Hi Gram,
It barely feels like the retreat wrapped up, with many of my friends still here! I slept in a little, then headed down to breakfast with friends. We said goodbye to a couple of people and I once again ate too much, but it was still quality food with quality friends.

I spent much of the morning catching up on the things I’ve been neglecting for the past few days, including just resting and taking it easy. The morning flew by and soon I headed out to meet some friends for a silversmith class. I grabbed the scooter and navigated through city traffic, following my GPS. I took a wrong turn somewhere or maybe it’s just the best route, but I found myself on narrower and narrower streets, then sidewalks, then dirt path barely wide enough for my tires. I emerged out onto an actual road after dodging some pedestrians and other scooters, and soon arrived at my destination.

Once my friends arrived, we all headed in to start the class. The instructor was distracted and not really paying us much attention as he finished up with some other students. He asked me what I wanted to make, so I showed him a design on my phone. He handed me a piece of paper and pencil and told me to draw it. I’m not much of an artist, so I pushed back a little, telling him that I didn’t have the skill to replicate the design from my phone. His solution was to draw a tiny oval and tell me to just draw it inside the oval. Unsure how that was a solution and possibly a little hangry, I just decided that it wasn’t for me. I said goodbye to my friends and arranged to meet up later, then headed back to the hotel and grabbed some lunch.

I got a few more things done, like grabbing my laundry and starting to pack, and the afternoon melted away. Back on the scooter, I headed to meet some friends for dinner. I felt like a king, to be honest. I arranged to have the rental company pick up the scooter at the restaurant. So I pulled up, handed them the keys and a hundred thousand INR for the fuel, then walked into the restaurant. I didn’t have to sign any paperwork, never had to fuel it up, and didn’t have to arrange to get home from the rental place. It was just “here, I’m done with this” and everything was taken care of.

Heather, Alma, Rachel, Becky and Ron walked up as I was finishing that transaction, so we hugged our hello’s and headed inside. The hostess ushered us upstairs to our table, where a light breeze and setting sun made for a wonderful setting. We walked to the end of the patio to see the sunset, then ordered drinks while we decided on dinner. I had a delicious curry pumpkin soup and duck with root vegetables and the next few hours sifted away. Most of us were still at the Plataran, so we walked home together and kept the conversation going. Back at my room, I packed a little then went to bed.