Hi Gram,
Wednesday is our slow day here, so I slept in a little hoping the sore muscles and neck would recover. I had a good breakfast, then headed to class at the gym. Instead of the usual body weight exercises, Klaus leads us through mobility exercises and stretches on Wednesday. I never want to miss these mobility classes, and I was grateful that I was there today. We worked on hip openers and stretches for most of the class. Since my accident in 2006, my hips and pelvis are really tight. I try to stretch them as much as I can, but I don’t always have the discipline to keep up with it. Yoga has been helping since I’ve been here, but Klaus has these exercises that I’ve never seen before that are so simple yet effective at stretching whichever body part he’s focusing on. I walked out of there with my hips burning but feeling like they were ten years more flexible than when I walked in.
After that, my classmates and I sat around the pavilion talking about the stretches, how class is going for everyone, and everyone’s plans for the holidays. Telling them about how my accident made my hips tight led to talk of skydiving, which led to a few of them telling their stories of their one or two tandems or about friends who jump. As the conversation wound down, I headed back to the hotel to pay some bills and catch up on some computer work. I chatted with a couple of friends before it got too late back in the states, then headed to lunch.
Food here in Thailand is always a little spicy by default, which I enjoy. I like the kind of spice where you taste the flavor, feel a slight burn, and enjoy the pop of the meal. Today’s lunch, though, was too much. I think they usually tame it down for the foreigners’ palates but forgot today and made it as spicy as they’re used to. I got about halfway through before every bite was just spicier than the one before and I had to stop. A few of my classmates got all the way through their meals, but about half of us had to tap out. We chugged some water, knowing that water isn’t the way to put out the fire but enjoying the brief cool water nonetheless. We naturally broke apart, some heading to nap before the next class while others went to run an errand or call a loved one.
Everyone else goes to a HIIT class at 2pm at the gym while I opt for a yoga class at a studio closer to the hotel. Today’s teacher was Ana, who does a great job of stretching our muscles a little further than we think we can go and making us feel good about the whole experience. Class passed quickly and before I knew it I was back at the hotel looking at my list of tasks and feeling guilty for not doing them, but watching just one more YouTube video instead. The rest of the day and night are a blur other than the fantastic sandwich that I made and enjoyed. They’re not the same as the sandwiches I make back home, but for a makeshift arrangement in a hotel room in SE Asia, these sandwiches make me feel a little closer to home with each bite. After wiping the crumbs up with my finger, I washed the plate and knives that I’d used and settled into bed to watch some more YouTube before bedtime.
