Yoga + Tea Ceremony = Ahh..Sunday

Today was a very mellow day. I slept in, had a banana blueberry smoothie, and did some school work online. I went to the studio for a yoga/tea ceremony workshop that was held by Pamela. It was fabulous! We did a very soothing yoga vinyasa with an extra long savasana (it was better than sleep), then followed with the tea ceremony. Today's delight: Oolong. Mmm...I had no clue that teas were so fascinating. It was so delicately prepared and sipped like a fine wine, savoring every last drop slowly so that you could let all of your senses absorb its goodness. Pamela made us a little sweet treat that she referred to as a "sunflower butter blondie" (like a brownie, but a blondie, w/out peanut butter--instead, sunflower butter). It was a nice little tea cake. There is a fine art to a tea ceremony, and I will no longer look at tea the same. Hey, coming from Texas, I think I've come a long way from Lipton and Luzianne! I had many teas in Thailand, mainly green and jasmine, which are very popular there. Now, I wish I would have brought more home with me! I guess I will have to go back...this time with Allan, and minus all of the "baggage". I am now jonesing for a cute little tea pot so that I can experiment at home.
Pamela read a verse from a poem by Lu Tung, each time we had a cup of tea, which I thought was really beautiful.

"The first cup moistens my lips and throat. The second cup breaks my loneliness. The third cup searches my barren entrails only to find therein some thousand volumes of odd ideographs. The fourth cup raises a slight perspiration - all the wrongs of life pass out through my pores. At the fifth cup I am purified. The sixth cup calls me to the realms of the immortals. The seventh cup - ah, but I could take no more! I only feel the breath of the cool wind that raises in my sleeves. Where is Elysium? Let me ride on this sweet breeze and waft away thither."Lu Tung

All of this just reminds me to take pleasure in all of the small things in life, take everything in, and savor it, little by little. Each small cup of tea I had today, reminded me to slow down, breathe deep, and take pride and joy in all that surrounds me.

I'm in PHILLY now y'all!

We have relocated to "The City of Brotherly Love". Which totally cracks me up because ironically, my brothers' both lived only a few blocks away from where I live now. They both went to college here and played soccer for Philly U. It really amazes me how small this world can be at times. It makes me real happy to know that I am now living in my brothers old stomping grounds.
Okay, so I have lots of catching up to do...so far, we have moved to Philadelphia, lived in a 2 bedroom apartment in the city, went to a Madonna concert, I got a part-time job, while doing a work exchange at a nearby yoga studio, I've had my 30th birthday, had multiple girlfriends from Houston come visit (along with Allan's parents), moved to a large 3 bedroom apartment (in the same building), still taking online classes, and have since quit my part-time job to focus on school whilst working only at the yoga studio. Whew...yea, 8 months in a nutshell. ;)
Hahaha! Hope you were able to take that in, because I still don't think I have. Moving from Puerto Rico, where its sunny all-day everyday, to now living where its STILL winter and I have to wear socks--is just plain weird. I called my trainer the other week asking her if I still had to go in because it was snowing...yea, she laughed at me. I had no clue!? I don't know what to do with all of this white stuff?! I'm just a Texan living out of her element in a crazy, cold city, that at first, was reminiscent to Gotham City. Now, I have fallen in love with this ancient city, truly. I have so many incredible projects coming up and I am sooo excited for the adventures to come. None of which I will bore you with now. You will get reports from time to time now that this blog is back up and running. Woooo-hoooo!!! My online therapy sessions are back!

Adios PR!

So here I am, staring at all of these Puerto Rican, Daddy Yankee-looking dudes packing away my things. I'm wondering if they are like, "Wow, this chick sure does have a lot of crap." Today they are packing our things into boxes, and tomorrow they will packing those boxes into crates. They will then go to the shipyard to be shipped far, far, away...and I won't see any of it for about a month. This week has been stressful, and hectic to say the least. Allan and I are "trying" to make the best of our last moments here without making it all about moving. Yesterday morning we went to "our beach". We nicknamed the little secret spot 'Kudda Beach' because it has lots of little baby barracudas in the water, and that name has funny high school reference that some of you readers may know. ;) Hakuna Matata! Ha,ha... I hate making inside jokes on this thing, but I had to... It was a lovely morning full of fun in the sun, then we had to come back only to realize we had SO much to do. We are at least trying to balance it all out. Its a tad overwhelming.
AN-Y-WAYS, once again, like in Thailand, I am figuring out that I am really good at charades. I think it might be the actor in me, who knows? Either that, or the fact that I enjoy running around like an ape trying to get my point across to people who don't speak Ingles. Its loads of fun. Yay. These dudes could care less about what they are doing. You can tell they are hungover, and they are wrapping my stuff up in brown paper like its a race to see who can finish first so they don't have to buy the first round. There is no motivation...I just want them to take care of my things as if they bought it themselves with their $5.25/hr paychecks....Geez, that's all I'm asking for! My back aches, and I am a fancy Vegas-style buffet to the mosquitoes. Sorry, I am crabby. Guess I need to get to the grind and contribute my energy to something useful. I can't wait until this is over with. Buh.


P.S. I think one of the guys is super hungover and puked in my backyard.

Update from the PR

- I am back from Thailand, and I made it alive! No malaria.
- I FINALLY reunited with Allan, so you will no longer have to hear me whine and bitch.
- I have permagrin.
- Allan graduated from OCS, and looks incredibly handsome in his whites.
- We are back in PR getting ready for our move to PA.
- Its taking longer than we thought.
- I got a tattoo while in Houston
- I miss my dogs like crazy (seems that I am always missing someone these days)
- I will post pics of everything soon, promise.

