Less than two weeks away!

I can't believe it's almost time to leave! I feel like I just arrived a little over a month ago. Time really does go by so fast! I've been here about 3 1/2 months, and next Sunday I will pack up my home in Chiang Mai to head into Bangkok for a short two day visit. Right now I am having lots of mixed emotions about leaving... excitement, fear, anticipation, sadness and contentment. It's been really interesting observing how these different feelings ride through me like tidal waves, one rolling right into the next. And it's not that I can do anything to lessen the impact of the water each time it hits the sore line... I just have to breathe, knowing that these emotions are my teachers, and that I'm learning a little more about myself each day. Thailand has become a comforting place to call home these past three months, and now it feels a bit hard to leave. I have found some really beautiful connections here, but I know in my heart that these friendships will stay with me forever... no matter the time or space between. This is the exact same feeling I had when leaving home in September and parting with so many of you - a deep knowing that you would each stay with me throughout the entire journey. And you really have! You've all been weaved into each and every experience, and it's been truly amazing! Now as I leave Thailand, I have faith that this deep connection I've found here will always be within my heart.

Speaking of friends from home, I received the most beautiful gift last week when my friend from Denver, Monica Salazar, arrived here in Chaing Mai. Such a breath of fresh air right from the snowy mountain tops of Colorado! She has been studying public health in Bangkok with her university for the past two weeks, and is now ventured north for the rest of her program. I've been feeling a little disconnected from life and people back home for a while now, so seeing Monica's familiar face was a really grounding feeling. I joined their small group of 9 on a day long adventure up to the famous temple here called Wat Doi Suthep, which sits on top of a mountain overlooking all of Chaing Mai. I visited this Wat (meaning temple in Thai) my first week in town, but it was really nice to come back towards the end of my journey to experience it again with new eyes. I am now more familiar with some of the costumes and traditions, and had a nice time paying respect to Buddha's teachings- both externaly and internaly. Later that day, our group ventured about 30 minutes outside of town to an elephant camp located in the middle of an amazing tropical forest. Elephants are the official animals of Thailand, so they are highly respected and prized here. Sadly, with the rise of tourism most of these beautiful animals have been exploited to make money, leaving almost none left in the wild. During Monica's stay in Bangkok she saw many elephants walking down the busy streets with their trainers on their backs, begging for food and money. Although I had some mixed emotions at the camp seeing their feet tied down in chains, I did feel grateful that they were surround by so many other elephants to play with in a beautiful natural setting, and not to mention the trainers seemed to really love and care for them. We got to feed them bananas and sticks of bamboo, and pet their long rough trunks. I was just amazed at how sweet and gentle these huge animals were, and had the most wonderful time just playing and talking with them. It was a really great experience!

The rest of my time here has been spent through quality time with friends before it's time to leave, and wrapping up all my amazing classes. I taught my final class at the Buddhist University last week, and it felt like a bittersweet good bye. They are all truly wonderful students with such amazingly bright futures! It really was a pleasure to work with them. Oh, and just to let you know, they really enjoyed the people watching activity and seemed to learn a lot about behavior just by observing how people carry themselves. Psychology is around us all the time isn't it? I am also teaching my last few classes at Freedom House, which is really going to be a sad good bye this coming Monday night. I had a break from the school while it closed down for a month long vacation so the founder, Lisa, could fundraise back in the states. Last week was my first class back, and it felt really nice. I remember how overwhelmed I was durring my first night teaching, because I had never worked with English as a second language learners before. I have become so comfortable teaching over the past few months that being with them on Monday night felt more like play time with a bit of learning thrown in between. I've come to realize that's truly the way kids learn best. My time at Freedom House has been so sweet, and was the most amazing preparation for my time in Cambodia. Lastly, this coming week is the end of my teaching yoga at Wild Rose and Namo, which brings this beautiful circle to a close. I've come to truly love the students and community surrounding both of these magical places, and feel absolutely blessed to have gotten the opportunity to offer the gift of yoga inside their doors. It's changed my teaching and personal practice so much, that each day I step onto my yoga mat I feel closer to my truth. This is just one of the gifts I will always carry with me from my time here in Chiang Mai.

Please keep me in your best intentions as I prepare for the last part of my journey, you all have been such amazing support the entire way. Thank you for being in my life, and for keeping me in your heart while I've been exploring this amazing world we live in. It's been incredible!

I also wanted to let you know that pigs grew wings and I finally joined facebook! If some of you reading this do not know what that is, don't worry, I didn't either for the longest time. But if you do, please join me as your friend because I'm still learning how to use it and how to locate people. One of my friends here, Ali, signed me up and gave me a crash course for dummies so I could stay in touch with everyone once I leave. Between blogging and facebooking, I feel like I'm finally starting to join the 21st century... it's an interesting experience!

Love you and miss you all
April