Gettin' Flexy and Makin' Friends

Two days ago, we met Kristen at the night market in Thongsala. Kristen is one of Dakota's friends from the India Agama Yoga program, and is now doing the same program here - the same place where we started our month-long yoga course today. We got her number that first day, and left her to eat catfish, pad thai and mango sticky rice on the beach. Stray dogs came by and waited politely for me to finish my catfish with chili oil (dear jesus, so good), then I walked down the beach and threw the bones and head for them to eat. I couldn't remember whether fish bones are ok for dogs or not, but these strays seem to have strong constitutions - they all look amazingly healthy, and they're the only beings I know here that actually drink the water. Dana and I then watched the sunset and slept off the effects of the all-night bus ride the night before.

Kristen has proved to be an invaluable friend. Yesterday she picked us up on her scooter and took us to her house, a bungalow perched on stilts right above the sea. She made us banana coconut smoothies, while the little girl of a Thai neighbor repeatedly tried to scare us by hiding a rubber snake in a cookie tin. We then rode to a tea house, where the owner Pepat agreed to help us find a house and a motorbike of our own. Today, she came through on the motorbike - it's a manual, so we're practicing shifting on the winding coast road here on Koh Phanang, where we are the only people in helmets. Safety doesn't take a holiday.

We were also introduced to quite a few Agama Yoga students by Kristen, who invited us to an art show at Pepat's place. Meeting so many of them before class relieved some anxieties, and we began class today with a few friends already. Our first class was great - meditation and a lecture followed by a very basic practice. Some of the language is familiar to me from my yoga studio in SD, Namaste, and I found myself thinking of my teachers Elka and Theresa, and how much they would like this.

Tomorrow we go to look for a house - Dana wants air-con and we'd both like a room of our own, but we'll see what we can actually get. Our highest monthly quote so far has been 10,000 baht, which works out to 150 dollars each per month. Worlds away from my California rent, or for that matter even my Missouri rent! Paradise is cheap.