Chapter 65

           WhatIwillbehosting,tobeexact,isaseriesofretreatstobeheldattheAshramthisspring.Duringeachretreat,aboutahundreddevoteeswillcomeherefromallovertheworldforaperiodofaweektotendays,todeepentheirmeditationpractices.Myroleistotakecareofthesepeopleduringtheirstayhere.Formostoftheretreat,theparticipantswillbeinsilence.Forsomeofthem,itwillbethefirsttimethey’veexperiencedsilenceasadevotionalpractice,anditcanbeintense.However,IwillbetheonepersonintheAshramtheyareallowedtotalktoifsomethingisgoingwrong.

           That’sright-myjobofficiallyrequiresmetobethespeech-magnet.

           Iwilllistentotheproblemsoftheretreatparticipantsandthentrytofindsolutionsforthem.Maybethey’llneedtochangeroommatesbecauseofasnoringsituation,ormaybethey’llneedtospeaktothedoctorbecauseofIndia-relateddigestivetrouble-I’lltrytosolveit.I’llneedtoknoweverybody’sname,andwheretheyarefrom.I’llbewalkingaroundwithaclipboard,takingnotesandfollowingup.I’mJulieMcCoy,yourYogiccruisedirector.

           And,yes,thepositiondoescomewithabeeper.

           Astheretreatsbegin,itissoquicklyevidenthowmuchIammadeforthisjob.I’msittingthereattheWelcomeTablewithmyHello,MyNameIsbadge,andthesepeoplearearrivingfromthirtydifferentcountries,andsomeofthemareold-timersbutmanyofthemhaveneverbeentoIndia.It’sover100degreesalreadyat10:00AM,andmostofthesepeoplehavebeenflyingallnightincoach.