Tuesday's Thoughts

The View of Chiang Mai from Doi Suthep

The shower is finicky. In fact today may be the first time I figured it out. It's a beautiful marble shower with a lovely rain effect shower head. It's just that it either ends up being boiling or cold and so I end up dodging in and out and most of the time prefer to be a little chilly that singe my skin. But this morning everything changed. I had a warm, comfortable-to-stand-under-for-prolonged-periods shower. Yipee!

I went to Doi Suthep this weekend. I can say I've seen a major temple here but I don't know how impressed I was. I was a bit disappointed with the Foreigner/farang entrance charge, the tourist trinket vendors all over the place and the little girls all dressed in traditional clothes charging money to take their picture. Things don't feel so holy when all that money is involved. Still, the views of Chiang Mai from up the mountain were fairly spectacular and it was pleasant breathing slightly less polluted air for a few hours.

Pictures of the Temple

I have mastered the art of riding the red "bus" taxis. At first I had no idea how to tell where they were headed and if you could just get in, but after doing it once or twice I'm an old pro. You just tell them where you're headed and if they are willing to go there or are headed there already, you're golden. 20 Baht will see you to any destination in and around the old city. That's a real discount from the Tuktuks who charge 40 and up normally. What I like most is the open back end of the red trucks so you can swing out at any time. And fully inhale the traffic fumes. Geez, I'm practically a local now!

Last night I picked a dying cockroach off my bedroom floor. I don't know how it got there and I had a slight moment of panic before I threw a tissue over it and grabbed it up and tossed it in the garbage. Ugh.

I ate a Mexican avocado filled sandwich for dinner last night as a treat and a change from the local fare. I just craved bread and avocado for some reason. Plus I'd just been to yoga, so I felt it was deserved.

Week two is off to a good start and is quite physically demanding on the therapist's part. Thai massage is not for the weak or inflexible - at least if you're the practitioner. Today when I received the work, I could see my foot maybe 2 feet behind my head. Certainly not any natural position I fling myself into, but certainly not uncomfortable. People either love or hate working with me because I'm so bendy. It tests their limit in terms of maneuvering but it also helps if they really want to know what some things feel like.

I had another full 2 hour Thai massage from one of the teachers this afternoon. It was blissful though I left feeling very much like a wet noodle. More soon, stay tuned.

Me at Doi Suthep

Short stories - observations

ITM Neighbourhood

Outside ITM

Cockroaches can fly. How did I not know this? I am decidedly less panicked when I see one crawl around the ground where I'm eating my dinner. I guess I'm just glad it's not on my plate! Still, I have been assured that the places I'm eating are very clean and "safe".

All sorts of food comes in plastic bags here. You can buy tea in a bag, lunch in a bag - you name it. A sack of soup? For sure! I keep wondering what happens when they burst. I guess it's cheaper than Styrofoam and other carton options.

Bigger, more legit hotels are not as nice as some of the guest houses and they are not as cheap. I met up with other students for dinner last night and the hotel where a few were staying was something I wouldn't have liked to be in. My place is cheaper and I like it more.

ITM - Thai Massage School:
Phil is a rambunctious Ozzie with a wicked streak who likes to jest, drink beer and discuss the compatibility of Chinese horoscopes. It turns out we're both monkeys but he's born a good 20 years (plus) before me. He has been married twice and is into growing orchids. He's done everything under the sun.
Krisztina is Hungarian but lives in England. Funny enough she lives right near Sonja. NW Girls. She is quiet and doesn't give forth much but she watches a lot.
Lottie and Ramses are from Holland and were so excited that their country's team beat France in the Euro cup. Ramses is a history teacher of sorts - appropriate given the name. They are not married but have traveled a lot together.
Manuel is a Spaniard with all the flare that goes along with that. He's lost and looking to find himself outside of his country. He is a jack of many trades and only today I found out that he is also an artist.
Natasha from the Czech Republic has just finished school for Physiotherapy. She has a very direct way of talking and is an avid smoker. She and I ask a lot of the annoying technical questions in class.
Riane and Angelo are Brazilian siblings. They have big warm smiles and seem to laugh alot.
Christos is a big Greek guy who is in level V and helps out with level I as part of his training. He also refuses to eat Thai food so he's spent the last 5 weeks eating ramen noodles and sweets.

Phil and Haley

Krizstina Bending me out of shape with Manuel in the Background

Me and Natasa

These are some of the students at ITM. And somehow we are all thrown together for a week, maybe two or three. It's always interesting to analyze how close you have to become with people when you are physically touching each other all the time. It was this way at massage school in Ithaca, but then we had longer. Here, though, it still can feel that way even in just a 5 day encounter. There is a level of trust and respect that goes without question. Somehow I like this. It's impersonal and personal all at once. I can be alone and then I can be in a fascinating conversation about some one's trek through the country of Iran. Many of these people are traveling for longer periods. Half a year, a year, a few months. It varies. I guess we all have our reasons, our story.

