday morning. After that, I went to my first yoga class ever in Manila. I was already sweating by the time I got there. The class is being taught by a woman named Bela Lipat, who has studied under Pattahbi Jois, the founder of my general practice, Ashtanga Yoga. I am excited to hopefully learn a lot from her, as she teaches a very strict Mysore Practice. It will make up for missing out on the wonderful experience to practice in Willmar with Kilee this weekend in a Yoga Study. I have never had a yoga practice like this before because of the intense humidity, therefore, I will definitely be bringing rags and water with me.
My weeks will be fairly busy with sleep, yoga, work, eating and communicating with everyone back home. I wish that the timing could work out better in my favor, but I am only not working during the early morning and evening hours right before I go into work. Hopefully, I will be able to make the most of my weekends by touring and sightseeing. I was given some help by one of my co-workers on Friday night to finding the grocery store, some important shops to buy some things and some great advice about Manila.
I am excited to know that all of the vegetables and fruit are either cleaned before put out or brought in from other countries with safe water. Also excited to say that it is cheap to shop here for the most part. There is no tax on any of the merchandise and I have high end stores at my disposal. The malls here are really built around beautiful architecture, plenty of security and much to chose from - Havianas are only $20!!! I went to the one store where I can buy "souvenirs" within walking distance and bought much for a little. I do plan on going to another mall about an hour's drive from my hotel, this will have much more souvenirs. I may have to check to see if it is cheaper to ship something or to bring home a third bag?? We will see how much I buy.
I will be coming back to Fargo on Tuesday - it takes only about 9 hours to fly back home because of the time change so I leave Tuesday morning and come home Tuesday evening. I have not been brave enough to go into a restaurant alone to eat local cuisine, so I have not been eating much and everything they eat here is HOT food - I may have to adjust, but HOT food doesn't sound appetizing to me in this weather. I haven't gotten sick yet, though!! They also have many eateries that are greasy, they really really love McDonalds, KFC, Wendys and Burger King and I will be trying to steer clear of that.
When I come back to Manila, my company has a planned summer retreat the next weekend over Memorial Weekend and I am excited to be getting beach time and some free time with my coworkers. Hopefully, it will give me time to make some friends and get out a little bit more. I have taken pictures and will upload some of them when I get back to the States.
Hope you all are having a wonderful Mothers Day! Love you all and thanks for reading my blog!
Has anyone tried to make comments and it doesnt work?? I was just curious!
