Fairy Tales

I have more or less fallen in love with the family that lives on sight on the school. I wrote in the letter to my mother that the kids names are Din, Nam, and Fon. It turns out these are nick names. They haven't bothered to tell me there real names. However, they have told me that there names mean Earth, Water, and Rain respectively. I live with Thai hippies. It's pretty awesome. Not to mention, after having Bangkok leave me wondering if "the land of smiles" was a myth this family has quickly shone me how many times it is possible to smile in one day. As we cook dinner Nam sits in the hammock and plays his guitar and sings in Thai. The boys each have motorcycles (really more of scooters) and are nice enough to let there little sister ride on the back as they zip around Chang Rai with there shades on. They are the coolest teenagers I have ever met. The parents speak very little English but smile and laugh as they teach me Thai and try to improve there English. The father (Pi Sak) has learned the word for cute uses it the most as I try tirelessly to correctly pronounce Thai words.

As it turns out we do not work very much on this farm/school (VBAC). I have not worked on the mud house (or anything else for that matter) since my last entry 1 week ago. I am starting to understand that just by having travelers coming through and more or less being in the community and representing the school we are helping the school. I think Silapa more wants us to be learning about Thai culture, meditation, herbal remedies, and Buddhism.

We often are given a rough idea of what we will be doing each day - but very rough. For instance, last Sunday we were told we were not working this day but going to a Waterfall. We piled in to the back of the old pick up truck the school uses. 10 minutes later we arrived at a near by temple. We ended up staying at the temple for 3 hours putting together a "money tree" for the upcoming meditation retreat. (A money tree is like a much more exciting collection plate).

We make it to the beginning of the trail to the waterfall. It is about a 20 minute easy hike in until I round the corner and am blown away by a waterfall 3 times the size of anything I was expecting. The waterfall was mentioned so casually I figured we were going to swim and it would be neat and maybe we could even slide down it. Standing fifty from the waterfall my clothes were soaked from the mist and you had to yell to hear the person next to you. Din, Nam and Fon arrived shortly after us and Nam was nice enough to be my guide under the waterfall. It was incredible. There was just enough space for 3 or 4 people to climb up in behind the fall and sit for a few minutes.

The next morning we woke up expecting to work. We were once again told to climb in the truck little idea where we were headed. We arrived at a monastery. Our money tree was proudly displayed at the front of the temple. This was the first day of a 5 day meditation retreat. Silapa introduced us to an older Monk who explained the different activities and workshops going on (acupuncture, Tai Chi, natural healing work shop) he told us to look around but not to wonder far because the truck would be here soon to take us to the cave. Everyone was talking to us as if we had any idea what was going on. I get the impression that Silapa sets up many very interesting things for us to do, but maybe doesn't have the English to explain what is going to happen. It's always a surprise waiting for us in the morning.

So again we arrive at a trail opening, we hike in on a short path that crosses a stream. We arrive at a huge hole in the side of the mountain. The cave is maybe 40 feet deep and 30 feet high at it's highest point. There are a few tents set up and two young monks sitting with crossed legs on mats. They welcome us with smiles. We spend about an hour with the monks. There are two other caves close by that they takes us to explore. At the end of our time they begin talking about how we will be staying with them for the week in the cave. Once again news to me. It turns out it was our choice to stay or not... there were some key words lost in translation. But honestly, how often do you get invited to camp in a cave with monks for a week to learn about meditation.

We had time to go back to the monastery, try out having acupuncture done, and return to VBAC for just enough time to pack what we will need in the cave.

4 nights

3 Americans

2 monks

1 yoga teacher

Incredible.

The monks turned out to be hilarious. There names were SuphaChai and Matt (Matt is actually German but wanted to try out being a Buddhist Monk for a month). SuphaChai is Matt's teacher but has been a mentor and friend of his for many years now. SuphaChai was as incredible as his name suggests. The mornings were spent doing a little yoga with the yoga teacher (Sylvia), exploring the area, washing dishes, rinsing out muddy clothes in the stream, swimming. Afternoon often got us lessons in meditation exercises, background and basics of acupuncture, Buddhism 101. After dinner was talking about meditation techniques to try out the next day, stories about monks crossing streams, king frogs, and kings who like to hunt for fun. It was somewhat of a adventure base meditation style. Mostly it was an incredible experience, and a whole lot of fun. I am proud to say I have two brand new Monk BFF's. :)