Thai Tales 2

The Front of Santitham Guest House

Today I woke up scratching the side of my wrist just above the bone and below my pinkie finger. It's just one of a larger collection of mosquito bites I am collecting. It's rainy season in Thailand and the days are splashed with random torrential downpours, or sometimes just a drizzle. They never last long though, so it's easy to wait it out. I did that yesterday before I headed from school to a spa for an herbal steam sauna (for 30Baht or $1). I did that two days before when I headed to a yoga class and came out to find it pouring. I hung out chatting with the teacher for a bit and then the rain was gone and I was out and about again. I think it would be OK to be in the rain too.

Santitham guest is a smaller more personal place. I've seen others - in fact a very nice new place opened up around the corner from the school, but truthfully, all the dark teak wood and personal touches make my place feel a little more like home. When I arrived I was donned with a wreath of Jasmine flowers and given coconut milk to drink straight from the coconut and fresh watermelon. Plus I have 2 single beds and a day couch. My suitcase sleeps on one, the random junk from my bag stays on the other, and of course the last, by the window near the running water outside and the chirping birds is my bed. It's strange to be in a single bed again, but less strange than still sleeping on "my" side of the bed in a larger bed when James isn't here. So I am comfortable. Besides, they advertise on the website that they have "European" mattresses.

My Bedroom

Our Sitting Area

I eat breakfast at the guest house only because it's ready when I come downstairs. But to be truthful, it's also filling enough to get me through the morning. The fruit salad has a strange looking fruit - much like an albino kiwi with disorganized seeds scattered throughout instead of around the center. It amuses me. And all the mango is just up my alley. Plus we have toasted mini croissants and sometimes, for a special treat, Noon (the housekeeper) makes us sticky sweet rice with coconut pudding on top. It's tasty.

I was wary of eating just off the street. I thought I'd be cautious (well I still am) and just eat where westerners go, but those places are on the other end of town and as I discovered, walking takes a lot longer than I had in my mind. So round here we eat at all sorts of places. Little homely shacks with a few tables strewn out front where there are 6 options on a strange looking menu, and sometimes at air conditioned fancier places that have caught on to the school's clientele. I've avoided all the spicy dishes, though of course things are still well-flavored. There's a nice cashew chicken dish and I really liked my noodle dish from lunch today. I feel more authentic about my visit to Thailand this way. I confess though, the other day I had no idea where to eat dinner and ended up with a Strawberry smoothie in one hand (disgustingly sweet made with syrup and ice and yogurt - ugh!) and a bag of chips and ramen type noodles in the other. Yikes.

7 Eleven Across the Street

I'm figuring it out though. Last night after yoga I even found the night bazaar. I wondered through a few laps of trinkets and bits and bobs and sat down in the rattier looking local spot next door to McDonald's and opposite Haagen Das and Starbucks. Yes, they have them here too. The tuktuk ride home almost left me with a sore throat because of the car fumes and how fast he was going.

And finally I am almost finished my first week of the Thai massage course and I'm pleased with how it has all gone. I am glad to have my previous training just to support and fill in some of the technical Anatomy and Physiology stuff, but otherwise it's turning out to be pretty comprehensive. I will need a lot more practice before I will feel really confident (right now I know enough to give 1.5 hour massage but only with my manual close by my side), but then I have another 2 weeks today, don't I. All things considered, life is good.

Friday Night with Some Friends from School

Thailand Part 1

Pictures will have to come later but for now so that I can keep track of everything that's been happening and so that everyone has a chance to hear what I'm up to, you can read these blog updates.
First of all, I swore before I got to the airport that for such a long flight I either needed to be upgraded or have a row to myself. As it turns out, at first I had neither... but then since it wasn't the fullest flight I asked the flight attendant, and low and behold the entire middle back row of 4 seats was empty and so I parked myself across all four using 4 pillows, 2 blankets and my ipod and promptly slept. I don't think I've ever slept that much on a flight. It must have been 6 hours uninterrupted and another 1-2 hours waking up here and there. I missed the movie and dinner. It helped make the 11 hour flight rather short to say the least.


