The last two weeks have been a teeter totter, we were in hill tribes again learning about the Lahu and Akha tribes and working on a support wall for a road to one of the Akha villages. The week was strenuous, working in the mornings and afternoons and spending the rest of the time buried in our rooms sleeping when the roosters weren’t continuing their tirade of calling at all hours. The cultural difference was rough, Thai isn’t spoken- as if our 10 word vocabulary would have helped- and the pig that was killed for us was a startling experience. The Lahu village we stayed in next was beautiful, and after a 6 hour hike that gained around 3,000 feet in altitude it better have been. Both villages were strenuous for the group but we learned from it, not only about the gracious people who took us in but about ourselves. After a few miscommunications and 8 hours in bus and van we were suddenly in a Dharma center near the border of Burma. We have spent the last week learning about the area and the Burma conflict as well as studying the Dharma and practicing meditation. We had a day of silence, which of course I failed within the first 10 minutes of being awake (in my defense it was 5 a.m.) when i was greeted by my favorite dog. I’m late for meditation and I don’t want to be scolded by the abbot…. so until next time, bye!
P.S. Here is a video of our week at the villages, and I would like to state that I was poorly portrayed in the film. In reality I was much less stupid looking…
P.S.S. Get better Tracie, we are all thinking of you, especially little “Dilly bar”.
Link to Mirror art video: