The hotel was fantastic.

Teegan sat her suitcase down on the floor beside the large canopy bed and flopped herself down into it. She was shocked to see how easily the bed conformed to her body as she began to sink down into it. The mattress was so comfortable that she debated whether she should even try to get up, even though it was still only about six in the evening Ronovia time.

Ronovia was located just off the south of France. It was a country a lot of people had never really heard of, but one that Teegan had always wanted to visit. The place had a very interesting history and culture that she was dying to get to know more about. The first night they were being put up in the hotel by the Siri Yoga Intensive. That was what Siri had named his company. In addition to teaching yoga Siri was also involved in yoga products, vitamin water, new age books and teachings, rune reading, his own tarot cards, etc. The man had created quite the business empire.

Teegan wanted nothing more at that moment then to just fall asleep and wake up in the morning refreshed and ready to go with the group. The plan was that they would spend the night in the hotel and the next morning bright and early they would be taken to the isolated location close to the ocean where they would begin their lessons.

She was so jet lagged that she didn’t know if she could stay awake for several more hours or not. But she knew that if she fell asleep right then she was going to regret it because she would be wide awake at two in the morning. They were not scheduled to leave until six and she had no idea how far they would have to travel. Odds are that there was going to be a lot of hiking involved.

She was ok with that, though. But she had to make sure she was properly rested.

Teegan forced herself to get up out of the comfortable bed and to grab some fresh clothes out of her suitcase. She knew that there were some nice local clubs and bars nearby. Maybe she would go out and have a few drinks, mingle a bit, or at least just get out of the room where she would surely be dead asleep in twenty minutes.

She wondered if she might run into someone else from the tour when she was out and about. So far she had yet to meet anyone having come straight from the airport to the hotel by taxi. She was pleased to see that that her name was left at the front desk and her room was properly reserved, all expenses paid. The culture shock just watching the world outside of her window as she was being driven to the hotel was something she would never forget. It was like landing in a whole other world.

The cab driver spoke perfect English and he’d kept her fairly well entertained during the trip. She appreciated it even if she didn’t really want to talk that much. At least he was friendly and nice to chat with. She hoped that the rest of the people in the country were that friendly. It was kind of scary when you were new in another country and knew absolutely no one.

Suddenly she was beginning to think that going out by herself to a club seemed like something of a bad idea. But she quickly dismissed the idea from her mind and reminded herself that she was in fact a big girl. The hotel seemed to be located in a nice area and most of the clubs and bars around the area tended to be more upscale based on the types of cars pulling up to front to drop people off or pick people up. At least that was what she’d just observed from the taxi.

It was possible she was completely wrong. But she was feeling a bit frisky and adventurous. This was actually the first time she’d ever been outside of the country and to be selected to attend this amazing retreat with someone she respected and admired so much was more than a dream come true.

When she told Ellie about it the girl basically told her she was full of it. She had to actually forward the email to her before Ellie believed it. Then Ellie let out one of her legendary screams right into Teegan’s ear. After the deafness went away Teegan managed to ask Ellie if she would cover for her at the yoga studio for the week she was gone. She agreed to give Ellie all of the profits that week of course, but she couldn’t just close up for a week and risk her students finding another teacher that they liked more. Her business was still a bit of a fledgling operation and she had worked too hard to take that sort of a hit.

But even if Ellie had said she couldn’t Teegan would have come here. Nothing in the world was going to derail her from doing this.

She left the hotel and walked down the street towards the Canal, an upscale bar that looked like it might have been fun. She was feeling a bit less tired by now and she hoped that some energizing fun might just be the thing she needed to carry her over the hump.

When she walked into the bar she was happy to see the place looked even better than it did outside. The thoughts of how much the drinks and food here might actually cost were being forcibly pushed to the back of her mind. This was something she’d saved up for and she was not going to worry about the money. She’d been saving for this trip ever since she’d decided to apply, confident that she would one day be selected. But even so, the fact that it was actually happening and she was really there was mind blowing.

She found an empty seat at the bar and ordered a beer. She figured it was best to start off light. It was also tempting to maybe order some food later, but right now she wasn’t too hungry. A waiter walked out of the kitchen just then with a plate of the most delicious smelling food she’d ever been around. Her mouth began to water and her stomach started to pang. Maybe she would grab some food soon. After all she was going to be doing intense yoga all week to burn off those calories.

Looking around she saw the place was filled with people of all walks of life. There were groups of a  younger crowd, there were older people, couples, singles, groups of guys, groups of girls—all of them seemed to be having a blast. She wished that she had some friends or someone there to actually talk with, but she didn’t think she would be alone long. She was a girl sitting in a bar drinking by herself. It was only a matter of time before some guy came over to talk to her.

Hopefully it would be someone interesting…