Nova Scotia
The Art of Living course yesterday here in Halifax was a very worthwile experience. We were taught the basic principles of yoga and meditation. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar himself addressed a packed house in the evening. He really is inspiring. He finished an advanced degree in science in India by the time he was 17 and then went on to discover the Sudashan Krya breathing techinque that does incredible things for the body when performed consistently. AOL has a lot of success teaching the technique to violent prisoners, many of who mellow out considerably. It's 25 years after he started the organisation and they had a huge gathering of 2.5 million devotees in Banglore early this year. AOL is the largest NGO registered with the UN. Very cool stuff.
Canada exhibits very distinct characters in it various provinces. Nova Scotia in the maritimes is much more laid-back than booming Alberta and the sea breezes blowing into Halifax are a welcome change from me from bustling Calgary. The eastern settlements are older than the west as well so there are lots of cool old buildings. I really like Halifax from what I've seen of it. Halifax would have been a great place to go to uni. There are tonnes of students here and a vibrant arts and music scene. The biggest band to come out of Halifax are the billiant Sloan.
I met some Japanese girls last night in the hostel kitchen and we decided to rent a car today to see some of the small coastal towns of the south shore of Nova Scotia. It was a fun day. First stop was Chester, a small villiage with a history of pirates and rum-smugglers (during the prohibition era in the US, ships from Nova Scotia would transport alcohol into US waters where small boats would take the good and smuggle them onto US soil). Then it was on to Mahone Bay and the world heritage listed site of Ludenburg, a quaint little seaside town. We finished up in the afternoon at a small memorial for Swiss Air flight 111 which crashed into the sea off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1998, killing all 229 on board. I'd never heard of this tragedy before. Apparantly the crew smelt smoke in the cockpit and realised it was coming from the air conditioner system. Shortly thereafter all systems shut down and plane plummeted into the ocean.
Speaking of airlines, Condolleza Rice was in town today to thank the people of Halifax for helping out during Sept 11 (some planes in the air during the emergency were diverted to Nova Scotia). I wish I had actually been in the city today so I could have joined the protest against the war in Afganistan.
One more day in Halifax and then onto Prince Edward Island. I've decided I don't have enough time to get to St Johns in Newfoundland. I'll get there one day.
MG
Canada exhibits very distinct characters in it various provinces. Nova Scotia in the maritimes is much more laid-back than booming Alberta and the sea breezes blowing into Halifax are a welcome change from me from bustling Calgary. The eastern settlements are older than the west as well so there are lots of cool old buildings. I really like Halifax from what I've seen of it. Halifax would have been a great place to go to uni. There are tonnes of students here and a vibrant arts and music scene. The biggest band to come out of Halifax are the billiant Sloan.
I met some Japanese girls last night in the hostel kitchen and we decided to rent a car today to see some of the small coastal towns of the south shore of Nova Scotia. It was a fun day. First stop was Chester, a small villiage with a history of pirates and rum-smugglers (during the prohibition era in the US, ships from Nova Scotia would transport alcohol into US waters where small boats would take the good and smuggle them onto US soil). Then it was on to Mahone Bay and the world heritage listed site of Ludenburg, a quaint little seaside town. We finished up in the afternoon at a small memorial for Swiss Air flight 111 which crashed into the sea off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1998, killing all 229 on board. I'd never heard of this tragedy before. Apparantly the crew smelt smoke in the cockpit and realised it was coming from the air conditioner system. Shortly thereafter all systems shut down and plane plummeted into the ocean.
Speaking of airlines, Condolleza Rice was in town today to thank the people of Halifax for helping out during Sept 11 (some planes in the air during the emergency were diverted to Nova Scotia). I wish I had actually been in the city today so I could have joined the protest against the war in Afganistan.
One more day in Halifax and then onto Prince Edward Island. I've decided I don't have enough time to get to St Johns in Newfoundland. I'll get there one day.
MG
posted by Matt G at 5:09 PM
1 Comments:
Sounds unreal. So is this the same Ravi Shunker who influenced The Beatles' music?
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