Waterfall

I tend to wake up with a loose plan of what I want to do on any given day, but usually I don’t end up sticking to it. The fun thing about being on permanent vacation is that this is OK. I have another week left here in McLeod and I will be celebrating my birthday here. I’ve been buying many Christmas presents and also bought several items to try and sell when I return to the U.S. Since I have no idea what I’ll be doing for work when I return, I figured why not try that on the side? However, the more I travel, the more I want to travel! I wish my budget was unlimited, because my desire to explore certainly is. I met an English guy named Daniel who has been teaching in Vietnam for a while and is traveling now, so the idea of that is still simmering in the back of my mind. Apparently Hanoi is a pretty hip place. In any case, Daniel accompanied me on a hike up to the Bhagsu waterfall today. The weather was perfect and the fresh air magnificent, with a chai break (of course) at the café at the top of the hill. I bought myself a lovely Tibetan yak wool shawl and can’t believe I waited so long to do so. I am incredibly warm as I sit in my freezing room typing this post. I met my friend Jamyang and we continued through our lovely story about Rambo. Life is pretty awesome here.

Views of today’s hike…

My fabulous new 'do, or lack thereof.

Totally awesome

I am on Cloud 9 today. The vibe in this town is just amazing. I have another Tibetan "student" now, a waiter at a different cafe where I had breakfast this morning, who asked me if I would help him with a book he is reading. I went back this afternoon and we read a little bit of a terrible book, some novel that I believe takes place in the southern U.S., given the characters' names (Althea and Beulah). It was awful, and next to impossible to understand, especially as an English language learner. So I asked him if he had any other books and he disappeared for a moment, returning with First Blood. That's right, the Rambo story. Pretty awful as well, but actually much easier to understand. So for the remainder of my stay here I will be returning to this cafe most afternoons to read Rambo with a Tibetan refugee. Gotta love it.

The other cool thing is that because I've been here for a few days now I kind of know people. The greetings every morning - namaste with the Indians and tashi delek with the Tibetans - are friendlier and the conversations more meaningful.

And finally, the coolest thing of the day is that I did something I have been wanting to do for a long time. Some of my friends and family know that I was planning to shave my head when I got to Thailand. However, I decided to do it here. Given the fact that it's a common hairstyle in these parts due to the many monks, I thought it would be easy. It took me a few days to find a place where I liked the vibe, though, and today I found a great little shop up some steps with a hip young hairdresser who did it for me, after many times of asking me, "Are you sure? Are you sure?" Right after the first snip (he cut before he shaved) I had a brief moment of panic, but after a while I was feeling psyched. And I have to say, I absolutely love it!! It feels awesome and, in my opinion, looks awesome, once you get over the intial shock. :) I promise I will post a picture, but for now, enjoy the sunset...



(By the way, if you're familiar with electric shavers, I did it on a 3 setting, not 0, so I'm not totally bald!!!)