Double Bikes Rule.

I am back in the big city living of Chiang Mai yet again. A grand total of 10 of us left the farm around the same time. Six of us stayed in the same guesthouse, one room for girls and one room for boys (Cause everyone knows, boys have cooties and make bathrooms gross). Tuesday night, all of us were rounded up and went out for a night on the town. There were ten of us, so naturally, we rented 5 double-seated bicycles for the night and took the city by storm via bikes. It was a sight to see, bicycle bells ringing and all.

YES these are awesome. 

First we all went out to dinner, then went for a drink, and wrapped up the night going dancing. Fun was had by all!

Today is Thursday, and most everyone has gone their separate ways. Nearly everyone but me is making their way to do the Laos-Cambodia-Vietnam trek. It's what almost everyone I have met who is traveling is doing or has already done here. I haven't had any kind of desire to go that direction, so here in Thailand I will stay :)

Tonight I have booked a room all to myself, my first private room (not counting my hut at the farm) since Pai! Ahhh, how nice, a little time to myself. There is something to be said for getting to sleep in the nude in your own room when the days almost reach 100 degrees, and the nights are almost unbearably hot and muggy. Did I just say "nude" in my blog? .... moving right along.

Tonight I took myself to the market down the street and let myself buy whatever I wanted for this special occasion of dinner for one! I bought some roasted chicken, a bag of mushrooms and stewed greens, a bag of mixed vegetables and pork, some mango, some banana chips, and OK I am just going to save myself the embarrassment of sounding like a total hog and just stop right there. I will just say, I had a lovely dinner sitting on the floor of my room listening to Fleetwood Mac <3.

I haven't decided yet if I will keep this room for another night or cave and get a cheap dorm room tomorrow. I really would like another night to myself, despite the fact that this upstairs room feels more like a sauna than a guesthouse room. Either way, I think I will be staying in the city for a couple more nights before making my way up to the Tam Wua Forest Monastery. I really would like to be in a good state of mind before I go, so maybe another night to myself would be a good investment...

Today is Dave's birthday!! Happy 26th Koala Bear!! Four more weeks of me hoofing it around Thailand before he joins me here for a three week vacation. I am trying not to think about how excited I am for it, because I am finding myself thinking a lot about his time here and not really being present for my time here in the meantime.

BUT REALLY I AM SO EXCITED.
LIKE REALLY REALLY REALLY EXCITED.

For Dave's birthday I really wanted to give him something that I made, seeing as how a cheesy Thai souvineer will be something he can get when he is here. So I was able to make him a bag of coffee while I was at the farm! I did everything from pick berries, to shelling the beans, to roasting the coffee over a fire. I even had someone take a picture of me roasting the beans I am giving him! Anyone who knows me knows that I am horrible at keeping presents a secret, so I will be showing him via Skype in the morning, hopefully before he reads this post.

Picking!

Smashing!

Roasting!

 I am super excited for him to try it, it's some of the best coffee I've ever had .

Well, I am going to go for a nighttime stroll and try and cool off a little bit. Miss you all <3

Back to the City

2/24/2013

I have been at the farm for one week. I have enjoyed the people I have been with, we have made this a fun experience for all of us. But I have had a feeling over my head this week that just hasn’t given me what I wanted during my time here. I have felt a little separated, not by others, but by my own place in my mind. I have been searching for a little room for my spirituality while here, but have not found it. I am just realizing tonight that the problem has simply been that I am not in the right place for that for me. I haven’t been surrounded by people who have brought that out in me here. It hasn’t been that others have made me feel bad, but it’s just simply that my spirituality is not here.

I talked to a woman tonight who just came to the farm yesterday. Her name is Danielle and she is from Romania. You can immediately tell that she has a heart of gold and has a lot of love to give. I didn’t speak much to her yesterday, but tonight after dinner me and her and a couple other people were sitting around having tea and she was speaking about her time in India at an ashram. I have always wanted to spend time in an ashram and really love hearing about people’s experiences in their travels. After she showed us some pictures, the other people went inside and I was able to speak one on one with her about her spirituality and her time in India and her experience with meditation. She brought that feeling back. The one that I had in Pai with Caroline. A feeling of the world being an open book for me to experience, the world being a place to find yourself. I am so happy to have talked to her and to have made that connection with someone again. My heart feels right again and I am ready to move forward on my journey. I will go to the forest monastery next week and commit a week of my time there to strengthen my meditation and spiritual practice. 

