Location: Koh Tao, Thailand

The last two days have been absolute diving bliss. I decided to do my advanced open water course with a dive outfit out here on Koh Tao, an island off the east coast of Thailand. I followed a belly feeling that Big Blue Diving was the right dive outfitters for
me and I am so glad I did. My dive partners and my dive master were absolutely lovely people and we had some really memorable dives together. The price ticket for the whole experience was a larger sum than I had planned on putting towards diving in Thailand but it was well worth it. Not only did I raise the level of my certification, I received a new dive card that I can now use as my main dive card for the remainder of my trip (a huge relief because my old dive card is at home in CA). In addition, I was able to improve some of my dive skills while exploring beautiful reefs. All for a ticket price far lower than I would find back in the  states. All in all a really great decision.

The first day we did a buoyancy skill dive where we had to swim through hoops, straight, upside-down and loopy loop (not easy by the way), using our breath to control our trajectory. We did a few other skills to hone our buoyancy control before coming back in because the visibility was terrible and we had just about run up on our air. The next dive was a navigation dive and my dive buddy, Matt, and I did rather well following our course though at the time we didn’t think so. It only became apparent when we stumbled across an anchor line that we had followed the course just fine. We continued on to find the correct anchor line and having some extra time and air explored a short out-and-back trajectory before completing our dive.

The last dive of the day was a night dive, and possibly one of the loveliest night dives I have ever experienced. We entered the water just at sunset and the sunsets on Koh Tao are legendary. In order to reach the buoy line we had to swim directly east. Floating on our backs as we kicked we had the most incredible view of the panoramic painting spread out before us. The golden orange light of the setting sun splashed off the water, dousing the ripples in the same vibrant colors that danced across the sky. We dipped down below the deep blue surface just as the sun sank below the horizon. Diving at night sounds at first like a terrifying venture but there is still something so comforting to me about being held by the inky ocean. A different array of creatures prowl the night waters, massive barracuda, neon blue spotted rays, and black and white stripped sea snakes. These sea creatures might sound menacing but they are beautiful and so graceful and they leave you happily alone as long as you pay them the same courtesy.

At one point in the dive, our dive master Dan had us gather on the sandy floor and turn off our flashlights. This was so we could take a moment to let the full weight of the night envelope us as well as to allow us to see the phosphorescent plankton that surrounded us. Every time we moved, our hands would paint a bright green trail of little glowing plankton. The plankton looked like bright green sparks flying this way and that in the wake of the current created by our hands. I tried moving my hands in the forward weave pattern of poi dance and they trailed behind, glowing like a streak of green fire! We then lifted off the sand and swam for a short stretch in the dark waters, the glowing plankton dancing in our wake. At the end of our dive, when our heads broke the surface a glittering blanket of stars greeted us. So many stars!! I had forgotten how much I missed their presence, traveling and living in cities for the previous weeks. We lay on our backs as we kicked back to the boat and admired all of our favorite constellations and even the distinct arch of the milky way. Just a most incredible and memorable dive.

