Emerald heart

So I have found the peace and serenity that I have been searching for in Thailand...Chiang Mai! It is a really lovely city and is super chill...and the air is actually fresh! It's still pretty hot but there is a lovely mountain breeze that whips through the streets and untangles the sweat from ones' brow. I found a lovely yoga school (NAMO) quite close to my guesthouse just outside Tai Phai Gate. I went to my first Vinyasa class last night and wow was it hard! But sooo good..I sweated buckets and stretched to my maximum capacity. I can't wait till tonite's class already!
I met a really lovely woman Tiggy in the class who reminded me alot of my friend Kim whom I met at the Sivanada Ashram. Tiggy and I came back to my hangout - a beautiful vegetarian restaurant called "A Taste of Heaven" and had a luscious feast and talked for hours about life and yoga. I'm doing a cooking class at "A Taste.." tomorrow where I will cook 6 dishes so I invited her to come and sample my inexperienced Thai cooking! We are also planning on going on a Zip Line Trek perhaps on Friday so that should be exciting! Zooming through the jungle at 60km an hour...YIPEE!
I spent yesterday with Diego who took me to a hotel down yet another nondescript residential street (with Thai prostitutes hanging out the door having a leisure afternoon) to go for a swim in a beautiful pool. It was so nice to sit away from the world with water lapping at my feet. I spent 4 hours there reading and swimming and was grateful for the serenity. I went back afterward to "A Taste..." for lunch and ended up meeting this really nice man James from South Cali who lives here in Chiang Mai. We shared the remnants of my spring rolls and I tried a few dishes that he had while we talked about India, the differences btwn Hinduism and Buddhism, and other thought provoking subjects. It was a very stimulating conversation, and James was picking my brain alot about India. I was very happy to share my stories with him, and he encouraged me to be a writer and share all that I experienced! The owner of the restaurant (Roy) came and sat with us and brought us some Gin and tonics (he's a proper english man!!) so I had a nice stiff drink before stumbling off to my yoga class. LOL.
James, Roy, Tiggy, and I are going to go to a nearby Sikh temple on Friday night for free vegetarian food so that should be fun. I may go a bit early and check out the temple.
I'm feeling a bit better and clearer, and ready to come home and sort myself out. I'm looking forward to getting back to work, making some much needed money and closing down my life there. I've got big dreams and plans and I think that it will all work out. I just have to believe and trust. Its a stuggle for a Type A personality like me who loves to control every aspect of my life down to the T but maybe I need to start taking a leap of faith. And just believe, baby, believe.
Anyway I'm off to cook some fabulous dishes...I'll post the recipes!
xoxox