12-21-11 Snacking on a freshly sliced, dripping with sweet nectar pineapple, straight from Lampang, I am tucking my kiddos in for the night. They had an exciting day riding all over the outskirts of Chiang Mai in a tuk tuk, visiting monkey, snake, and crocodile shows. with Ben.  They were very impressed by the monkey’s hilarious card tricks and the amazing guy who put his head in a crocodile’s mouth.

     Yesterday, when I got home from my class at Sunshine Massage School, they had spent the afternoon learning to cook, and brought me spring rolls, panang curry and green curry which they had prepared from scratch. Ben is planning another cooking class for them tomorrow, out on a nearby farm, where many of the ingredients grow. I am a bit sorry to miss all of this fabulous cultural experience, (not too sad about missing out on the Thai Boxing match Ben went to the other night,) but my days have been full and satisfying too.

     I am taking a course specific to lower back pain and side lying techniques in thai massage. Trayl, the South African teacher, works similarly to me, has an excellent grasp of posture and body mechanics and has a truly humble way of embracing the ideas and new discoveries his students have in class. I am learning a lot which I am sure will inspire new creativity to my massage practice. I feel as though the class is helping me to venture out from my boundaries of what can be done, and become more explorative. The class is quite an international mix, with students from Russia, Germany, Slovenia, Belgium, America, Italy, France. All of us have different levels of experience, some just beginning, some professional bodyworkers with more experience. The class is good, but I am also anticipating receiving some thai massage from the local therapists that come highly recommended.