So, Bangkok. Hot, well no, muggy is probably better. People are friendly but mostly because they see you as a walking dollar sign. It's a shame. It's hard not to notice the many gigantic billboards on the way to and from the airport. I mean HUGE. And yet the city is this weird mix of dilapidation and sleek new high rises. Oakwood Residence turned out to be as nice as Keith and Charlene promised, and they even upgraded me to a one bedroom because I really needed the extra space, it being me, myself and I. So after exploring my new pad (for all of 3 nights), booking a Thai massage at Healthland for 7:30pm, and calling an old classmate from Bennington (Sara Syed) to arranging a meet up, I realized that i was in fact starving and headed to the restaurant downstairs to eat. I realized after actually getting out and about that it was greatly overpriced but with so much traveling etc I couldn't have cared less. Things were off to a decent start. The only thing decidedly missing was James. To get my mind off of things, I went for my first AUTHENTIC Thai massage. Good gracious! Nice price for sure (450 Baht translates to about $15) but I thought the slight lady working on me was actually trying to root my muscles off the bone. Hmm. And this mind you, is after saying she could go softer. That lasted all of 20 secs. In retrospect, though a little sore I was highly entertained, and more so when she actually asked for a tip and then when I gave her one, she tried to tell me what the Correct amount was. Cheeky lady. I said she could keep what I gave her or have none at all. I think if I go back she may actually kill me, so I will probably not.
Jet lag hasn't really hit me though to confess, I haven't slept well yet. Last night was the closest to a full night of uninterrupted sleep. I guess my mind was overactive with all the new stimulation.

On Friday, of all places to head to with Sara, we went to a crepe place called (this is very original) Crepes and Co. But, and I will say this with much experience behind me, it was delicious. We sat outside and got bitten by mosquitoes and caught up for about 3 hours. And from there we found our way to the night bazaar where we scrolled the stalls for interesting stuff. There's a ton of cheap and nasty stuff and some more well made things spotted in between. Afterwards she left and I took a walk down Silom Rd peering at this and that and stopping for some dinner. I had the displeasure of coming across Potang market (is that the name of it?) which is well known for it's numerous go-go bars. The doors are all open and all you see are very unhappy looking girls standing waiting at their polls. I don't know how anyone actually goes in there... UGH.
Later that night I met back up with Sara and her husband Khurum and 2 of his friends at a bar called Admakers. It's actually a kind of fun place mostly because of the live band playing covers of all the good stuff from 60's through the 90's. We laughed so hard watching the back up singer sing sounds that remotely sounded like English but definitely weren't..."bverouervvouu stayin' alive, stayin' alive, ah ah ah ah'm stayin' alive!" Too funny.



Saturday I explored a little of Sukumvit Rd - pricey area with many malls. My main spot was the Emporium Mall whose food court came highly recommended. I managed a day of food, browsing and even a movie for under $20. Pretty cool.

On Sunday I flew here to Chiang Mai. I had this strange sense of relief to be out of Bangkok truthfully. And landing in Chiang Mai seeing the mountains and green I was a little more at ease. Of course just till I arrived and found no one there to pick me up. No, actually it was fine. I just called the guy who was supposed to be there and he came in 15 mins. And so I arrived at Santitham Guest House. It's quite a sweet small place with lots of more personal details though privacy isn't one of them. Shared bathrooms. Oh well. I was told there may not be others there but apparently we are full! That means all 5 rooms, mind you. It's OK though because the people here right now are pretty cool and actually it was a nice opportunity to head out for a bit of sightseeing with them later in the afternoon. There's a Sunday market that we made our way through despite little dribbles of rain. And I have to confess that I have seen more temples and pagodas just wondering around Chiang Mai for 2 days than I did in my time in Bangkok. They're everywhere here!
So the rest I will leave for my next post since I'll be amazed if anyone even got this far. Stay tuned!

Florence Weekend - continued

View on the way up to the roof of the Duomo



Having yet another cafe break in our ambling kind of day. Nothing like seeing great works of art, window shopping and eating enough gelato for a week!



Sunset on the river

Weekend in Florence - spring

We had a great weekend away with Karen and Matt. We rented a car and drove down to Milan, retrieved M&K from the Malpensa airport and carried on down to Tuscany. Thanks to a tip from friends I booked us the most adorable B&B just on the outskirts of Vecchio, an hour out of Florence. The name of the place is Le Due Volpi - run by Heidi and Lorenzo, it is small and beautifully set up with the most ridiculous views of the rolling countryside. This first photo is from the awesome al fresco dinner we had at the B&B. Unbelievably good home made food, good company, and from what I hear, good wine.



Though rain was forecasted for the whole weekend we arrived in Florence on Saturday to find glorious blue skies and sunshine. What a blessing to be able to walk around the city in such great weather. We did plenty of wondering and of course saw the major sights. The duomo is as impressive as it seems.



This last photo is taken after we climbed 400 and something stairs to see the frescoes on the ceiling. So worth it!

Spring and Neysan come to TASIS

Gorgeous spring blossoms on campus

Neysan's visit was way too short but it was great to see him for the 20 hours he managed to spend with us here in Lugano. The rain was courteous enough to pause for his brief stay.

Neysan near one of the town churches

Blossom detail