Day 0 - Silent Meditation Course - Hugging isn’t for everyone

I have received a few great travel tips so far:

• Exchange some money before arriving in the country in case the exchange kiosk is closed at the airport.
• Look in your shoes before putting them on in tropical climates.
• Always write down the address of the place you are staying so if you get lost you can show the cab driver. (thx gma)

I’m going to add one to the list:

• Do not assume that hugging is part of the universal language, opt for a nod and a smile.

When I got to the airport in Sri Lanka a man who works for the meditation center picked me up in a van to drive me three hours to the retreat. His name was Suri, and upon meeting him I could just feel his kindness. Not through his driving because that was the most insane thing I have ever seen, (passing buses on a mountain road into oncoming traffic, horn blaring) but his essence was so comforting. On the ride we talked about everything (some miscommunication intact) – the food in Sri Lanka, my family, my boyfriend, his life in Kandy, his daughters, finding his youngest daughter a husband and on and on and on.

When drove for miles up a steep rocky road and finally we arrived at the center, situated on the tip top of a hill with a view of Sri Lanka countryside for miles and miles in all directions. We got out, Suri leaned up against a railing and waited to talk to the manager and collect his fare from him. There was a large crowd of about 40 or 50 mediators waiting to get their sleeping assignments for the retreat. It was very quiet, people were talking in hushed voices. I was instructed to go to the dining hall to have some lunch and then come back and get my room assignment. I had to say bye to Suri. I smiled and said thank you and that it was so nice to meet him then……went in for the HUG. As I got near I felt his awkward tension as I felt a group of 100 eyes pierce in my back to watch the interaction carry out. No hug in return and just to make it that much more awkward I said in a high pitched voice mid hug – “hug.” Who announces what they are doing as it is happening?!!

I walked away thinking – WHY HEATHER WHY?? Why not just a head nod and a sincere smile. Why giant blond girl attack?!

And that was the moment that I picked up the narrator who stayed with me most of the mediation course. The narrator was an annoying voice in my head who announced everything that was happening to me in a very dramatic way. (Randomly it was the voice of the narrator from the Curious George TV show that I used to watch when I was little).

The narrator’s debut announcement: “Heather Box, giant American, goes in for a hug with the van driver – reception not good. Monks and Nuns watch with questioning looks.”