Sorry So Short...Longer Letter Later! xoxo

4/6/08 BFD!!!

Can I go home now???….I am having a BFD! (Bad Fred Day)

4/5/08

We spent most of the weekend in Nong Khai. We hired a chauffer with a nice huge van, and my Aunt, Fred, my Mother, and I all headed northwest. We made the trip so that I could meet the rest of my family. It was about a 4 hour drive there, Thai time (with many relaxing stops). During the first couple of hours driving, the skies were sprinkled with a bunch of yellow confetti-like butterflies. It was beautiful! On the way there, we passed the town with all of the cantaloupe, another broom and handmade basket town, and the coconut town. I had many “Elaine” moments in the van on the way there; if you are a Seinfeld fan you may get this. (If not, there was an episode where she was on a crowded bus, and she gets very annoyed and was screaming her thoughts in her head-very funny stuff.) We finally get to Nong Khai and go shop at the outdoor market and had lunch. Fred was extremely hot and annoyed with the idea of shopping, so we took him to the hotel and checked him in. We went back shopping afterwards. The hotel was The Royal Mekong Hotel. It was okay; it is right on the Mekong River and probably equivalent to a Holiday Inn. It had an incredible view of Laos and the Mekong River and had a nice pool area. I crashed with my Aunt again, and hung out downstairs and attempted to use the Internet in the lobby. My Uncle and his family were staying there as well. It was so nice seeing my Loong (Uncle) Suchat for the very first time. I have heard so many stories about my Mom’s brother. When we first met, we both couldn’t stop staring at each other and we were giggling like little school children. He has a smile that beams like the sun. We all went to dinner: My Aunts, Uncle, his children (my cousins), and his grandchildren. We had a very nice time. At dinner my Uncle gave me a very special Buddha medallion that he wears around his neck, and told me to keep it to protect me. It was a very sweet moment; I thanked him in Thai as my eyes welled up with tears. I was so frustrated that I couldn’t really communicate with him, but I think he knew and could tell how grateful I was.

My cousin, Neung, married an older Englishman (she’s 33 and he’s 61!) that is an actor, writer, and teacher in the U.K. (Side note: Okay, this was odd because he’s a year older than my Uncle…Does he call him Dad????) Anyways, his name is Alex, and we spent majority of the evening talking about theatre and different shows that we have done, etc. It was so nice talking to someone that has similar interests as me. He is a very smart, and witty older man (old enough to be my Dad), and has an incredible resume at that. He has a book out on Amazon.com called, Bilingual Shakespeare: A handbook for teachers. If you know anyone that use this text- spread the word! He comes from a family of actors and artists, and says that Helena Bonham Carter is a 2nd cousin of his (that he “never keeps in contact with-but should”) Uh, yeah. You think? He uses great words like, stodgy, fellow, lovely, pompous, and says “right” all the time. I love it! He said that I need to come visit him and my cousin in England, and I just might have to take him up on that offer!
On the way home, we went a different route. We passed the corn town, the banana town, the Dr. Seuss-looking tree town, the pineapple town, the rubber tree farm (which my Mom kept calling out, ”Hey honey, look at the tire trees!” Ha, ha!!!! Every time we passed an Esso gas station, I’d miss Allan, Puerto Rico and the infamous papas wedges (aka: drunk food). Then we passed the Eucalyptus tree farm, and then last but not least, the live lizard, locust, and ant egg stand!!! Mind you, this is all for FOOD! Oh yeah, we pulled over--I’ve got pictures!!!! Don’t worry; I wasn’t THAT BRAVE!!!! YUCK!


It was a great trip; I shopped a little, ate a little, and played with my “new family” a little. I wish Allan were here to enjoy all of this with me.

4/3/08

So I have about 1 week left in Thailand (not counting the traveling days back to the States), and I have learned these things so far:

- Even though I have met my family for the 1st time at the age of 29, I love them unconditionally and feel like I have known them forever.
- This journey has been a true testament to my own strength, control, patience, and will power. Something that I have always needed to work on.
- I spent a couple of lazy afternoons reading Eat, Pray, Love. Thank you Amy for giving me such a perfect book to read on this trip. It was incredibly inspiring, and I will pass it on to you next. J I love you.
- Thai people are amazing and generous people, even when they don’t have much, they have so much to give.
- I have no qualms with drinking wine out of a box, but I do not like Thai wine.
- Distance really DOES make the heart grow fonder. I knew this before, but I feel I truly know it now.
- Mosquitoes love me whether they are in Houston, Puerto Rico, or Thailand.
- My Mother is like the earth, with so many layers that have yet to be revealed to me. This trip has caused me to be able to reach depths that I have never seen before, and a longing to learn and understand her more, until I reach her core.
- I want to travel the world, and see places that only I have dreamed about. This is only the beginning.
- Cold showers aren’t that bad.
- I am a far braver person than I had ever believed myself to be, or given myself credit for. And damn it, I’m giving myself credit NOW.
- I’m too happy in my life, and don’t have the time or energy to be angry with petty people. I’d rather focus on the one’s that I love, and want to be around. Mai pen rai. (No worries.)
- My hair is a curly pubis-like afro in Thailand, much as it is in Puerto Rico, if not more so.
- The empty place in my heart has been filled, and now I have a greater understanding of that “other half” of me.
- Not to sound all deep, and NO, I haven’t been smoking the “Thai stick”, but no matter where you are in the world, when you get to the root of it, we all speak the same language. We sleep under the same stars, we cry the same tears, and feel the same kind of love. <3 <3 <3