Claire, Laura and I went to the Green Tara meditation this morning at 6am. I ended up waking up by myself at 5am since it was bright out, but I was still exhausted because I had a hard time falling asleep again. The meditation was really cool...mostly Tibetan prayers and they used bells, drums, and cymbals during the meditation. I don't know what the Green Tara deity is for, but in the evenings, we do one called Chenrezi and that's for compassion. Since I'm not buddhist, I can't really explain all the meanings. I hadn't expected so much Buddhism influence since the website said people of all religious beliefs are welcomed, but it was still cool to experience it and see what they do. I really love listening to the prayers...the Tibetan words sound so powerful and soothing at the same time. After the meditation, I went back to sleep and skipped the 7:30am meditation...really bad since it was my last day there!
I actually had an adventure planned today to get back to the Isle of Arran...almost added a canoe to my transportation list. Fen was going to take his canoe over before lunch and I was planning on going with him since our ferry wasn't until after lunch. I wanted to spend a few extra hours on the island to explore before the big ferry took us back to the mainland. Well, didn't go as planned. Once Claire and Laura heard I was doing the canoe, they couldn't stop laughing because they knew I would have to paddle and get wet. I've never done canoeing before, so I had no idea what to expect...but the way they kept laughing, I was beginning to wonder what I got myself into...I just thought Fen would be the one to paddle! :) As they were walking me to the canoe ready to send me off...Claire is like mother hen all worried and telling Fen he needs to take good care of me. It was really windy today and the waters were really choppy, so Claire was really concerned for me...another red flag. We lugged my bags all the way down to the shore and then we went through discussions of whether we can take all my bags...then I found out most of my stuff might get wet...and so we were going to leave one bag with Claire and Laura. After a lot of back and forth with me already in my life jacket (since I can't swim!) and wearing Fen's waterproof boots...I finally decided not to go. I was worried about getting my backpack and smaller suitcase wet, which has my camera and laptop...and the big suitcase needed to stay since that was heavier. I'm so glad I decided not to go with Fen! As we watched him paddle away, he really seemed like he was struggling in the choppy water. It took him a good while to get over, so I'm sure I would not have had fun doing it! Claire also said that was a good way to get him to fall out of love with me quickly...because it would've been hard to coordinate the paddling and we would've been arguing with each other. The joke that Laura and Claire have is that Fen has a crush on me since he's always around me...but I just think he's being friendly. I joke with Claire that the ex-monk is her boyfriend and he's been off the Island for a few days...but we saw him as we got to Arran and when they said good-bye, ex-monk kissed her on the lips!!! How scandalous!!! :) One of the other girls here is also dating an ex-monk...and this ex-monk was telling us that even if a guy has never had a girlfriend...if he becomes a monk, he's guaranteed to get a girlfriend once he gets out So for you single guys out there...go become a monk! Seems like that's the "in" thing these days!
We had a couple of hours to kill on Arran before the big ferry...so we just walked around for a bit. Laura is camping on Arran for the next two days...so Claire and I parted ways with her. It was sad to leave everyone today...and even sadder to leave Holy Island. During our slow walk meditation today...I was walking outside and enjoyed the view one last time...and just stopped to take it all in. I'll miss it very much!
So after two ferries, a bus, and a train (shorter commute this time)...I made it to my hotel in Glasgow. I'm staying at the Marriott and it's great to be in a nice hotel again. The bed is comfy and no more sharing bathrooms and showers! I can be spoiled for the next 5 nights and maybe I'll sleep better! :) It's been an exhausting day...so I'm off to bed early since I am going to Edinburgh tomorrow!