I have been doing something interesting the last few weeks. When I really need some help from the universe, I have been finding myself literally asking for it. I will take a few minutes to stop my worrying, and simply think about what it is that I am needing, and say:

 "Dear Universe: I really need to feel okay tonight about being alone. Please help that happen for me."

 or 

"Dear Universe: I would really like to find some company today. Please bring good people to me."

And it always delivers.

I am now asking the Universe to please give me some clarity during my time at the monastery about what I am supposed to do next. Am I supposed to really be gone from home for a year? Six months? Three months? Some days, I just can't tell at all where my time here is going.  And that's okay, I don't always want to know what the world has in store for me. In fact, every time I get on a bus to go somewhere new here, I always get off the bus thinking "Damn, if I had any idea how rough that ride would have been, I probably wouldn't have had the guts to get on it." I always get on those buses with a big smile on my face and loads of optimism about where I am going. By the time I get off, I am always a little soured. So, it's good to be left in the dark about our future sometimes...

On a quick side note, I met an Australian guy in Pai who took my picture at Mam's Yoga place with his really nice camera and I wanted to share :)

Same-Same

When comparing little American boys (my nephew specifically) and little Thai boys (the farm owner's little boy), it turns out they aren't so different after all...

More Farm Time & Photo Albums

2/23/13

It’s Sunday night and things have been lazy and quiet at Happy Healing Farm this weekend. The week has come and gone and I have made the decision to go back to Chiang Mai for a few days on Tuesday morning with some of the volunteers that are heading on to continue their travels. Thursday is David’s birthday and I would very much love to speak and Skype with him for that, so I will be staying in the city at least until Friday to ensure a solid internet connection to do so.

The volunteers here seem to change over to a new batch each week, and I have become quite cozy with our little volunteer family this week. Most of us will be going to Chaing Mai over the course of Monday/Tuesday, and we plan on having a little pow-wow on Tuesday night with all of us together in the city. I am quite excited for a hot shower and a meal with no rice. The meals here have been lovely, they have no refrigerator so everything is from the garden or from the nearby village and is all quite fresh. With each meal, however, we are served a large ball of sticky rice. I hadn’t eaten rice or any other grain regularly for a year before Thailand, and the farm has just about caught me up on a year’s worth of rice just this week. Needless to say, I am feeling quite fluffy and rounded out, and am really looking forward to some meat and other rice-less meals in town.

This week we killed a chicken. Jim, the owner of the farm, breeds cocks for fighting (I would also like to mention that he was a Buddhist monk for 12 years before this farm. The contrast never stops amusing me.) and has lots of chickens, chicks, and roosters that are clucking about all day and night long here. I must say, my inner 12-year-old fierce animal activist was nowhere to be found that night, which surprised me. Perhaps it was because I know that the chickens here live quite happy lives, and at this point in my life, the quality of an animal’s life now matters more to me than if it lives or dies (and they all do eventually die, as do we!) I was very excited to wrap my teeth around a drumstick or some breast meat, but it turned out the chicken was quite small, and instead we were served a soup that was made of garden greens and chicken bits. By bits I mean exclusively questionable inside parts. Moving on...

Jim and the chicken. RIP chicken.

I have tried another new fruit this week that I was quite hesitant to try: jackfruit! Jackfruit looks quite similar to durian, which a large (very large) kidney-shaped spiked fruit that is not allowed on public transportation here because the smell is so putrid. In fact, almost all busses and taxis have a similar picture diagram on them, telling riders what isn’t allowed on the vehicle: animals, guns, sex, and durian. Similar to a non-smoking sign, each item is shown as a small picture (a dog, a gun, two people gettin-it-on, and a spikey-durian-shaped fruit) with a slash through it. I will try and find a picture of that asap for all of your viewing pleasure. ANYWAY. I have heard jackfruit can also be kind of rancid. The words described for both durian and jackfruit from people have ranged from onions to smelly feet, so I haven’t been too keen to try them. The jackfruit I had, however, was DELICIOUS. It was a meaty textured cross between a banana and mango flavor. I will be eating it again asap.