The next day was a full day trip out to a dive site called Sail Rock, considered to be the best dive site off the eastern coast of Thailand. It is a favorite due to the reliably clear waters and the greater likelihood of seeing large sea creatures due to its deep sea location, far off from any other island. Our first dive was clear and beautiful above 24 meters but below this point, where we were to do some deep water nitrogen narcosis tests at 30 meters, the water was thick with silt and algae, creating just terrible visibility. One of my dive partners began to have an anxiety reaction due to the bad vis and the nitrogen narcosis effects so we aborted the exercise and rose to a more shallow depth to complete the dive. In between dives we lounged on the boat, letting the excess nitrogen in our blood gradually off gas through our breath, until all at once a loud commotion began in the water and on another boat. Something big had been spotted! A WHALE SHARK!! Just about anyone who owned legs began tearing around the boat, snatching up masks and snorkels here, fins there and then diving recklessly into the water to catch a glimpse of the great fish.
I was a little late diving into the water and I kicked fast to catch up with the crowd, breathing heavy into my snorkel. My legs burned but I kicked hard and fast, determined to see the whale shark. As I approached the throng of snorkeling onlookers I began swimming on my back to catch my breath. Some men on a near by boat were hollering and pointing right at me and it took me a moment to realize why. As I turned around and dipped my head just below the surface I saw the enormous shimmering form of the whale shark swimming directly at me. It came right up to the surface, so close to me I felt like I could reach out and touch it. One of my dive partners was floating next to me and I almost reached out to hold his hand. The moment of grace was that powerful. Time seemed to stretch as the shark slipped gracefully by and then vanished into deeper waters. The brilliant blue spots on its back, glittering in the light, were the last of it to disappear.
We kicked around on the surface for a while longer, hoping the whale shark would return. And it did, briefly but only in deeper waters at the level of the hovering scuba divers below. Soon it was time for our second dive and we entered the water eagerly, hoping this time to swim with the shark with greater freedom of movement. Sure enough, halfway through our dive as we explored around sail rock, the beautiful graceful form of the whale shark came into view. We spotted him directly below us and I called out mentally to the fish, calling it beautiful, sister, most elegant creature of the sea. The next moment the shark was rising towards me, seeming to recognize my call and respond by coming to me to show off its iridescent, glittering skin. Again it slipped by me so close I felt I could touch it, and so graceful and slow I felt like time had stopped. There were so many divers all hovering around it, it nearly had no place to swim, but it never seemed to feel threatened or afraid. It just glided this way and that, seeming to enjoy all of the attention.I have never had a dive where I felt the presence of such a powerful and graceful creature such as this whale shark. We were so lucky to have seen it as it is still quite rare to catch sightings of them. Earlier that day, on the way to the dive site, our dive master's fiancée announced confidently that we were going to swim with a whale shark that day. I thought to myself "Okay, lady. Whatever you say. But I seriously doubt it." Goes to show just how wrong I was. 

Last night my new friend and hostel-mate Jo and I went out for dinner and some drinks. We stopped off at this little restaurant near our bungalow hotel where the prices are half of the other restaurants and the food so tasty! I ordered the green papaya salad, medium spicy, and it was DELICIOUS! Oh, I couldn't feel my face halfway through and I was breathing fire while feeling an odd mild euphoria wash over me, but it was wonderful. I thought of my dad and how much he would have loved that salad. The lovely cook and wait staff both laughed with me at how my body was trying to cope with the spice but were also kindly worried and a bit perplexed. "I only put two chilies in!" said the sweet woman who prepared our food. Yeah two fiery hot Thai chilies in a dish that could fit in two cups! But still, I told her, through watering eyes and running nose, that it tasted incredible, because it did. 

After dinner we wandered around in search of a cold beer or two and came across some elaborately dressed Lady Boys advertising for a "free" cabaret show. I put free in quotations here not because they charged for the show but because it was required that you purchase a drink and the drinks started at $150 baht for a small Chang beer. Still it turned out to be well worth it. For those reading who haven't yet guessed what a Lady Boy might be, they are essentially Thai drag queens, however they are notoriously the most unbelievable (or rather believable) drag queens on the planet. The Thai Lady Boys look so much like women and do such an incredible job exuding the presence and mannerisms of a woman (not to mention disguising their loins so well it has you peering, squinty-eyed, searching for the missing bump) that it is sometimes easy to forget that in fact you are witnessing a male drag queen.

The show, as it turns out, was just wonderful! Very much worth the inflated price of beer. Some of those women, I mean men, Lady Boys rather, are so damn sexy! There were a particular few that "sang" (really they mouthed the words, sometimes rather well, sometimes not so well) with such passion! And they danced with such rhythm and sway it made you want to jump up and dance with them. There were so many acts one right after another that it nearly made you dizzy. Their cast wasn't that large so these characters were doing costume changes in mere minutes from one incredibly elaborate costume to another. Quite a feat. Also how tiring it must have been to be dancing your heart out every 5 minutes as your next number came around, and then your next and your next and so on. . . Both Jo and I were so impressed! I'm so happy she insisted we go see it. I was put off by the beer price but how right she was!! It is not everyday that you get to see a Lady Boy Cabaret show in Thailand.

After the show we realized we were really in the mood to dance. So we wandered the heavily touristed streets of Chaweng Beach, Ko Samui, in search of some good beats to get loose. We found such a place and let it rip! Ohh it felt so good to just DANCE. Funny thing, I was wearing a shirt given to me by the lovely goddess woman Reida, which has printed across the chest: Just DANCE! Quite appropriate. The whole night just got me buzzing again to chase an education and perhaps a career in dance, performing and teaching. So thanks Lady Boys of Ko Samui. Your spirit rocked me and gave me renewed inspiration to dance. Just without so many sequins, nipple slips, and high heels.

