Hello Thailand- A Red Shirt Party

Well, me and Zoe are now in different countries which is way further apart than we have been since September. It is a little lonely but soon I will have to be silent anyways at a meditation retreat that starts on the 1st and then after that Zoe and I are meeting in Bangkok for Songkran (a huge water fight)! And then, I am home. I bought the ticket today so I now know that I will be back on the 15th, which means only 18 days left! Yikes.

I got into Bangkok yesterday morning after catching an assortment of buses, trains, tuk tuks and minivans for 26 hours. Trains in Thailand are deals though (6 dollars for 13 hours!) and if you sit in 3rd class everyone loves talking to you. I was chatted up all night and in the middle of the night with everything from "do you like the backstreet boys" to "how much do bananas cost in your country?" And, as we arrived cars and trucks full of red shirt protesters passed. Later that night I then walked through the main protesting area with 100,000 people. But, have no fear mom and dad, if you didn't know better you would think it was a carnival where red shirts were required for admission. I am of course very glad it is all being kept peaceful but it sure was funny to see tons of food stands and hear blasting pop music in a political protest.

Tomorrow I am off to Southern Thailand for a meditation retreat. I am a little concerned about not speaking for 10 days, waking up at 4am and only getting 2 meals a day... But, for 10 days I figure I can handle most things! There are also a lot of rules from "Intend not to sleep or sit on luxurious beds and seats" to "Intend not to take away any breath(abstain from killing). " At least I can handle the latter rule!