Waking up around 8:30am (again with no alarm, I'm quite impressed with myself!), I strolled the 10 minutes to Blue Garden Yoga for an hour long Vinyasa class with a Dutch ex-pat teacher. My arms are feeling it today! I don't usually do Vinyasa because it's not the best for my shoulder and upper back issues, but I was acutely aware yesterday and did not strain or hurt anything. I actually used the right muscles for the right poses. The studio was walled in glass on 2 sides and open to palm trees, sunshine and mosquitos on the other 2, with a small stream and water wheel playing a soothing soundtrack for our class. I said a quick hello and goodbye to my French friend who was off to the Chinese Embassy for a visa. (A note for those wishing to go to China: I hear it's cheaper and easier to get a visa in Thailand than in other countries. Worth a try if you're interested...) I stopped at my favorite veggie restaurant and juice bar on the way back to my guesthouse for a double shot of wheatgrass juice and a tropical fruit & spirulina smoothie. Mmm! Then I sat around and chatted on the sunny terrace with a few of the Noi's House employees and their children drinking coffee for the rest of the morning. Around noon I grabbed my book and journal, paid a visit to the Buddhist temple across the street, then found a shady spot to sit in the grass and sketch a tree. I'm not a visual artist, but drawing with the monks last weekend reminded me that there are so many things we miss with a quick glance, and taking the time to commit an image to paper helps the artist to see the details and be present. By then I was hungry! So off to another veggie house for a toasted whole wheat sandwich and a soy mocha.
Monday was the start of my Basic Thai Massage course and I was met by Napa, the teacher my friend had recommended, with a warm smile and a cup of ginger tea. We talked about the fundamentals of Thai massage and how they relate to Ruseri Dat Ton, the Thai yoga I'm learning. We spent the next 4 hours studying the first 20 techniques of supine - laying down - Thai massage. The time flew by and I loved every minute of it. My teacher is kind, honest, and encouraging. Having a one-on-one session is the best practical way to learn because she tells me about the techniques, she gives me a massage, then I practice on her. I'm sure she gets a lot of not-so-good massages, but hopefully mine weren't too bad! I'll certainly need some practice when I get back to Jeju. Any volunteers?
I had a date to meet my monk friend after class at the English Monk Chat at Wat Suan Dok, a temple about 10 minutes outside the city, so I hopped in Tuk-tuk - open-air taxi with a scooter engine - and arrived around 6:30. Unfortunately, he was not there, but I talked with several monks for an hour and a half about Buddhist principles and charitable work they are doing with Burmese refugees. Chiangmai is only about 4 hours from the Burma border and there are thousands of displaced families and orphaned children living both on the Thai side and in the mountains of Burma who have been forced to leave their homes by the goverment and cannot find work or food in the cities. The monks at Wat Suan Dok bring clothing, food, and medicine once a month, weather permitting. There are no roads and if there is heavy rainfall, the makeshift villages are unreachable. I was offered a ride back into the city by a very nice English ex-pat who also runs a charity for Burmese refugees and, on our way, we ran into a huge festival. I hopped out at a busy corner and followed the crowd into Wat Cheng Lien (sp?) where a 10 story high crematorium with burning a monk in a big celebration of his life and contributions. There were fireworks, music, food, and thousands of people who had come to watch the burning. I wandered around the gargantuan temple - the name actually means "huge relic" for the large Buddha statue in the center pagoda - and ran into my monk friend! He said he had tried to wait for me, but wanted to come to the festival with some friends. We talked and walked around the grounds and make plans to meet later tonight so he can teach me some Theravada Buddhist chanting. By the time I made it back to Noi's House it was after 10pm and I was ready for bed.
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