It has been a few days since I embarked upon a fantastic and epic adventure to see the Doi Inthanon National Park last Saturday so I hope I can recount all of the lovely little details, the mental snapshots that I wanted to include in this entry. My massage classmate Brice and I decided to rent a motorbike (150 baht = $5) for the day and at around 9:30 or so we hit the road.

First off, the motorbike ride out there was adurous and long. Brice drove our little bike as fast as that small engine could take us, in order to give us more time in the park. The first couple of snapshots below are from our trip out there. I was so excited to see the vibrant green of the jungle lining the roadway that I just snapped away at random, unable to see the viewfinder in the morning glare. I even managed to capture one of the stunning temples as we zipped by.

After about and hour of ass aching motorbike riding we arrived at the park and were greeted with the most beautiful streching landscapes of lush green jungle. The green of the jungle has a way of rushing into to your eyes, hitting your square in the face with pelting GREEN. It is biting, this green, and tangy sour sweet. We decided our first order of business was to find a cave listed on the map. The road that looked to be the right one only had a sign post with painted Thai lettering, our first clue that perhaps this wasn't the correct road. We took it anyways and bumped along the raw dirt road, the violent green jungle whipping past us. We continued this aimless trek for about 5km before coming to the reluctant conclusion that we found the wrong road. But rather than simply turn around right then and there, we enjoyed what destination we did find: a small stream of midly cool water, winding its way through the jungle. Here we stopped to slip our feet into the water and let our senses drink in the surrounding forest. The hissing sounds of insects, the quiet burbling hush of the stream, the coolness of the sandy bottom on our feet, the fluttering dragonflies and butterflies flitting from rock to rock, and the decadent green of the forest rising all around us. 

As we prepared to leave I decided I would try my hand at driving the motorbike. Now this is my first time, I now realize, driving one of these things and I am readying myself to give it a go on a dirt road. I don't get very far. I stradle the seat and roll the accelerator handle forwards. Nothing happens. "Pull back!" Brice calls to me. Ah right, of course. So I give it a good pull back and "VRRROOOOOOOOM!!!" the bike goes tearing off, steering me sraight into the bank along the road. I lay in a heap of jungle bushes and dirt, the bike, still running, leaned heavy against me, as Brice leapt to my rescue. We get the bike upright and I untangle myself from the bushes, brush myself off and decide to give it one more go, reluctantly and only with encouragement from Brice. "Gently," he tells me. "Pull back just a little bit to start." Okay. Deep breath. I point my wheel down the stretch of flat level dirt road and pull back ever so slightly. I feel the engine begin to catch and I gently accelerate forwards. "Yeah!!" calls Brice behind me. I do a small loop up the road and then come back, satsified that at least I didn't drive into more bushes, and hand the controls back over to Brice. "I trust you heaps more than I trust myself with this thing," I tell him. So again we are off, bumping and jostling along the 5km stretch of dirt road back to the main road.

Once on the main road we set course for the first in a series of waterfalls. The first one was wonderfully misty and quite pretty, falling into a gully lined with a wide variety of lush green plants and a smattering of tropical flowers. We stopped here for lunch as well and as we ate we watched the sky darken with ominous clouds, felt the wind quicken and wip around our heads and heard the thunder roll through the sky like a series of cosmic boulders. Sure enough, as our food arrives, the rain begins to pour down, plashing and splattering over the eves of the restaurant deck. "What now?" I ask Brice giving him a worried look, eyebrows raised. "Let us wait. Don't worry. It might pass soon." I'm doubtful but sure enough, in just about the time it takes us to finish our food and pay, the rain has lightened to a scattered very light drizzle. Still, I'm worried. "What if it picks back up again? Should we go back?" "No of course not! Let's keep going!" says my adventure partner. Good man. So we saddle up and continue up the road to the next waterfall. This one is less impressive but still quite beautiful and found in a more dense forest which opens just wide enough to allow the waterfall and river pass though. It felt so fitting to be walking through the rain forest as it rained on and off above our heads. The forest breathed moisture and dense wet scents and the ground was a rich deep brown. A decadent sensory experience. This is the rainforest.

