Chiang Mai- Me Love You Long Time

From the moment the airplane touched Thai soil, I decided no more of this moping around Asia with a heavy heart and a bag of sticky rice. It was as if the fasten seat belt light turned off and my new life turned on. It took a little over a week to get my India visa from the consulate in Chiang Mai so I made the most of it and immersed myself in every activity I could get my hands on. Money is going fast at this point and it will significantly cut my travel time, but you can't put a price on this stuff. Worst case scenario is that I will come home sooner than planned. My first activity was a cooking class on an organic farm. They grow all of the essential ingredients for Thai cooking on the premises-lemongrass, kefir lime, different types of basil, eggplant, bananas, etcetera. Not only was the food stimulating but I befriended three lawyers that graduated from Harvard. I had a blast with these guys even though the physics and political conversations were a bit rough on me.(epiphany# 72 There are LOTS of good guys out there) I also took a workshop with a silversmith named Nugoon and made a pendant since I needed something to replace the key I was wearing. I designed, cut, sanded, sawed, soldered, polished and hammered all of the negative forces out of my life. I walked in to loads of temples with saffron robed monks, had three massages for less than four dollars each, went to yoga, meditation, cruised around on the back of a motorbike for a day with one of my Harvard buddies, went to the movies to see Salt, saw a cultural Thai dance show with traditional northern Thai food, played with monkeys, petted tigers(that made me miss my sweet little Juneaux), and spent hours at the markets and night bazaar with my roommate from London, Natalie and her friend Heather from Oregon. We walked around checking out all the jewelry, clothes, paintings, carvings and eating as much streetfood as possible. Papaya salad, mango sticky rice, roti bread, curries, soups, fried fish and Thai tea all less than fifty cents each. I even went to a fish spa where you soak your feet in a fish tank and let dozens of fish eat the dead skin off your feet. That will be the first and last time for that. It was strangest feeling and not nearly as effective as a salt scrub.
I get to eat pad Thai for breakfast, meet new people everyday, and stay in a beautiful guesthouse for about five dollars a day but my new enlightened life has not come without a price. I love Thai massage but it is quite an intense treatment. It is considered "yoga for lazy people" and is performed on the floor. The technique is designed to balance the meridians in the body using acupressure, stretching, pulling, kneading, kneeing, elbowing, arching, cracking, twisting and getting walked on. I was so relaxed and limber after the first one that I twisted my ankle on the curb as soon as I left the spa. So bad in fact, that I was in bed for the next two days keeping it raised and iced until the swelling went down. I thought for sure I would have to go to the hospital, I couldn't even wiggle my toes for the first day. I also got bit on the hand by a monkey, did guided meditation that is done with the eyes open while looking at a small white light that left me with nothing but nausea and a monk almost made me cry, but what would travel be without these things? I could literally write a blog this long for everyday if I took the time.
I had lots of epiphanies between getting walked on and fish removing my cuticles. I am not angry with the person I though was my friend. I realized that this was not a manipulative, conniving act as I originally thought. It was an act of pure desperation. I pity this horny divorcee with a kid who is merely trying to make up for lost time.(epiphany#101 I always win in the end.When are people going to learn?)Being mentally deficient, her future is bleak, where mine is limitless. Now if you'll excuse me, there is a plate of panang curry calling my name.