Example of the "NO" signs here, via the internet

Last night we were finally able to use the sauna here. The sauna here is a dome-shaped hut with a hole in the middle that is filled with red-hot stones. We all sat in a circle around the hole, while Jim slowly poured water over the stones and the sauna filled with a steam hotter than I thought my body could take. The water had been soaking all day with these wonderful herbs and the smell was very nice. It was dark out, but the moon is almost full so the sky was quite bright and we could barely make each other out through the steam. We meditated in the extreme heat (I had a rough time and was ducking my head by the ground to try and breath a little better) and eventually all were chanting together in unison. It was quite a powerful energy, everyone being there together. When we first entered the sauna, Jim said something along the lines of “When people do sauna, they turn crying into laughing.” I tried my best to do a little crying in there, the time seemed right, with all the chanting and sweating. It seemed a good place to have a cathartic experience. What a story! “Yes I had a complete emotional breakthrough in a sweatlodge in Thailand in the rainforest with a Thai Buddhist Monk and 9 fellow travelers! It was a life-changing experience and I will always remember it!” But nothing emotional came out for me.  I did find myself chanting quite loudly with my peers, and that was quite nice. About 10 minutes in, I was damn near yelling OMMMMMMMMMMMMM, and then my voice cracked and I could not stop giggling. Everyone else too began laughing! I couldn’t understand why, but a great feeling of laughter came over me and everyone else, and I understood what Jim meant by turning crying into laughing. I do love a good laugh.

The forest sauna!

Some things I have taken part in this week include weeding in their beautiful garden, helping cook, cleaning, and getting to make coffee! They have many coffee plants here, and produce and sell their coffee to local villages and markets. We also get to drink the coffee made here, and it is some of the best coffee I have ever had! I have picked the coffee berry, crushed the berry to get the beans (there are two beans in every berry), dried the beans, shucked the husk from the bean (all by hand), and roasted the green beans! The grinder they have here is done by hand and is quite a lot of work and takes quite a bit of time to grind a small amount of coffee. My appreciation for a single cup of coffee will never be the same. :)

Cutting up jackfruit

How many girls does it take a shell a pound of coffee beans?

Our shower. Privacy is overrated anyway...

Girls in the garden

Making fried bread

Riding the "yellow bus," which was a truck with a covered bed, three hours back to Chiang Mai

Here is a link to my Facebook album that has all of my pictures from the farm including the coffee production process, and all of my pictures of my trip so far. The first album is of my time in Bangkok and the islands, and the second album has been of Chiang Mai, Pai, and the farm. So happy to share it with you all.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151270559293375.469573.505338374&type=1&l=0cff7764d2

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151316909813375.471911.505338374&type=1&l=a1f5f94118


Hope you are all doing well, extra homesick these days.

 <3, H

Happy Healing Home: Part One

2/19/2013

I am now the proud owner of a Thai Tourist Visa. This visa gives me permission to stay in the country for 60 days, after which I will be able to apply for an extension of 30 days, giving me a grand three months to eat, sleep, and eat some more in Thailand. My 12 minivan ride to Laos to apply for my visa was a pretty smooth one by Southeast Asia travel standards. My overnight stay in Laos was alright, the dorm I stayed in was quite large and dreary. The day I spent in Laos was actually Valentine’s Day, and I celebrated by going to dinner alone and allowing the restaurant owner’s cat to rub up against my leg affectionately while I ate my spring rolls and banana shake. If I had cared much for the holiday this year, I might have been a little put down by my night, but I have had enough celebratory holidays with loved ones over the years, that I decided far ahead of time that I was going to let this one go by without any expectations. Goal accomplished, happy girl! The van ride back, however, did have me literally praying to the heavens for a safe return. The driver made it scarily clear to all us passengers that he was tired and having a hard time not falling asleep. Thank you sir for making sure I get no sleep as well on this overnight trip. How about we both stay awake, eh? Just for staying alive’s sake?? THANKS.

