Buddha at the food court

I have been kind of disappointed with myself these past few days in that I seem to be spending my time doing things that I could just as well do at home. I used to fantasize, for instance, that if I had a break from working that I would lock myself away somewhere beautiful and peaceful and read all of the books I never have time to read. Along with that, I would learn about other religions. Instead, I have spent most of my time on the internet planning my next stops and watching "Project Runway" and "Mercy" downloads while playing solitaire on my ipod. Some habits die hard.

So, last night, I decided it is time to stop wasting my time. I would wake up today early (at 9am) and walk as much as I could while listening to an audiobook, "Naked Buddha", an explanation of Buddha and Buddhism by an ordained Buddhist nun. I don't know why I do this to myself. I didn't go to bed until almost 1 am. So I woke up this morning to the sound of the cleaning crew yelling at each other in Thai on the other side of my paper thin door. It was 10.45. By the time I ate a leisurely breakfast of toast, coffee, and fresh fruit and took a shower, it was nearly 1.00 pm....and 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 F) without a cloud in the sky.

I decided to check out the park a few blocks from my hostel that I had yet to wander over to. It was almost as big on the map as it was in reality and nearly every inch of shade was occupied by either a body or a pigeon or pigeon shit. Moving on...I decided to walk to the nearby temple that hosts monk chats on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings followed by two hours of meditation. I missed yesterday's session for the pathetic excuse that I was feeling a bit hungry. Tomorrow I won't make such an excuse. And, to prepare myself, I did a trial run and walked there so I would know exactly where it is and how long it would take to walk there. It felt like walking in an urban desert. I was almost the only person walking. Listening to "Naked Buddha" helped a lot in that it distracted me and was just philosophical enough for me to separate myself from the heat.

I sat in Wat Srisupan by myself for about forty five minutes. It is a beautiful temple and, judging by the silver temple adjacent and the constant sound of construction, they were doing very well with the donations coming from the monk chats provided in English. Good for them, I thought. Every wat, church, and temple should learn from you. People would rather give after learning than out of fear. It was great to be sitting in a temple as "Naked Buddha" described the reasons behind the imagery used in Buddhism and also explained Buddha's story from man to enlightened one. Other than two small birds that kept flying in and out of the open windows and doors, I was alone with the several statues of Buddha in varying sizes and the hundreds of images of him painted on the walls. I need to ask the monks why the silhouette of his image is repeated so often.

Suddenly, six teen aged monks entered the room. I slowly collected my things and left not because I felt threatened or felt that I was interrupting something sacred, but because they were so loud it was distracting. They were repeating a phrase as it seemed to me they were dropping coins into a clear Plexiglas bank of money. I could be wrong, but that is the sound I remember. I must pay closer attention tomorrow. I know, from "Naked Buddha", that the chanting is done to focus and to eliminate any space for any other thoughts in one's mind. I imagine that is the principle reason for chanting in most religions. I just don't know why it these monks felt the need to be so loud about it. Another question to add to the list.

Walking out into the brilliant sunlight, the heat hit m like a body slam. I managed to meander down to a 7-ll in a daze and get a cold, sweetened iced tea just as my knees felt like they'd buckle. Enough of this. Time to head to the mall. Apparently, this is a sentiment shared by Thai and American teenagers alike. It is THE hang-out spot. I had not been too impressed by the shopping mall I had headed to last week on the opposite side of Chiang Mai, but had heard some good things about the Airport Plaza shopping mall - namely that a few volunteers had found cute dresses there and that it had a cinema. Add air conditioning and I really didn't care what else it had to offer. I was in. Momentarily rejuvenated by the iced tea I decided to walk to the mall since, after looking on the map, I realised it was just straight down the road. I think I may have been the first human being, Thai or other, to walk there. It didn't even have pedestrian walkways outside of it. Needless to say, I made it and was immediately washed over by the cool air conditioning and what I recognized as a Waitrose (British super market). Thank God...err...Buddha.

The five level shopping mall was filled out with nice Western (i.e. Puma, Guess, LaCoste) stores and Thai stores along with electronics stores carrying every brand of computer, phone, etc. you could imagine and their knock-offs. I did continue to listen to "Naked Buddha", but had to re-focus myself several times after getting distracted by retail therapy. The prices are just SO low! I bought my first Holister tank tops today for...wait for it...$2 each. Granted they were made in Cambodia, but the labels are still clearly visible despite their lame attempts to "X" them out with a black marker. And, then there was Dairy Queen. I think this makes the third day running that I have eaten ice cream for lunch. I also bought a shirt dress for 70% off ($10) that I can wear with tights to teach in Cambodia and a Wacoal bra for $8.50. They are normally $60! I would have assumed it was a knock-off, but I bought it at the Thai equivalent of Macy's. And all of the other typical lingerie brands, Maidenform, Jockey, even some European brands were several dollars more expensive. Women will appreciate this.

It is now after 9pm and I have just eaten my 20 baht ($0.50) dinner of egg fried rice and am onto my second glass of French red wine that I found at a wine store yesterday. I think I will head back to my room soon and watch an episode of "Project Runway". Like I said, old habits die hard. Tomorrow, the plan is to make the rounds of the many used books stores for a few new books and to keep listening to "Naked Buddha" in preparation for the monk chat and meditation in the evening.