We know you've been on the edge of your seats . . .

waiting to find out if we achieved mental liberation at our 10 day silent retreat. We actually achieved so much mental liberation we've been sitting in meditation ever since. Today's our first contact with technology in a month. Not knowing what to do first, we hesitated, turned to each other, and said at once, "we gotta update the blog."
The Vipassana retreat was the actually incredibly exhausting, both physically and mentally. We both agree that it was the most painful experience of our entire lives. Not being able to speak, read, or write was really wonderful, but sitting cross-legged for 10 hours a day meditating on the physical pain was brutal. It was also really hot. There was one day when we spent the whole day meditating on the sensations in the triangular area above the upper lip and below the nostrils. I literally spent the entire day meditating on the bead of sweat that clung precariously to the upper edge of the top lip (I never knew how resilient that upper lip is! All day I was like, "just fall, drop of sweat, fall!").
In the end, it was a transformative experience for both of us, but in very different ways. You'll have to ask us more about it when you see us in person. Let's just say, when we could finally make eye contact on the 10th day we both immediately started crying because the feeling of release was so overwhelming.

We are now in southern India in a state called Kerala. We just spent 24 hours on a supremely peaceful houseboat in palm tree-lined backwaters. In 5 days we head to Bangkok, where the Tessa-Alisa chapter will end and the Tessa-Alisa-Audrey chapter will begin. We'll tell you about it later. Get excited!