Two days spent in Chiang Mai later, and I am now on a farm 3 hours north. Happy Healing Farm is the name, and I am one of many volunteers here. After my time at Monte Vista, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to give volunteering another try. I have heard nothing but good reviews of traveler’s time spent here, and decided to join a couple new American friends here. The fee is 150 baht per day (about $4.50) This covers accommodation, three meals a day, lessons in Lana Thai cooking, traditional Thai herbal medicine, and an endless supply of sweet banana chips (Someone stop me, please). One of the American girls is from Oregon, and the friend traveling with her is specifically from Portland! My love of nonstop-eating is shared by my American friends, so I know I am not the only closeted fat kid (It’s ok, we jokingly call ourselves fat kids).

Last night was my first night here, and I stayed in the main building in a spare room next to the husband, wife, and 6 year old who own the place. Jim and Tea are the couple (can’t recall the kids name, but he reminds me of a Thai Jayden a little bit), and they are so kind and gracious. The days here are spent working on whatever you want to, for as long as you want to, if you even want to. The projects I worked on today was a little weeding in the garden and shelling coffee beans. They grow coffee here and I will get to be a part of the whole process of coffee making, from berry to cup. Very cool.

Today I was able to move into a hut of my own, which I am currently in. By hut, I mean freestanding bamboo square with a mat and a mosquito net. No bathroom, no door, no electricity in my hut. Just a little porch, some blankets, two candles, and a carpet of starry night sky just outside my room. It’s only a half moon tonight, but I really feel like I have never seen the sky brighter before in my life. The frogs here are very loud, and sound exactly like Pop Rocks.

My latest digs

Right now I am snuggled up in my blankets with one of my candles burning next to my mat in a tin can. It’s only been two days of me being here, but as a type this, I realize that this doesn’t feel as rustic as it obviously is. Last night I pretty much slept on a concrete floor with a blanket over it, and it didn’t occur to me until now how far away from my pillow-top fluffy heaven of a bed I have come in five weeks. Mmmmm, down comforter, Dave, and the cat. Snuggly sounds nice now that I am writing about it.

OK, must keep my mind off that. It will be a long time before I have that again, and that’s ok.

I am having troubles with my Ego again, finding myself stressing about things subconsciously. Tonight four of us and Jim meditated for 15 minutes in candle light before bed. It was really nice, but I just could not quiet my mind or focus at all. I had two days of pure bliss last week, feeling all zen, and here I am again. Uhg.

I think I will feel better in a couple of days. I always do. I think I just need some time to establish my place here and get a feel for where I fit and what I will do here. So far, there is a really great sense of community here. We all help with preparing the meals, and they are eaten together on pillows on the floor with short little table tops. Any of you who feared (or maybe just imagined, not feared) that I would one day join a hippy commune and let go of all my inhibitions, the only part missing so far is the letting go of inhibitions. They have the hippy commune part totally covered. And I love it.

Massage train...how we spend our downtime here at the farm.

I am not sure how long I will stay, two weeks at least. I would like to stay a month if it feels right. I need to work on spending as little money as I can until Dave comes to visit in the beginning of April. One month here would only cost me 130 dollars, a stark contrast with the money I spent in the last thirty days. It’s amazing how fast money can fly once you’re in a place where everything is cheaper. Makes no sense. Or cents. Har har.

My internet connection here is only possible if I am in the middle of the property next to the garden, and with an internet usb stick, of which there is only one. So, needless to say, I will be cutting back on the internet and the blog updates while I am here. I will continue to write about being here as things happen, and then upload them when I can though. Love you all, sending you lots of stars tonight.

-H

My Ego

I want to start this entry with a loose explanation of what the Ego is. I am quite sure that I am not an expert, but what I have learned is playing a key role in my self journey here. My Ego is what has kept me in a constant state of searching in my life. It is what gives me that brief feeling of happiness after a day of shopping. It was what kept me in a constant battle with my body and self image growing up, always thinking that if I could just attain that one last attribute of a 'beautiful person' then I would finally be happy. It was what made me envious of everyone around me for having this or looking like that or acting in a way that was different from me. My Ego has made me a confused and ultimately unhappy person on and off for a long time. The problem with being troubled is that, if you don't understand the problem, you can never find a solution.

My understanding of the cause of my unhappiness first began to show itself two years ago, after a trip alone to Hawaii to visit a friend for two weeks. It was a wonderful trip, and it was where I first fell in love with yoga, and became close with this friend. Both of those things continued to inspire me after I went back home to Oregon.