On our way to the next waterfall we take a detour onto a small path that caught our interest. The path leads to a stretching valley of rice paddies and a small village tucked away along a river bank. As we walked we came across the most beautiful, intricate and expansive spider webs I have ever seen. The web was just magical in how it was there at one angle, and completely invisible at another. At just the right angle you could see the entire web stretching and billowing in the slight breeze. We continued on and climbed a steep bank, pressing our way into the forest and stopping to admire mushrooms and the lovely hushed sounds of the light rain falling on the leaves. On our way back to the road we watched villagers fish in the river with nets, working together to corral the fish into a corner and swooping the nets low to catch them. We watched in silence and when we spoke the same thought was on our lips: "It doesn't get more different than that." We could hardly imagine a life where there was no supermarket to go buy food. Where you grow your grains and you catch your meat, out back, behind your simple wooden house, in the murky river that runs past. 

Further explorations took us past more rice paddies end through other small villages where adults and children alike smiled up at us and waved as we passed. One young boy called out "Hello!" as we motored by and I shouted back "Sawatdee Ka!".

The last waterfall we visited was by far the most spectacular. Before you even reach it you are greeted by a lush Royal Garden, bursting with tropical flowers, and woven with winding pathways and waterways. Even the path was nicely paved with concrete tiles that had been pressed with leaves from the trees in the garden. When the tiles ended and the path continued as raw earth I slipped off my sandals and pressed the soles of my feet into the dank wet earth. This is what I had come here for. To see the shocking green trees, breathe the misty jungle air, and feel that soft wet earth beneath my bare feet.

We continued up the path a little ways, me gingerly picking my way over sharp rock and boulders, rounded one last corner and WHAM! were struck square in the chest with the sound and power of this waterfall. We were able to get up much closer to this fall than the others but also it was how it was situated between two rock faces and close canyon walls that augmented the presence of this fall. The force of the water came directly forward and down, crashing into the rocks at our feet and the sound bounced off the canyon walls, traveling with equal force. We stood in its cascading mist, heads tilted up, arms held wide like an embrace or a prayer, for this is the only thing you can do when confronted with a natural entity of such beauty and power.

We left the garden with just enough time to zip off to a view point to watch the sunset. Our poor motorbike put putted slower and slower up the steep incline, in obvious protest to the two heavy humans riding on it. As we climbed higher and higher the sky cleared and the sun shone out across the valley, drenching us in warm golden sunlight. We reached the view point just as the sun slipped behind the swirling clouds gathered on the horizon. From the viewpoint we could see the jungle stretching in all directions. The intricate leaves and play of light on their shifting green looked like a painting you could reach out and touch. I took a moment to sit in a secluded spot and meditate, savoring each moment as the crisp wind brushed against my face and played with my hair. I let a deep gratitude pour into my every cell, filling me up. I breathed the clean jungle air and gave a simple, heart felt Thank You to the universe that brought me to that moment. Thank You.

And I should be asleep. But I'm up attempting to edit videos on the crap video editing software that comes with my flipvideo recorder. It is a good thing this internet cafe is pandering to all the computer game junkies and thus staying open past this ridiculous hour. After long last, success!! I finally got the video I was editing to somewhat line up to the music track I was listening to at the time I recorded it. This video is for Satory. I miss him more than words can say and so every now and then I put on Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and give a good hoop dance to help ease the ache. I recorded this dance at my last guest house and you can see in the video what a lovely green and lush garden the guest house maintained. Quite a nice spot to hoop, that lawn. So without further adue I give you "Home Is When I'm With You". (look below. this editor doesn't let me type after the vid. go figure.)

I'm nearly done with my studies at TMC!! I can't believe it has been 3 weeks. Just crazy. I just booked a flight to Phuket for Tuesday of next week where I will go see CC!! :D Can. Not. Wait. Love that girl to pieces and it will be just bliss to see her and possibly go snorkeling!! EEeep so excited. The bummer is I have to spend all day on Monday doing a visa run up to Mai Sai, Burma. I opted out of doing the whole day tourist excursion to the hill tribe people, to the golden triangle and the white temple in Chiang Rai. Too expensive and that isn't how I like to do traveling and site seeing anyways. Too rushed. So instead I will just take the trip up and back, nothing fancy.

On a more interesting/stimulating level, I've noticed since I've been traveling how my personal identity and self image has had to shift and isn't as clear as it was before. I have found that I receive different reactions from people than I do back home or with my family and thus, feeling this different reflection of my energy, I must shift how I see myself. It might seem obvious that people who are not from my nation or my community will react to me differently than people closer to me, but it still is funny how it rocks you when you no longer can stamp your foot down on a solid personal identity or image.

