Say that ten times fast...
So it was out and now it's in. I was out and now I'm back. But I think I will leave most of my excuses for not writing in so long by the wayside. They’re boring. Let's just say I took the summer off. Or winter as it were south of the equator.
I will say my absence had lot to do with the involvement I had going with this yoga school, Shakti. They invited me to come on as a partner back in May and I have spent the last few months working my butt off to develop some programs and doing a bunch of things to get it financially healthy while looking for a new space for the school to move into. I got right down to the last possible moment last week when we were about to sign a contract with an enormous commercial space and take out a big bank loan to renovate it and turn it into a big beautiful spa-like center and I totally got cold feet and backed out.
I never officially signed on as a partner (that was supposed to happen when we moved) but I had been working more than full time developing a teacher-training program and other things that would be put into place once we settled into the new space and I officially became a partner. And then I realized, why did I come all the way to Brazil to do exactly what I escaped from in Brooklyn. The stress of running a business (especially a yoga business which isn’t all that lucrative to begin with) and the stress of doing it in a language that I still don’t speak all that well was just too much. By the end of every day I just felt so drained that I barely even thought about writing here, or even keeping in email contact with friends, let alone do anything else. I wanted my world to expand with possibilities here, not narrow. And I can make as much money teaching English classes just a few hours a week, so I think I’m making the right decision.
And as far as teaching yoga goes, I don’t seem to be lacking in any opportunities. There are plenty to be had. Being American seems to be great currency as far as that goes -- I mean, yeah, I guess I'm a pretty good teacher and all, but it always felt like such a hustle back in the states, and here the doors continue to open. I’ve been invited to teach and give workshops in several cities around the country, and continue to have full classes here in my own city. So as the saying goes, why buy the cow when I can get all the milk I need… Anyway, I’m totally relieved with my decision and am looking forward to more free mental time to blog and write and maybe take some classes at the university here.
So with that explanation, you can probably guess that there hasn’t been much of anything interesting to report on over the last three months. My daily involvement with the yoga school is actually pretty boring to talk about.
I left off with the World Cup. A total disappointment to be sure. But like everything else, Brazilians seemed to take it in stride, and the teeth gnashing and hair pulling was by most accounts pretty subdued. People mostly just groaned and finger pointed at the coach, Parreira and at some of the aging players including Ronaldo whom everyone called fat and slow, and Roberto Carlos, who was deemed completely inept. My stepdad, funnily enough, gave C a Robert Carlos jersey for Christmas some years back which he was actually wearing the day of the loss -- of course, no one now would be caught dead in it (unless of course being in it were the reason for being caught dead). I did get a laugh out of some TV footage after the big loss of people on the street in São Paulo. They were all decked out in painted faces crazy wigs and hats, drunk as skunks, and still partying in the streets. One woman through her tears was dancing with a beer in her hand and saying we came to celebrate and we’re not going to let this stop us! Brazilians, any excuse to make a party…
I left off back in June right before we went to visit C’s family in the Pantanal. But I’ll save that for my next post and just leave you with a picture of me and my amazingly adorable niece whom I met for the first time there. As you can see, she was all decked out for the World Cup too and already at age 3 is already such a precocious fan, she could tell you all the names of players on the World Cup selection and who scored the goals in each of the games. She can tell you that her favorite team is São Paulo (her dad's city) and when C tried to convince her to cheer for his favorite team, Fluminense, she would get quite upset, shouting “no!” and giving a double thumbs down with her tiny hands. The fever starts early.
So it was out and now it's in. I was out and now I'm back. But I think I will leave most of my excuses for not writing in so long by the wayside. They’re boring. Let's just say I took the summer off. Or winter as it were south of the equator.
I will say my absence had lot to do with the involvement I had going with this yoga school, Shakti. They invited me to come on as a partner back in May and I have spent the last few months working my butt off to develop some programs and doing a bunch of things to get it financially healthy while looking for a new space for the school to move into. I got right down to the last possible moment last week when we were about to sign a contract with an enormous commercial space and take out a big bank loan to renovate it and turn it into a big beautiful spa-like center and I totally got cold feet and backed out.
I never officially signed on as a partner (that was supposed to happen when we moved) but I had been working more than full time developing a teacher-training program and other things that would be put into place once we settled into the new space and I officially became a partner. And then I realized, why did I come all the way to Brazil to do exactly what I escaped from in Brooklyn. The stress of running a business (especially a yoga business which isn’t all that lucrative to begin with) and the stress of doing it in a language that I still don’t speak all that well was just too much. By the end of every day I just felt so drained that I barely even thought about writing here, or even keeping in email contact with friends, let alone do anything else. I wanted my world to expand with possibilities here, not narrow. And I can make as much money teaching English classes just a few hours a week, so I think I’m making the right decision.
And as far as teaching yoga goes, I don’t seem to be lacking in any opportunities. There are plenty to be had. Being American seems to be great currency as far as that goes -- I mean, yeah, I guess I'm a pretty good teacher and all, but it always felt like such a hustle back in the states, and here the doors continue to open. I’ve been invited to teach and give workshops in several cities around the country, and continue to have full classes here in my own city. So as the saying goes, why buy the cow when I can get all the milk I need… Anyway, I’m totally relieved with my decision and am looking forward to more free mental time to blog and write and maybe take some classes at the university here.
So with that explanation, you can probably guess that there hasn’t been much of anything interesting to report on over the last three months. My daily involvement with the yoga school is actually pretty boring to talk about.
I left off with the World Cup. A total disappointment to be sure. But like everything else, Brazilians seemed to take it in stride, and the teeth gnashing and hair pulling was by most accounts pretty subdued. People mostly just groaned and finger pointed at the coach, Parreira and at some of the aging players including Ronaldo whom everyone called fat and slow, and Roberto Carlos, who was deemed completely inept. My stepdad, funnily enough, gave C a Robert Carlos jersey for Christmas some years back which he was actually wearing the day of the loss -- of course, no one now would be caught dead in it (unless of course being in it were the reason for being caught dead). I did get a laugh out of some TV footage after the big loss of people on the street in São Paulo. They were all decked out in painted faces crazy wigs and hats, drunk as skunks, and still partying in the streets. One woman through her tears was dancing with a beer in her hand and saying we came to celebrate and we’re not going to let this stop us! Brazilians, any excuse to make a party…
I left off back in June right before we went to visit C’s family in the Pantanal. But I’ll save that for my next post and just leave you with a picture of me and my amazingly adorable niece whom I met for the first time there. As you can see, she was all decked out for the World Cup too and already at age 3 is already such a precocious fan, she could tell you all the names of players on the World Cup selection and who scored the goals in each of the games. She can tell you that her favorite team is São Paulo (her dad's city) and when C tried to convince her to cheer for his favorite team, Fluminense, she would get quite upset, shouting “no!” and giving a double thumbs down with her tiny hands. The fever starts early.
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