The problem with the Ego is that it wants to remain in control. It wants you to gain a sense of self security though material things. It gives you the illusion that you are a complete individual and that you have complete control over your life. It wants you to be on a constant chase for that new outfit, that new diet, that job promotion, that perfect hair color. It gives you a false sense of happiness that can never be attained for long. It takes constant maintenance and energy to upkeep, and is based on the idea that you are imperfect without all of those things that make you happy. It gives you the illusion that you need  them to become a good person.

I am learning some things about myself here on this trip- one of which is that I have a very strong Ego. My ego is almost as strong as my heart, but not quite. If my Ego was stronger than my heart, I truly don't think I would have made it to Thailand. But they are a close match in strength, so I find myself struggling between the two quite often. The bad news for my Ego is that I know what it feels like to be spiritually blissful now, and there is no going back once you know what that feels like. I have had moments of absolute love in my heart, with no consideration of time, money, or outside sources. Moments that were not brought by other people, not family, not boyfriends, not haircuts, not clothes. These moments came absolutely from within myself. I found those feelings with the help of yoga and meditation, but I am so aware that those things are not the cause. I am the cause. I am the factory of all that love and happiness.

Ok, don't think I have gone off the deep end here and have- as my parents sometimes joke- drank the koolaid. I realize that from where you all sit, this might sound a little wacky. And that is okay. I am ok with being that person who comes off a little kooky sometimes,  because it is me. I am that person. And I hope everyone gets a chance to feel these things, because I know that everyone has it in them too. It is the most beautiful feeling I have ever had, to finally feel at peace with my insecurities, and to see myself as already being perfect as I am.

I will put up a post here soon with pictures and more storytelling, I know that is what people like to read about and see. I do hope my sharing of my spiritual journey is good for people to hear too, because that is what I am here for. Elephants and waterfalls are kind of just a really big bonus in all that, and I am really happy to have people to share that with too. :)

Peace

Something has changed me this last week. I have finally been able to silence my worries and fears and just be. This is why I am here, I remember now. I remember how this feels.

I am in Laos staying overnight, I have applied for my tourist visa and will pick it up tomorrow from the Thai Royal Consulate and then head back to Chiang Mai. The bus ride here was 12 hours. Don't ask me how, don't ask me why, but I spent the first 4 hours sitting in the back of the bus with a ridiculous grin on my face, listening to music and looking out at the stars. I feel at peace. I feel thankful. My heart feels it.

I am awake, and I am alive.

Swimming and Trunks

I can never guess where a day here will take me. Only about 1 in 5 days goes how I planned, but almost always in a positive day. Today, for instance, I planned to do yoga and stay on the property while I detoxed with my coconuts. Maybe read my books, maybe write, maybe do a little meditation if possible.

Before yoga began, Mama told me and the other girl who planned on doing the detox today that the price of coconuts has almost doubled because today is the Chinese New Year and prices always go up. We both decided to forego the detoxes and were refunded the money back that we gave Mama to buy our coconuts. Yoga had several new people today, three from in town who were just here for yoga, but a new girl who would be staying in the bungalow next to mine. She is American! Minnesotan, but has been living in Northern California for a few months. She is floating through Thailand too, not sure of her departure date. Her name is Caroline, and I have to say- how nice to meet someone who isn't in Thailand to party! We have lots in common and I am happy to meet someone to talk to about my journey in a real and positive way.

 I met her after I was given permission to borrow another girl’s scooter for the day to go on a fruit market run. The girl who loaned me her scooter also suggested I go see the waterfalls in the area, and after Caroline and I decided to go to the market together, we also decided that we must use this opportunity and go see the waterfall. We took the wrong road to the waterfall, going in the direction of a different waterfall we thought, but that ended up being a blessing in disguise (hasn’t everything been??). We zipped through the hilly roads and absolutely had to come to a stop when we saw two elephants. Calm down, they weren’t wild elephants. They were for tours. But they were open to us to take pictures and stroke their big hairy noses and feed them bananas and I almost died of happiness. I was so excited to see elephants when I came here. I have been hesitant to do a tour, because I have heard endless stories of how the elephants in Asia are treated very poorly. They are often stolen from the wild, worked until they are too sick or old to work, and then left to die. I am sure there are happy elephants in Thailand, I just don’t want to pay money to see them and not know how they are being treated. So I was quite happy to see these elephants for free, and feed them some bananas from my backpack.

