This morning, we had another unusual rainstorm, very heavy. (The first time I've experienced this in Chiang Mai.) The skies looked ominous last night so we had put our bikes up on the patio. When I woke up to rain on the roof at 7AM, that wonderful sound drowned me in sleep again and I didn't wake up until 10AM! Needless to say, I've not been sleeping that well and it felt great to jump out of bed at 10, energized. Jim had been up for hours and, after my shower, I made us some breakfast - a bowl of fresh pineapple, tangerines and miniature ladyfinger bananas with yogurt and coconut milk.
Because it was still pouring hard and much too heavy to consider going out even with an umbrella - which we have here but have never used - I looked glumly at the guesthouse-supplied packages of nescafe and realized that was going to have to be my coffee fix this morning. I took my "coffee" such as it was (I ask non-coffee-drinker Jim, how he would like dehydrated beer with water added to it) out on our roofed patio and spent a few hours perusing my email and reading online news. When the rain cleared, it was a glorious, clear day, cool and sunny without humidity. Jim decided to head down the "tall trees road" to Lamphun, to connect with several friends who are looking out for some suitable housing for him there. Because westerners have no presence there at all, there are few guesthouses, only apartments for students and workers and resorts for Thai tourists.
Jim rode his bike part of the 26 kilometers, then hitched the rest of the way and emailed me from the public library that a doctor had picked him up offered him a place at his daughter's resort of a very reasonable monthly 4000B (32B=$1) so that's on the short list now.
By the time, I headed out for REAL coffee I decided I was a bit hungry,too, and after greeting my hosts with "a-run sà-wàt" (they replied "not morning. now afternoon") I had a platter of their delicious fresh spring rolls. Later, back home on the patio, I spent hours trying to figure out how to add an icon to this blog so folks can subscribe only if they want and not be pestered with email from me.
I had expected by now, two weeks on, I'd be settled down into something of a routine, cleaning the room, reading email and news, writing in my blog, setting aside daily time for studying Thai and some computer projects, but time seems to evaporate as quickly as it does at home even in this sinfully easy lifestyle. We have to face the fact that searching for, acquiring and enjoying meals here is the Number 1 activity and, with hundreds of food stalls, fruit stands, vendors, hawker food, and little restaurants, it's not easy to choose. (Much) more on food later.