For example, my massage classmates, I can tell, think I talk way too much, too loud and too fast. They have a hard time continuing the converstation after something I say. I find myself sinking into a feeling I havn't had since high school which is that of not being heard. I rememeber saying something to a group of people and when no one responds, wondering if anyone heard me. Or the feeling is of being heard but saying the wrong thing, and thus creating one of those awkward silences that is broken only by the beginning of a completely different subject. I get along quite well with the Australian classmate of mine, Kat, but Nancy from Belgium doesn't even make an effort anymore to follow what I say and just stares off in another direction when I speak. I have really tried to slow down and annunciate my words but I fear this makes me speak even louder than normal, making me even more annoying to her.

The funny thing is that this inability to connect between me and Nancy has translated into a lack of trust when I massage her. Today, I nearly cried in frustration when I massaged her because at just the slightest pressure she would wince and pull away from me. The teacher would come around and try herself to press the point and press far deeper into her back illiciting no complaints or spasms from Nancy. I ask a leading qustion, "Am I pressing harder than her?". "It's different, it's just different," she says, dismissing me. I know I am a good massuese and that I can read a person's body like a map, and not just their body but their emotion, their tension and energy. I know what was happening was a lack of trust and a decision not to let me in. Ooohh is that frustrating!! And all because I am this loud, crazy, American idiot to her. She doens't want my energy entering her and she doesn't want hers entering me. She winces away from my touch like my fingers are hot iron. All because of an inability to connect. To build trust. Interesting. And a shame.

On a lighter note, I met a very nice young Thai man today who breeds Siberian Huskies!! AHHHHHH!! I nearly died. His friend had one of his puppies there with them, the reason I just HAD to stop to say hello, and upon seeing this creature it was all I could do to stay standing and not melt away into the gutter. This dog was So. Damn. Cute. Blue eyes, soft fluffy fur and a love of licking faces and chewing ears. I played with this little furrball for a few minutes while talking (very slowly and clearly) to these awesome funky Thai kids and their mother(?). Another sweet woman with more English than the others. When Nong told me he breeds these husky dogs I nearly fell over. I told him that this was my absolute favorite dog and the exact dog I wanted for when I return to the states. We swapped contact info and then he gave me a ride on his motorbike to my next destination in the old city! Eeee so fun! I can see why SO many Thai people ride these rocketing death traps. We were cruising on smaller streets in the quiet districts of the Old Cty so the air was fresh and cool against my face and the trill of it wasn't paired with the fear of imminent death. Just lovely. He told me to call him any time I needed a ride in or around the Old City and he would pick me up and take me where I needed to go. My own personal taxi!! I've been praying for a motorbike taxi and it has arrived! Only I would never be so demanding or rude. Or, almost never. . .

Bed is beckoning. Goodnight internet world.

Oh so much to write about! Where to start? Yesterday was a really fantastic day. It was hot as hell but I spent well. In the early afternoon my guest housemate named Vickty and I set out to walk around the old city, stopping to visit a bookstore and for a much needed iced coffee break in the lovely air conditioned Wowee Coffee. We then headed to a shopping district that is more frequented by locals than by tourists named the Warorot Market. There I purchased the most wonderful cloth hip belt with emboidered patterns, a patchwork of colorful  fabric scraps, and some sparkly gold thread ribbons worked in. Just over all a perfect super colorful hip belt and exactly what I was looking for. The day's damage also included a mini portable speaker set (pink, of course, and only about $5), which is something I have really been wanting as well.

When we got back to the guest house I recieved a text from my circus cronies saying that it was Amy's b-day and we should all go out! Lovely! We agreed to try to round up some fuel for fire dancing, so after a good long lounge infront of a fan and a long cold shower, I got dolled up and headed out to the mall in search of parafin. I had no luck but Matt texted me, whlie I was interviewing some nice salespeople on places to find fuel,  and he found some! Again, just wonderful. So we were set. We met up and got some delicious food and tasty cocktails at a nice, beautifully decorated Thai restaurant named Hot Chili (all told, with an appetizer, main course, and a cocktail to boot, we each paid around $10 for our food). It's certainly a tourist trap sort of place but it is hard to argue when they do such a good job creating such a unique and visually appealing ambiance and then serve you some of the best Pad Thai and spicy Thai veggie salad you have ever tasted. After dinner and drinks we moved on down the lane to a Reggae Bar where I knew we could spin. This was the same bar I had visted the previous week and I knew the bar man was a nice guy who would let us. Sure enough when we arrived and asked they pointed out a good place and gave us full permission. Soon we set up, dipped our tools and let the fire burn! The Parfin turned out to be mixed with petrol but it still burned well and wasn't too unbearably smoky. Ohh it felt so good to burn again! Nothing like that adrenalin rush when you play with fire. I miss it every time. I even got to try out putting wicks on my mini hoop and it worked quite well! I was still able to do many of my tricks and certainly the under arm close body work still was very managable. Super satisfying success story for me. I can't wait to burn again!!