I can't lie I was a little terrified...

After we realized our happy mistake (and purchased ridiculous amounts of fruit and vegetables), we drove to the waterfall. The drive was one of my most beautiful yet. The waterfall did have tourists (Mostly kids in their 20s drinking beer on the rocks) but not too bad. After we marveled at the beautiful waterfall, we jumped in. What a wonderful day. 

Tonight we are going to use the kitchen here and indulge in our endless bags of fruit and cook dinner. Not sure what we are making, but we have all the essentials for a good meal. I will be leaving Mama’s day after tomorrow, but I will miss it. The joke about Pai that everyone knows someone who planned to be there for two days and end up staying for two weeks. My little bungalow is so comfortable and relaxing, I wish I could stay for weeks. 

Stats n Stuff

Whatever good feelings Chiang Mai gave for me for my life here, Pai has doubled it. I have been here for five days, and tonight brings me yet another new place to lay my head. Yesterday I met “Mama.” She is a half Thai, half Indian 60-something ex-beauty queen gone yogi. She offers yoga classes, but also “homestay,” which is basically six dollars a night to stay in one of the nine hillside bungalows on her property that overlooks all of Pai. The sun went down a couple of hours ago, and in the far distance I can see a stream of paper rice lanterns that are floating up like a helium-filled pearl necklace in the sky.

Above is a clip from my bungalow overlooking Pai at night

 The best way I can describe Pai is this : Portland, OR…Jackson,WY…..and Jamaica all mated and had a premature Asian baby. I say Portland because this place is crawling with dreadlocks and hippies (I am about 1 rasta-colored accessory away from joining them). I say Jackson because Jackson has that kind of cool vibe, and Pai is surrounded by big hills on either side that reminds me of the hills there.  I say Jamaica because the main street is loaded with dark Thai men that I keep mistaking for long-haired Rastas. Plus I am pretty sure joints are being lit up all over the place based on the slow service and overly relaxed demeanor everyone has. I say premature because this place is small. And I adore that. If there is one thing I will leave behind on this trip, it is the idea that I could one day be a city mouse. No, I will leave the charming fire-escape studio apartment, big city life to someone who enjoys it more. After being in cities (or being in transit to cities) nonstop for the past three weeks, I keep finding myself pining for a hike in the Columbia Gorge or some camping on Mt. Hood… I am obviously still working on that whole “be in the moment” thing. 

Well, in this moment, I am in my own little bungalow (the best place I have stayed by far, and one of the cheapest as well!) sitting outside on a bench typing this entry. I cannot post it as soon as I am done, as I usually do, because I do not have internet that reaches my hut. Now, anyone who has video called me since I came over here knows that my internet service is almost always shotty, semi-decent at its best. But this is the first time I have had NO internet at all in my living quarters. The past few weeks, this has been good for me, but I do also think that it has not been good for me. The internet has been my safe little sleeping bag that I get to climb into and unplug whenever I feel overwhelmed. And unplugging has sounded good at the end of every night here. I haven’t been truly living alone at all. I have been braving my days, but finding safety in my computer at night. Well, I can’t spend every night with my computer, so I am figuring out what to do with my mind and myself with nothing to entertain it. I came here to challenge myself and stop being comfortable.  As we all know by now, I have physically stepped out of my comfort zone almost every time I wake up (the travel, but also I have a sneaking suspicion that Thais fill their beds with bricks. Every time). Mentally has been a hard one for me to step out of though. Maybe once I get the physically comfortable part in check, I will feel better bending my mind around a bit.

