10 Days of Silent Meditation
July 14, 2011 § 3 Comments
Joe and I heard about the 10-day Vipassana meditation course while we were working on the farm in Ecuador from one of the other volunteers. We were told they had sessions all over the world and they were completely free. Intrigued, we did some research into the organization and checked the worldwide schedule. When else in our lives would we have the “opportunity” to sit for such a long period? The $0 fee for food, lodging, and instruction and the idea of staying in one place for awhile were attractive propositions as well. The dates for the Serbia course coincided with our travel, so we headed off with visions of cults and drinking the kool-aid in our heads.
Drug smuggling
July 3, 2011 § 1 Comment
On the train crossing the border from Serbia to Romania, a crew of police officers came on board carrying large screwdrivers. They asked me to leave my compartment after which they closed the curtains and proceeded to hack away with their tools searching every nook and cranny inside. I assumed they were looking for drugs being smuggled across the border. 5 minutes later they were still there and I nervously wondered if they might plant drugs in my compartment and try to elicit a bribe. « Read the rest of this entry »
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