Why can't I find a nail shop or leg wax anywhere in this city? I guess all the asian nail spas are in the US lol.
There also aren't any places to do laundry. I just paid some old lady to wash my clothes. It cost me $6 and I can't pick them up until tomorrow at noon. The 2 hour laundry costs almost $5 per kg and that is just a huge rip off.
There's another meditation retreat on Samui Island on the 21st. I'd made a definite decision not to go because that weird monk fantasy had me a little freaked out and Tan Dhammavidu will be one of the two main facilitators. Now that I'm again in the world of regular folks and designer knockoff handbags, I feel more normal. I feel anonymous and engulfed by the crowded city. I also feel like it's too much - way too much. I want to go back to the mosquitos and centipedes. Ok well maybe not that extreme, but I cannot wait to get out of here.
Tonight is a nationally celebrated festival of light Loy Krathow. It is traditionally a Buddhist holiday I think but some say it is to offer gifts to the water goddess during the time when the river banks are flooded. One of the monks said that there had been a drought so it looked as though there would be no celebration, but in the past week or so it has rained enough to create the flooding needed - after the heavy rainy season should have ended already. I guess I should consider it lucky.
At home I love it when it rains because I get a lot of the world to myself. People don't go out much in the rain unless they have to so I don't have to deal with busy streets and long lines. Here it rains so much that life goes on as if nothing has changed.
I purchased a beautiful umbrella and a pair of rubber boots from a flea market type shop in Chaiya before the retreat began. I felt silly buying the boots because it was so damn hot but they were calling me. After that raincoat incident, I dare not ignore any more inklings. Both items were invaluable. I found out that my migraines were being caused by too much sun exposure. I began using the umbrella for shade on a day that was stifling hot, and I haven't had a headache since...curious. I got tired of having wet feet all the time so I broke the boots out on the 2nd rainy day.
So this retreat was cool and everything but it's definitely better suited to the barefoot hippie types. You can't wear shoe inside any of the buildings, which aren't really indoors if you want to be technical about it. I mean, if there are no walls you are not really inside of anything. The floors are always wet and the bathrooms are the worst offenders. However, I do have to give them credit for keeping everything so clean. We do the same chores every day, and a group of people were in charge of cleaning the bathrooms. They did a fabulous job.
The main monastery offer free housing for anyone who wants to stay after the retreat but you share a room with 7 other people of the same gender. I may have considered it if I could have another single room. Actually, I couldn't wait to get out of there. The speakers kept talking about beer and cigarettes. The first thing I did when I got into town was have an iced coffee and a smoke. Now I'm having a beer, which I hadn't dome for over a month before going to the damn retreat.
I'm kinda cranky today. The train kept stopping last night. It was late to the station where I boarded by almost two hours and what should have been a 10 hour trip took almost 13. I did find the guest house I was looking for fairly easily though. Its just too bad there is no TV in my room. I think I may have to upgrade if that's an option. Well, I'm tired and a bit fed up with wandering the city looking for things I can't seem to find. It's like a giant flea market: there doesn't seem to be any organization and most of the stuff for sale is just junk.
There are some roomy pants I saw at a street vendors booth that I'm interested in. Those will hold me until I can get my own clothes back. I have to get something to out on after I shower, and oh man do I need one.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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