Thai Endings, Indian Beginnings

Since I'm behind on my blogging I am actually sitting in an internet cafe in India fixing to write about the last 10 days I spend in Chiang Mai. Much has happened since the last blog but even having only been in India for a matter of hours has transformed Thailand into a distant memory. I will try to pull myself from the sensory overload and relate the last week n a half at least briefly.
In the last few free days before I began my massage course, I took a cooking class, went to the zoo and moto-ed up Doi Sutep with Ted to the Wat at the top with stop on the way up at a lovely waterfall. The cooking class was super fun. Me and the other 6 or 7 people in the group--all very nice--rode in a sawangthaw to the market to learn to shop for rice, oils and meat and then to an organic farm to see how the beggies and herbs are grown. WE grownd our own curry paste with mortar and pestle and spent the morning making curry (I made green), coconut soup and stir-fried chicken with cashews. Then lunch--I don't have to tell you what we ate (yum)--then pad see ew (stir fried big noodles) and mango with sticky rice and coconut milk in the afternoon. I can't wait to try my mad skills out back at home the cooking school sent us home with an awesome recipe book and enough leftovers for dinner that next and breakfast the next morning. Scrumdiddliumpcious.
Most of the time last week I spent split between my Thai Massage course at ITM and roaming the city streets on my gangster red bike which I dubbed Calvin. Calvin and I rode all over town stopping at little shops and street stands and feeling the sun and breeze and merging accross multiple lanes of rapidly oncoming traffic around the moat--that last part snapped us out of our Chiang Mai trance in a jiffy! The massage course was such a blast, the week flew by at lightning speed. The instructors, native and farang (foreigner) at ITM were all exceptionally nice and patient. We began the day with anhour of thai chi and light yoga. I loved that hour. They put on this hilarious recording with directions in chinese in this goofy voice and accompaniying music. The thai chi ended up feeling like we were in a really strange broadway show-- amazing way to kick the morning off right! After warming up and waking up, we had a tea and coffee break and then instruction before lunch and practice after. I'm sure we made quite a spectacle practicing all our crazy tandum stretches (awkwardly at first--it's a new sort of coordination) but it was great fun and since we partnered up, everyone got half a massage each day--the left side for women and the right for men to maintain ying and yang balance of course. The other students were so fun; I have many email addresses to keep track of them with andI feel like I can give a decent thai massage too! But I still need practice so let me know if you have a spare hour or two...I can feel my popularity increasing already ;)
For my last weekend, Ted and I went to a little get together to celebrate the impromtdu marriage of Laura and Roman, two lovely friends of Ted's who decided they couldn't wait to thai the knot (sorry I couldn't help myself). We got them a little wooden buddha (old), a bottle of whiskey (new), Ted's key chain (borrowed) and cute salt and pepper shakers (blue). the next day we were up early for some climbing at Crazy Horse where Chiang Mai Rock Climbing Adventures (where Ted works) sets up camp. It was a beautiful day and climbing was challenging and rewarding in turn. Here's how it worked: Ted would dart up a route lead climbing and then sit back patiently shouting encouragment as I eeked my way wondering if the limestone had shape-shifted while we switched belay. My fingers and toes were just about to run out of steam and then it was time to head back to the city. sunday I took it easy--yoga in the morning, massage in and street strolling in the afternoon. That night, we went with a few friends for thia bbq. The place was tented outdoors and the tables went on for miles; it was Sunday but the place was packed to the hilt. It was buffet style with the one minor difference being that instead of fresh off the grill, the meat was fresh of the butcher's knife. You gathered all the raw animal and vegetable you wanted and brought your killings back to the table to cook on hot pots. Everything was delicious, the atmosphere was phenomenal and after ice cream, we left plump and happy. It was a great finish to my Thai journey. With heavy eyelids and a heavier heart I left the next morning at 5-something-or-other for the airport and by 2pm I was in Chennai.
It was Septembe first and I had remembered my rabitrabitrabits that morning so luck was on my side. At baggage claim, a clean cut indian struck up a conversation with me and then offered to help me find a taxi and then offered to drive me part way to my guesthouse and then offered to show me his family's house and then offered to have me for lunch. Sailesh and I were fast friends, he is one of the most cheerful, generous and down to earch people I know. Ever. Really I feel that the God or Gods or Buddha or somebody upstairs was looking out for me the moment we crossed paths. Sailesh's parents, though slightly more reserved, brimmed with kindness as well.
Lunch. Of course I excepted the opportunity to eat witha family, but of crap, I thought, I've wated no time putting my table manners to the test. Here it is the polite way to use the right fingers to mix rice with the dishes served along side, scoop of a mouthful and shovel it in with the thumb. This being a new motion for me and me being lefthanded, I stuggled a little and felt as though I was making an awful mess of the task, but I looked around and other hands were jsut was food covered as mine. We finished lunch--rice, dahl, potatoe masala or something like that, flaky flatbread and spinch or something like that. I thought it was delicious and the Modis assured me this was just regular run of the mill fare--probably looked like someone going gaga ove a turkey and cheese sandwich. Ah well. This was one heck of a turkey and cheese sandwich. After looking as some pictures with Sailesh and his mom I was on my way.
The rest of the afternoon and evening I spent walking around taking in the sights and checking out places to stay, answering emails and prchasing an Indian phone. While walking I really began to feel India. Everything here is saturated--color, noise, smells, traffic, shops, people (especially people)--everything. It is just A LOT. Beacuse I've been traveling in SE Asia, not many things are totally foreign--the autoautos are tuktuks, the motos are motos, it's polluted, people walk in the street, there are small food stands along the roads and so on, but here however much or many of something I saw, it's 10 fold. What's more, I was convinced for a while that I was literally the only foreiner in all of India. To be perfectly blunt, I saw 2 other white people from a distance one time and then no others for a day and a half and that was while I was walking everywhere and out and about. Later today (tuesday) I met some nice US girls doing a study abroad program, but really the absence of touists is shocking. I got togther with Sailesh agian tonight and we went to a couple of trendy bars for some live music which was fun and we're gonna hunt down some easfood tomorrow for lunch. Schlurp!