This morning I woke up feeling fresh and awesome about a half hour before my alarm went off. I left early for breakfast, trying a different place, which unfortunately had the most horrible Nouvelle Vague playing on their stereo. I hate hate hate that band. Otherwise the place was pleasant enough. There were lots of westerners there, some of whom were talking about coursework and how much longer they’ll be in town, so I definitely got the impression that it was a popular hangout among the longer-stay people. I liked the other place, from two days ago, better.

Loi Kroh school isn’t open Sundays usually, so when I arrived, everything was shut up and Napa and I were the only ones there. She had voted after all, but had no more to say about the matter. Yesterday I heard a lot, but it was hard to follow, tales of corruption, poverty, government rice, oil, etc., but often she got stuck on words and the train of thought would falter.

Today’s practice was very nice. Less formal. We bowed to the sculpture of the teacher, but no chanting. We talked about the poses more, and corrected them more. I think I briefly dozed off during the ending relaxation. I also noticed that each day my lower back tolerates being rolled around on the ground during one of the closing poses much better.

During our break, Napa showed me around the garden, pointing out funny things, like where plants had grown from seeds thrown after someone had eaten, and the plastic turtle floating, covered with algae and looking entirely different, in the fish pond. Then she asked me if I was familiar with gooseberries. I said yes, but it turned out that we meant different things. And now I’ve also forgotten the Thai word. Sigh. Here are some pictures:

They are very tart, and she explained many ways to prepare them while we munched on them, and she took them down from the tree using a repurposed bottle on a stick. You can also make a tea from the leaves, good for spleen. She gave me quite a few to eat later, as well. I kept thinking how, if I could get the pits out more easily, they’d make a wonderfully tart pie, maybe combined with something else, sweet & earthy.

After class, I had it in my head to enjoy an hour or so on one of those big touristy terraces in the center. The ones with loungy sofas and lanterns and froufrou drinks, etc., for lunch and an iced tea.

Apparently, everyone else had the same idea, because there was no seat to be found anywhere. So I found a cafe instead with as relaxed atmosphere, and a slightly less overboard decor. It’s market day, and things are already being set up all over town, and the muay thai truck is driving around announcing tonight’s fights over loudspeakers. I’m looking forward to the market, so I will continue this later. Now I must go nap and relax for a couple of hours.

Back again. I didn’t really nap, just hung out and relaxed. It was good, just what I needed.

Around 18:30, I left for the market, and I had a wonderful time. First I had a funny steamed bun, with red bean paste. Not the most delicious red bean bun I’ve ever had, but seriously cute! Mine is the one on the counter, beside the pig.

And then I wandered, taking note of things I might want to pick up next week, for example. Eventually, I bought a pair of black pants in a style I like to wear when it’s warm. Then another. Then a beautiful silk flag, or wind catcher thingy.

Bad photo, but I’ll take some photos at school next Sunday, where they’re hung all over, and you’ll see better then. I chose a blue one, like the one on the left. Not sure why.

After that I stopped for food, although I wasn’t very hungry. I went to the main food stall area. It’s amazing to me that I’ve been to this market once, 3 years ago, and I could vividly recall where to find things. Many of the stall keepers are in exactly the same place. One of them, without a doubt, was the same woman I haggled with over a bedspread last time.

Anyway, I saw mango with sticky rice and knew that was what I wanted. And luckily for me, she also had bamboo sticky rice, which I decided would make an excellent breakfast before class tomorrow. I haven’t scoped the walk there yet, so am unsure about options. I noticed these past days that not everywhere is open so early.

So, a little food later and I was thirsty, but nothing really appealed in the food area, so I headed back out to the main market. Basically, the Sunday market takes up the entire length of one of the main streets that crosses the entire old city, with side streets and temple grounds as well. It’s huge. And the later it gets, the more people pack in. By the time I finished my brief foray for edibles, traffic (pedestrians) was at a standstill. I pushed through when I could, but sometimes I just had to wait.

