The Background

It is no secret that Istanbul has not been a good fit for me. I have lived in big cities before, but never one where transportation was so difficult. Robert College is in a beautiful, peaceful forest and because getting around outside the bubble is so challenging, I don’t often go out. The conflict this sets up inside me – living in one of the world’s great cities and rarely seeing it – makes me cranky. I feel like a living, breathing missed opportunity.

I mention this because by mid-September, having only been back at work for a month, I knew I had to do something about my attitude and mental health. I booked a trip to Prague for Paige and me over Christmas, and I arranged an experience in Bali for myself during our mid-winter break. Traveling alone is a mixed blessing. There is no other person to adapt to, but there is also no other person to share with. I decided to enroll in a series of yoga classes in order to have some sort of focus and structure for my day to combat loneliness and of course accrue a ton of health benefits.

We have a wonderful yoga teacher at RC, and I signed up for ten of her classes to get ready. The day after my first class, I slipped going down a slightly slimy hill on campus and cracked a bone in my hand. I couldn’t put any weight on it for two months. Goodbye yoga. Then shortly after I thought to myself that the hand was ready for downward dog, I tripped over a rolled up carpet while carrying an armload of towels and landed with all my weight on my left shoulder. Broke the bugger and couldn't raise my arm more than five degrees for weeks.

I've been going to physio, and very good about my exercise regime, but my range of motion is not perfect and I leave tomorrow. How will I manage, I wonder…