 In the meantime, I am here at Mama’s yoga retreat for three days. Mama convinced me and another new girl here to do a detox tomorrow all day. We will be drinking only coconuts all day. That kind of sounds like my version of coconut heaven, but if we must call it a detox, okay. I had yoga with Mama and several other students today in her open-air makeshift studio. It’s beautiful. It’s clear that Mama is passionate about being a yoga woman. I don’t say yoga instructor because I am not sure if that is quite her calling in life. Class was good, two hours long and we were served an Indian meal for lunch after. Mama was also good. As in, she can twist herself into a pretzel. She is good at yoga herself, that I quite clear. She has pictures of herself doing all kinds of yoga poses on her website, (google mamyoga pai) but also her shop in town, and here in the studio. I think it’s just an Asian thing, to put up pictures of yourself and family and things you are proud of. It didn’t make my headstand any easier though. Yeah, we did a headstand in the first day of class. With beginners there! It took me 6 months of practice before I was even allowed to try one at home! I worry about teachers who do all poses with no actual instruction in safe ways to get into the pose, and no oversee to make sure people aren’t hurting themselves. To me, it’s crazy. But I did that headstand, and I look forward to yoga tomorrow.

My yoga bungalow

The view- overlooking Pai

To prepare for tomorrow’s detox, I trotted into town this afternoon to pick up a few things/pig out. I finally found the Pai market, and I think I accidentally bought two little desserts baked in coconut leaves that turned out to be something like mochi! Mochi is a favorite dessert of mine. It’s basically rice flour, coconut milk, and sugar that are baked into a chewy gummy delight. I bought them at the Asian grocery store in Portland, and actually learned how to make them myself back home. The best part of my night was discovering my little mochis. I also bought some meats-on-a-stick, bananas, mangos, an orange, and some mangosteen.

I don’t think I will have enough time to discover all the other great little things about Pai that I know are here, like renting motorbikes and going to the waterfalls and hot springs. I plan on bringing Dave here when he comes though, and that kind of stuff can be more fun with someone else anyway. I have to leave on Monday or Tuesday and make my way to Laos to apply for my visa, since my visa on entry is almost up. Which means… I have almost been here for one month.  Which seems crazy that time has already gone by that fast. But then I get to thinking of everything I have done. Let’s throw together some stats:

Number of places I have slept (Including overnight trains and busses):

1.Queens Garden Hotel first night-Bangkok                                                                                                                          2.Lub D Hostel co-Ed dorm-Bangkok                                                                                                                          

3. Lub D Hostel all-girls dorm-Bangkok

4. Overnight train BangkokàKoh Samui

5. Amazing villa of friend’s-Koh Samui

6.  Lime n Soda Beachside Bungalow-Koh Phangan

7.  Monte Vista Yoga volunteer room-Koh Phangan

8. Overnight train Koh PhanganàBangkok

9. Overnight Bus BangkokàChiang Mai

10. Julie’s Guesthouse-Chiang Mai

11. JJ Guesthouse-Chiang Mai

12. Some random family renting out a room (I was desperate, see blog post below)- Pai

13. Family Hut riverside bungalow-Pai

14.  Mama’s Homestay Yoga-Pai

15. Little Bird Hostel dorm- Chiang Mai

16. Overnight minibus Chiang Maià Vientian, Laos

17. Funky Monkey Hostel dorm- Vientian, Laos

Ok friends, that is 17 different places in 29 days (as of the day I publish this). Typing this is the first time I have done the math. Damn. Ok, so I need to give myself more slack for my reasons of restlessness, obviously.

More stats?

Times I have had to untangle my headphone cords, no matter how delicately I have put them back into my backpack? 4098367

Times I have almost said a prayer over my orange foam earplugs, out of sheer thankfulness? Probably about the same number as above.

Number of times I have washed my own laundry and let it try in the hot Thailand sun? Three! There is nothing that makes a great view feel more homey than having your underwear slung over a fence. I love it.

It's a beautiful sight...

Number of times I have had had my laundry done by the nice Thai laundry ladies? 5. Something about your underwear coming back to you smelling like flowers and folded like an envelope that probably never gets old…I’ll tell you if it does.

Number of street cats that have made me miss Sierra in the way that only a crazy cat lady can? All of them.

Number of hot showers I have taken: 6

Number of giant tropical spiders I have seen: NONE …ohgoddid I just jinx myself?

Number of books I am reading right now: Two. Rereading Eat.Pray.Love (just so I can really look like a nerdy tourist here) and a book Stacey gave me called Yoga and the path of the Urban Mystic. Loving both of them.

Number of things I can say in Thai: Three! Hello, Thank you, and Foreigner. You know, the essentials.