monk chat
firstly, sorry about the typing and spelling in this entry - the keyboard is sticky and there is no word - oh how i miss it!. secondly, thanks to everyone for emails and comments, it makes me feel very loved and missing home a lot, especially on a day like today when my mind was on other things besides abba. but you'll have to read through to hear about them.
on teh efternoon after i wrote that last entry, i headed dpwn to the haev a'get lost ' walk, where i just go random places and end up in interesting houses, wats ans shops. today i ended up in a wat (temple) which is basically a small fancy building with gardens and a few extra shrines (there are 100 in chiang mai central old town). anyway, as i was havign a legal stickybeak, this monk piped up and we talked for about 2 hours, mostly him saying things, giving me little pearls of bugghist wisdoma nd telling me of his travels. i found it hard to understand him initially and then ended up being ok ont eh communication level. he showed me the wat and his stampa dn coin collections, got em to move some heavy pots, and bring out the texts for teasching the little kids. he also gacve me his address to send him a letter, which i will do. he was so unnassuming and gentle, he gestured a lot and in my opinion was very... wise? he also had a wonderful laugh.
that night, i had a bit too much to drinkw ith some random irisha nd brazilian guys, and then headed to the night market with the aussie gals. which was touristy and dissapointing.
i did end up doing that cooking school, which was treally entertaining and with lots to learn, mostly to do with ingrediants (if too hot add sugar, if too lime add fish sauce and vice versa - just writing that down so i dont forget!). we were picked up (about 10 of us) and then drove tot the market where he showed us the millions of typeds of vegetables, fruits, curry pastes, rice, fish and meat. we spent about an hour there and then drove out tot eh school which was in an outdoor shelter with a station for everyone. we basically followed his instructions which were very directive (hes been doing this school for 10 years) making 7 dishes in total. there were a cou[ple of curries, tom yum goong, sticky rice w mango, pad thai in an omelette, papaya salad and... ummm, stir fry vegetables. he was very enthusuasitic towards the beginning, making small jokes and little laughs, but got a bit tired at the end and we more or less just went through the steps. he does it everyday of the week from 930-9 pm. ptretty full on. i also got a souvineer book with an ingrediant glossry and reciupes, so i will bring that home.
later that evening, i hired a bike and rode out of town to wat u mong, which i heard had 'monk chat' sessions, so that teh monks can practice their english and english speakign people can learn about buddhism. it was a hairy ride, especially seeing as one of the pedals spuna round so that they were no longer opposite but pointing the same direction. fortunately i broke down in front of a motor bike repair shop, where they kindly knocked the pedal back on, with considerable violence, and then welded (yes welded) the pedal to teh crank. it was pretty funny. and later when i returned teh bike i was conscious to leave before they inspected it, lest they ask me to pay damages? it wasnt my fault anyway! hoever i continued onto wat u mong, which ended up being a verys secluded and lush oasis in the outskirts of CM old city (so still quite central). there were some old wats, and new library buildings, with no-one but monks walking around. it was so beautiful. and on a lot fo teh trees there were tacked words of wisdom - when love arrives - reason departs!
it was nice to spend an hour relaxing at the wat, however, the monk talk was not on as i got there too late (i thought ti was 5-7 but tit was 3-5). anyway, i had my fair share of monk chatting and it was nice to get out as well...
on teh efternoon after i wrote that last entry, i headed dpwn to the haev a'get lost ' walk, where i just go random places and end up in interesting houses, wats ans shops. today i ended up in a wat (temple) which is basically a small fancy building with gardens and a few extra shrines (there are 100 in chiang mai central old town). anyway, as i was havign a legal stickybeak, this monk piped up and we talked for about 2 hours, mostly him saying things, giving me little pearls of bugghist wisdoma nd telling me of his travels. i found it hard to understand him initially and then ended up being ok ont eh communication level. he showed me the wat and his stampa dn coin collections, got em to move some heavy pots, and bring out the texts for teasching the little kids. he also gacve me his address to send him a letter, which i will do. he was so unnassuming and gentle, he gestured a lot and in my opinion was very... wise? he also had a wonderful laugh.
that night, i had a bit too much to drinkw ith some random irisha nd brazilian guys, and then headed to the night market with the aussie gals. which was touristy and dissapointing.
i did end up doing that cooking school, which was treally entertaining and with lots to learn, mostly to do with ingrediants (if too hot add sugar, if too lime add fish sauce and vice versa - just writing that down so i dont forget!). we were picked up (about 10 of us) and then drove tot the market where he showed us the millions of typeds of vegetables, fruits, curry pastes, rice, fish and meat. we spent about an hour there and then drove out tot eh school which was in an outdoor shelter with a station for everyone. we basically followed his instructions which were very directive (hes been doing this school for 10 years) making 7 dishes in total. there were a cou[ple of curries, tom yum goong, sticky rice w mango, pad thai in an omelette, papaya salad and... ummm, stir fry vegetables. he was very enthusuasitic towards the beginning, making small jokes and little laughs, but got a bit tired at the end and we more or less just went through the steps. he does it everyday of the week from 930-9 pm. ptretty full on. i also got a souvineer book with an ingrediant glossry and reciupes, so i will bring that home.
later that evening, i hired a bike and rode out of town to wat u mong, which i heard had 'monk chat' sessions, so that teh monks can practice their english and english speakign people can learn about buddhism. it was a hairy ride, especially seeing as one of the pedals spuna round so that they were no longer opposite but pointing the same direction. fortunately i broke down in front of a motor bike repair shop, where they kindly knocked the pedal back on, with considerable violence, and then welded (yes welded) the pedal to teh crank. it was pretty funny. and later when i returned teh bike i was conscious to leave before they inspected it, lest they ask me to pay damages? it wasnt my fault anyway! hoever i continued onto wat u mong, which ended up being a verys secluded and lush oasis in the outskirts of CM old city (so still quite central). there were some old wats, and new library buildings, with no-one but monks walking around. it was so beautiful. and on a lot fo teh trees there were tacked words of wisdom - when love arrives - reason departs!
it was nice to spend an hour relaxing at the wat, however, the monk talk was not on as i got there too late (i thought ti was 5-7 but tit was 3-5). anyway, i had my fair share of monk chatting and it was nice to get out as well...
posted by ben at 8:47 PM
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