Bikram's Yoga

I tried out Bikram's Yoga for a month. I did feel like it worked out my muscles and made me more flexible, but it is too freakin' hot! Bikram's yoga is a very regimented yoga, consisting of a series of 26 moves performed in the same order in a room heated to 104 degrees F. During my last session, a woman lost her balance and fell down, and the instructor didn't even stop to inquire if she was okay until the natural break in the routine, about 20 minutes later. This despite the woman laying down and not getting back up, and saying "ow ow". It left a sour taste in my mouth, which is unfortunate, because it was only the red-headed instructor with short hair that works at Bikram's downtown in Albuqueruque. The other instructors were quite nice.

Diarrhea

527,000 children under the age of 5 were reported to have died in 2007 in Africa and Asia from diarrhea due to rotavirus. Many deaths were likely unreported.

Bacteria and parasites also cause diarrhea. There are two kinds of poop that generally result from infection: bloody stools and rice water poop. I hope that you avoid the more serious infections. If you do find yourself on the toilet more frequently than you'd like, you can try this home remedy to rehydrate yourself:

3/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 4 tbl sugar, 1 cup OJ, 4 cups water

This replaces electrolytes and water. Sports drinks are too concentrated and do not hydrate enough.

World Focus, for Americans

I've caught a great show on PBS a few times, in Albuquerque it comes on at 5pm. It's called World Focus, and it's a 30 minute news show designed to inform Americans about world events. So if you don't know who Mugabe is and what is going on in Zimbabwe, don't be embarrassed, tune in online! There is lots of coverage on Africa, health crises, and other regions left off the networks. worldfocus.org