Unlocking the Master Ghee

Once more, I am in Mysore anew, living a few streets down from last summer, renting a room from Rima, the Indian homeopathic medical practitioner and reiki healer.
I knew I arrived in India (Calcutta, specifically) when I saw the scabby-eyed cat sitting around in the room with the luggage retrieval belts (a cat in the airport?) and I couldn't put my bag down in the bathroom because of a sorely-frightened cockroach that I'd scared (the only roach I've seen so far, thank Krishna) (that last bit's a joke).
All of my nerves were for nothing. Saraswati is such a nice, smily, grandmothery woman. What could I be afraid of, the heavy breathers beside my mat? Being kicked in the head and legs by some skinny girl with attitude who thinks she's all that but can't seem to keep her not that long legs on her own mat for postures like Janu Sirsasana or Marichyasana? What's her damage? The tailor's room in a cave two floors below the silk sari dealers' shop where I was measured for bright-colored tunics (the only way to keep semi-cool and covered so as not to be scandalous or attract any unwanted attention from all these men who think I look like Claudia Schiffer [their words, not mine!]).
The fresh coconut water is as sweet, cool and replenishing as in my memory and the coconut chutney, spiked with fresh zesty green chili is 1000 times better than I remembered. In fact, I had not remembered how good it was at all, and it came as a revelation like when you jolt upright in bed from your alarm when you don't know where you are.
I'm a bit slow on starting up the cooking because I've been busy moving in, getting groceries, settling in, etc but I'm going to learn how to make curd (yogurt) tonight. I know, I know, it's not that difficult and not something you have to be here to learn but it's a start.
The yoga is good. I already feel excellent and comfortable practicing in the shala (probably because I'm doing only primary) and I've miraculously grabbed my ankles in backbends after 5 days of no intense backwork (no 2nd series), and 2 weeks of no ankle-grabbing. If I can grab them that easily without any of the back opening postures in 2nd series, I should be fine next week when I start up with 2nd again. Doing only primary is a perfect opportunity to re-correct things that have been imbalanced and difficult to correct for years and work on core strength from a different viewpoint. The first day in the shala was cool, so much cooler than the extreme heat of Barcelona, but today was pretty warm. Especially with all those skinny girls on my mat hogging my mat. I wouldn't even care but they always have this look on their faces like, "I'm all that!", like they're the most important person in the room. So far I've been most impressed by the practice of a 12 or 13 -year- old British boy named Elliot who I must say, I admire for being willing to hit the mat every day at 5.45 am and who speaks at least some wisdom about the practice, is very observant of others' practices and at least doesn't speak the shite stemming from pure ignorance and vanity which some East and West-coasters are wont to do. More later- it's time to eat!