At one of these points I made eye contact with an old woman selling lovely pinkish pumice stones with bits of shiny in them. She was laughing at the jam, probably, or at my face, possibly, or who knows what. I looked at her stones. She mimicked scrubbing her arms with one. I put a look of alarm on my face and mimicked doing that to my feet, instead. She laughed and said “ka, ka,” which is “yes, yes.” The woman at the next stall leaned over and said “20 baht!” and I showed her how indeed, every stone was neatly labeled with the price. I smiled. And paid it. It cost me more than my meal. Ha! The old lady started to put it in as bag, but I motioned for her to stop. I had adequate bags already. I slipped it into my purse.

When I turned the corner I saw the most beautiful fisherman pants I’ve seen, in the cloth quality I’ve come to prefer. I bought 2 pair and asked if he’s always at that location. I may go back for more.

Then I decided to get the hell out. I needed at least 1 T-shirt for classes. My 2 are already sweaty, and I prefer t-shirts to tank tops for class, also because with my shoulders covered, I can go into wats politely on my way home. I will probably need to do some laundry later this week.

I got a T-shirt, one I liked, then got out of Dodge. At home, feeling like I’d overspent, I counted it all up. For 23 euros, I’d gotten 4 pairs of pants, a T-shirt, food + yummy passion fruit juice, a silk flag, and a pumice stone. Not too bad. Hooray!

Tomorrow: ITM, the school where most of my certificates come from. I’ve never been to the mother ship. Excited!

I’m a little rough around the edges today. My confused body clock combined with itchy mosquito bites to wake me up around 02:30 and keep me up until 04:30 or 05:00. Consequently, I reset my alarm a little later, then hit snooze a few times, then just lay in bed unable to get my ass up. This behavior meant I didn’t have time for breakfast before class.

I took a different route to school this morning, eating dried mangoes as I walked, then got there in time for coffee across the street before it was time to go in. Even so, I was there before Napa, or indeed nearly everyone. Her sister was just arriving, but the screens were drawn on the Ruesri Datton building, although later the creepy-eyed Frenchman emerged from behind them. I wonder if he slept there. He seems to be very familiar with everyone and the procedures. His teacher, with whom he is currently studying foot reflexology, also appeared around that time, from inside the massage building.

As I drank coffee, one of the 2 Japanese girls arrived. I didn’t expect to see her, but that was very nice. I can’t believe I’ve already forgotten her name. It started with S and ended with mi, but that’s all I currently remember.

We started as before with the chanted prayer to thank Shivaga, the father of Thai massage, then the meditation and warm up series from yesterday. Today, Napa encouraged us to really look at ourselves in the mirror, to see where we were off-balance, in order to improve it. My right hip sits higher, although it’s usually my left where I notice problems. Class was harder today, but I did OK. More balancing on one leg, which was hard with my left ring toe injured.

Oh, and snack during the break was tamarind seeds, jujubes, and boiled peanuts. Yum.

After class, I had an excellent pad thai at a small shack on a quiet street. I haven’t seen any pad siew yet, strangely, which is Matt’s favorite, and I’m easing my stomach in gently with noodle dishes. They’re cheap & filling. Lunch took quite a while, but I heard her chopping everything fresh back there. She made it very mild for farang, not because I asked, but the German family next to me did, and they also ordered the same. There were dried chilies and chilies in vinegar on the table. I used both liberally. Yum.

(Newcomers: farang is foreigner, wat is temple.)

Then straight back home to rest! I deliberately wore a tank top today, to prevent me entering any wats, so that I could get some rest.

Around 5, I headed out for the Saturday Market. First a massage. I chose a random place, the first I came to on a small street. It was good, but not nearly as good as the blind guy. I didn’t get the impression that these ladies enjoyed their job quite as much. They were proficient, just bored and impatient. There was no rhythm, which I always find really telling. Rhythms can be different, but if there isn’t one, the practitioner is not really into what they’re doing.

WARNING: if you’d rather not read about menstruation & massage, skip this part until the next ALL CAPS spot. This is my blog about my massage training, though, so this is relevant to me.

