This week has been one of waiting and searching for new roach-free housing. I really wanted to stay in the area called Nimmanhaemin where the roach condo was but the more I looked, the more expensive it was getting. Most of the condos and apartments here are as expensive as Sacramento! I did not come here to pay that much money. So I kept looking.
(Picture: This beautifully decorated tree is in a courtyard with restaurants and shops that I recently discovered. Most people come out at night to hang out because it is so hot during the day.)
While all that was going on, I also started Tai Chi classes at a little studio just inside the old city. It’s in a really nice neighborhood with lots of little shops and shacks and I thought it would be interesting to move there. I hadn’t considered the old city yet because until now I wanted a condo with a kitchen so I could cook. After the condo drama I have changed my criteria. I have given up on the notion of a kitchen, it’s just so rare here (read: expensive). I started looking into the guest houses but what I found initially was not inspiring. So I just sent out a prayer that God or the universe would lead me to something. I was walking down the street after tai chi one day and a voice called out to me “are you looking for a room?” I wasn’t thinking about that at the moment so I said “no thank you” and kept walking. About a block down the street, something was bugging me. So I walked back.
This is one of my favorite pieces of graffiti I have found.
The place was painted bright orange and had a sign that said Mango Guest House. I told the man “yes, I would like to look at your rooms.” He took me upstairs and showed me. The room was painted a beautiful sea blue and had an elephant decal on the wall. He said I could get a room with air-conditioning if I wanted. I said yes, absolutely. I asked him if he had cockroaches. He is French, and didn’t understand the word. So I showed him a picture on my phone. He jumped and said “Non, of course not! My place is clean!” I said “good, because I don’t like cockroaches.” We made a deal that I would move in on Wednesday and give it a try for a month. So next week I will let you know how that is going!
While that was going on, I have been doing some fun things. I started my Thai classes this week. The first day we went over greetings, how are you, what is your name, etc. The language classes are Mon, Wed, Fri and on Sundays there is a cultural component. This Sunday they took us on a field trip to a local temple! It was really cool, they gave us flowers to place on the buddha statue (see above picture), then we went inside the main temple. At the front you could buy bowls of coins and there was a long table with 100 or more bowls lined up and you walked around in a circle and dropped the coins in the bowls. I don’t fully understand the history and significance of it, but it was very meditative and I thought about all the bowls representing all the blessings in my life and just thought about being grateful. Another thing I did was get a blessing from a monk. Usually women are not allowed to touch monks but in this case, I knelt in front of him on a mat and he sprinkled me with water. The I held my arm out and he tied a braided string on my wrist.
So things are going pretty well, there have been some mishaps and detours but it’s all part of the adventure!
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