It was so much fun to watch Amy and Matt burn their tools too. Amy picked up my hoop and had a go and Matt burned his virgin double staff wicks! Matt had just pulled his back in a funny way and given himself one royal back spasm so he was a bit hesitant and restrained but still pulled off some fantastic iso illusions and tech work. Amy rocked it with my hoop. It is so nice to watch other hoopers because I always learn something. In this case I saw how she continues to spin the hoop on just one shoulder, head out of the hoop and ducked under. I do this move but can only get the hoop to circle my shoulder once and havn't figured out how to continue to press into the hoop to keep it going. Watching her, I saw how she lifts her upper arm at just the right moment to push into the hoop and keep the spin up so it stays circling on her shoulder. Mmm love it.

I ended up staying at the bar long after my fiery friends left, hanging out with the bar man and my Thai friend I met last week. There was also this young New Zealand woman hanging out and getting drunk with us but something about her bothered me. She was fine to be around, very sweet and nice woman but I could tell she wasn't all there. She couldn't really listen and she couldn't really make eye contact either. She eneded up getting a bit too drunk and when we sat for a toke session later she really went off the wall. We were huddled in a back alley behind the hostel and were using a candle for light. The resulting effect was flickering shadows towered over us in a tight confined, cold, hard space. After her first hit, spins hit her hard and she had couldn't quite stay sitting upright. When it came time to get up, I started to pull her up but her legs wouldn't support her and she sank back to the floor, backing into the corner. Her wide eyes searched around her to create meaning out of the circumstances in which she found herself but she had forgotten where she was and began slipping into a panic attack. It is easy to see why with those towering fast flickering shadows and the tight space. I decided to try to pull the panic out of her through my hands so I told her I was a healer and could pull this energy out of her. I asked for her permission to place my hands on her body. She nodded and I slowly placed my hands on her back, her legs, her feet, working what energy lines I could reach. Her breathing slowed, her head bowed down and her body went limp. The panic attack had subsided but she stll couldn't walk. So my Thai friend just reached down and pucked her up, carried her all the way back around the building to the couch where he plopped her down. I pulled her shawl over her and placed some water besider her. I gently laid my hand on her head and told her she was safe, she could relax and go to sleep. And this is where I left her. Boy and I bounced out right quick after that and he walked me back to my bike. I told him there is only one English word for that experience we just had: INTENSE.

I got back to my guest house at 5 or so and slept for only about 3 or 4 hours before bolting out of bed and packing my things like a mad woman. So silly to go out drinking the night before I leave my room. Just silly. Once packed, I spent a lovely lazy hazy morning with my guest house friend Gary. We comiserated together, both wallowing in our hangovers, ate a slow breakfast of fruit and toast and then grabbed a coffee at a near by Wowee Coffee house. The coffee finally managed to pull me up out of my hangover and we sat and chatted about all manner of interesting probing subjects. Real talk. The talk I like to find. Gary saw me off as I left in a Sun Tao taxi to the Sunshine Networkd meetup  point. This was to go to the hill tribe village where I would be studying more Thai Massage. Only, when I got to the meet up point, I discovered I was one day late! Nowhere on the website's meetup point page does it say that we are supposed to come to the meetup point the day before the posted start date for the course. I assumed that the course would start on Monday the 4th but it instead started today and they left yesterday. Damn. So instead of going up to the jungly hill tribe and getting a break from the city, I will instead finish my last week at TMC, and go to the Sunshine Network school in 1 and a 1/2 weeks. I am still going to change guest houses and hopefully will meet more young traveling folk at the Chaba House.  Funny how fate twists and turns. My belly told me to go up to the hill tribe this week but fate turned me another way. Such is life. This order of events actually works out better for me in any case so it seems I now am on the right path. Until the next unexpected bend. . .