When I arrived, I told them that I was on my period, which usually tells them not to cut off circulation to the legs, or to massage the abdomen. The reasons I’ve heard are as follows:
– heavier bleeding
– wooziness, possibly even fainting
– possibility of a longer period, by a day
I have even heard that you should avoid it altogether, due to the stretching. I have taken most of this with a grain of salt because no one tells you not to exercise or stretch during your period. And while I’m sure that the abdominal detox massage would have been too intense during menstruation, a light version of the normal stomach application can be quite beneficial in relieving cramps. Or so I have felt in the past. To be on the safe side regarding the heavier bleeding, especially as I was on day 2 and heaviest already, I put in a fresh tampon right before we began. In the interests of science, I also changed it a little more often than I thought I normally would.

Even after having told her, she cut off my circulation, not just once, but 8 times to each leg. 8 times. I think that the most I’ve ever done is 3 times per leg. And they were effective. I could feel my pulse against her hands then the rush of warmth down my leg when she released. It’s not as if she missed.

Results? Nothing. No extra bleeding during, nor immediately after for many hours. As I’m finishing this the next morning, I would actually say that if anything, it’s lighter than normal, but I think that’s circumstantial. Further, I’m experiencing fewer cramps than normal, but as that’s variable, I’m again not attributing it to the one normal abdomen massage I received from the blind man. It’s more likely related to the Ruesri Datton, if I were to guess. Or complete happenstance. As for whether the duration is lengthened, well, we’ll just have to wait and see.

SAFE AGAIN, squeamish ones.

My masseuse changed halfway through, and when I mentioned that I was going to the market, she offered me a lift on her scooter. In retrospect I should have agreed, but I was worried that I wouldn’t remember my route, and couldn’t get back. I shouldn’t have worried, as it turns out I was already lost. I ran into her again layer, though.

It turns out that I left my map in my room, so while I did find a market, it wasn’t the one I’d been aiming for. It was just a small neighborhood food market, no other farang in sight. I bought a bag of tamarind seeds, for munching on whenever. The woman at the next stand liked my hair.

Then I bought a bag of yummy-looking cellophane noodle stuff with a vegetable I couldn’t identify in it. I ordered it because several other people ordered it, and the stand was popular.

Unfortunately, this market is clearly for locals. People were taking individual portions away in bags on their scooters. I was given a bag, but nothing to eat the food with. In the end, I decided this was likely to happen again, so I bought a package of sporks from a stall around the edges. Now I’m set for eating on the roof terrace whenever I like as well.

I found a place to sit, but didn’t really care for the dish, so after only a few bites, I tossed it in the trash. I was sure I’d missed the correct market, but without the map I didn’t know where to look for it, so instead I decided to head for the Night Bazaar. After all, Napi said we’ll start an hour later tomorrow, so I can sleep in. She hasn’t decided if she will vote or not (she’s feeling that the situation is irredeemable and nothing will change anyway), but if she does, this will give her time before our lesson.

When Matt and I were in Chiang Mai 3 years ago, we were none too impressed by the Night Bazaar. It seemed far too commercial for our romantic notions of what a night bazaar should look like. This time, knowing what it was, I was able to enjoy it very much. Besides, I had a mission: I needed sandals.

But let’s just awkwardly segue here, to ice cream! I saw this stand:

I mean, just look at those! They’re insane. They make curls of ice cream, which they stand up on end into a dish. Add whipped cream and toppings, and voila!

First step: chop up the ice cream base flavor and the special flavoring. This is for the girl before me: oreos were chopped into chocolate ice cream. Mine was coconut jellies into Thai ice tea ice cream.

Second step: spread it out flat onto freezing surface and curl it into cylinders.

Then add cream & toppings, finished product!
Mine: coconut jelly chunks in Thai iced tea ice cream, topped with whipped cream, caramel syrup, and Kit Kat’s. No, I didn’t invent it. I picked it out of the display.

After the ice cream, I realized that although I knew where I was, in that I remembered the square, which was the same one where Feigal family friend Nick the dentist took us for seafood and special ordered that amazing soft shelled crab curry. However, I had no idea which direction was home, so i hailed a tuktuk. My driver got confused getting back, so we cruised all over town for quite as while, which was fun. And since we’d already negotiated a price, I didn’t mind at all!

At home, surgery was needed in order to make my sandals fit. I hadn’t found any which were wide enough but not too long, so in the end, I cut them to where I needed them. I also cut my finger, when I turned the knife the wrong way then pressed firmly. Small wound, easily bandaged.

And then it was bedtime. 🙂